Galesburg Reporter

New Lenox Township Board of Trustees met Nov. 8.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

I. CALL TO ORDER

The New Lenox Town Board of Trustees Meeting was called to order on November 08, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. by Supervisor Hickey.

II. ROLL CALL

PRESENT:

Michael Hickey Supervisor

Linda Stellwagen for Clerk

Martin Boban Trustee

Kathy Hilton Trustee

Also Present:

Ron Sly Highway Commissioner

Bonnie Hernandez Assessor

Absent:

Barbara Kaupas Trustee

Larry Wennlund Trustee

Sue Smith Clerk

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion by Trustee Hilton, seconded by Trustee Boban, to approve the September 13, 2018 minutes of the Executive Session Meeting. No further discussion; all in favor; none opposed; motion carried.

Motion by Trustee Hilton, seconded by Trustee Boban, to approve the October 11, 2018 minutes of the Regular Meeting during roll call Trustee Hilton abstained, she was not at that meeting. It was determined to bring back the Minutes from the Regular Meeting of October 11, 2018 for approval at the next Regular Scheduled Meeting.

IV. SPECIAL GUEST/PUBLIC COMMENTS

Maureen Broderick asked; when you guys are doing salary increases is there any chance that we can see the budget? She stated she knows on the JJC board when they are looking at things we have to keep the appropriations for payroll and that separate. She stated that Supervisor Hickey is worried about the salary increases. Supervisor Hickey stated he is not worried. Supervisor Hickey stated that he is currently working on the Levy which we approve in December, the Budget gets approved in March or April, and before he does the levy he looks at the budget to determine what to propose for the Levy. She asked if we have our budget all set up like they do with Operation Maintenance, Life Safety, Supervisor Hickey explained that Township Budgets are not the same as Schools, they have different sections. The Township has parts for the Town Fund, Assessors part of the Town Fund, Senior Housing, Marshall Cemetery, Maplewood Cemetery, Insurance Fund, Audit Fund and one for General Assistance there are basically three separate funds, Maureen Broderick stated she understands that; so that is on display and anyone can see it. Supervisor Hickey stated that the Current Budget is available to anyone.

Maureen Broderick asked that she noticed that the Clerk was not here and asked if he ever states the reason. Supervisor Hickey stated no he normally does not. He does know that the Clerk is in France for the 100th Anniversary for the signing of Armistice Day for World War One.

V. BOARD ISSUES-ACTION ITEMS

A. Determine Township FY2018 levy for Truth in Taxation

Supervisor Hickey sent out preliminary papers to the board to help determine the Levy. New Construction is $20,546,380. EAV for 2018 was $1,579,518,997. Deducting exemptions from the total we get the taxable value. Subtract New Construction off that total to get your estimated value of existing property. Then divide the existing property by existing value, to get a new rate. By his calculation the new rate would be.08932. The rate has gone down from previous years. These are preliminary numbers. We must submit our Levy to County by December and sometimes the actual numbers come out after that. We anticipate the maximum increase if we so choose to do so would be $44,638 which would be a maximum rate increase of 3.56% which is under the 5% of truth in taxation requirement.

Originally, Supervisor Hickey had anticipated a need of approximately $26,000 increase. However, he has had conversation with the Assessor over the past few days which has changed his previously anticipated need. The Assessor’s office needs to upgrade their software system which is about 10 years behind where it should be. With the anticipation of the Quadrennial year coming and the fact that that the current software system does not mesh well with the County’s system, she finds the need to upgrade. The upgrade will cost approximately $38,000, the Assessor has negotiated with the Vendor to accept two payments for the upgrade, one this fiscal year, and one the following fiscal year. With that he anticipates a need of $30,000 increase, which will probably be his recommendation.

No action taken.

B. Resolution #2018-04 Authorizing the abatement of Taxes Levied for the Year 2018 pursuant to Ordinance #2004-04 for the Senior Housing Bond.

Motion by Trustee Boban, seconded by Trustee Hilton, to adopt Resolution #2018-04; on a roll call vote Trustee Boban aye, Trustee Hilton aye and Supervisor Hickey aye, 3 ayes 0 nays; motion carried.

C. Resolution #2018-05 Honorary Naming Pioneer Place Edward Johnson Place

This Resolution was brought forward by Highway Commissioner Sly, the Resolution was read into the record by Supervisor Hickey

Motion by Trustee Boban, seconded by Trustee Hilton, to adopt Resolution #2018-05; on a roll call vote Trustee Boban aye, Trustee Hilton aye and Supervisor Hickey aye,

3 ayes 0 nays; motion carried.

