MINUTES
Moraine Township Board of Trustees
Thursday, April 24, 2008 7:30 PM
Highwood City Council Chambers

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
April 24, 2008

The meeting was called to order at 7:34 PM by Supervisor Barnes and upon roll call the following members were present: Trustees Bryna Gamson, Margoth Moreno, and Jeff Zaluda. Trustee Plouché arrived at 8:04 PM following her daughter’s performance at a school event . Also Present: Assessor Peter Koukos, Clerk Ellen Gussin, Director General Assistance Tracy Coleman, community members Nancy Rotering, Harry Crane, Wendi Ezgur, and Janet Freed.

Approval of Minutes
The Regular Meeting Minutes of March 27, 2008 stand approved as written.
The minutes of the special meeting of April 10 stand approved as written.

Approval of Bills
Trustee Zaluda moved, seconded by Trustee Moreno, approval of the monthly bills. Upon roll call, motion carried.

Public Comment
None

Budget Hearing
Supervisor Barnes requested a motion to open the hearing, so moved by Trustee Zaluda and seconded by Trustee Gamson, for the purpose of reviewing the Township budget for April 1, 2008 thru March 31, 2009. No one from the public wished to speak. A motion to close the hearing was made by Trustee Gamson, seconded by Trustee Zaluda. Upon roll call, motion passed.

Approval of Budget
Supervisor Barnes asked for any questions from the Board regarding the proposed budget. Trustee Gamson asked where the dollars would come from if the Board approves the recommendation of the Citizen Grant Advisory Committee which slightly exceeds the budgeted amount of $100,000 for grants. Supervisor Barnes pointed out the additional budgetary line item of $5,000 for Unappropriated Grants. Trustee Zaluda moved, seconded by Trustee Gamson, to approve the budget as proposed. Upon roll call, motion passed.

Assessor’s Report
Assessor Koukos reported that the books will be closed on schedule on August 1, 2008. He also answered questions of the Board regarding various tax exemptions available to citizens and the legislation being considered to change and improve procedures. Further information is available on the Township website.

Supervisor’s Report
Because of the many people coming into the Township for financial help and counseling, a new referral form has been created for the social workers in the schools, senior center, and other agencies to use. Its implementation is working well, as it helps to streamline the process.

Spring clean-up is taking place at the cemeteries, while the effort to go green continues. Assessor Koukos requested that the cemetery lawn be cut immediately before the Memorial Day holiday, when he will once again be planting flags at the gravesites of veterans.

Trustee Zaluda, at Supervisor Barnes’ request, commented on The Lake County Housing Conference to be held May 14 and he urged everyone to attend.

A conundrum in serving citizens’ transportation needs has arisen in that those people who live in the area of Highland Park that is within West Deerfield Township boundaries are falling through the cracks; they qualify for neither the Moraine Township Door-to-Door program nor the City of Deerfield transportation services. Although the City of Highland Park used to subsidize these citizens, funding has been cut back; Supervisor Barnes has scheduled a meeting with Mayor Belsky of Highland Park to explore options.

Citizen Grant Advisory Committee Recommendations
Chair Wendi Ezgur, accompanied by committee members Harry Crane, and Nancy Rotering, spoke to the recommendations of the Committee, submitted to the Board for review in advance of this meeting. Committee members John Sirotti and Isaac Nava were not present. Each agency that the committee is recommending for funding was summarized; the complete report of Grant Recommendations is attached to these minutes.

Concern was raised by Trustee Moreno about the need for making sure the services offered by Family Services to the Latino population is at the same level as that offered to non-Latinos, and Trustee Zaluda requested that we ask Family Services to specifically address this issue before we award their grant.

A philosophical discussion arose about the amounts of funding to various organizations and the possible overlap in services. Consensus of the Board is that the committee has wisely taken into consideration the different missions of the agencies, the amount of Moraine Township citizens served by each, and the need of agencies to broaden their base of recognition by applying to as many different types of funding bodies as possible.

Supervisor Barnes thanked Wendi, Nancy, and Harry for their hard work and thoughtful deliberations and asked that thanks be extended to the members of the committee not present.

Decision by Board on Grant Recommendations
Trustee Zaluda moved, seconded by Trustee Plouché, that the recommendation of the Citizen Grant Advisory Committee be approved, with the exception of the funding of $14,000 to Family Sevice until we can receive clarification on the services provided. Supervisor Barnes will submit a written request to Family Service to address the concern and report back to the Township Board. Upon roll call, the motion passed.

Committee Reports
Food Pantry – May 10 is the Postal Drive and volunteers are needed that day to help unload the postal carts and carry the bags of groceries down to the basement between 3 PM and 6 PM on that Saturday afternoon.

Pantry Plants Garden will be planted soon and more information will be available on the website and through the Township office on how to volunteer for this important event.

Transportation – Trustee Gamson reported on the Lake County Coordinated Transportation Services Committee/LCCTSC. They have applied for nonprofit status and hope to establish a call center to handle the County’s transportation concerns.

Old Business
The Northern Illinois Food Depository food bank will no longer sell food to the Township unless we become a 501(c)(3) corporation. Supervisor Barnes will apply for nonprofit status for the Food Pantry/Clothes Closet operations of the Township and fund through the existing Community Chest account.

New Business
None

Adjournment
With no further business to conduct, Supervisor Barnes moved, seconded by Trustee Zaluda, the meeting be adjourned at 9:37 PM. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

_______________________
Ellen S. Gussin
Moraine Township Clerk

 

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