2019.12.09 Meeting Minutes
GREEN GARDEN TOWNSHIP
REGULAR MEETING / LEVY HEARING
DECEMBER 9, 2019
The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Nolan at 7:01 p.m.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Roll Call
In attendance were Trustees Wagner, Newton, Standish, Hellriegel, Commissioner Massat, Assessor
Bushong, Supervisor Nolan, and Clerk Coffey.
There was a motion to approve the minutes as submitted by Trustee Hellriegel with a second by Trustee
Newton. Voice vote: Motion carried.
RHONDA NOVAK, SUPERVISOR OF ASSESSMENTS – Nolan: Weâre going to skip Mrs. Novak from
Supervisor of Assessments Office, her daughter went into labor today, so she will not be with us tonight.
PUBLIC COMMENTS – Nolan: Is there anything anyone wants to bring up before we start the meeting?
Schultz: At the end I want to say something. Nolan: Thatâs fine, always have time my friend.
PLANNING COMMISSION – Murday: Nothing up for the month of December, and nothing, it looks like in the pipeline for January. Thereâs 2 things I wanted to mention. I think everybody on board knows that every week I get notification from Will County Land Use about matters that come up before them. They call it Pre-application meetings, where they bring applicants in to discuss what it is they want to do and occasionally, there are things on there that donât necessarily relate to the Planning Commission, but I feel as though I should bring to the boards attention. There was a matter thatâs up this week for discussion at the County level, pertaining to property located at 23430 La Grange Rd. itâs just south of CD & Me. Contact name is Frank Heckenast. Bob might get this notice as well, apparently there is a violation for filling in wetland on his property, so heâs been called to County to rectify situation. Massat: Right. Murday: Just so everybody is apprised to that. The only other thing that I have, should have raised with Jim, I apologize to Jim in advance. What Iâd like the board to consider is letting Planning Commission have dinner or something we can do to show Planning Commission that we appreciate the time and effort they give the Township. Iâm not saying it needs to be decided tonight, thinking that at the beginning of the year itâs probably not a bad thing to get folks on Planning Commission together, break bread, and thank them for their service to Township. Anyone have any thoughts about that?
Wagner: I make a motion, we do it. Nolan: Iâm actually fine with that, volunteer staff, some appreciation to them. Wagner: Yeah. Nolan: I have no problem with that, to be honest with ya. Murday: And I have no problem putting it on my card and submitting the expense to the board. Frankly, if,I donât know if open meetings act precludes, although I donât suspect weâre going to talk any business, just going to be for fun. If anyone on the board would like to join us, that would be nice as well, so that the people on the Planning Commission get to know the Trustees just for fun. So, I will let folks know. Thank you. Newton: Sounds good. Nolan: Did anything come back for that place on Dralle Rd. that went for an exemption: She went for, I wanna say last week, cause I was out of town, she went for like 18 horses on 5 acres. I thought that was being heard by the board last week. Murday: I donât know what the end result of that was, other than passing along the comment to those on email chain that the County wanted anybody that had an objection, to show up at the County hearing so they could be heard. Nolan: Ok, Iâll look into that.
HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERâS REPORT – Massat: Nothing. Nolan: Ok.
