Rock Island Today

Rock Island County Committee of the Whole met November 15.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

The Committee of the Whole of the Rock Island County Board met at the above date and time in the Board Chambers on the third floor of the County Building, 1504 Third Ave, Rock Island, IL. Chair Richard Brunk called the meeting to order at 5:33 p.m. Minutes as follows:

1) Call to order and roll call

Committee members present: Richard Brunk, Larry Burns, Dewayne Cremeens, Jeff Deppe, Don Johnston, Ed Langdon, Ken Maranda, Mia Mayberry, Drue Mielke, Luis Moreno, Pat Moreno, Rich Morthland, Scott Noyd, Cecilia O'Brien (via phone), Ron Oelke, Robert Reagan, Ginny Shelton, Mike Steffen, Kai Swanson, Scott Terry, Brian Vyncke, Bob Westpfahl

Committee members absent: Kim Callaway-Thompson, Rod Simmer, Edna Sowards

Mr. Maranda said he believes that everyone got his email regarding the passing of Dick Fisher. He noted that he got some great responses from board members and wanted to tell them how much he appreciates it. With that, he eliminated Item 8 this evening and will move it to next month’s Committee of the Whole. They’ll do an up and down vote at the full County Board after the discussion at Committee of the Whole. Mr. Maranda asked if everyone would take moment of silence for Gail, Jeff, and Kelly Fisher for the passing of Dick. It was pretty sudden.

Mr. Brunk explained that, as the Chairman mentioned this morning, retired Sheriff’s Captain Dick Fisher died in an auto accident. He asked everyone to take a moment to stand and remember his service to the county both in the Sheriff’s Department and as the Chairman of the Rock Island County Public Building Commission.

[Moment of silence]

2) Public Comments

Mr. Brunk recognized Mr. Henry Marquard.

Mr. Marquard noted that he wanted to say, on behalf of the Chamber, address two items. First, he knows that the committee will not be having a discussion on the county courthouse this evening. Regardless of what the County Board decides to do with that, he wanted to let the County Board know that the Chamber is a happy and willing partner to find a use for that space, whether that is putting something up in its place, or green space, or trying to work a route that would reinvest and keep that building current. The Chamber doesn’t have an opinion on what the county should do with the courthouse, but whatever the county does, they are a happy partner to help with that.

Second, Mr. Marquard noted that it sounds like the County Board is seeing good momentum into the Administrator search. He encouraged the County Board to continue to work on that. The Chamber is looking forward to working with the County Board on the professional search to replace Mr. Ross. He noted that the county has done an amazing, amazing job the last two or two and a half years. It’s just remarkable. The Chamber is really appreciative. They know how hard a lot of those votes have been for board members personally, for the County Board as a whole, and for the county. Everyone has had a share in that. Rock Island County has restored the Chamber’s faith in the county’s government and everything it has done. They are very proud of that work and are happy to support the County Board going forward on that. The Chamber is looking forward to working with the county and the new Administrator when that time comes. Mr. Brunk thanked Mr. Marquard.

3) Approval of minutes from the October 11, 2017 meeting

Motion to approve: Kai Swanson

2nd: Ed Langdon

Voice vote

Motion carried

4) Condition of Funds report

Ms. Palmer noted that her voice may fail a little bit, so she is going to try to keep things somewhat short and still give the committee its proper information.

Ms. Palmer started with the first report of the trial balance or budgetary standings of the funds and departments within the General Fund. She noted that she doesn’t have anything new to mention except for Fund 110, the IMRF fund. There were approved changes in the resolution packet of $650,000. That was needed to get the county through last month. That is due, in part, to an error in the HR office of a double payment in September. Not realizing it was a three paycheck month, the payment went out after the second paycheck. It went out again for the full bill due to IMRF after the third paycheck as it should have originally. The county does have a refund of about $628,000 coming back in. That is according to HR records. Ms. Palmer noted that she did email the HR office after being notified of this on November 2 and asked for backup of that $628,000 so she could inform the County Board better of what happened and what is being done to prevent errors in the future. Mr. Davis as Interim Administrator, has also

had discussions with them. They are working on that at this time and ensuring that won’t happen again. It just causes undue pressure on a fund of that stature to send out that type of payment not knowing how quickly IMRF will turn around and give it back. Luckily they are not trying to get it back from the State of Illinois. Ms. Palmer noted that in attending her auditors’ conference at the beginning part of this week, she did attend a session with IMRF and they are doing very well. She doesn’t foresee looking for this repayment six months down the road. She thinks it will come back fairly quickly, which will help that situation. Ms. Palmer added that as she has mentioned for the last few months, IMRF is over budget somewhat. That is due to the estimated percentages from last year when the county did its budget being under the actual rates being charged for the IMRF portion of expenses for this fiscal year.

