Sangamon Sun

Sangamon County Board met Oct. 10.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Sangamon County Board met in Reconvened Adjourned September Session on October 10, 2023 in the Sangamon South Auditorium. Chairman Van Meter called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Mr. Stumpf 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 24 Present – 5 Absent. Mr. Constant, Mr. Forsyth, Ms. Fulgenzi, Ms. Lathan, and Mr. O’Neill were excused.

PROCLAMATIONS 

Ms. Sheppard presented a Proclamation in honor of Gibson, the Victim Witness Advocacy Unit dog, who recently passed away. They recognized the lasting, meaningful, and compassionate contributions Gibson made to the lives of Sangamon County residents.

Mr. Schackmann presented a Proclamation to Director of Public Health Gail O’Neill, upon her retirement, recognizing her commitment and dedication to improving her community for nearly 40 years. Ms. O’Neill thanked everyone for the recognition. The greatest feats they’ve had over the last few years would not have been possible without the staff and the support of all of you.

PILLSBURY PRESENTATION 

Chris Richmond, President of Moving Pillsbury Forward, addressed the County Board. The community stood up in a wonderful way to help support this project from day one. They came together four years ago this month to coordinate the demolition and development of the former Pillsbury site. This has been a project 20 years in the making. They formed this not-for-profit organization in 2020. They did this after several months of analysis of the project in hand, and because they were told by many members in the community that it was simply the right thing to do.

Partnership has been a big aspect of the project. They started grassroots with many of the local community organizations and got the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance involved. The Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln provided much needed seed money to get the ball rolling on the Phase I Environmental Assessment. The City, County, State, and Federal Government have all provided resources for this project, and there has been plenty of legal help and advice. It’s a whole community approach they are utilizing with Moving Pillsbury Forward. They took ownership in March of 2022. They worked with State’s Attorney Wright and his office on multiple legal aspects of the property, and they developed an action plan that led to the transfer of the title into the not for-profit. The first issues they addressed were health and safety. Those were the two big issues at the front end. In the last 19 months, he is pleased to report tonight that they have removed over 300 tons of garbage and debris from the grounds of the Pillsbury site. Much of that was completed with the help of the Sangamon County Department of Public Health who provided a number of dump tickets for them at the local landfill.

In the summer of 2022, they conducted a Phase II Environmental Assessment from the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance. That was about a $230,000 project. In the winter of 2022- 2023 they received technical assistance from the US EPA with three primary deliverables which included an expert demolition cost analysis, redevelopment options, and financing options. They asked them to deliver a pathway to do those things. They learned the remediation demolition project cost is approximately $9.1 million. They also learned the highest and best use for the redeveloped property is light manufacturing that utilizes the railyard next door. The 18-acre Pillsbury facility has robust utilities coming into it, but the real strength of the property is the rail yard next door that has access to five Class I railroads. You can get products in and out of the Pillsbury property from anywhere in the United States. The last thing they learned, from their technical assistance, is that the financing would need to come largely from a mix of local, state, and federal program sources. There have been private company’s involved in Pillsbury over the many years, and they did a legal audit. Many people have asked him over the years “Shouldn’t Pillsbury or Cargill, or the scrap metal operators that owned it have some culpability and responsibility here?” Unfortunately, the short answer is no they don’t from a legal standpoint. Ethically, they think they should have, but legally they don’t. That’s where it falls on the community and local, state, and federal government to step in and make it right for the community. When they get to financing, this is a $9.1 million project. They currently have approximately $6.1 million in committed funding. That includes a combination of city commitments, state level commitments, and federal commitments. They are working to secure the remaining $3 million, and they are applying for another $2 million in federal funding this fall within the next two weeks through the U.S. EPA. They are here tonight to ask the County Board to consider a commitment of the remaining $1 million to complete the project. They would appreciate it if you would consider that.

Mr. Cahnman asked if they are a 501c3 Corporation. Mr. Richmond stated that is correct. In 2020 they set up and were granted 501c3 status. Mr. Cahnman asked if Moving Pillsbury Forward has ever asked Cargill or the other entities to voluntarily contribute money and help clean up the site. Mr. Richmond stated they have on multiple occasions, and they have reached out to the Pillsbury Company.

Pillsbury was taken over in a hostile takeover in 1988 by Grand Metropolitan out of the UK, so they took controlling interest in the stock and took over the board. For the next several years, they split up Pillsbury Company into other entities. They spun off our location and three other Pillsbury facilities to Cargill in 1991. Cargill Corporation then ran the flour milling portion of the facility in Springfield for another 10 years. On day one, Cargill shut down the production of the grocery mix and the bakery mix aspect of the plant. This means they went from 700 jobs to about 100 jobs under Cargill. By the time Cargill closed in May 2001, only 46 jobs remained at the site. Cargill then sold the property after they marketed it for several years. They eventually broke down the liability by selling it for scrap, and it was a legal sale and transfer. They have reached out to Cargill on several occasions and had no response. General Mills then purchased the remains of the company from Grand Metropolitan in 2010. They were Pillsbury’s arch rival on opposite sides of Minneapolis St. Paul. General Mills never owned our facility here in Springfield. They don’t feel they have any responsibility or need to commit foundation funds for our project since they never actually owned our facility here in Springfield.