ASSESSORâS REPORT – Nolan: Besides that youâre busier than heck right now. Bushong: Mostly just
maintenance stuff this past month, wrapping up 2nd round of appeals that came through so wrapped those up, and last of my hearings are tomorrow. Iâm thrilled because things will ease up a little then. I just get a fair amount of requests everyday or every week, whether itâs FOIA requests, appraiser requests, attorney requests, things like that on parcels that people are looking at. Otherwise, really standard stuff right now. Wagner: Is a lot of this info online yet? Or not yet? Bushong: Like what stuff? Wagner: Like when I look at stuff in Kankakee, I can look online and see stuff. Bushong: Well, we do plan on eventually populating our website more, Cherie was able to get or contact for the 1st time, I have all the Assessor contact info out there, and people are definitely finding the new phone number (I can assure you of that). The phone does ring fairly often. We would like to provide more and more information out there. Nolan: I guess question is, once everything is in the system (PAMS system) they can go to Countyâs website and get all the info theyâre looking for, correct? Bushong: We can integrate with it. Nolan: So, we can eventually…Bushong: Right now, you actually bring up a good point, they actually can go to County Assessor website, and they can pull up all the Green Garden parcels right now. So if they wanted to do comparables, I mean theyâre going to have to do a little research, but itâs out there. Wagner: Thatâs what I was wondering, do do that on their own, instead of bothering you all the
time. Newton: Once she gets past maybe, tomorrow, weâre going to set something up on our website, that says âTry thereâ see what you can find out there. Bushong: What eventually is going to happen is, this is what Jim was pointing out. Once we have PAMS completely loaded, and thatâs not an easy task, lets say, everythingâs in there, in other words, I can tell you thereâs 3 bedrooms, 1 story, brick, the whole 10 yards. Then thereâs a way to link that with our website if we wanted to, and it will all come up. In other words, right now, if you go to the Assessorâs website, the information is out there, donât get me wrong, it will tell you basically what yourâre assessed at vs. your neighbor, you can look up addresses, but it wonât give you all the fine details, like how many bathrooms. Eventually, you can get it all. Nolan: Once the systemâs set up, then the real estate FOIA and real estate agents will stop, or should be able to. Bushong: I would hope so, that would be great. Theyâre still people out there that donât use the web and donât really understand it. Theyâre still going to call. Wagner: But real estate people do, I can see if the market starts picking up. Bushong: It would be very helpful then. Nolan: She might get 2-3 calls everyday or every other from real estate agents. Bushong: Mondays are busy, I donât know why, everyone works on Mondays. I probably got 6 calls today for information where I have to stop, and
provide information. Friday might be lucky to get 1, hit or miss. Wagner: Sales people probably hitting up people on weekends and then saving it for Monday morning. Like my emergencies, they donât want to pay the emergency fee over weekend, so they wait till Monday morning. Striggow: Is there any way you can charge people for that info? Bushon: Itâs really public info, Iâm really supposed to be a servant. Nolan: I look at it differently, the people calling her are not from the Township. Bushong: True. Nolan: You can only charge so many, so much a copy. You can come up with a FOIA request, can I mail it here? Gotta do this, specifics, and all that. The goal is to have it all on the website, on the Countyâs website with all that info, so they can just go there, you can just refer them to that information, on that website, there you go. We just had questions from Zillow. Striggow: Some of that info, somewhat private or? Itâs all public? Bushong: Itâs all public, it really is, I mean, thereâs not much I can deny, especially with a FOIA, or not. Striggow: So they can request that in paper, and have a paper trail? Bushong: I do actually even with phone calls âCan you please send me an emailâ and I do keep a copy of every request, even if itâs not a FOIA, just so, if thereâs any question about what theyâre asking me for, I have a trail too, and I respond in paper. Nolan: Thank you for everything youâre doing, be honest with ya. Newton: Jane, did you want to mention that the 3 of us went to County & met with Rhonda? Bushong: Yes, Jim, Cherie, & I met with Rhonda Novak at the County Assessorâs Office, as well as, Kathy Tezak. By the way, Kathy is more my go to person, just so everybody knows. If I have a questions, still living and learning, so the 5 of us met and we spent quite a bit of time going over everything of the past, as far as, how things were done, what they suggest us doing going forward, and so forth. So, that was kinda laid out for us, I found it helpful, for clarification. Itâs going to take me awhile there are some challenges here in Green Garden that have to be addressed, and itâs just going to take some time. We have a game plan, honestly, I
found the County staff to be really helpful, as far as telling me where limitations are, what makes sense going
forward. Weâre going to try to get it really equal, and really stable. Itâs going to take a little time though, and thatâs the goal. Newton: Thank you. Nolan: Thank you.
TRUSTEEâS REPORT – Nolan: Do we have anything? No.
SUPERVISORâS REPORT – Nolan: Iâm going to pass, so we can get to New Business.
