Township Board Meeting
Regular MeetingUrbana, IL · December 21, 2020
Minutes
STATE OF ILLINOIS CUNNINGHAM TOWNSHIP
Diane Wolfe Marlin, Chair Phyllis D. Clark, Township Clerk
CUNNINGHAM TOWNSHIP BOARD
Special Meeting
Monday, December 21, 2020
The Cunningham Township Board met in Special Session Monday, December 21, 2020 at 6:30pm
virtually via Zoom. Chair Marlin was physically present in the Council Chambers at the Urbana
City Building, 400 S. Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois.
ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT:
Chair: Diane Wolfe Marlin
Trustees: Virtually via Zoom
Town Clerk: Phyllis D. Clark
Supervisor: Virtually via Zoom
Assessor: Virtually via Zoom
ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: (Trustees) Bill Brown, Bill Colbrook, Shirese Hursey,
Maryalice Wu; Danielle Chynoweth, Township Supervisor; Wayne Williams, Assessor
ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: Trustees Jared Miller, Dennis Roberts
OTHERS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: Frederic Grosser, Kay Meharry
I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Chair Marlin called the meeting of the Cunningham Township Board to order at 6:31pm.
II. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
There was none.
III. NEW BUSINESS
a. Resolution No. T-2020-12-030R: A Resolution Authorizing the Supervisor to Sign a
Contract with Volo Broadband for Internet Service.
Township Assessor Wayne Williams presented this resolution. He explained this is for
internet connection for the assessor’s office when they move to Lincoln Square and it
was the only available internet service provider available in the new location.
After discussion, Trustee Colbrook moved to approve Resolution No. T-2020-12-030R.
Motion seconded by Trustee Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows:
Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Wu
Nay: None
b. Resolution No. T-2020-12-031R: A Resolution Authorizing the Supervisor to Sign a
Subcontract Agreement with Champaign Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) for
Covid-19 Relief
Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth presented this resolution and said CUPHD
has received money for Covid relief. She plans to use the funds, along with additional
money from the Angel Donor Fund, to augment what the City is doing to provide rental
assistance. Discussion ensued.
Page 1 of 2
Trustee Wu moved to approve Resolution No. T-2020-12-031R. Motion seconded by
Trustee Hursey and carried by roll call vote as follows:
Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Wu
Nay: None
IV. ADJOURNMENT
With no further business before the board, Chair Marlin declared the meeting adjourned
at 6:41pm.
Kay Meharry
Recording Secretary
This meeting was recorded and broadcast on cable television and is viewable on demand.
Minutes Approved: January 11, 2021
Page 2 of 2
Agenda
NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING
CUNNINGHAM TOWNSHIP BOARD
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT a special meeting of the Cunningham Town Board will be held
*virtually on Monday, December 21, 2020, at 6:30pm (400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL 61801).
AGENDA
I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
II. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
III. NEW BUSINESS
a. Resolution No. 2020-12-030R: A Resolution Authorizing the Supervisor to Sign a Contract
with Volo Broadband for Internet Service
b. Resolution No. 2020-12-031R: A Resolution Authorizing the Supervisor to Sign a
Subcontract Agreement with Champaign Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) for Covid-
19 Relief
IV. ADJOURNMENT
Phyllis D. Clark
Cunningham Township Clerk
*Due to the Governor Pritzker and Mayoral Emergency Covid-19 Orders, the Urbana City Council Chambers
will be not be open to the public during this meeting. Council Members will meet remotely using Zoom
Webinar. You may watch the meeting on streaming services, or on Urbana Public Television, or attend via
Zoom.
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Dec 21, 2020 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Cunningham Township Board/Urbana City Council's Committee of the Whole
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84898203603
Or iPhone one-tap :
US: +13126266799,,84898203603# or +19292056099,,84898203603#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248
7799 or +1 669 900 6833
Webinar ID: 848 9820 3603
International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kezJaDyFFl
PUBLIC INPUT
The City of Urbana welcomes Public Input during open meetings of the City Council, the City Council’s
Committee of the Whole, City Boards and Commissions and other City-sponsored meetings. Our goal is to
foster respect for the meeting process, and respect for all people participating as members of the public
body, city staff, and general public. The City is required to conduct all business during public meetings. The
presiding officer is responsible for conducting those meetings in an orderly and efficient manner.
Public Input will be taken in the following ways:
Zoom Webinar Participant
Click on the link listed in the agenda to join the Webinar. You must provide your name and email address in
order to join the Webinar. If you wish to speak during Public Input, “raise your hand” and wait to be called
on by the meeting host. You must state your first and last name for the meeting record. Participants will be
muted except when they are called on to speak; video will remain off for all members of the public when
speaking.
Telephone Participant
Call the phone number listed on the Agenda. Enter the Webinar ID followed by the # key. All callers are
muted by default. If you wish to speak, “raise your hand” by pressing *9 once. When you are called on by
the host or presiding officer you will be un-muted. You must state your first name and last name for the
meeting record.