Ms. Palmer presented her fund balance report. She noted that again, she does not have much that is new to say. There are just some things she has said over and over again. She always focuses on the General Fund and Hope Creek.

Ms. Palmer reported that if Hope Creek were to close down business on October 31, their fund balance would have been in the red. Their cash balance is not in the red because of outstanding loans from either inter-fund loans or from the bank. Ms. Palmer noted that those are in Ms. Ewert’s reports as well.

Ms. Palmer noted that there is budgetary dependence on the General Fund to support Animal Control in the amount of $40,000. The beginning fund balance was $238,790 and the current fund balance as of October 31 was not much different. She doesn’t foresee at this time Animal Control needing any of that $40,000. She thinks that will remain in the General Fund and that Animal Control will stay pretty even with revenues and expenses for this fiscal year.

The Health Department is up and they just wait on grant funds to come in. They are running pretty steady at $813,000. Compared to where they were on December 1, 2016, that’s not much lower either. They are running pretty steady there and bringing in revenues and expenditures at the same time.

Child Welfare has budgeted support from the General Fund of $1,075,750. By law the county has to provide for child welfare. It kind of is what it is, so to speak. The county just has to pay whatever happens there. They are under budget right now by about 16% or a little more as of October 31. That equates to almost $200,000. That’s a really good thing and will be a direct savings to the General Fund as well.

Ms. Palmer reported that the grant funds are normal.

Ms. Palmer explained that the Child Support Fund is in the red by $65,000. That is Fund #146. They get their support from Fund #153, Court Document Storage, so that is not anything that’s going to hurt the General Fund.

Employee Health Benefits is pretty steady throughout the fiscal year as well. They are remaining with their revenues and expenditures pretty close together. On October 31, they were at $1,399,803. On December 1 when the county began its fiscal year, they were at $1,428,986. That’s about a $30,000 difference, which is nothing major to worry about at this time in Ms. Palmer’s opinion.

Ms. Palmer explained that Report D is the report from October 31, 2016. She gives the committee both of those so they can compare the prior year to the current year.

Ms. Palmer moved on to the cash balances report. She noted that there are a lot more funds sinking a little bit lower in cash balances than in 2016. Everyone has been trying to spend as little as they can throughout year. Some funds need to spend some of their outstanding budget, so cash balances start falling lower in October and November of each year. The General Fund is a little bit in the hole despite having a $350,000 loan outstanding from Fund #144, Probation Services. Ms. Palmer pointed out that the report shows the -$350,000 and the positive $350,000 in the General Fund. Without that loan, the General Fund would be even further in the hole cash-wise. She knows Ms. Ewert will give more information on the plans for that in the near future.

The Coroner’s Fee Fund bought a truck earlier this year. That is the only reason it is down in cash.

In the Floodplain Grant Fund, she has something to speak to. Of course it’s a grant, so money is spent per grant guidelines. They did spend a little bit this fiscal year, but haven’t spent any in the last couple of months. That grant expires this month on either the 20th or 22nd, which is next week. Therefore, the federal government will want the unspent funds back. That fund has to cut a check for $300,000. That’s just because they haven’t spent it. A good thing to note is [the federal government] paid it upfront, so the county earned interest on that and will be able to retain that. There are some administrative costs that will go to the General Fund for the administration of this particular grant. It’s not a bad thing. The only thing is that in the bank, the county has many funds that are all rolled up into one account. This is one of those funds that has been cash in the bank with the General Fund. It will show less cash in the bank, but that won’t affect the cash balance on this report. Ms. Palmer said she will give the committee more information after that gets paid back at next month’s meeting.