NEW BUSINESS – Nolan: On the agenda, we have, vote for the Township Levy, Billâs gonna read. Trustee
Wagner read Township Tax Levy Ordinance TF-2019-02 (attached). Wagner: 2019 collectible in 2020 (Wagner read Levy) Any questions? Striggow: That Levy up Bill? From last year? Wagner: No, tax be the same as last year. Striggow: Is there a reason weâre doing it the same? Wagner: Did not need more money. Striggow: So, if itâs available weâre not going to get no more? Wagner: If itâs available? Striggow: If itâs levied out there isnât it, If you donât levy enough for it, you donât get any of it? Right? Wagner: Weâre not going to get any increases, yes, thatâs true. So, any new homes that were completed and put on tax rolls. Striggow: In 2019? Wagner: Right, normally up to March 31, 2020, it would increase your tax revenue. In this case, it wonât. I mean you would have the ability to increase it, so, weâre not. Road District is. Nolan: Should we put a vote to this one first? Wagner: Sure. Nolan: On agenda, can I have a motion to approve Township Levy? Wagner: So moved. Nolan: Second? Hellriegel: Second. Nolan: Roll call vote. Coffey: Wagner, yes; Hellriegel, yes; Newton, yes; Standish, no; Nolan, yes. Motion carried 4-1. Trustee Wagner then read Road District Tax Levy Ordinance RB-2019-02 (attached) 2019 collectible in 2020. Newton: I have a question, the $20,000 line item budgeted for the repayment of the loan, where is that in here? Is that in here? Or the total amount due, the $200,000, is that in here? One of those two? Wagner: Well, itâd have to be in there somewhere. Newton: I was looking at dollar amounts, I donât see anything that says just 20. Wagner: Right. Newton: Didnât know if it was lumped in? Wagner: It will end up coming out of something, I donât know where Bobâs going to take it from. Newton: But, itâs in here? Wagner: Well, itâs a budget item, not a Levy item. Newton: Doesnât it have to be reflected? That debt? The repayment of the debt? Wagner: No. Newton: Either one? Wagner: No, not in the Levy. Newton: Ok, thatâs what I was asking next, ok. Nolan: Ok, can I get a motion to approval of Road District Levy? Hellriegel: Iâll make that motion. Nolan: Second? Standish: Iâll second it. Nolan: Roll call vote. Coffey: Hellriegel, yes; Standish, yes; Newton, yes; Wagner, yes; Nolan, yes. Motion carried 5-0. Nolan: Thanks Bill for reading, also, new on agenda item.
Nolan: Vote for 2020 meetings schedule. Can I have a motion to approve the 2020 meetings schedule
(emailed to board). Can I have a motion to approve the 2020 meetings schedule? Wagner: So moved. Schultz: It would be nice if you didnât have it on a National Holiday. Nolan: Yes. Schultz: And Iâll tell you more about that later. Nolan: Ok. Newton: This is November 9th, which is a Monday, Veteranâs Day is on the 11th, which is a Wednesday, in 2020. Hellriegel: A leap year coming up? Newton: Must be. Nolan: Motion for approval? Wagner: So moved. Nolan: Second? Standish: Yep. Nolan: All in favor say aye. Board: Aye. Nolan: Opposed: None. Voice vote: Motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS – Nolan: Ok, last meeting we talked about Creation of a Capital Fund, I say we all vote on it. We didn’t put it to vote last time, we just discussed it. So, creation of Capital Fund, $250,000 moved from Town Fund into Capital Fund for purpose of maintain, lease, or build a Town Hall or Multi-Use Facility, these monies were line itemed in budget, and should be placed in separate accounts. Wagner: I disagree with that, I disagree with maintenance and lease part of it. Nolan: Ok. Wagner: Because I think maintenance ought to come out of the Regular Town Fund. Nolan: Ok. Wagner: And maybe lease ought to, too, not out of Capital Building Fund. Nolan: Ok, itâs open for discussion. Newton: So take that out? Purpose just to build? Wagner: Yes. Newton: This wording was taken directly from Mr. Mahoney (attorney)? He drafted this? Nolan: Pretty much took it right from his thing, I understand where Billâs coming from on this, to be honest with ya. I agree that maintenance shouldnât be coming out of Capital Fund. Wagner: I donât think a lease should either. Nolan: Ok. Standish: So you just want building fund in Capital Fund, stand by itself? Nolan: Ok, Iâm asking the board. Hellriegel: Iâll concur with that. Nolan: Ok. Newton: Why would he advise that then? Nolan: Probably because we had a discussion about lease, if we had to lease, about everything else that was going on. Hellriegel: What lease would that be? Coffey: If we needed to lease space, as opposed to building. Hellriegel: Ok, Ok. Nolan: Thatâs why it was kind of open on that whole thing. Standish: I talked to Mr. Crabtree at TOI, he said we needed Capital fund that should stand, hey, I didnât have the info about the lease part, but seemed like he just,