Mr. Bunch mentioned a couple names Polly and also Tony DelGiorno who both put in a lot of time and effort into this program. He thanked them for all their effort. Mr. Richmond stated that he, Tony and Polly make up the board for Moving Pillsbury Forward. He gets asked quite often how many people are involved in Moving Pillsbury Forward. His standard answer is, at any given week they have a dozen volunteers working on various aspects of the project. In any given month, they have more than 50 individuals involved in consultations or various aspects of the project. They’ve had well over 200 volunteers involved in the project. In April they had public tours and toured more than 400 individuals through the site. They have public tours coming up this Friday evening and again on Saturday. He has no doubt there will be several hundred people from the community touring the site. It really is a whole community effort.

Mr. Madonia asked if they have any idea what the City has donated towards this project. Mr. Richmond stated, to date, the City of Springfield has committed $2 million towards the project.

Mr. Cahnman asked what amounts the state and federal government are giving. Mr. Richmond stated the total cost is estimated at $9.1 million. They have city, state, and federal commitments right now of $6.1 million, so they have a $3 million gap as of today. They will be trying for another $2 million through federal government programs within the next month, and that is why they are here asking for $1 million at the County level.

Chairman Van Meter asked if he can explain what the site would look like after they spend the $9.1 million. He asked if it would be cleaned and ready for new warehouses. Mr. Richmond stated that it would. All of the structures at the site would be abated with both lead and asbestos prior to demolition of all structures at this site and the ground preparation work. Concrete slabs would be removed and concrete would either be recycled or crushed on site for basement fills, and it would be prepared for full redevelopment. Chairman Van Meter stated it would be clean and ready for new buildings to be put on it. Mr. Richmond stated they are working now with their environmental engineers and are doing site remediation planning with the Illinois EPA. There are some plans for soil removal.

They had 70 soil samples taken strategically throughout the 18-acre area. A few areas turned up a little bit hot. For those areas, they are working through the site remediation program to actually have the soil removed and landfilled. Chairman Van Meter asked if $9.1 million would take care of all this. Mr. Richmond stated it would. Chairman Van Meter stated the County appropriates $500,000 a year to the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance to encourage business in the community. He asked what they have contributed to this program. Mr. Richmond stated the SSGA currently has signed on to do fiscal agent activities for them, as well as site marketing to reach out to prospects and marketing the site for them. As they complete the financial stack to do the demolitions they can really start to put a firm timeline on the project, and they believe that will spur redevelopment interest at that point. Right now redevelopers are few and far between to come to the Pillsbury site because it is so far from being done and they can’t tell them when the site will be ready to redevelop. Chairman Van Meter asked if it is correct that the SSGA has not committed any hard dollars to the remediation plan. Mr. Richmond stated they committed $230,000 to Phase II. They have also committed to work as their fiscal agent and take care of a fair amount of the accounting aspect. They have not committed anything to the $9.1 million total. Chairman Van Meter stated he assumed you did ask them. This is one of those one step at a time things. They asked and they did take care of Phase II last year. In the last couple months they worked with their Executive Board on the commitment of fiscal agent activities and covering the costs associated with that. Their motivation is most likely toward the redevelopment. He can assure you they are asking in all directions.

Ms. Douglas Williams asked how much the County in-kind has contributed. Mr. Richmond stated it is tough to calculate. The Health Department had dump tickets to the tune of 300 tons of debris. The dump fees vary from $40 to $50 per ton. Ms. Douglas Williams asked if they could give a better figure of everything that was an in-kind donation from the County to the organization. Mr. Richmond stated the best measurable he has is for the dump fees at the landfill. It would be pretty difficult to put together the number of attorney hours through the State’s Attorney’s Office. Chairman Van Meter stated his staff could probably put something together on that.

Mr. Krell asked what they would do with the railyard when they start developing that property. Mr. Richmond stated that is a strength for the property. It is an active railyard. The railyard is actively looking for properties adjacent to their railyard or rail lines that they can reactivate for rail use. The Wyoming and Genesee Railroad are already advertising the Pillsbury property within the rail user world to redevelop it. The railroad has told them they would help market it when the property is available.

