Sangamon Sun

Sangamon County Board met Feb. 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

The Sangamon County Board met in Reconvened Adjourned September Session on February 14, 2023 in the County Board Chambers. Chairman Van Meter called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Krell gave the Invocation and Mr. Fraase led the County Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL 

Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to call the roll. There were 28 Present – 1 Absent. Mr. Tjelmeland was excused. A motion was made by Ms. Williams, seconded by Mr. Bunch, to allow Ms. Fulgenzi to be present by phone. A voice vote was unanimous.

BROADBAND FEASIBILITY STUDY PRESENTATION 

Director of Business Development Abby Powell with the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance addressed the County Board on the Broadband Feasibility Study. She thanked them for their continued support of the Growth Alliance. They did a search and hired Finley Engineering to do the study. You should have received a copy of the 250-page report. She introduced Tim Arbeiter to give a presentation on the study. Doug Dawson with CCG Consulting is present by phone.

Director of Broadband Consulting for Finley Engineering Tim Arbeiter addressed the County Board. He stated that Doug Dawson is the CEO of CCG Consulting. Mr. Arbeiter went through a slideshow presentation. During the Pandemic there were severe cases of major disconnect that happened across the Country when everyone was at home. They quickly realized what broadband meant to them. They knew it was important but during the Pandemic, it became abundantly clear no matter where you were in the Country it was desperately needed at a high and superior rate.

Mr. Arbeiter went over some of the benefits of broadband. Some things include increased home values and an increase in property taxes creating more rural opportunities when everyone is connected. It just connects people to the digital economy. They did a residential survey of residents in Sangamon County. The results were that 70% of households did not have broadband at all; 70% of those respondents have someone working at home at least part-time; 20% of homes have someone working full-time; 38% of respondents said they would work from home more often with a better broadband connection. The average price paid for broadband is $83.00, which is about $8.00 higher than what they have seen in other places across the Country. There are 66% of residents that support building a fiber optic network. Another 33% might support the idea but need more facts; 39% said they would buy from a new fiber network, and 29% said they would probably buy. When you are talking about market analysis for your Internet providers, this is all data that is very worthwhile to them.

After doing business surveys and interviews, the most common problems they heard were slow broadband in the daytime, occasional multi-day outages, and regular shorter outages. They heard from realtors it was difficult to sell rural homes that don’t have good broadband. Farmers are mostly using fixed wireless. They were happy with this when it first came out ten years ago, but it is now inadequate. Some farmers can get faster broadband from T-Mobile or Starlink.

With the Rural Development Opportunity Fund (RDOF) there is a 10-year subsidy created by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to entice ISPs to build broadband networks in fully unserved areas. Two companies were awarded funding in the County. They include the largest winner AMG Technologies (NextLink) which promises fast wireless technology. Mercury Broadband won funds in the County. Mercury Broadband is implementing a hybrid of fixed wireless and fiber to the home for its RDOF awards. There is no way to know which technology would be used in the County.

He showed two maps which show who doesn’t have good broadband. The first is a map of the parts of the County that do not have good broadband today, and no known broadband solution is underway. The second map shows the impact of layering on the RDOF awards. This is important to understand because the RDOF areas will likely be wireless broadband, and those areas are now ineligible for other federal and state broadband grants.

In the world of broadband they can consider areas that are served which is 100 megabits down and 20 megabits up, commonly known as 120 and above. That is your orange areas served on the map. The area in yellow in the northwest area of the County is considered underserved. It is not quite getting 120 but it is above 25 megabits down and 3 megabits up, which isn’t very fast. It is considered underserved. The area in blue is what they called unserved. It is 25/3 and down to nothing, so this is horrible Internet. 

The RFP asked them to consider what technologies might be used to close the broadband gaps. Finley Engineering considered both wireless and fiber technologies. They could not find a comprehensive wireless solution that made sense due to the housing density, trees, and topology. We considered several fiber technologies and determined that passive optical network fiber technology is the best fit for the County. A network designed with XGS-PON technology capable of delivering 10-gigabit broadband. The required fiber would cover 1,956 miles of the whole study area, 1,332 miles in rural areas, and 920 miles in non-RDOF areas.

