Kankakee Times

Kankakee County Community Services Committee met July 18.

Here is the minutes as provided by the committee:

Members Present

Mr. Sirois, Ms. Webber, Mr. Stauffenberg, Mr. Vickery, Ms. Polk, Mr. Snipes, Mr. Payton, Ms.

Dunbar, and Ms. Parker

Members Absent

Mr. Tholen, Ms. Evans, Ms. Peters, and Mr. Johnson

In Attendance

 Board Members

Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Liehr

 Department Heads

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

 Media

None

1. Call to Order/Roll Call

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

present.

2. Public Comment

None.

3. Approval of Minutes: June 20, 2017

A motion to approve the minutes was made by Ms. Polk, and seconded by Ms. Parker.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

A motion to amend the agenda for Old Business to go first was made by Ms. Parker, and

seconded by Ms. Dunbar. Motion carried with a voice vote.

4. Old Business

 Establish Subcommittee to Sort through Applications for Advisory Committee

Mr. Wheeler stated that he has a meeting to attend at 9:30 a.m., and appreciates the agenda

being changed so that he can speak first.

Mr. Wheeler stated that, over the past two or three weeks, we have received quite a few

applications for potential members of the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. He wanted to ask

this committee’s approval to have the two members of the County Board who will be on the new

committee, Ms. Parker and Ms. Dunbar, help him sort through the applications and score them to

bring it down to a list to be brought back to the next Community Services meeting to approve.

Mr. Vickery made a motion to approve Ms. Parker and Ms. Dunbar, with Chairman Wheeler,

forming a subcommittee to sort through applications and bring back recommendations to

this committee, and was seconded by Mr. Payton. Motion carried with a voice vote.

5. Recorder: Lori Gadbois

 Monthly Report

Mr. Snipes 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.

 Discussion of Pending State Law & Raising the County Recorder’s Fees Accordingly

Ms. Gadbois stated that there was supposed to be discussion about raising the Recorder’s fees

based on the legislation that was passed. She knows that the State’s Attorney’s office has the

language written. We were hoping that the Governor would have signed that by now, but, as of

this morning, we still have no signature, but it’s on his desk. We have three different entities

helping us push to get that going. We don’t know of any potential holdups as to why it’s not being

signed. The language will be coming so that this committee has a chance to review it. It does

have to be on public notice for four weeks before it can be enacted.

Mr. Sirois stated that he needs a motion to approve the pending increase of the Recorder’s fees if

and when signed by the Governor.

Mr. Payton made said motion, and Ms. Dunbar seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Ms. Gadbois stated that once it’s signed, it will go to the full County Board for review and

approval.

6. Assessor: Erich Blair

 Monthly Report

Mr. Stauffenberg made a motion to approve the report, and Ms. Polk seconded it. Motion

carried with a voice vote.

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

7. County Clerk: Bruce Clark

 Monthly Report

Ms. Dunbar made a motion to approve the report, and Mr. Vickery seconded it. Motion

carried with a voice vote.

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

 Comprehensive Financial & Services Report

Mr. Clark provided the committee with a Comprehensive Financial & Services Report which was

put together to show those functions that will help everyone better understand and track some of

the responsibilities of his office. He recognized Ryan Grosso, who is an intern in the County

Clerk’s office, and has been a great addition this summer. He also acknowledged Dan

Hendrickson, who was the source of much of the material in the report and is a wealth of

information in terms of some of the stats that were pointed out. Ryan also generated some

statistics to see how Kankakee County compares to Illinois and nationwide.

8. Animal Control: Julie Boudreau

 Monthly Report

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

with a voice vote.

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

 Kennel Tech

Ms. Boudreau stated that she had a part-time kennel tech, working weekends and holidays, who

decided to move on from community college to Carbondale. We are at our busiest time of year

right now, so she did speak with Lynn Mackin and Chairman Wheeler and they gave her the go

ahead to fill the position since it was already an established one. Not doing so would have put a

hardship on the department and caused overtime of employees at a higher rate. She did fill that

position with another part-time individual and she wanted to make the committee aware of that.

 New Software

Ms. Boudreau asked to table this item as she still has some IT questions or issues to work out, but

will hopefully bring it back next month.

 Legislation Support HB 2810

Ms. Boudreau stated that she spoke with Chairman Wheeler who told her that she must bring

legislation to the committee, and it must go to the Board. The season is winding down about now,

and she would like to come back and talk with the committee about that process because things

happen either really slow down in Springfield or they happen overnight. There’s not an

opportunity to come and talk to the committee, then wait and talk to the full Board the next month.

Action is probably a moot point by then, so she’s hoping that can be worked on and she can get

some permission from the committee or the Board to be able to support or oppose certain types of

legislation. What she is bringing to the committee today is one piece of legislation she hopes can

be supported. It has passed both the House and the Senate. It creates language that says, if an

animal has been seized or forfeited under the Humane Care for Animals Act, they do not get to

get their animal back. This language says that, it’s not only illegal for the individual that lost

custody of their animal to have it back, it also puts penalties on the person that would come in,

adopt it, and give it back to the original owner. She is asking the committee for permission to

send a letter on behalf of the County of Kankakee. She understands that it may still need to go to

the full Board from here.

Mr. Sirois told Ms. Boudreau, after a discussion with the committee, that she had this committee’s

support on this measure, and can move it to the full Board.

9. New Business

None.

10. Adjournment

A motion was made by Ms. Dunbar to adjourn the meeting at 9:56 a.m., and was seconded

by Mr. Vickery. Motion carried.

http://www.co.kankakee.il.us/files/committees/comm_services_71817.pdf