The Peoria County Board held its regular meeting March 10th with all present but Member Rosenbohm.
One Citizen’s Remark in support of the pending Springdale Cemetery agreement and preservation of the savannah under the pending care of the Peoria Park District.
The Consent agenda passed on a vote of 17-0 without discussion but two items were voted on separately to allow members to abstain due to possible conflicts of interest.  Among approved items were:

• Riverfront Museum bylaws revisions.
• Settlement of a circuit court case for a payment of $200,000.
• Settlement of a Worker’s Compensation case for an amount not to exceed $60,000.
• Peoria County and Bradley University agreement for maintaining the Pavement Management Program.
• Capital improvements on Blue Ridge Road, Todd School Road, and townships roads within Millbrook and Rosefield townships.

The regular agenda consisted of eight items and all were approved.  These include:

• Sale of Heddington Oaks to UnityPoint Health for use as a child and adolescent mental/behavioral health and substance abuse hub for prevention, treatment and recovery.  Dr. Keith Knepp, CEO, UnityPoint Health-Central Illinois, and Martha Herm, past UnityPlace board chair, made presentations encouraging the sale.  Several members expressed reservations about the low sale price and remaining bond payments but ultimately supported the unanimous vote since UnityPoint was a local buyer and the planned use was sorely needed. Dr. Knepp indicated that UnityPoint would invest a multi-million dollar sum to renovate the facility to accommodate the new use.
• Approval of a new Springdale Cemetery ten year intergovernmental agreement with unanimous votes by the county board, Peoria City Council and the Peoria Park District board.
• Special use requests for two potential Airbnb/VRBO properties in Chillicothe Township.
• Special use to permit the development of a solar energy generation facility in Princeville Township.
• Suspension of the Rules to permit extension of the Declaration of Emergency due to COVID-19 in the county.

Jim Runyon, Observer
Link to the meeting agenda and video are here:
Agenda
Video
​

  The trustees of the PPD board voted unanimously in favor of accepting the 2022 Springdale Cemetery Intergovernmental Agreement between the PPD, the City of Peoria, and the County of Peoria. Under the agreement the city will subdivide and sell the area of the savanna at Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum to the PPD for $1.00. This area will be put into permanent environmental stewardship at the Park District’s cost. The agreement is for ten years with the option to extend an additional ten years. The Peoria City Council approved the agreement prior to the PPD board meeting and the Peoria County Board will vote on it March 10, 2022.  
 In other business Jacob Kuban reported on the process the PPD has gone through to receive Level 1 accreditation from the Morton Arboretum’s Arbnet for the Donovan Park Arboretum. Signage is being developed to identify 25 tree species in high traffic areas of the park. A tree planting will be held Friday, April 29 in conjunction with Earth Day. All trustees were present in person/via Zoom. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 and adjourned at 6:45.
MA, Observer

​The Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners met Tuesday, March 8, 2022, with Commissioners Manning, Williamson, and Bartolo present.  The Commission website now lists candidates who have filed for various positions in the County, including Peoria School District 150.  Filings are scheduled to close on Monday, March 14, at 5:00.  Everyone who was in line at 8:00 am on the 7th and has an opponent will go into a lottery to determine whose name appears first on the ballot.
  The new voting system has arrived except for a few pieces that were to arrive later that week.  First, everything will be tested to assure they are working properly.  This includes voting equipment, printers, and other equipment.  The following week staff will be trained on the equipment.  Training for judges will take place in April, followed by a mock election mid-month. 
   Pollbooks will be tested around the first of April. 
  After attending a run through of the equipment in DuPage County last month, Director Tom Bride said the slowest point of the election process is checkin.  There are also discussions on ways to work with handicapped voters.  The old equipment goes back to the vendor for recycling.
  The only legislation in the works concerns tweeks and the clean up of language in previous bills.
 
Irene Pritzker, Observer

​The 4pm meeting was chaired by Pam Johnson with two members participating by phone and 6 participating in person. New representative from the County is Henry Blackwell (besides County Board Members Linda Daley and Kate Pastucha.) Joyce Harant representing the Peoria Park District is fairly new to this board also. This Observer was the only member of the public in attendance. The wifi in the Volunteer and Maintenance Building where the meeting is held is not good, so it would be difficult to hold the meeting virtually.
The Manager Mark Matuszak’s report included:

