Kankakee County Community Services Committee met January 15

By Kristine Gonzales-Abella

Mar 9, 2019

Kankakee County Community Services Committee met Jan. 15.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Members Present

Ms. Webber, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Snipes, Ms. Peters, Ms. Dunbar, Mr. Fairfield, Mr. Zenz, Mr. Carrico, Mr. Ekhoff, Mr. Fetherling, Mr. Swanson, and Ms. Zuccollo

Members Absent

Ms. Parker and Ms. Polk

In Attendance

 Board Members

Mr. Sirois

 Department Heads

Julie Boudreau, Erich Blair, Dan Hendrickson, Lori Gadbois, Kevin Duval and Anita Speckman

 Media None

1. CalltoOrder/RollCall

The meeting was called to order by the Committee Chairperson, Ms. Webber, at 9:00 a.m. Quorum present.

2. Public Comment

None

3. Approval of Minutes: December 18, 2018

Mr. Fetherling made a motion to approve the minutes and Mr. Fairfield seconded it.

Motion carried with a voice vote.

Ms. Webber talked about the importance of the committees and recording within the county.

4. County Clerk – Dan Hendrickson  Monthly Report

Mr. Hendrickson commented on the importance of double checking work and the accuracy of recording.

Mr. Hendrickson also stated that there is an action item for relocation of the polling place.

Mr. Ekhoff made a motion to approve the monthly report, and Mr. Zenz seconded it. Motion carried with voice vote.

 Polling Place Relocation – Bourbonnais #5

Olivet advised Mr. Hendrickson that they had other plans for the space that they typically use for polling. Mr. Hendrickson advised that they have located a church that will work perfectly for the polling place.

Ms. Dunbar made a motion to approve the polling place relocation, and Mr. Fetherling seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Snipes asked if the public is going to be made aware of the changes.

Mr. Hendrickson confirmed that there will be post cards mailed out to registered voters.

Mr. Hendrickson continued to discuss the voting that is coming up. Mr. Hendrickson asked for the opinion of the committee regarding the April voting for the city of Momence. There are four polling places there and there are zero contested races there. Illinois law will allow him to consolidate precincts there. With the low turnout expectancy due to uncontested races, the county could save an estimated $2700 to $3000. Mr. Hendrickson advised that he spoke with Mr. Ekhoff and he had spoken with the Mayor of Momence and they were in agreement with the consolidation. Notification would be sent to the public.

Mr. Ekhoff confirmed that he would echo what Mr. Hendrickson stated, the mayor and city council are on his side with it. Everyone is in agreement with the consolidation.

Mr. LaGesse stated that they have done that in Bradley and he does not see a problem with it. Mr. Fairfield asked if there would be extra judges at the polling place.

Mr. Hendrickson stated that he is expecting about a 10% turnout and they will have five judges at the location.

Mr. Hendrickson stated that a board member had asked for the statistics on age groups of voters and he shared those stats with the committee. The statistics were as follows: ages 18-19 were at 50.1%, in their 20’s were 26.1%, in their 30’s were 38%, in their 40’s were 50.4%, in their 50’s were 61.4%, in their 60’s were 71.18%, in their 70’s were 74.7%, and older than 70 was 58.6%.

Mr. Hendrickson said that the Vital Records Press Release was completed. In 2018, there were 1,416 births in Kankakee County. There were more boys than girls, 729 boys and 687 girls. The number was an increase by 52 in total. The most popular names for boys were: Carter, Liam and Owen. The most popular name for girls was: Harper, Emma, and Olivia. The most popular months for births were July.

There were 648 marriage licenses issued for 2018.

Mr. Hendrickson wanted to add that Mr. Blair will be speaking about the DEVNET system and he wanted to add the huge benefit that this system has brought and the money it has saved taxpayers.

5. Assessor – Erich Blair

• MonthlyReports

Ms. Peters made a motion to approve the monthly report, and Ms. Dunbar seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Ms. Webber asked Mr. Blair what ends he goes to in order to keep accuracy within his office.

Mr. Blair stated that it wasn’t much different than the response from Mr. Hendrickson. While 100% accuracy is the goal, there are challenges with over 55,000 parcels in the area. Double checking, reviewing, and confirming assists with the effort for accuracy.

Ms. Webber stated that it is probably a combination of technology and human double checking.

 DEVNET Contract Renewal Overview

Mr. Blair discussed the Contract being up for renewal with the committee and how important this system is to the County.

The DEVNET contract expires on March 31st, 2019 and he wanted to be certain the new members were familiar with the system and what it does for the County. The system coordinates information between three departments for tax purposes: Assessor, Circuit Clerk, and the Treasurer. The information also makes its way into the GIS system which makes mapping easier.

On a state level, DEVNET is used by over 60 of the 102 counties in Illinois.

Mr. Snipes asked if there were any price differences to continue the contract.

Mr. Blair advised that what he was hoping for today was to get a motion to send the issue to the Finance committee.

Mr. Blair continued to discuss and review the contract renewal with the committee, adding that the contract was sent to the State’s Attorney for review.

Kevin Duval commented that what Mr. Blair is discussing is the maintenance of the program, not the hardware. Which if the alternative was to use a different system, the cost would be about half million dollars.

Ms. Peters made a motion to send the renewal to the Finance Committee, and Mr. Zenz seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Blair continued to discuss and review the monthly report with the committee. Mr. Blair continued to summarize the end of the year and how it was completed, including the final abstract.

Mr. Sirois commented that he finds it impressive to have the final abstract submitted and in previous years, it wasn’t completed in such a timely manner.

6. Animal Control – Julie Boudreau  Monthly Report

Mr. Carrico made a motion to approve the monthly report, and Mr. Fetherling seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Ms. Boudreau asked if there were any questions about the report from the committee.

The Committee did not have any questions regarding the report at this time.

Ms. Webber asked about the recent case in which there were many animals saved from a cruel situation and how Animal Control was able to handle that number of animals.

Ms. Boudreau replied that she was very appreciating of the help that she received from other shelters and kennels within the area and all the volunteers. Ms. Boudreau continued to thank everyone who assisted with that situation.

Mr. LaGesse asked for an update on the new facility.

Ms. Boudreau stated that she would like to think that they are getting closer.

Mr. Lagesse inquired about B.A.R.K. and if they are able to accept donations and if that option is advertised to the public.

Ms. Boudreau agreed with the idea to include that in their mailers and continued to talk about fundraising efforts. In March, there is a comedy night planned for fundraising. Also, there are ceramic tiles for a memorial wall that can be constructed in an effort for fundraising.

Ms. Boudreau invited the committee to come see the blue print drafts of the new facility, she would welcome that. Although they are still tweaking some things, so it is not ready to be shared publicly. Ms. Boudreau expressed excitement that the new facility will bring by opening up opportunities for youth and the community to get involved.

Ms. Boudreau reviewed an informational handout with the committee regarding the new laws that went into effect on January 1st, 2019.

7. Recorder – Lori Gadbois • Monthly Report

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

Ms. Dunbar made a motion to approve the monthly report, and Mr. Ekhoff seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

The committee did not have questions or comments about the monthly report.

 Book Restoration Update

Ms. Gadbois provided the committee with an update on the book restoration. The timeline is about four years until all the books are completed.

Ms. Gadbois added that she recently instructed training with new recorders with the State and it was an honor to be able to participate in that.

8. Animal Welfare Advisory Committee Update – Tinker Parker

Ms. Webber commented that with Ms. Parker out of town, there will be an update next week.

9. Old Business

None