Cost of New Network

Fiber-60% penetration-$37,189,682 and 70% penetration-$37,195,137

Drops-60% penetration-$2,787,708 and 70% penetration-$3,238,990

Electronics-60% penetration-$2,739,701 and 70% penetration-$3,018,377

Huts-60% penetration-$910,000 and 70% penetration-$910,000

Operational Assets-60% penetration-$219,057 and 70% penetration-$221,449 

Total-60% penetration-$43,846,158 and 70% penetration-$44,583,953

Passings-60% penetration-$5,629 and 70% penetration-$5,629

Cost per passing-60% penetration-$7,789 and 70% penetration-$7,920

Financial Analysis-Total Study Area-Substantial grants are needed

Penetration-50% Assets-$43.1 million Breakeven-$31.7 million % of Assets-74% 

Penetration-55% Assets-$43.5 million Breakeven-$29.9 million % of Assets-69% 

Penetration-60% Assets-$43.8 million Breakeven-$28.1 million % of Assets-64% 

Penetration-65% Assets-$44.2 million Breakeven-$26.6 million % of Assets-60% 

Penetration-70% Assets-$44.6 million Breakeven-$25.0 million % of Assets-56%

No ISP will be interested in a breakeven business, so realistically; grants will need to be higher.

For grant funding, Congress passed an infrastructure bill with over $42.5 billion for broadband funding. It will be aimed at rural areas, but the state will have a say in who gets funding. Illinois’ share will likely be over $1 billion. The State of Illinois will have several rounds of state broadband grants in the near future. There will be a few other smaller federal grant programs during 2023. With some minor limitations, the county can use ARPA funding for broadband projects. There is also funding available for digital literacy and getting computers into homes.

Some strategic questions are:

1) Is the county willing to help fund a solution? If so, how much and in what manner? 

2) Think about the digital equity gap. Not only is there an opportunity to build rural broadband infrastructure, but there is an opportunity to find grant funding for digital inclusion. 

3) The engineering study did not find many fiber routes going in and out of the County. The County should work with local ISPs to consider pursuing middle-mile fiber and last-mile grants.

4) What is the County’s best role in finding a solution? As a partner in grants or a supporter? Include digital equity grants on top of infrastructure?

Some of the next steps include identifying staffing resources, reaching out to ISPs, community outreach, reviewing County and local fiber policies, and tackling the other broadband gaps such as the homework gap, computer ownership gap, and the digital literacy gap.

Abby Powell thanked Tim and the group at Finley for doing all the work. She also thanked the County Board for the community outreach and survey responses. Broadband is more and more a utility, and that is how they think of it at the Growth Alliance for economic development. When they get site searches from major employers or industries moving to Sangamon County, broadband accessibility is part of the utility search. It is listed right there with water, electricity, and gas. It is important in attracting major employers to the area. It is also important for folks who are trying to move to the area. They see a lot of studies asking where people want to move to when they can work from anywhere, including remotely from home. People are considering moving to these rural areas of the country and out of the major metros. They need the utility infrastructure to support that. Part of having broadband out into the County is to attract residents and businesses. Those who live in the rural areas know that it is important for medical attention, school, work, and just for entertainment for living their lives.

The next steps the Growth Alliance sees is moving forward with Finley. They would recommend continuing working with them. They are a leader nationally and identified in best practices statewide. They assisted Champaign in taking the next step. She thinks Sangamon County is very well positioned. You weren’t on the cutting edge of this. You want to see someone else do it first, and learn from their mistakes. Champaign County did this for them. The timing is great to be competitive for the next round of State grants and the Federal funds that are coming down. She believes the next steps would be to issue an RFI for service providers and then get a group together to talk about how they want to approach that. She knows $45 million is a scary number and it has been out in the media and seems pretty intimidating. They want to assure them that $45 million is not the County’s portion of getting broadband access to the homes in the County. This is how much it would cost if one person decided to do it right now. The Internet providers would be paying for the majority of it, and then Sangamon County is well positioned to apply for grant funds to make up the gap. There would also probably be some county funding. Champaign County initially put out an RFI saying they would put out about $2.5 to $3 million. After they got their ISP responses and went forward, they decided they needed to up that contribution a little bit, but that was their starting point. That would be a reasonable place for Sangamon County if you have those funds and decided to move in that direction. She stated they would now be happy to answer any questions.

Mr. Hall stated this is needed out in his area and to let him know if there is anything he can do. They do have a need in the unincorporated areas for sure.

Mr. Preckwinkle asked what the time frame is to implement this program. Ms. Powell stated some of that depends on the funding you use. They have two years to spend funds awarded through the infrastructure bill, so they could see some quick implementation.

