McLean County Times

McLean County Land Use and Development Committee met Dec. 6.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

The Land Use and Development Committee of the McLean County Board met on Thursday December 6, 2018 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 400, Government Center, 115 E. Washington Street, Bloomington, Illinois.

Members Present: Chairman Chuck Erickson, Members Laurie Wollrab, Jacob Beard, Lyndsay Bloomfield, Sharon Chung, Shayna Watchinski and George Wendt (via remote attendance)

Members Absent: None

Other Board Members Present:

Staff Present: Mr. Bill Wasson, County Administrator, Mr. Eric Schmitt, Administrative Services Director, Ms. Jessica Woods First Assistant State’s Attorney, and Ms. Julie Morlock, Recording Secretary

Department Heads/Elected Officials Present: Mr. Phil Dick, Director of Building and Zoning

Others Present:

Chairman Erickson called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

Mr. Erickson presented the minutes from the November 1, 2018 regular meeting for approval.

Motion by Wollrab/Beard to approve the minutes from the November 1, 2018 regular meeting.

Motion Carried.

He informed the Committee that Member Wendt had requested to attend remotely under County Board Rules and asked if there was any objection. Hearing no objection, he approved Mr. Wendt’s request to attend remotely and declared him present.

Chairman Erickson presented the bills as of December 2, 2018 reviewed and recommended by the County Auditor. The prepaid total and fund total is $2,156.99

Motion by Chung/Beard to recommend approval of the Land Use and Development Committee bills.

Motion carried.

Chairman Erickson confirmed there were no requests to appear before the Committee.

Chairman Erickson indicated there were no items for action today and asked Mr. Phil Dick of the Building & Zoning Department to address the first Information Item. Mr. Dick indicated that Ameren was not here to get approval for the project, as it is not something that falls under our purview, but to keep us informed as constituents might ask members questions about the project. Mr. Dick then introduced Ms. Leah Dettmers and Jami Stone from Ameren to update the Committee on the Reliability Project. Ms. Stone indicated that the route for a new 10-mile transmission line and associated facilities that will improve energy reliability for local customers had been approved. She went over the project and how it would benefit the area. She also went over the time line up including public meetings and submission to ICC for approval of line that had already occurred and next steps in the project including contacting residents along the project line, pre-construction and construction phases. Ms. Bloomfield asked how they define reliability and what is anticipated lift over baseline. Ms. Stone indicated that reliability is a shorter duration of outage and ability to increase load in the future without construction. Ms. Dettmers provided an example to help the committee understand how this would improve service by having another route to receive electricity when one route has an outage. Ms. Dettmers went over questions members might receive from their constituents and provided answers to those questions. She also indicated there were updates and contact information on their website.

Ms. Wollrab asked them the environmental studies they would conduct once they are in the field and where they submit those reports. Ms. Stone indicated they provide reports to several agencies. Ms. Wollrab asked if the public had access to those reports before finalized by agencies. Ms. Dettmers stated that it is dependent on the type of report and the agency and provided an example. Mr. Beard asked them to confirm that the reason they preferred the approved route was fewer people would be impacted with construction. Ms. Stone stated that was one of the reasons and this route also costs less. Ms. Dettmers stated that ICC makes the final decision on the route based on proximity to homes, community acceptance, construction factors and prudency to the customer. Ms. Dettmers indicated they would be presenting to the Transportation Committee.

Chairman Erickson indicated there were no positions filled in the last thirty days under the purview of the Committee.

Chairman Erickson indicated that the next meeting would be 3:30 p.m. on January 3, 2019.

Mr. Erickson asked new members if they could please let him know if they were not going to be able to make a meeting so that he can make sure there will be a quorum. Mr. Erickson went over some of the projects that the Committee had recently decided.

Mr. Erickson asked if there was anything further for the Committee; hearing none, he adjourned the meeting at 3:55 p.m.

https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/6441