MINUTES
Moraine Township Board of Trustees
Thursday, June 22, 2006 7:30 PM
Highwood City Hall, Council Chambers

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
June 22, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 7:34 PM, and upon roll call the following members were present: Supervisor Mari Barnes, Trustees Bryna Gamson, Margoth Moreno and Cynthia Plouché.Trustee Jeff Zaluda was absent. Also Present: Chief Deputy Assessor Trish Lenzini; Clerk Ellen Gussin; Director General Assistance Tracy Coleman; Janet Freed, and Wendi Ezgur, community members.

Approval of Minutes
Regular Meeting Minutes of May 25, 2006, stand as written.

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

Public Comment
None

Assessor's Report
Chief Deputy Assessor Trish Lenzini reported on how pleased the Assessor’s Office is with the part time college students’ efforts, who have completed approximately 350 permits and home visits since May. Assessor’s office continues to remind citizens to apply for any exemptions they are entitled to.

Supervisor's Report
• The transportation van program has taken off and we have reached a point where we cannot accommodate all callers due to a full schedule.  Therefore medical appointments take priority.  If the demand continues, and dollars can be raised to fund a second van, the township will look into providing.  Transportation Committee will continue to monitor the activities.  Van will be at the Fourth of July parade.
• Lake County has devoted a lot of time assessing and planning for the possibility of a pandemic, and Supervisor Barnes would like the township to look into what the township role might be if such an emergency were ever to occur.

Governance of Township Cemeteries Resolution
Supervisor Barnes reported on the ongoing efforts of the township to maintain the Daggitt and Mooney cemeteries.  The previous Moraine Township Board had not been in compliance with the law which called for a separate Board to oversee the operations of the cemeteries, but a recent change in the statute allows township trustees to pass a resolution to become the acting authority.  Therefore, a resolution to do so was prepared and circulated.  Trustee Gamson moved, seconded by Trustee Plouché, that the resolution be accepted.  Upon roll call, motion carried.

Transfer of Appropriation
This item tabled by Supervisor Barnes because of the need to meet with the township accountant for further clarification.

Grant Approvals
Supervisor Barnes thanked Chair Wendi Ezgur and her committee for its excellent work. She read the Moraine Township Grant Program guidelines (attached to these minutes- Caution! Revised in 2007, 2008.), called for discussion and advised she would entertain a motion by the trustees to accept and/or modify the committee’s recommendations at the conclusion of the discussion. Trustee Gamson also thanked the committee for its conscientious service. Chair Ezgur explained the committee’s process for recommendations of the $80,000 allocated by the township. Site visits were made to six agencies, and analysis of the percentage of township residents served was completed for every grant request. The underlying guideline was how meaningful the dollars granted would be to each agency. In summary, 27 proposals were submitted and 21 were recommended for funding. Most agreed that a strong case could be make for increasing the grants budget next year as there are viable programs with significant needs that will not receive funding or at least the amounts requested because of budgetary limitations. The township will publish on its website and make available to anyone who wants to come in to the office, the dollars granted to each agency.

Trustee Plouché moved to accept the recommendations of the Citizen Grant Advisory Committee; seconded by Trustee Moreno. Trustee Gamson proposed changes within the Committee's recommendations to restore funds to certain long-standing grantees so they would not get less than what they'd received last year. Committee Chair Ezgur agreed with the reasoning. The makers of the motion accepted the amendment. Upon roll call, the motion carried as amended.

Committee Reports
Senior Issues – See Old Business
Transportation – Van is quite busy as reported above, and there will be a meeting with the city on the taxi program. Tracy Coleman reported that coupons redeemed for the taxi program in the first half of June totaled 750. The tracking due to the new coupon procedure is much more efficient.

Old Business
The township provided transportation for seniors to attend the County Picnic during the second week in June, and the event was reported by those that attended as a “glorious day.”

New Business
Fourth of July parade will include our van and new logo. Several trustees will be marching and Assessor Koukos will be the Grant Marshall. We have a new banner that will be displayed and literature will be passed out. Trustee Gamson advised that we also have new stationery with our new logo as well as new business cards.

Adjournment
With no further business to conduct, Trustee Moreno moved, seconded by Trustee Plouché, the meeting be adjourned at 8:46 PM. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

_______________________
Ellen S. Gussin, Moraine Township Clerk

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