• Burials for January 2022 were more than done in January for the past 8 years
• A revised Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) in its 7th version is being discussed at the city, county, and park district - the original IGA signers. Joyce Harant asked when/whether there would be a public meeting to discuss the IGA. Response was that the three originating signers should accept public comment prior to their approving the IGA document. (The original IGA identified the City as the owner with the Park District and County “participating” with an identified amount of money each year. The owner would make up any deficit or accept profits. Typically the city pays about $250,000 per year. While the county and the park district’s agreed annual amount is much less than that. Note: anyone living within the city helps to pay all three of those amounts.
• Mr Stuttle questioned whether “allowing the endowment fund” was included in the IGA as discussed at a previous meeting. (Cemeteries have that fund to pay for ongoing upkeep of the cemetery since the business will eventually run out of plots to sell. Springdale is large and the sale of plots cannot cover annual costs.) Mr. Matuszak will get that change added to the IGA.
• Having done a Market Assessment, staff will recommend increasing opening and closing fees as well as site costs (plots.)
• Employee wage increases was discussed including: the fact that several wonderful long-term volunteers can no longer do that physical work which may require more employees, the pandemic labor shortage required increased pay to get the seasonal work done, and adding a Bradley intern part time to document the Cloudpoint process in identifying grave locations for future volunteers and staff.
• They will add 24 or so replacement trees (and troughs and netting) this Spring. Discussed that is a good item for people to donate money towards. Also replacing old trash receptacles and signs that are tattered.
• Lighting for the Civil War Monument is backordered, but the electrical work for that is complete.
• Memorial Day event will include “Race for Preservation” sponsored by the Springdale Historical Preservation Foundation, drive throughs with veteran gravesites locations, and recognition of volunteers.

Kate Pastucha is the new president of the Foundation Board and they have worked on updating their committees, etc. Their will be new activities at Springdale happening through the Foundation.
CB, Observer

​GPSD Trustees participated in person and online. That option was open to the public also. Staff and Trustees were welcoming to have an Observer.
Their website was very helpful finding the location, time, date, how to participate online or in person. Also from their website https://www.gpsd.org/

• their FY ’22 Strategy: Safety & Employees, Environmental Protection, and Community & Customer Expectations. 
• their long-range strategy: “Our three main focus areas are: (1) a cleaner river (including consent decree implementation), (2) collection system rehabilitation, and (3) treatment plant rehabilitation.” 

Trustee President Robert Gates presided at the 9:30am meeting. Executive Director Brian Johnson led his staff to explain the monthly reports and issues including:

• Financials
  • the pension assets (IMRF) yielded 16.2% return so the 2022 employer rate will be decreased
  • discussed their investments and reserve ($23million in savings but an outage of a turbine or other equipment can cost more than that.)
  • costs have increased significantly with chemicals increasing 15% and utilities increasing 26%
  • insurance costs have increased from $36, 875 to $44,672 – GPSD insures all its properties since an unexpected flood or other cost would be significant
  • doing an automation study to help plan for failure replacements of equipment especially their diesel turbines which must operate even in event of power outages.
• Mr Johnson presented the proposed Budget Strategy which considers an aging plant and anticipated growth in North Peoria. He will work with each Trustee to answer questions, etc. Some highlights:
  • customer rates from GPSD @$300/year are well below national average which is @$586/year, however they will be looking at an 80cent/month increase in their budget for 2022-23.  And, they don’t have the City of Peoria’s rate yet.
  • “Consent Decree” term is used referring to the CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow) determination. Almost half of their “Capitol Projects” are Consent Decree projects
  • fiscal year starts in May
  • Public Hearing on the 2023 Budget is scheduled for April 19, 2022 at 9:30am
• Other agenda items:
  • Approved a new ordinance for grease collections since the previous company doing this stopped operating last year. It takes additional effort for GPSD to deal with this (mostly restaurant) waste stream and GPSD kept the previous operator’s fees in place until they complete a cost study underway.
  • Discussed “authorized Water Shutoffs on Delinquent Accounts” at length including Low Income pledges from PCCEO, landlord/tenant issues, huge bills due to landlords not repairing plumbing
  • Only one sewer backup last month and staff has worked with that owner

Cheryl, Observer

The Peoria County Board held its regular meeting February 10th with all present but Member Bryant.  Members Reliford, Elsasser and Rosenbohm participated by phone.  
There were no Citizen’s Remarks. 
The Consent agenda passed on a vote of 16-0 without discussion. Among items approved were:

• A Local Agency Agreement for Federal Participation with the State of Illinois for reconstruction of Peoria County’s section of Glen Avenue from Sheridan Road to Knoxville Avenue.
• Grant dollars to fund microchips for animals at PCAPS.

The regular agenda consisted of four items and all were approved.  These include:

• Special use to allow a land split in Limestone Township in order to separate and sell two existing buildings from the remaining agricultural use.
• Amendments to Special Use Permits within the Peoria County Code to proactively address the application process for any future wind tower/turbines within the county.  Included were provisions related to emergency signage, noise level certification, liability insurance, adding bats to the required avian study, and ensuring decommission plans and funding are in place prior to approval.  No applications have been received to date.  These amendments follow approval during the January meeting of temporary meteorological towers to record and measure wind data for up to three years in Millbrook, Princeville and Brimfield townships.
• Suspension of the Rules to permit extension of the Declaration of Emergency due to COVID-19 in the county.