Ms. Palmer reported that the next three funds, Highway, Bridge, and Motor Fuel Tax, have projects they are doing right now as per spending guidelines. They did budget for these projects and are doing pretty well. They are spending the planned decrease for the year. The three funds combined are right on track per their budget for using up some reserves in their fund balances. It’s not a concern. It was a planned action with County Board approval.

Ms. Palmer noted that the IMRF Fund is the same thing she just touched on in the fund balances report. That’s due to the duplicate payment and being a little bit over budget.

Ms. Palmer reported that FICA is only down $14,000. This fund still has property taxes due of $281,000 for this fiscal year. They are doing really well. That FICA percentage hasn’t changed in decades. That’s usually not a problem as far as figuring for the next fiscal year, unlike the IMRF Fund which fluctuates so much from year to year.

Fund #125, Federal Seized and Forfeited Property, operates according to the law on what they can spend federal dollars on. It operates unto itself. If they run out of money, they stop spending until they make more money.

The Court Security Fund has General Fund support of $193,000 budgeted. They are at a little under $141,000. That’s Fund #128. Their payrolls run about $14,000, so she’s guessing they will need about $40,000 more to get through the end of the fiscal year. Therefore they should have around $15,000 of savings to the General Fund. She doesn’t think they are going to need the whole $193,000.

Probation Services looks lower than last year. Again, they have loaned generously $350,000 to the General Fund, which is the only reason why. Otherwise their cash balance would be up this fiscal year.

Ms. Palmer reported that the Child Support Fund is only $160 lower. That’s not a big concern. Their support comes from Fund #153, Court Document Storage. The Court Document Storage Fund is a little lower than last year due to them consuming some salaries to help the General Fund a little bit more this year than last year. That’s also due to the e-filing mandates that have come up and the expenses to get that set up, as well as moving to the new annex building in the near future. They are trying to clean things up and consolidate and get their documents off of paper and onto digital record.

Ms. Palmer reported that the TBA Fund #607, which she talked about last month, paid back interest of little over $130,000 and helped the General Fund by paying $50,000 of that interest that was due.

Funds #651 and #652 are trust funds. She reports those on here because they are cash balances and their spending assists the General Fund. She likes the committee to see what other funds the Department Heads and Elected Officials are using so they are not spending out of the General Fund sometimes. Ms. Palmer noted that Report F is the cash balances from last year ending October 31, 2016.

Ms. Palmer moved on to Hope Creek’s outstanding bill payments. They will be paying $196,000 when they do voucher check runs this month. After that payment is made, they will owe $500,626 to vendors dating back to August of this year. August, September, and October will be due.

The Health Department does the same thing due to the county not fronting money that is supposed to come in from grants. On the check run this month, they are paying $57,000 outstanding. That will leave them after that payment at $30,000 outstanding to vendors. Again, that’s mostly for grant money they haven’t received. They are not paying the vendors any money until they get money from the state or feds to support that payment.

Ms. Palmer noted that today she was notified that earlier this week there was some talk, and she hasn’t done enough research yet, about the fines that have been paid over the last five years from Hope Creek. According to fines or penalties, she has estimated about $200,000, but she hasn’t researched this. She needs to pull claims and speak with staff and the Hope Creek Administrator to give a much better report on her findings and make sure those are all for appropriate fines and penalties. There are some times Hope Creek makes payments back to state for their “overpayment” for Medicaid or Medicare. She wants to make sure those dollars are not included. To give a ballpark figure, it’s about $200,000 but is probably lower than that for the last five years in fines and penalties for various reasons. She will give a full report and have Ms. Covella email that out when she gets that done before the end of the month.