that was the thing that was in there, was the Building Fund. And, that we can add to it. Nolan: How do you guys want this? Rephrased? Hellriegel: I would say what Bill said, it should only be for building. Nolan: So, basically just take out maintain & lease? Wagner: Yep. Newton: So, youâre going to put maintain, or lease back into…Does it have to be placed in a different, or back into another one? That it was in before? Standish: On this one it says intended purpose for the funds amount of Capital Expenditure you think youâre going to have, and duration of any accumulated fund, like in years. So, thatâs what I got out of this book, on Capital Funds. Coffey: Sheâs just asking of maintenance & lease, if it goes into something else? If youâre taking it out of this. Newton: Taking the words out of this, if youâre taking the words out, Capital Fund will only have Building. The maintenance & lease would have to go somewhere, canât leave that hanging. Wagner: Maintenance has always been a general Town Fund. Newton: So we have to make sure we leave it in the general Town Fund, and not out. Right? You know what Iâm saying? Wagner: Sounds like they ought to be a budget item in the Town Fund. Nolan: Thereâs already electricity and all that is already line itemed in the budget. Hellriegel: Which is maintenance. Nolan: Which is maintenance. Coffey: What about lease Nolan: We never had to lease anything. When we do the budget we can line item lease, if they wanted to. Wagner: I canât foresee anything coming up that quickly, that it couldnât be done at another years budget. Nolan: I understand. Wagner: I suppose if the building blew away youâd have to …Nolan: I think the way it was reading, he gave us more flexibility if we had to, where it was sitting at. Wagner: I donât know if we want more flexibility though. Nolan:
Thatâs what Iâm saying, you may be correct on that too. Newton: So, just to build? Nolan: So, you like to read it then make a motion? Hellriegel: Russ, you done? Standish: Well, only thing is, do we need Capital
Expenditure? Where we put 200 in and are looking for 500? I looked at buildings like you asked me to, and 250 gets you something the size of something hardly anything inside of it. So, Iâm just saying according to this now, if youâre trying to do things by the book. Hellriegel: What is the book? Standish: Trusteeâs book. Newton: What if, say Jane needed to rent an office space for $500 a month, or something like that? Hellriegel: Thatâs the Assessorâs Fund. Newton: Strictly Assessorâs? Hellriegel: Yes. Newton: That would be the only lease I could think of. Right? That would be Assessorâs Budget? Wagner: Right. Nolan: Some townships lease out their property, some build buildings, some stay in buildings the have, thatâs why it was just kinda put in there. Wagner: Yeah. Nolan: Thatâs all it was, but as Bill talks about it, itâs probably whatâs best not to give leeway on it, and this is what itâs for, and be done with it. Hellriegel: I agree. Nolan: That way down in future thatâs what thatâs set for. Wagner: Yep. Nolan: I understand that. Ok, so just take out the…ok, Iâll reread that. Wagner: Ok. Nolan: Creation of Capital fund $250,000 to be moved from Town Fund to Capital Fund for the purpose to build a Town Hall / Multiple-Use Facility, these monies were line itemed in the budget, which should be placed in a separate account. Do I have a motion? Wagner: So moved. Nolan: Second? Standish: Can I ask one more question? Nolan: Go ahead. Standish: Can you add to that fund or is that locked in? Nolan: You can always add to a fund, the only thing you canât do , is take money, you can vote on it by adding money into funds, the only thing you canât do, really, is take money of General Assistance Fund, and use it for anything else. Standish: All right. Nolan: But it would have to be a vote. Standish: All right, Iâm just looking at this book we got,
last week, last month. Nolan: So, motion is on the floor. Standish: Second. Nolan: All in favor? Board: Aye. Nolan: You know what? Can we do Roll call vote? Coffey: Wagner, yes; Standish, yes; Newton, yes; Hellriegel, yes; Nolan, yes. Motion carried 5-0.