Mr. Constant asked if this would bring physical lines to every door in the rural area. He personally uses Rise Broadband and he thinks they call it directional. Mr. Arbeiter stated what they design is actually putting a line to every home. They do have providers who look at both and what is called a hybrid model for the more populated areas. It is a fiber to the home deployment, but on the edges they put a fixed wireless solution to get out to those areas. When the towers are fiber fed, it is a much stronger situation to arrange in a fixed wireless situation. There are going to be pockets that are very difficult to get to in the County. The best source may be a stronger fixed wireless solution, and the technology is getting better every year.

Mr. Preckwinkle asked about T-Mobile and Starlink. He asked if they are middle range and why they wouldn’t pursue them if that were something up and coming. It sounds like it is less expensive than the $45 million. Mr. Arbeiter stated all the major cellular carriers are making investments in their network every year. The cellular network from AT&T to US Celluar to T-Mobile is getting stronger. One of the things you have to be cognitive of is line of site and how many customers get on that particular access point, and when it gets to saturation, what happens. The satellite is the other component. They have to look at whether the service will begin to decrease once its fully operational.

Chairman Van Meter stated the way they achieve this $45 million is the County puts some seed money in and the businesses match that in some way. Once they show that kind of interest, they are eligible for Federal funding that completes the funding. Ms. Powell explained the next steps, if they decide to go this way, would be for them to issue their advice to the providers and talk about how they see dividing up the County to serve everyone. The County’s contribution allows them to position themselves well to compete for those grants. It is part of a match and, with money grants, having the match from the governmental body just gives you more points. That helps close the gap.

Chairman Van Meter stated he understands their first figure in Champaign is $2.5 to $3 million. He thinks that is a figure that County has been carrying for quite some time, recognizing this program had a high priority for the community. Then you said later Champaign County put in more money. That concerns me. He asked what they are committing to.

Ms. Powell explained what happened in Champaign is they did that first initial search and served quite a bit of the County, but there are areas that are harder to reach and to serve. It didn’t make business sense for the ISPs to get out there by themselves. Mr. Arbeiter explained you are actually in a better place than Champaign County because your cost per passing is less. Your overall construction dollar estimate is less than Champaign County. They were more at the $54 million level.

When they ran the whole scenario, there was literally some impetus on the part of their broadband taskforce, and County leadership at the commission level said, “Let’s look at increasing that”, so they actually did that and looked at increasing the overall support for those providers. Chairman Van Meter asked what they increased it to. Mr. Arbeiter stated it was around $9 million. That was completely their determination. Chairman Van Meter stated the caution here is when you start a project like this and you get in for $3 million, and then you find out there were 3,000 people you weren’t able to cover, they want you to put the next $6 million in. The County is not ready to put another $6 million in at this stage. Mr. Arbeiter stated that is a fair place to be. Just local support from ISPs goes a fair amount of way with the State when they are evaluating and scoring these applications. The State of Illinois has one of the more progressive grant programs in the nation. They actually look to the providers to seek local support and give them extra points for doing so.

Chairman Van Meter stated the next steps are they need to work quickly with the SSGA. They do not have the “bandwidth” to move the project forward, but SSGA has done a fabulous job of moving it forward to this point. He thinks they need an extension of the contract with SSGA. Ms. Powell stated they would be happy to continue leading the project. They could just do an extension on their existing agreement to move into an implementation phase. Chairman Van Meter asked if they would then issue the RFI. Ms. Powell stated that is correct. She does think it would be nice to have some County involvement in selecting and negotiating with those ISPs so they are not doing that in isolation. It would include her plus two more people from the County such as the board members or someone from the Regional Planning Office like Molly Berns to give some additional perspective. Chairman Van Meter asked if she could put the contract together as quickly as possible so they can get it back to the Finance Committee. Eventually they will bring that contract back to the County Board, maybe for the March meeting to keep it moving. Ms. Powell stated the more quickly we move, the better able we are to position ourselves for the next round of State level grants.

Chairman Van Meter thanked them both for putting this all together. The County Board is unanimously in support of this. Ms. Powell encouraged them to reach out to her at the Growth Alliance if there is anything else they can provide.

VETERANS ASSISTANCE COMMISSION PRESENTATION 

Veteran’s Superintendent Dane Shaffer addressed the County Board to give their 2022 numbers and compare to 2021. The comparisons were as follows:

Assist indigent Veterans with rent, utilities, and food- 2021-$33,224 and 2022-$40,454. 