Chairman Van Meter asked if the property would be sold to those companies after they spend the $9.1 million to clean up the property and it is pristine and ready to build warehouses and light industrial facilities on so the property has value. Mr. Richmond stated it remains to be seen just how the development will go. Clearly now the full ownership is with the not-for-profit. It puts the not-for-profit in a strong position at that point to negotiate with a new redeveloper of the site. A not-for-profit could practically give the site away, if need be, to attract an appropriate developer for the community. That is an advantage they have as a community.

Chairman Van Meter stated the not-for-profit is not anticipating any profit from the sale of this property. It would be given to a developer for free in order to entice them to come in and develop the property. Mr. Richmond stated that is correct. There are other incentives for the property as well. It is in an opportunity zone, is in an enterprise zone, and it is in an underserved area.

Ms. Scaife asked if the acreage would be divided, as far as property taxes, where the owners would have to pay their own property taxes. Mr. Richmond stated right now there is an 18-acre primary tract for Pillsbury. There are three boulevard parcels across the street that used to be employee parking that comprise a second tract of approximately 1.6 acres. The primary 18-acre tract could be subdivided, though he might argue that it is better as a full 18-acre tract. From discussions they’ve had with Ryan McCrady and his team at the SSGA, their intention certainly is to keep the 18 acres whole and try to market that as one tract rather than subdividing. Chairman Van Meter stated they should not be anticipating that this property will generate a lot of property tax to the community because this is in an enterprise zone and other multiple different zones. It is designed to be very attractive to a business to locate there because they would essentially pay very little property taxes for quite a long time. Mr. Richmond stated clearly when they look at the demographics of the census tract that Pillsbury sits in and the census tract surrounding it, he thinks they all understand that it is in an underserved population and economically depressed area. The property tax collections there have been going down pretty steadily for twenty plus years since the facility closed. When you do the demographic analysis and you overlay that with property taxes, it’s been spiraling down for 20 years. A big part of the intention of this project is to alleviate the problem that is the Pillsbury property now. They are redeveloping and bringing some economic opportunity to the area but really the idea is to stop the spiral downward within the neighborhood. There are 11,000 people that live within one mile of Pillsbury. There are thousands of parcels that are depressed because of the blight that has been Pillsbury for the last 20 years. When they remove that blight, and put something new in, the idea is to stop that downward spiral and collect more property taxes on that side of town.

Mr. Cahnman acknowledged the great work they have done to really turn this site around to become an economic positive for our community.

MINUTES 

A motion was made by Ms. Williams, seconded by Mr. Bunch, for approval of the Minutes of September 12, 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.

RESOLUTION 1 

1. Resolution approving the procurement of one rubber tire wheel loader.

A motion was made by Mr. Fraase, seconded by Mr. Cahnman, to place Resolution 1 on the floor. Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to call the roll. Upon the roll call vote, there were 23 Yeas – 0 Nays.

MOTION CARRIED

RESOLUTION ADOPTED

RESOLUTION 2 

2. 2023-021 – RPIL Solar 6, LLC, 16,000 Block of Sangamon Menard County Road, Pleasant Plains – Granting a Siting Approval Permit. County Board Member – Tom Fraase, District #1.

A motion was made by Fraase, seconded by Mr. Stumpf, to place Resolution 2 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Stumpf to waive the reading of the professional staff’s report. There were no objections. Chairman Van Meter asked for a roll call vote on Resolution 2. Upon the roll call vote, there were 18 Yeas - 5 Nays. Those voting Nay were Ms. Douglas Williams, Mr. Hall, Mr. Mendenhall, Mr. Preckwinkle, and Ms. Small.

MOTIONS CARRIED

RESOLUTION ADOPTED

RESOLUTIONS 3 - 7 

3. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for Public Health from Chef Units LLC for the purpose of renovation of a transit van to a mobile medical unit in the amount of $93,000.

A motion was made by Mr. Schackmann, seconded by Ms. Sheppard, to place Resolution 3 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Bunch, seconded by Mr. Madonia, to consolidate Resolutions 3 – 7. Chairman Van Meter asked County Clerk Gray to read Resolutions 4 – 7.

4. Resolution approving the procurement of goods and/or services for the Coroner’s Office from SIU School of Medicine for the purpose of a forensic pathologist PO increase to provide forensic autopsies in the amount of $150,000.

5. Resolution approving a grant application for the Land of Lincoln Workforce Alliance from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the WIOA Supplemental Funding Grant in the amount of $228,643.

6. Resolution approving a grant application for the Land of Lincoln Workforce Alliance from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the QUEST Grant Program to provide education, training, and follow-up services to dislocated workers in the amount of $350,000.

7. Resolution approving a grant application for the Department of Emergency Management from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency for the Emergency Management Performance Grant in the amount of $89,227.88.