JR, Observer
Link to the meeting agenda and video are here:
Agenda & Video
​

​   Board President Robert Johnson has been elected to the State Board of Directors for the Illinois Association of Park Districts for a two-year term. He and four PPD employees attended the IAPD Conference where he was recognized.
   Shalesse Pie, Human Resources Director, gave a minority hiring report for last year. In 2021

• 12 of 31 new hires were non-white leading to
• 19% - 26 of 132 full-time positions are held by non-white workers.
• Seasonal/part-time numbers stand at 24% with 137/569 positions held by non-white workers.
• Currently 38% of voters identify as non-white.

   Executive Director Cahill reported that she is waiting to hear from the state regarding funding for the Glen Oak bandshell before further planning is undertaken.
   A request for $5,000,000 in General Obligation Park Bonds and a lease agreement with OSF for space at the RiverPlex both passed unanimously.
   A question on the new Peoria Public Schools calendar led to discussion concerning preliminary thinking about programming for breaks.
   All trustees were present in person/via Zoom. The meeting was called to order at 6:45 and adjourned at 8:15. 
​MA, Observer

  The Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners met on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, with a quorum of three.  Commissioners Bartolo and Ketterer were absent. 
  In his monthly report, Director Tom Bride said that there would be a kickoff meeting for the new voting system the following day.  A calendar will be determined through the primary in June.  On the 15th, he and Elizabeth Gannon will be going to DeKalb County to observe a mock election on the Hart equipment, which is the same equipment that Peoria County will be getting.  DuPage and Peoria Counties are the only voting entities in Illinois doing ballot on demand. 
  New voter registration cards will be sent out.  They are not forwardable and are sent back to the Voting Commission as undeliverable if the person doesn't live at that address anymore.  Those voters whose cards were "undeliverable" are then sent a letter that can be forwarded, telling the voter that they need to change their voting address.
  Peoria has been visited by Cybersecurity personnel from the federal Department of Homeland Security.  They evaluated the local election office and made a few recommendations, mostly having to do with documentation.  They gave an active shooter seminar, but found no necessary changes.
 IP, Observer

   A short public meeting regarding redistricting of council districts was held prior to council meeting.  Comments were made in person and written communication by seven citizens, most representing home-owners associations from the West Bluff and Moss-Bradley areas.  All were against the proposed changes in V2.3 map based on lack of transparency, as well as community input, and not keeping existing neighborhoods intact. The Council plans final vote on redistricting at February 22 meeting.  Proposed council district maps are available www.peoriagov.org/redistricting. 
   Annual Township meeting of City of Peoria will be held April 12, 2022 at council chambers at 6:00 P.M.  Citizens wishing to speak must submit specific items to be considered for meeting agenda by Tuesday, March 1, 2022 to Township Clerk ; communication must be signed by fifteen citizens.
   Council approved issuance of general obligation bonds not to exceed $17,000,000 for financing certain capital improvements and refunding certain outstanding bonds to provide for levy and collection of direct Annual Tax for payment of principal and interest and authorizing sale of the bonds.  Vote preceded by robust discussion by members; final vote eight to three, with nays by Councilors Cyr, Kelly and Ruckriegel.
   City Manager Urich provided overview of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) process and benefits for the University/War redevelopment project.  Benefits include additional improvements, as well as tax revenue from new businesses.  When asked about public input on this project, Urich cited a public hearing held January 25, 2022, as well as presentation to local taxing bodies given at Open Meeting where comment available.  The TIF would expire in twenty-three years.
   Peoria City Council meets second and fourth Tuesdays at 6:00 P.M. and can be viewed online or cable public access channel 22.  Agenda and minutes available at www.peoriagov.org/city-council/council-meetings.
 C, Observer

​   The Board of Commissioners met for regular monthly meeting electronically due to COVID-19 pandemic.  There were no public comments or FSS graduates.  Human Resources announced one new employee this month and anticipate another in next few weeks.
   Minutes of special meetings of January 6 and 7, 2022 were approved, as well as the Annual and Regular meetings of January 10, 2022.  Consent agenda approved without discussion. 
   The Chief Executive Officer’s report was brief.  Ms. Newman’s written report was distributed to Commissioners but was not available on website or at meeting.  HUD scores for 2021 in progress; scores carried over from prior year and will be resolved in January – February 2023.  She will report on upcoming changes in housing programs in March.  
   Being no old or new business items to bring forward, or board comments, the Commissioners went into closed session for employee compensation issue at 4:45 PM.  There was no update from CEO Search Committee.  Next Board of Commissioners Meeting is March 7, 2022, at 4:30 P.M.
 C, Observer