Client interactions- 2021-$3,956 and 2022-$5,088.

New client’s added- 2021-189 and 2022-201

VA forms completed- 2021-1,619 and 2022-1,800

Claims Appealed- 2021-153 and 2022-234

Pension Claims- 2021-265 and 2022-341

Total Services Rendered- 2021-6,900 and 2022-8,688

Year-to-date benefits awarded- 2021-$1.5 million and 2022-$2,363,736

The year 2022 was the best year they have ever had in bringing assistance to Sangamon County’s Veterans.

They have three employees in Sangamon County compared to nine employees in McHenry County. Their population is around 311,000 and Sangamon County’s is around 195,000. They brought in $3.285 million and Sangamon County brought in $2.245 million worth of benefits. Their nine employees filed 177 claims and Sangamon County’s three employees filed 311 claims. They applied for 48 veterans for health care and they did 34. The total number of clients assisted in McHenry County was 743 and Sangamon County assisted 832. The Veteran’s Assistance Commission had a good year in 2022. Looks like they will add another employee soon and in the near future add a couple more. Their building has only one office, but every Veteran’s Service Officer needs their own office to be HIPAA compliant, so that is something they need to think about moving forward.

Mr. Cahnman asked if the dollar amount for Veteran’s services includes medical services. Mr. Shaffer stated it just includes cash services. Mr. Cahnman asked if there are other places Veterans can go to get their benefits. Mr. Shaffer stated they could go to the Illinois Department of Veteran’s Affairs on Spring Street. They have two Veteran’s Services Officers. His office is located at 911 S. 11th Street.

Mr. DelGiorno stated when he has clients who needs services he always sends them to Dane’s office. He commended them for their work.

Mr. Thomas concurred and said their service has been top notch. He refers people from the Spring Street office to Dane’s office.

Chairman Van Meter stated his impression and others on the County Board is Dane and his colleagues have really stepped up the levels of support to the Veterans in the community from years ago, and they are delighted to see this kind of improved service level. A lot of us did not even know it was possible to develop that level of service.

PRESENTATION 

Byron Deaner reported that they received a letter from the American Legion Illinois State Police Post 1922 about one of his employees in the Supervisor of Assessments Office. The letter recognizes Roxy VanHyning and rewards her the American Legion Certificate of Appreciation for her dedicated service to Larry in his time of need. Larry informed the post of Roxy’s efforts as part of the Office of Supervisor of Assessments and the Post wholeheartedly agreed. Mr. Deaner stated Roxy is a credit to the office and he thanked her for all she does for Sangamon County Veterans. She does a fantastic job of dealing with the Veterans and seniors of Sangamon County. She administers the Veteran’s exemptions on property taxes and does a wonderful job. She knows everyone by their first name when they come in the office, is great at following up with their family histories and what is happening with the DD214’s, and adds a great personal touch for each and every one.

COUNTY BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS 

Ms. Small addressed the full County Board regarding the Juvenile Facility. She thanked everyone who went on the tour of the facility and encouraged those who have not to take the tour. She is appealing to every one of you because she thinks this deal was made between a bunch of devils, and it is not going to work. You are trying to mix apples and oranges. You have a Juvenile Facility that we have neglected. It was set up so they could have school and courts there instead of transporting them back and forth here. What has happened is they have allowed the people to pick where they want to work, so the building went down. They are not using these rooms, the ceiling is leaking, and they need $5 million worth of work to put the building back together. The main purpose of that building is to stop the disadvantaged children from going from school to the prison pipeline. What are we doing? We are just throwing them in there. We are not going to show them anything other than more of what they have. When she worked in juvenile, there was a young boy who every time he was able to go home, he would do something to add more time to his sentence because he had nothing to go home for since his parents were dysfunctional. It is the same thing with these kids in juvenile. There is dysfunction and they need to try to take them out of that. Now we are going to put people with behavioral problems and mental health problems together. That is one problem after another. You can’t mix apples and oranges together. These children are going to see the same thing they see at home. How is this going to inspire them to do better?

If you really want to do something for the homeless then do something for them. They need to be near a medical facility. They were not smart enough to get the Shop N Save on North Grand, which is right there in the medical district. Hospitals are buying up all of that land. They would be right there to get the help and services they need. You need to visit the facility and look at both sides. They need to help the homeless, but the children are their future. If they can’t get the people to cooperate, put the building back in order, and they don’t want to work in that building, then we should not try to bend over and kiss their butts and work our bureaucratic crap so they get their way. If I were in charge, they would be in that building working, and if they didn’t want to work then they would need to look for another job, and she would show them the door. When they walk through the door, she hopes the door hits them where the dog should have bit them.

