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Woodford County Board meeting postponed; no agenda posted
Credit: By NICK VLAHOS, of the Journal Star, www.pjstar.com 20 February 2012 ~~
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Translate: FROM English | TO English
EUREKA – The Woodford County Board meeting room was expected to be packed Tuesday night because of an anticipated vote regarding wind farm ordinance revisions.
But because a meeting agenda apparently wasn’t posted publicly, the board room is expected to be quiet.
According to two county officials, the board’s regular February meeting has been postponed. Efforts will begin Tuesday to reschedule the meeting for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 28, board Chairman Stan Glazier said Monday night.
“It sounds like we’re going to play it safe and not have the meeting,” Woodford County State’s Attorney Greg Minger said.
The Illinois Open Meetings Act mandates notice of public meetings be posted at least 48 hours in advance at the principal place where they usually are held, Minger said. Otherwise, the meeting cannot be conducted.
Agendas for all Woodford County Board meetings usually are posted at the entrance to the meeting room. The county employee who usually posts the agenda did so Friday, according to Glazier. But at least two board members checked the meeting room entrance Monday and noticed no agenda was posted.
“She said she posted the agenda in two different places, but the fact remains it isn’t there,” Glazier said. “I don’t know if it was a mistake or what.”
Glazier also said the employee went to the meeting room Monday to make sure the agenda didn’t fall off the door. There was no sign of it, Glazier said. Media outlets that usually receive the agenda Friday by email had not received it as of Monday afternoon.
Violation of the Open Meetings Act is a misdemeanor. Were a meeting to be held Tuesday, any votes taken could be invalid, according to Minger.
“We don’t want it to be a situation where they pass something and then they have to do it all over,” he said.
According to Glazier, at least six board members will have to come to the Woodford County Courthouse to sign papers that would schedule a special board meeting. Regular board business would be conducted at the meeting, said Glazier, who hoped the process would be complete no later than Thursday.
A vote on the wind farm ordinance revisions is the final step in a lengthy process that has at times been contentious, both within the board and outside of it.
“The timing of this is terrible,” Glazier said. “It just stinks to high heaven. It couldn’t be worse, because of the subject matter.”
The Presidents Day holiday Monday, when the courthouse was closed and most county employees were not at work, caused additional complications, Glazier said.
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