Email Input
Public comments must be received prior to the closing of the meeting record (at the time of adjournment
unless otherwise noted) at the following: citycouncil@urbanaillinois.us. The subject line of the email must
include the words “PUBLIC INPUT” and the meeting date. Your email will be sent to all City Council
members, the Mayor, City Administrator, and City Clerk. Emailed public comments labeled as such will be
incorporated into the public meeting record, with personal identifying information redacted. Copies of
emails will be posted after the meeting minutes have been approved.
Written Input
Any member of the public may submit their comments addressed to the members of the public body in
writing. If a person wishes their written comments to be included in the record of Public Input for the
meeting, the writing should so state. Written comments must be received prior to the closing of the
meeting record (at the time of adjournment unless otherwise noted).
Verbal Input
Protocol for Public Input is one of respect for the process, and respect for others. Ridicule, obscene or
profane language, lack of respect for others, and personal attacks are not acceptable behavior. Public Input
shall not be used to air personal grievances. Speakers should address all comments to the public body as a
whole and not to individual members or City staff.
Public comment shall be limited to no more than four (4) minutes per person. The Public Input portion of the
meeting shall total no more than one (1) hour, unless otherwise shortened or extended by majority vote of
the public body members present. The presiding officer or the city clerk or their designee, shall monitor
each speaker's use of time and shall notify the speaker when the allotted time has expired. All public
comments should be addressed to the public body as a whole. A person may participate and provide Public
Input once during a meeting and may not cede time to another person, or split their time if Public Input is
held at two (2) or more different times during a meeting. The presiding officer may give priority to those
persons who indicate they wish to speak on an agenda item upon which a vote will be taken.
The presiding officer or public body members shall not enter into a dialogue with citizens. Questions from
the public body members shall be for clarification purposes only. Public Input shall not be used as a time for
Page 2 of 4
problem solving or reacting to comments made but, rather, for hearing citizens for informational purposes
only.
Accommodation
If an accommodation is needed to participate in a City meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s
Office at least 48 hours in advance so that special arrangements can be made using one of the following
methods:
Phone: 217.384.2366
Email: CityClerk@urbanaillinois.us
*In order to maintain reasonable decorum at a public meeting, the presiding officer of the meeting shall
have the authority to raise a point of order and provide a verbal warning to a speaker who uses abusive,
harassing, threatening, or defamatory language, or who engages in disorderly conduct that disrupts,
disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of a meeting. Any member of the public body
participating in the meeting also may raise a point of order with the presiding officer and request that they
provide a verbal warning to a speaker. If the speaker refuses to cease such remarks or conduct after being
warned by the presiding officer, the presiding officer shall have the authority to mute the speaker’s
microphone and/or video presence at the meeting. The presiding officer will inform the speaker that they
may send the remainder of their remarks via email to the public body for inclusion in the meeting record.
*Definitions of Types of Language and Conduct That May Warrant Verbal Warning:
“Abusive” means harsh, violent, profane, or derogatory language which would demean the dignity of an
individual or which is intended to humiliate, mock, insult or belittle an individual.
https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/abusive-language
“Harassing” means to annoy or bother someone in a constant or repeated way; to make repeated attacks
on another person.
https://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/harass
“Threatening” means to say that you will harm someone or do something unpleasant or unwanted
especially in order to make someone do what you want.
https://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/threaten
“Defamatory” means a statement or communication that tends to harm a person's reputation by
subjecting the person to public contempt, disgrace, or ridicule, or by adversely affecting the person's
business. A statement that is likely to lower that person in the estimation of reasonable people and in
particular to cause that person to be regarded with feelings of hatred, contempt, ridicule, fear, or dislike.
Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019)
Citations that Authorize the Presiding Officer to Bar Offensive Language During Public Comment:
The following citations provide the legal basis for adopting UCC Section 2-5(b)(1)(d) that allows the
presiding officer of a City Council, Committee of the Whole, or a City-sponsored board or commission
regulate “abusive, harassing, threatening, or defamatory language” during public comment. The following
Attorney General binding opinions and case law essentially classify abusive, “harassing, threatening and
defamatory language as “manner”, not “content”, of speech that can be reasonably regulated under the
First Amendment. UCC Section 2-5(c) (Ordinance No. 2020-09-049. Attorney General binding opinion
numbers 2019 PAC 59187, 2018 PAC 55462, 2016 PAC 45349; Milestone v. City of Monroe, Wisconsin, 665
F.3d 774, 783-784 (7th Cir. 2011); Vega v. Chicago Board of Education, 338 F.Supp.3d 806, 811 (N.D. Ill.
2018); Sandefur v. Vill. of Hanover Park, 862 F.Supp.2d 840, 847 (N.D. Ill. 2012); I.A. Rana Enterprises, Inc. v.
City of Aurora, 630 F.Supp.2d 912, 920-923 (D.C. N.D. 2009).
Persons with disabilities needing special services or accommodations for this meeting
should contact the City of Urbana's Americans with Disabilities Coordinator at 384-2466.
Page 3 of 4
Page 4 of 4
Get email alerts for Urbana
A daily email when new agendas and minutes are posted.