I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Madam Clerk, please, call the roll.

Kathy Wilkins, here. Kathleen Altensey, here.

Kevin McIlwain, here.

Ted Odendahl, here.

Patrick Sellers, here.

Okay, everybody's here, so it's a form.

Okay, so before we start the meeting, I want to entertain a motion to remove item six from the agenda, the discussion and approval of rebuilding together Stevenson County service provider agreement. The reason why we didn't allocate enough funding in our capital, general capital line to suffice this.

And so I spoke with Pastor Fairman today and told him about the situation and he said, OK, and I'm going to see if we can still do something.

So I need to go back and take a look how we can do it. But it's not off the table all the way, but I have to at least take it off the agenda for tonight.

OK. Did I do that right, Mike?

Yes, sir.

Okay. Do we need a motion and a second? Yes. I need a motion and a second. So moved. I'll second it. Motion and I'll see you second by. Roll call or voice, Mike? Voice is fine. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Okay. Strike number six off of the agenda. Okay. The first order of minutes is the approval of minutes for the May 18th, 2026 meeting. I need a motion and a second, please. So moved.

Second. Motion by Odendahl. Please take a look at the minutes if you haven't done so already.

I didn't see any corrections. Are there any questions on the minutes, trustees? Okay, all in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. The next order of business is the approval of bills payable. Any motion in a second, please?

So moved. Second. Motion by McIlwain, second by Odendahl. Please take a look at the bills payable if you haven't done so already.

My only question is, we have a lot of cub foods, and is that an indication of end of the month?

Yes, that's an indication.

Yes.

Sorry, I didn't mean to overspeak you.

No, no, no.

No, you're fine.

Yes.

Do we know if those are people who have lost SNAP benefits?

More than likely, yes.

We are getting, we've had a couple clients talk to us about it.

And so they are, you might be seeing people putting more and more towards Cub Foods of their, of their grant. So you're probably going to see that number for Cub Foods increase. And that does usually happen. Yes, but more second. Yes, but more so now since they've cut. Oh, yeah. Snap benefits. Bless you. Oh, we knew it was coming. Yes. And we're prepared. We're prepared. We'll be fine. And we're going to help as many people as as we possibly can. So we've been preparing for this. We've been knowing it was coming. So now it's here.

Yeah. And we've talked about this at prior meetings, knowing that this was coming, not being, just the current political environment is definitely not stable.

Right. Especially when it comes to support of social net programs. So, yeah, so we've been making a priority to make sure to make sure we are prepared to respond if needed. So it looks like it's about to be that time when it's needed.

Yes. And we are also being in contact with the catastrophic insurance companies to probably have to get catastrophic insurance back again because as they're cutting the medical things, we need to make sure that insurance is in place before it really happens.

and there's a mad rush for everybody to try and all times we're trying to get back on this catastrophic insurance so we've been in contact with them and I'm going to keep in contact with them until we're ready to pull the trigger on things and then we'll get the ball rolling that way.

Go ahead.

Okay?

Are we set up to help people who just as far as getting the paperwork done that they need to get done related to SNAP? I mean I don't know the details but part of what I'm understanding is they expect a lot of people to lose just because because they're not up to date on their paperwork.

Well, we really, that's more of a DHS thing.

But is there anything, that's why I was wondering if there's anything we do to help them?

No, the only thing we make sure they do is keep their appointments.

We make sure that if they have a DHS appointment, we will make that as part of community work and training to make sure that they are getting there to their appointments and then provide transportation for them to get to those appointments.

Yes.

And the, what's it called, the piece of paper that says, okay, you have three family members. This should be your income if you want to be eligible for SNAP. Has that changed too?

Well, I don't know. I don't know all the changes that's happened with SNAP. I mean, it's happening so fast. It's hard to keep up with it.

The, the main thing that I noticed happened is that they have now have a, a 40 hour week, a 40 hour month work requirement. And the hard part is going to be finding places for people to go to suffice those, those hours, because there's not a lot of places that's, that's, that's, that's allowing that to happen. So, um, we haven't encountered a whole lot of that yet, but I'm anticipating that ramping up here pretty quick. So we have been in contact with, if we can, with other places to where we can have clients Go and do things. I know a lot of places either require extensive background checks for volunteerism or, you know, they require so many hoops that the person has to jump through in order just to volunteer. I know the park district is like that. It's very difficult to do volunteerism with the park district. And I understand the paperwork thing because you have to make sure they're, you know, they're covered and everything.

but it makes it difficult because trying to find a place for people to go to suffice these hours is not going to be easy so DHS has their work cut out for them um and if we can help in any way we're going to do that so that's where you know that's where our that's where our our our thoughts are if we can do anything to help these individuals suffice those hours we're going to do that if we can't.

Did you say it was 40 hours a week or 40 hours a month?

A month.

A month.

Yeah, 40 hours a month.

Okay.

And also, with students that are old enough to be able to work, some of those students are getting those jobs during the summer months.

You mean like part-district and part-time here and part-time there?

Yes, yes.

So, yeah.