PUBLIC COMMENTS – Nolan: Mr. Buddy Schultz. Schultz: I know you had the last meeting, as you all know, I donât know if any of you know why I was not there. It was a National Holiday, do any of you know what the National Holiday was? Hellriegel: Yes, Veteranâs Day. Another: Armistice Day. Standish: 11th hour, 11th day of the…Schultz: Ok, now I donât know if any of you are veterans or not, I donât know that. And you should have known better (pointing at Standish) than to have a meeting on that night. Standish: Well, probably, I didnât think about it beforehand, but Iâm just as military as you are. Schultz: But you donât show it, having that meeting here that night. Standish: Like I say, I didnât know it was coming up, and I should have known, yes, youâre right. I knew the meeting was coming, and I looked at the calendar on the day, and I said yeah, it is Veteranâs Day. But yeah, itâs not church. Schultz: Thatâs like a slap in the face to the veteranâs now, you know. Standish: No, itâs not. Schultz: I suggest, on Veteranâs Day, you all get up off your chair, out of your TV at night, and do something for a veteran during the day or at night. I donât know if any of you know, or had a close relative killed, I had a cousin killed over there. Both of us went together, a month apart. I made it, he didnât, you know. So, I donât know, that was the wrong thing to do, at all. You know. Standish: Well, if it was December 7th, I
wouldnât come here maybe. I understand that youâre trying to say, make a point that we all love our veterans, and thatâs true, but to say that I donât care. I could…December 7th, I could, I probably should stay home that day too, because thereâs aâĤ..Schultz: Right. Standish: Thatâs recondentation there too. Schultz: Next year, do something for a veteran on that day. Newton: I was instrumental in planning the Veteranâs Appreciation dinner at the Legion, I scheduled that. Schultz: In Peotone: Newton: Yes. Schultz: Do you know Mrs. Wackerlin? Newton: Yes, I do. Schultz: Do ya? Ok, but most people, they donât give 2 cents about a veteran, and you know that, and that just pisses me off bad, but what can I say? Iâm glad you didnât say anything (to the board). I would have been on your throat. Anyone want to ask a question about a veteran? Veteranâs have fun when youâre in there, laying out, sleeping on the ground, under the snow, and getting wet, getting cold, thatâs all fun. Hellriegel: They come home with frostbite. Schultz: And you ought to think about it. Hellriegel: They come home with frostbite and it bothers them their entire life. Schultz: Is there any other veterans here? (some hands raised). This guy is (Striggow) heâs a bad actor, I know. Wagner: Iâm a vet. Schultz: Anyway think about that everybody, and you can put that in the minutes, if you like, I donât care (motions to Coffey). Murday: Thanks Buddy, well said. Coffey: Thank you for your service, all of you. Board: Thanks the veterans also. Nolan: Anything else? Hellriegel: You a Vietnam vet Buddy? Schultz: I could talk an hour here. Hellriegel: Are you a Vietnam vet? Schultz: Well then, yeah. Hellriegel: My dadâs a Korean War vet, and Iâm still taking care of him all the time. Schultz: I have a cousin who was Korean War, he was the toughest bastard youâve ever seen over
there, in the fox holes, he has all the medals. Hellriegel: My dad was a tank mechanic. Striggow: One last question, how did you arrive at $250,000? To put into the Capital Fund? Howâd you arrive at that number? Or what percent of the total funds is that total? Nolan: There was money itemized in that original budget when I took over, to be honest with you. Striggow: Is that from the old Park District stuff or some of that? Wagner: No. Nolan: No. Hellriegel: That was spent. Waner: Pretty much, money that hasnât been spent. Nolan: It was line itemed in the budget when I originally took over from budget previously, and I wanna say it was like $225,000, and