Planning Staff continues to recommends denial of revised WECS text amendment

NEWS FLASH February 17, 7:30 pm:  No surprise—with its new membership Regional Planning Commission recommends approval of the text amendment by a vote of 4-1.  Planning staff recommended denial.

 

The Boone County Regional Planning Commission meet at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2015 at Belvidere City Hall.  Several individual members on this commission  have been replace on this board so many anticipate a very different decision from last month’s 3-2 denial.

The entire recommendation is available at:  http://www.boonecountyil.org/sites/default/files/BCRPC%20Feb%2017a.pdf

 

The proposed “revised” text amendment is shown below.  Changes from current ordinance are in red.

 

 

 

 

Did Boone County’s ad hoc committee break the Illinois Open Meetings Act?

On January 14, 2015  Boone County’s  Breeding/Boarding Ordinance Advisory Committee held an unannounced meeting which did not comply with the requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Below  are the minutes from the November 2014 meeting of the Planning, Zoning and Building Committee. As shown on page 3 of these minutes, Mr. Ellingson, chairman of this special committee, was advised to consult the States Attorney concerning whether  the ad hoc committee is subject to the Illinois Open Meetings Act (by Mr.Johnson) and advised by County Administrator, K. Terrinoni, that it  “should be subject to the Open Meetings Act”

 

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Despite these warnings, Mr Ellingson sent out the following email to committee members on January 7, 2015.  (This email was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Mr. Zanter)

Take special note of the second paragraph in which Mr. Ellingson states that an ad hoc committee does not have to adhere to the Open Meeting Act and additionally asks that committee members to:  “Please do not tell others about where or when these meetings are set for so we can meet without interference”

The question now-- was the January 14 meeting illegal and should Boone County be cited by the Illinois Attorney General?