MINUTES
Moraine Township Board of Trustees
Thursday, October 25, 2007 7:30 PM
Highwood City Hall, Council Chambers
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
October 25, 2007
The meeting was called to order at 7:45 PM, and upon roll call the following members were present: Supervisor Mari Barnes; Trustees Bryna Gamson, Cynthia Plouché and Jeff Zaluda. Trustee Margoth Moreno was absent. Also Present: Director General Assistance Tracy Coleman; Barry Shapiro of Opportunity Inc.; Jackie Grossmann of Interfaith Housing Center; and Janet Freed, community member.
Approval of Minutes
Regular Meeting Minutes of October 11 stand approved as written.
Executive Meeting Minutes of September 27 stand approved as distributed to the Trustees and Supervisor.
Approval of Bills
Trustee Zaluda moved, seconded by Trustee Plouché, approval of the bills. Upon roll call, motion carried.
Public Comment
None
Agency Presentations
Barry Shapiro, CFO, Opportunity Inc. – Barry reported that Opportunity’s work is now focused on secure document destruction, much of which is certified for the Chicago IRS and the National Railroad Retirement Board. The process is very much in keeping with the “green” trend to protect the environment; all shredded material is sent to a paper mill for reprocessing into blank paper. Opportunity is looking for more work in document destruction from private businesses, as they would like to rehire as many of the employees that were laid off when they closed their medical division as possible. Employees total 23 currently, and all receive benefits; approximately two-thirds of the staff are handicapable. PACE buses are bringing many of the employees to work.
Jackie Grossmann, Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs – Jackie runs the Home Sharing program which the Moraine Township grant helps to fund. The program has two parts: looking for homes where the owners can benefit from making a room or rooms available for rent in order to help pay the mortgage; and looking for qualified tenants, who must earn $1,000 or more per month. The service is non-denominational, and public relations for the program are enhanced by the Director of Communications at Interfaith Housing.
Assessor’s Report
No one from the Assessor’s office was present, but Supervisor Barnes reported that the tax appeals deadline is October 29, 2007.
Supervisor’s Report
PACE is lowering the rental of the Township’s vans to $100 per month per van; a new contract will be negotiated in which the Township will continue to have the option to purchase the van for $1 after four years or change to a new van.
Moraine Township is hosting a dinner on Friday, November 2, at the Highland Park Community House for all township officials in Lake County.
Willow Creek Church has agreed to donate 100 baskets for the Phyllis Santullano Holiday Food Drive; Supervisor Barnes is going to try to up that figure by 50.
Meeting to provide an update on Lake County transportation issues will be held on November 28 at CLC (College of Lake County) at 3:00 PM.
The League of Women Voters is sponsoring a meeting on Climate Matters on Tuesday evening, October 30, at the Highland Park Country Club and Supervisor Barnes is part of the panel.
Committee Reports
Website visitors are up but most hits to the website, as expected, are to retrieve assessor information.
The Tribune and Pioneer Press have both publicized the availability of the RTA passes at Moraine Township.
Pioneer Press has agreed to regularly publish information on the Township’s Door-to-Door program.
Moraine Township has won a First Place award from the Townships of Illinois organization for its program on Senior Transportation.
Old Business
None
New Business
Packets from the Community Family Center containing information on the plans to develop a shared center for five agencies on the campus of Sherwood and Red Oak Schools were distributed to all Township officials.
Adjournment
With no further business to conduct, Trustee Gamson moved, seconded by Trustee Plouche, the meeting be adjourned at 9:05 PM. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
_______________________
Ellen S. Gussin
Moraine Township Clerk
With thanks to Tracy Coleman for transcribing at the meeting in Clerk Gussin’s absence
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