I think at one of the meetings, they added another $25,000 in that line item, but there was $225,000 originally. Wagner: Originally the 2020 plan had this as a 4 lane highway, that was part of preparing for that. Striggow: So, that $250,000, is that only if you build a building or if you purchase a building? Nolan: What we got is…Striggow: I know it says building a building, is that the same as purchasing? Wagner: Good point, it says build. Nolan: It does say build, thatâs something that can be voted on, though. Wagner: Yeah. Nolan: Why? You guys looking to sell? Striggow: Nah. Nolan: Ok. Bushong: Iâm sorry to bring it up again, but are we any closer on the PACE transportation offering for residents? Nolan: Yes. Bushong: Yes? Nolan: Cherie volunteered to take it over, because Don refused to. Newton: Iâll work on that. Bushong: Thank you. Nolan: Actually I should have brought that up, thank you cherie too, by the way. Newton: Youâre welcome. Scott Bettenhausen: I have the land rent checks for Park District (handed to Coffey to record). Submitted 3
checks each check $3,192 totaling $9,576. Nolan: Ok, can I get a motion to adjourn? Standish: Can I ask a question? Nolan: Sure. Standish: Sometimes you donât get around to things in a hurry here, and so, Iâm saying, do we authorize Don (Murday) to make a Christmas party or anything like that? Cause by the time the next month comes around, youâll be having a summer party (laughter). Murday: Nothing will happen till I come back to the board with this. Standish: Ok. Murday: Nothing will happen until after the 1st of the year. Standish: So we donât have to make a motion? Ok. Murday: But the pool party invitation (inaudible). Nolan: Oh, you know what? You got me thinking now, I got a bad headache today, guys, it’s horrible. Schultz: You look like it. Murday: You added to it Buddy. Nolan: No, I had it before, he always makes me laugh, Buddy cheers me up. I have a question, the School Board is going to be going for a referendum in March, I didnât know, for the board, if you give them an opportunity to come here and talk, and give residents opportunity to come up here. Newton: Thereâs a meeting tomorrow night, at PIC, right across the street. An informational meeting, 7 oâclock. Nolan: Ok. Newton: Then they have 1 or 2 more prior to referendum. Chris Russell: Next official oneâs in March. Newton: Oh, not until then? Ok. Russell: There will probably be one. Nolan: Ok. Murday: Before you adjourn Jim, just a comment from a member of the public, not from Planning Chair. On behalf of the Township, thank you to all who serve the Township. You may be elected paid officials, but I know that you care about the community, and that we act with that in mind. As a resident of Green Garden Township, I thank you, and I thank Jane for all that you do for the Township. I know a lot of times you only hear the complaints and bitches,
but a lot of things that happen in the Township are good things, that I appreciate. Board: Thank you. Massat: The only thing I have to say Don, is to your nice gesture there, is youâre not getting anymore snow or salt on your road. The time of removing the snow will be much longer now (laughter). Bushong: Bob wonât do mine, anyway (laughter). Massat: Thanks Don. Murday: Merry Christmas. Board: Merry Christmas. Schultz: One last thing, where do you get cold mix or hot mix from? Massat: Well, the last couple of those I got from Iroquois Pavers. Schultz: Thank you, otherwise, I was gonna ask you what the trucks are driving out here. Massat: Normally I get it from PT Ferro, because their mix seems to be a little bit better, but, itâs such a long distance to go there now, because Brandon Rd. is closed, oh, is it open now? But Gallagher got it now too. Schultz: Iâm done.
There was a motion to adjourn the meeting by Trustee Wagner, with a second by Trustee Hellriegel. Voice
vote: Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Coffey, Clerk