Chairman Van Meter stated this leaves a strong message and they will meet with her privately to try to follow up on some of those issues.

MINUTES 

A motion was made by Ms. Williams, seconded by Mr. Bunch, for approval of the Minutes of January 10, 2023. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTION CARRIED

MINUTES ADOPTED

CORRESPONDENCE 

A motion was made by Mr. Bunch, seconded by Ms. Williams, to place correspondence on file with the County Clerk. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTION CARRIED

CORRESPONDENCE FILED

RESOLUTION 1 

1. Resolution approving a joint funding agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation for the Township Bridge Program Project on Irwin Bridge Road in Gardner Township.

A motion was made by Mr. Fraase, seconded by Mr. Forsyth, to place Resolution 1 on the floor. Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to call the roll. There were 26 Yeas – 0 Nays.

MOTION CARRIED

RESOLUTION ADOPTED

RESOLUTIONS 2 – 8 

2. Resolution requesting consent from the Illinois Department of Transportation for the reappointment of the incumbent as County Engineer.

A motion was made by Mr. Fraase, seconded by Mr. Hall, to place Resolution 2 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Bunch, seconded by Mr. Madonia, to consolidate Resolutions 2 – 8. Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to read Resolutions 3 – 8.

3. Resolution approving an Intergovernmental Agreement between the Sangamon Mass Transit District and the County of Sangamon to provide transit police services.

4. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for the Sheriff’s Office from Axon Enterprise, Inc. for the purpose of acquiring new Tasers in the amount of $156,344.32.

5. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for ETSD from AT&T for the purpose of a Telephone System Maintenance Agreement in the amount of $94,619.39.

6. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for ETSD from Hinshaw & Culbertson for the purpose of professional services in the amount of $60,000.

7. Resolution approving a grant application for the Sheriff’s Office from the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association on behalf of the CDC and IDPH for the detection & mitigation of COVID-19 in confinement facilities in the amount of $42,000.

8. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for Information Systems from OpenText for content management including scanning and archiving of documents in the amount of $38,650.

A voice vote was unanimous on the consolidation. Mr. Cahnman asked a question to Sheriff Campbell on Resolution 3. He asked if the purpose of this was to provide lease services to the multi modal center. Sheriff Campbell stated it would mostly be for security for the transfer area and other areas. Mr. Cahnman asked if the district would pay for this. Sheriff Campbell stated it would. They contract with them and it would be fully funded by them. Mr. Cahnman asked what they meant by hire backs in the resolution. Sheriff Campbell explained if a deputy were unable to work then they would post a hire back as overtime for another deputy to go out and work. He asked why the amount they are paying goes down. Sheriff Campbell stated they have an initial startup cost that is a one-time purchase. Mr. Cahnman asked if they would hire an additional deputy to take the one deputies place that was taken out of circulation. Sheriff Campbell explained this would be two brand new positions so they will fund the two, hire two new ones, assign veteran deputies to them, and hire two new ones to replace the two they assigned to SMTD.

Mr. DelGiorno asked what the purpose was for the replacement of the tasers. Sheriff Campbell stated tasers have a lifespan and their current tasers have reached the end of their lifespan. They will begin the process of rotating out 1/3 at a time and get brand new ones. Each time the cost is $156,000.

Mr. Cahnman asked about the appropriation of $60,000 mentioned in Resolution 6 to Hinshaw & Culbertson law firm from ETSD. He asked why the State’s Attorney’s Office can’t provide that legal service. Chairman Van Meter explained that ETSD is not just a division of County government. It is a conglomerate of the County and City both, although the County operates it. The funding comes from cell phone fees.

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolutions 2 – 8, as consolidated. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTIONS CARRIED

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED

WAIVER OF TEN-DAY FILING PERIOD 

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle, seconded by Mr. Bunch, to waive the ten-day filing period. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTION CARRIED

TEN-DAY FILING PERIOD WAIVED

RESOLUTIONS 9 – 14 

9. Resolution approving the reimbursement from the Illinois Department of Revenue for the Supervisor of Assessments salary.