A voice vote was unanimous on the consolidation. Mr. Cahnman asked a question about Resolution 4. His recollection was they passed a resolution on this a few meetings ago. County Administrator Brian McFadden stated this resolution represents the out of county autopsies. Chairman Van Meter explained they are trying to develop a regional Coroner’s facility here to attract a world class pathologist. To do that they needed to partner with SIU, so that is why all this runs through SIU.

Ms. Douglas Williams asked a question regarding Resolution 3. She asked what ever happened to the van Jim Stone went and picked up personally. Ms. Williams explained that SIU had given the Public Health Department a grant to purchase that mobile van. The van got into disrepair and could not be replaced. Chairman Van Meter stated he believes it was scrapped. Every estimate

they got for the cost of repair was greater than the cost of the van. They got one county-wide program out of it. This is a much smaller scale project and vehicle.

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolutions 3 – 7, as consolidated. A voice vote carried. Ms. Small voted Present on Resolution 7 and Ms. Williams voted Present on Resolution 4.

MOTONS CARRIED

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED

WAIVER OF TEN-DAY FILING PERIOD 

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

MOTION CARRIED

TEN-DAY FILING PERIOD WAIVED

RESOLUTION 8 

8. Resolution approving an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement between the Sangamon Mass Transit District and SMART for vehicle repair and maintenance services.

A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle, seconded by Mr. Mendenhall, to place Resolution 8 on the floor. A motion was made by Mr. Preckwinkle that the roll call vote for Resolution 1 stands as the roll call vote for Resolution 8. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTIONS CARRIED

RESOLUTION ADOPTED

OLD BUSINESS 

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS 

A. Resolutions

There were no new resolutions.

B. Appointments

Appointment of John Ridley as Sangamon County Director of Public Health.

Mr. Schackmann stated Mr. Ridley was selected by a committee that he was able to serve on along with two members of the Board of Health and Brian McFadden. They interviewed three very qualified individuals. Mr. Ridley has an extensive background in healthcare. He seemed to have a diverse background and strong leadership and administrative skills. Their recommendation to this body is to appoint Mr. John Ridley as the Sangamon County Director of Public Health.

Mr. Ridley stated he did start in the healthcare field in 1994 as a radiation therapist at Springfield Memorial Hospital treating cancer patients. Over the course of two and a half decades, by going back to school and continuing to take upper level management jobs, his last full-time role at the hospital was at Decatur Memorial Hospital as the Chief Operating Officer. He has an undergrad in Health Services Administration from U of I and a Master’s degree from Dartmouth in Healthcare Delivery Science. In 2019, when they affiliated with Memorial, he took a role at the system level. That came to an end on September 29th when they had a downsizing in their workforce. His job was one of the seven executive level jobs that was eliminated. This was not due to job performance but having to fill a $40 million hole from the Pandemic. He went through the interview process, applied for this position, and is honored to be here.

Chairman Van Meter stated their friends in Menard, who is their joint health department, are excited to have him, and the Board of Health is waiting for their decision tonight.

Ms. Williams stated she worked with him over the years, and this was a very good decision. He is a strong, solid, and excellent administrator. She is excited he is here working with them.

A motion was made by Ms. Williams, seconded by Mr. Bunch, for approval of the appointment. A voice vote was unanimous.

The nominations for appointment in November were submitted.

C. Procurement/Grant Notifications

-Water main and fire hydrant materials/labor for Helping Hands facility in the amount of $73,400.

County Administrator Brian McFadden explained that Helping Hands ran into issues with CWLP on the fire hydrant relocation. This was an emergency procurement notification related to this project.

Mr. McGuire mentioned the issue that occurred with the hoarding situation in Auburn that occurred with the dogs that were taken to Sangamon County Animal Control. There were 39 larger breed dogs on the scene, and they were all taken to Animal Control. This was at a time when they were already at capacity, but they still took them. He commended Director Keenan and all the staff including the veterinarians and volunteers who were there until 2:00 a.m. taking care of the dogs. They severely needed medical attention. They really need monetary donations such as beds. They are also in need of foster homes and for people to adopt these dogs. He also thanked Wild Canine Rescue and the Friends of Animal Control who have all been so great in dealing with this. They need to be able to give Animal Control the tools they need to handle these types of situations. They are strapped as it is, so if it happens again they may not be able to do much.

PUBLIC COMMENT 

There was no public comment.

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

A motion was made by Ms. Williams, 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 Ms. Williams to change the time of the November meeting to 6:00 p.m. A voice vote was unanimous.

A motion was made by Ms. Bunch, seconded by Ms. Williams, to recess the meeting to November 14, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. A voice vote was unanimous.

MOTION CARRIED

MEETING RECESSED

https://countyclerk.sangamonil.gov/County-Board/documents/October102023.pdf