The board presented the family with a copy of the Resolution. Trustees gave their sentiments to the family in Edward Johnson’s honor. The family of Edward Johnson thanked the Board.

D. Approval of 2018 Senior Housing Capital Appreciation Bond Payment

The bond payment for the Senior Housing this year is $250,000, last year it was $230,000 and next year it will be $255,000. It gets paid electronically in December, it will not show up on bills payable next month, so he put in on the agenda for approval.

Motion by Trustee Boban, seconded by Trustee Hilton, to adopt Resolution #2018-05; on a roll call vote Trustee Boban aye, Trustee Hilton aye and Supervisor Hickey aye;

3 ayes 0 nays; motion carried.

Supervisor Hickey gave supplemental information, after this payment we have 10 years left to pay on the Bonds. The overall payment left is $2,700,000. Once that is paid for, we will continue to have a great asset that will contribute to the Township Funds rather than being an expense. He just wanted to keep everyone updated.

VI. REPORTS FROM TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS

A. Supervisor

Supervisor Hickey stated they had to replace another three furnaces at the senior building, that’s in addition to the previous two that’s been replaced. Its roughly 1/3 of the Units, so he anticipates they will be needing to replace more eventually.

The Offices are completed, the tiles have been replaced. The bathrooms are done, except for the grab bars which we are waiting on to get approval from the Village.

B. Trustees

1. Trustee Boban

a) Trustee Boban will be attending the Flag Ceremony with T.O.I. Conference, we will have our flag on display at the Conference.

b) New Clothing Containers are here at the Township. We have two containers and they seem to be operating fine so far.

c) Electronic Recycle is down just a little bit but is doing well. Adding the third box seems to have helped with the prior issue of over usage for the traditional recycling.

2. Trustee Kaupas absent

3. Trustee Wennlund absent

4. Trustee Hilton

a) Trustee Hilton mentioned that the Chamber of Commerce will be having a ribbon cutting ceremony across the street at the Alden Center and considering that they will be using our services perhaps we might attend. It’s at 11:00 a.m. on November 29th.

b) Trustee Hilton, shared that the Operation Santa had tried to partner up with the park district, having them assist us so we would only have one vehicle. Unfortunately, they have another event planned for that day, instead of having a Santa bus we will be having a Santa Train of Cars as opposed to a Santa Bus.

c) Usage of rides is up substantially compared to last month. Punch-card services is also up. Transportation continues to get utilized.

C. CLERK absent

D. HIGHWAY COMMISSIONER

Commissioner Sly reported that they are tidying up some loose ends such as ditching and pot hole filling, which he had to put on the back burner this week. He needed to get the trucks ready in anticipation of forecasted snow.

E. ASSESSOR

Assessor Hernandez thanked Supervisor Hickey for giving her report earlier in the meeting. She emphasized how important this new system will be. The County and her office will have real time verification of correct information. It’s a much-needed update. Also, the timing is good because she has two new staff members that can be trained with the new system. She also stated that they are one of the last townships to go to this new system. She is looking forward to the new system.

VII. REPORT FROM ATTORNEY absent

VIII. APPROVAL OF BILLS

Motion made by Trustee Boban, seconded by Trustee Hilton, to accept all bills and late bills as presented and approve for payment $54,203.14 from the Township General Fund, $8,705.25 from the Maplewood Cemetery Fund, $3,560.00 from the Marshall Cemetery Fund, $27,365.95 from the Senior Housing Fund, $0.00 from the General Assistance Fund, $100,788.32 from the Road District Road & Bridges Fund and $0.00 from the Equipment & Building Fund.

On a roll-call vote Trustee Boban aye, Trustee Hilton aye and Supervisor Hickey aye; 3 ayes 0 nays; motion carried.

IX. OTHER BUSINESS

X. EXECUTIVE SESSION

Motion made by Trustee Hilton seconded by Trustee Boban to go into Executive Session for a matter of a Possible Real Estate Acquisition.

On a roll-call vote Trustee Boban aye, Trustee Hilton aye and Supervisor Hickey aye; 3 ayes 0 nays; motion carried.

Board entered Executive Session at 7:42 p.m.

Board resumed regular Session at 7:55 p.m.

XI. ADJOURNMENT

Motion made by Trustee Hilton seconded by Trustee Boban, to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 p.m. No further discussion;

On a roll call-vote Trustee Boban aye, Trustee Hilton aye, and Supervisor Hickey aye; 3 ayes 0 nays; motion carried.

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