Kankakee Times

Kankakee County Community Services Committee met April 18.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

Members Present:

Mr. Sirois, Ms. Webber, Mr. Stauffenberg, Mr. Vickery, Ms. Polk, Mr. Snipes, Ms. Evans, Mr. Payton, Ms. Peters, Ms. Dunbar, and Ms. Parker

Members Absent:

Mr. Tholen, and Mr. Johnson

In Attendance:

• Board Members

Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Liehr

• Department Heads

Erich Blair, Lori Gadbois, Bruce Clark, Jim Rowe, and Julie Boudreau

• Media

None

1. Call to Order/Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Mr. Sirois, at 9:00 a.m. Quorum present.

2. Chairman Wheeler – Companion Animal Issues

Chairman Wheeler stated that there were some misconceptions out there, and he wanted to hopefully answer some questions before public comment. There may be a way to either re- address some of those questions or comments based upon what he is about to say. First of all, we are not going to move ahead with the current multiple pet permits today. It violates peoples’ 4th Amendment rights, upon which both he and the State’s Attorney agree. We are still looking at this and seeing if there is something viable that we can work forward with the pet community on to help solve some issues. To clarify, this was only for rural areas as it stood before. There was never any language in it to put a limit on the number of animals one can own. That was a common misconception. It was only a $25 fee once someone went over the nine animal threshold. This was a tool to be used when we had a very bad situation, and always complaint driven.

3. Public Comment

Virginia Marsick commented on the multi-pet permit issue.

Dawn Tutt commented on the multi-pet permit issue.

Michael Pammer commented on the multi-pet permit issue.

Kathy Fegan commented on the multi-pet permit issue.

Dianne Arp commented on the multi-pet permit issue.

Mr. Rowe stated that he wanted to thank Animal Control for realizing that hoarding is an issue, and for trying to do something about it. Many communities have the multi-pet permit ordinance in effect, but just because other communities do it, doesn’t mean it’s right for every community. When he reviewed the ordinance with Chairman Wheeler, one of the first things he noticed was the 4th Amendment concern. In order to own “X” number of pets, and to have that permit, you basically have to concede your right to privacy in your home, meaning that you’re subject to search at any moment. That’s one element of the multi-pet permit ordinance that certainly should be omitted. The second thing that gives him pause is the fact that the idea that this ordinance would somehow address the hoarding situation. There are laws on the books in Illinois which they now enforce every day in this county. They have had a number of hoarding situations come through his office already and, when they do, they are addressed with the laws that are on the books.

4. Approval of Minutes: March 21, 2017

A motion to approve the minutes was made by Ms. Parker, and seconded by Ms. Polk. Motion carried with a voice vote.

5. Recorder: Lori Gadbois

• Monthly Report

Ms. Polk made a motion to accept the report, and Ms. Dunbar seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Ms. Gadbois reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

Ms. Gadbois stated that Mr. Liehr brought to her attention House Bill 3150 regarding fraud referral. A couple of months ago, this committee recommended this to the full board, which then passed an ordinance that already takes care of that. On our level, without state oversight, we’re already doing what they just thought of. So anything fraudulent with concern out of her office, we now have the authority to be able to go straight to the Circuit Court.

6. Assessor – Erich Blair

• Monthly Report

Mr. Payton made a motion to approve the report, and Ms. Webber seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Blair reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

• Board of Review Recommendations

Mr. Blair stated that last week at the County Board meeting, there were some openings announced, and the ones out of his department would be two Board of Review members who need to be reappointed. He would like to make a recommendation to this committee to send forward to the Executive Committee that they retain and reappoint Mark Kaner and Joe Kane to the Board of Review. They have been excellent additions to that board, and bring a lot of real estate and appraisal knowledge to the board.

Ms. Polk made a motion to send the two recommendations for the Board of Review to the Executive Committee, and Mr. Vickery seconded it.

Mr. Blair stated that he is very pleased with his new employee, Collin Wood’s progress. With his background and knowledge in the mapping portion, he had no reservations there at all, but he is also trying to cross-train this individual to understand what they do in totality in the Assessment office.

7. Animal Control – Julie Boudreau

• Monthly Report

Ms. Parker made a motion to approve the report, and Ms. Polk seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Ms. Boudreau reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

• Open Position (Part-Time, Clerical)

Ms. Boudreau stated that she has a part-time, clerical position open as her part-time person has decided to move on. The clerical program is very cumbersome as they do not have a computer program that collects the data from the veterinarians and puts it into the computer system. Each certificate is hand entered. In down time, all of her staff helps entering them into the computer. The part-time person performs multiple duties, but mainly handles the rabies tag program. Ms. Boudreau spoke with Ms. Mackin, who stated that Ms. Boudreau could post the position, but needed to come to this committee to be sure that this is a position she could fill as it is not a new position, just an open position.

Chairman Wheeler stated that this would be a replacement, and the committee agreed that Ms. Boudreau could proceed.

• Update on Legislative Bills

Ms. Boudreau provided the committee with a list of legislative bills in relation to animal laws, and discussed them with the committee.

8. County Clerk – Bruce Clark

• Monthly Report

Ms. Evans made a motion to approve the report, and Ms. Polk seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Clark reviewed and discussed the report with the committee.

• Surplus Equipment

Mr. Clark stated that the equipment is over a two cycle period, and there is optical scan voting equipment that is too costly to repair. In addition, there are some encoders and memory cards. They’re able to absorb that because they reduced the number of precincts over the last couple of years from 90 down to 72. They still have a spare supply, but this just isn’t cost effective to repair, so it needs to be disposed of.

Ms. Dunbar made a motion to approve the declaration of surplus equipment, and Mr. Stauffenberg seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Clark handed out to the committee a recap reviewing the 2017 elections, and discussed it with the committee.

9. Old Business

• Multi-Pet Ordinance (Non-Action Item)

Chairman Wheeler asked Ms. Boudreau to re-introduce her thoughts on the multi-pet ordinance, even though it’s not going to be coming up for a vote, and not coming to the board. He thought it would be a good opportunity to have some discussion about the intent behind it so people may better understand it. If, in fact, we are able to have the community advisory board, for lack of a better name at this point, what that might look like if that group was able to talk about it knowing the goals that she may have, what the statutes require, and something positive to look at. He stated that we want to make sure that we’re communicating properly on intent, and whether or not there are redundancies with current laws and other things, knowing that we are not going to be looking at a punitive form of enforcement.

Ms. Boudreau discussed some of the situations that they have run across over the years that make her believe a multi-pet permit is important and beneficial. She sent emails to communities all over the State of Illinois asking who had pet limits and who had multi-pet permits. She stated that, surprisingly, Cook County was probably about the only one that didn’t have a pet limit or a multi-pet permit.

Ms. Boudreau further discussed the multi-pet ordinance with the committee.

10. New Business

11. Adjournment

A motion was made by Ms. Dunbar to adjourn the meeting at 11:23 a.m., and was seconded by Ms. Peters. Motion carried.

http://www.co.kankakee.il.us/files/committees/comm_services_41817.pdf