I think the bigger issue is going to be those who either, and again, this is the part that's unclear on the work requirement changes, but the people who have a type of disability that's keeping them from working, or people who, like if you're a single parent, it could be difficult to find daycare to be able to pull that off.

Those are probably the two cases I can think of where people who are probably the most vulnerable, I mean people who are healthy and can work, honestly you should be able to find a job somewhere, you should be able to find something for 40 hours a week, I mean, you just should be able to, yeah, if you're healthy and fine, but personally I think more of a concern are those two categories because you've got this work requirement that's very difficult for you to meet, so. People who are disabled, people who are actually pending disability, have disability cases pending, you know, if they start doing volunteer work, that means, you know, that the disability pending thing is going to go away because they say, hey, you can work then, so that's the gray area. Wow. That's the gray area, yeah, I agree. And in the past, I've seen people that have filed for disability and it goes on, and on, and that person dies, and then the disability all of a sudden works out.

Yeah, we've seen that happen.

Kind of late.

Yes.

Are there any more questions on claims of demands, trustee?

Sorry.

and the Mans Trustee. Sorry, I ventured off into something. That's okay. That's great. Alrighty. Seeing that there are none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Wilken? Aye. McIlwain? Aye. Aldensee? Aye. Odendahl? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Motion passed. Motion passes. The next order of the business is a supervisor's report. Trustees, on May 22nd, 2026, Freeport Township lost one of its most devoted servants. Former Township Supervisor Ms. Sheila Hooper passed away, leaving behind a A legacy that cannot be measured in years alone, though the years themselves speak volumes. From 1977 to 2013, Mrs. Super showed up for 36 years. She gave not just her time, but herself, her knowledge, her compassion, her tireless focus, and every skill she possessed, all in the quiet, determined pursuit of one goal, to make life better for the people of Freeport Township. Not some people, all of the people.

That kind of dedication is rare because it cannot be manufactured. It does not come from a desire for recognition or the appeal of a title or the promise of financial reward. No, that kind of dedication is born from something deeper. It is a calling, a pull from within that says these people matter, this community matters, and I will give my best to prove it. Ms. Hooper answered that call and she never stopped answering it. 36 years is not a career, it's a covenant.

A lifetime commitment offered freely, renewed daily, and fulfilled with the kind of compassion that changes communities from the inside out. She did not simply hold an office. She held Freeport in her heart, and she showed it. The Freeport Township is better because Sheila Hooper was here, and she will not be forgotten. Please join me in a moment of silence in recognition of the life and accomplishments of former Supervisor Sheila Hooper.

Thank you Madam Clerk, please add this to the record trustees, another thing please know that it is a citizen's right to criticize their government okay it is their right to do that we have to be respectful in our responses accurate and factual always keeping in mind that we are servants of the people. Okay? We have to make sure that we are always taking the high road. That's what we do at Freeport Township. That's what gives us the support and love of the citizens of Freeport. And that's what keeps our integrity grounded. Okay?

All right. The next order of business is the assessor report. Assessor Ridgway. Assessor Ridgway has nothing to report. The next order of business is trustees report. Trustees. Thank you for that piece for Sheila Hooper. I was very close to the family while I worked there and she was a good person. Yes. I agree.

anything trustees? Yeah, man, I asked you a question after the meeting last week, and I think it would be good for everyone to hear your response. Okay. When I asked you, when the allocation for the software, I remember I asked if it was, um, which software was, was it the software for the, the accounting or the value mission? And you kind of gave me some really good explanation as to why we were doing that.

For AIMS or the Assessor's IMS software program, that is the annual fee that you paid at the last meeting was for five computers, two tablets. They also do updates on a regular basis because you asked me if we need to look at updating it.

Exactly, exactly.

But they are really good about updating the system when it needs it. If we ask for something to be done to help our office, they'll look to see if this is something that can help others. Same way that we might get updates because someone else asked for something that is helpful in the assessment field. I think that's what we talked about.

Yep, that was it. So that's good info for everyone to have.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

That's it.

Okay, trustees, anything else? Okay, the next total of minutes is public comments. Any public comments?

Shane Orlow, and I'm glad that you prefaced what I was going to say with that comment. Yes, as public citizens, we're allowed to criticize you, but I think that you guys have been under some undue criticism that should not be coming from a certain place, because I don't see him in this room right now.

What I want you guys to know is that I'm thankful that you guys have always responded to my comments, my public comment, and you have had conversations with me in the community. You have helped out Ms. Wilken. I believe you dropped some shoes off for the high school. And I mean, you guys are doing the job that you guys need to do.

and the, uh, criticism is not warranted. Uh, and I just want that to be said by somebody in the community, uh, because I appreciate what you guys are doing. Uh, I had something else I wanted to say, but I don't even care right now. I, I'm just appreciate, I appreciate that you guys are doing what you need to get done.

and you're doing it efficiently effectively and you're not dealing with the other nonsense that is out there on social media or any other things like that we can do this we can work together without the added dissension this action thank you thank you guys Comments. Okay, any of the business to come before the town? I'll entertain a motion to adjourn until Monday, June 15th, 1026th at 4.30pm. So moved. Second. Motion by. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Meeting adjourned. Thank you all.