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle, seconded by Mr. Bunch, to place Resolution 9 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Bunch, seconded by Mr. Madonia, to consolidate Resolutions 9 – 14. Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to read Resolutions 10 – 14.

10. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for the Election Office from Quicksilver for the purpose of mailing and daily processing of ballots for the 2023 Consolidated Election in the amount of $40,000.

11. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for the Election Office from various news publications for the purpose of publishing required election notices for the 2023 Consolidated Election in the amount of $48,737.

12. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for Public Health from the Illinois Department of Public Health for the COVID-19 Vaccination Grant #2-Menard in the amount of $100,000.

13. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for Public Health from the Illinois Department of Public Health for the COVID-19 Vaccination Grant #2-Sangamon in the amount of $325,000.

14. Resolution approving the purchase of land located at 2833 E South Grand Avenue, Springfield for the Sangamon County Community Services Facility in the amount of $436,379.63.

A voice vote was unanimous on the consolidation. Mr. Cahnman asked a question on Resolution 14. He asked Byron Deaner if they are using that property right now but are not paying for it. Mr. Deaner stated they do use that lot. They used it during the COVID emergency. The current owners were very nice to allow us to use the property to erect a tent. Mr. Cahnman asked why they are spending taxpayer’s money to buy this if they can use it for free. Chairman Van Meter stated they cannot fix it up for free and the parking lot is deteriorating. They need to own it before they can fix it up so the public can make use of it. The expansion plans are going to use up more of the parking lot we own, so we need to make sure we can continue to use this parking lot.

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolutions 9 – 14, as consolidated. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTIONS CARRIED

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED

OLD BUSINESS 

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS 

A. Resolutions

There were no new resolutions.

B. Appointments

Appointment of George Preckwinkle to the Sangamon County Board of Health for a term expiring December, 2025.

Appointment of Reverend Jerry Doss to the Sangamon Mass Transit District for a term expiring February, 2028.

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle, seconded by Mr. Bunch, for approval of the appointments. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTION CARRIED

APPOINTMENTS ADOPTED

PUBLIC COMMENT 

Kathleen Campbell addressed the County Board regarding the Navigator Co2 Pipeline. There has been recent development regarding the Navigator Co2 pipeline. They recently released a map that includes the proposed lateral from Sangamon County south through Montgomery County. This Montgomery lateral will damage an additional 42 miles of prime Illinois farmland in Sangamon and Montgomery Counties. This will cause more damage and risk to lives and livestock. The maps are crudely drawn and are avoiding specification of the specific land parcels and the townships affected. It appears from the map and text that the lateral will branch off the trunk line at Glenarm. The location for the brand demonstrates Navigators disregard for safety. Glenarm, where she lives, is the only location along the entire Illinois section of the pipeline that Navigator has agreed is a high consequence area because of its population density. To further, deliberately increase the risk to human lives in the only high consequent area on the route by not only retaining the trunk line but to add the branch at the lateral, is irresponsible. They said the lateral would start by I-55, which abuts Glenarm, will travel south along I-55, and is highly risky. A rupture next to I-55 would stall all gas powered vehicles, leaving the occupants to suffocate in their stalled and possibly piled up vehicles. They also said adding these 42 miles will only provide enough space for the initial stages of the Co2 transportation, so they may need more laterals. She has sent an email for circulation to all Sangamon County Board members so they can look at the map. There are virtual meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. She is not going to take the time to go into that now, so she will share the information with them. Please attend and ask questions.

She added that Senator Steve McClure is sponsoring SB916 for a two-year moratorium on Co2 pipelines. She has met with Senator McClure and he has been very receptive. This provides a much needed statewide moratorium on Co2 pipelines for two years or until new safety requirements are released. The DOT and PHMSA did conclude that current Co2 pipeline safety guidelines are inadequate and the new ones are supposed to be issued in October 2024. So, why should a new pipeline be approved now before the new safety regulations come out? She is going to share this with Andy Van Meter for circulation to all the board members. She also has a copy of the moratorium bill to circulate.

REPORTS OF COUNTY OFFICIALS, REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES, REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES, AND COMMITTEE REPORT ON CLAIMS 

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle, seconded by Mr. Bunch, to place the reports on file with the County Clerk. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS FILED

RECESS 

A motion was made by Mr. Bunch, seconded by Mr. Preckwinkle, to recess the meeting to March 7, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTION CARRIED

MEETING RECESSED

https://countyclerk.sangamonil.gov/County-Board/documents/MinutesFebruary142023.pdf