Mr. Mielke asked about the current fine, the $27,000. He’s sure that’s not the exact number but for the last fine incurred at Hope Creek, he asked how that was paid and if the County Board is approving that and not realizing it or if it is coming out of deductions. Ms. Palmer said she would hope the County Board would realize it. It is in the TD reports most of the time. Hope Creek only has a 10 or 15 day period so they don’t suffer late fees on those payments when the bills come in. She’s saying that probably 9/10 times, it would be on the TD report. That is about a three page report. She types those up herself. She includes the claim copy signed by all the appropriate parties, so the Administrator or Mr. Ross when he was here. Possibly in the future it would be Mr. Davis and so forth. There are the appropriate signatures and hers as well. She includes a backup of that particular invoice from the state or whatever when those fines need to be paid. That report is given to the County Board every month as well as the claim report. The claim report is the one page report that she does in detail. That shows the TDs and claims. If ever a huge dollar amount jumps out, County Board members can start with that report. They can look at that on one page, then after that if they want to see more detail on a TD, they would go to the three page report. It’s all detailed out: what fund it came out of, who it went to, the dollar amount, the date, and so forth. Those are all signed appropriately after the County Board meets and approves them. She files that in the County Clerk’s office. There is also the blue sheet on the claims report. The claims report is a bit long; it’s about 100 pages a month. Members can go through quickly and see any payments they might be concerned with at a glance. She has those in the baskets by fund in fund order. Every single invoice that comes to County Board is on these sheets. Ms. Palmer said hopefully it’s very easy to research. Members can take a quick glance. Her office is always open. She asked members to come ask questions any time. Nothing goes through without being approved by full County Board.

Mr. L. Moreno noted at the Finance and Personnel meeting, the committee asked to be told if there is a fine in the stack of papers they get because they want to know when it’s coming through rather than assume they will catch it when they go through the stacks of paper. They don’t want to micromanage the County Administrator, but would like to be aware of when fines are coming forth and would like it pointed out so they are aware and can ask the proper questions. Ms. Palmer said she can do that if she knows that’s the type of payment. Sometimes she doesn’t get all the information up front. Sometimes it goes to litigation for protecting residents or employees. If she knows there is one, she can possibly flag it. If she fails to, she asked the County Board to please not hold her accountable. That’s another step she will have to go through each month. She will do her best. Mr. L. Moreno said they are just asking for more communication between Hope Creek and the County.

Ms. Ewert asked if there isn’t a representative from the County Board on the Hope Creek Board. Multiple County Board members responded that there are two. Ms. Palmer said she is always happy to help if she can clarify anything. In the future she will do her best, but asked the County Board members to please use the resources they are given as well and ask questions if anything is not making sense.

Mr. Brunk suggested that they could possibly go through the Chairman to improve the line of communication with the Nursing Home Administrator and ensure that the Interim Administrator and future Administrator have information to update the County Board in a timely fashion. That is probably the best avenue: to make sure information comes straight from the Nursing Home Administrator through the proper channels and out to the County Board for timely updates.

Mr. Johnston said he understands the paperwork Ms. Palmer has and has to go through. When the state fines Hope Creek and it is final and has been adjudicated or appealed, they have to notify somebody that this is the fine. It isn’t something that comes through the books. Somebody has to be notified by the state that this $27,000 or $100,000 or whatever it might be is now due. He asked who that is. Ms. Palmer said the bills all go to the Administrator at Hope Creek. Mr. Johnston said then Ms. Baker at Hope Creek knows first. The County Board’s objective when it comes in that there is such a fine and they have to pay it, even before it’s paid, is that this County Board be notified. He doesn’t like waking up in morning and looking at paper and finding they’ve been fined $27,000 and then getting a call and having to say he doesn’t know anything about it.

Mr. Brunk said they are working to make sure of the line of communication. The Nursing Home Administrator and Interim Administrator or County Administrator needs to be notified as soon as possible so it can pass through the Chairman’s office and onto the full County Board. That should address the concerns.

Ms. Mayberry added that something may be addressed in her report that was addressed at GHA this month as far as how the gap between the County Board and Hope Creek. She hopes things like that can be addressed by Ms. Baker or someone at Hope Creek.

Ms. Palmer moved on to the State of Illinois payments report. She noted that there is good news. The probation officer salary reimbursements were received for January and February for two of them and then for December, January, and February to get that caught up through February 2017. That’s almost $300,000. That was a good thing that assisted the General Fund, but they are still behind almost $1 million that is due. Ms. Palmer noted that she tries to say good things, but it’s always overshadowed by “...but it’s not caught up.” There were no changes to the report for law library donations received.

5) Staff reports

Ms. Ewert said she has the cash end of everything and referred the committee to her monthly reports. The interest received in October 2017 was $46,781. For the fiscal year through October, the total is $928,112. In comparison to last year there is probably about $240,000 more in interest received this year over last year. The interest rate is currently at 1.13% as of the end of October.

Ms. Ewert reported that there is still an outstanding tax anticipation warrant for Hope Creek. When they received the last distribution, they paid $75,000 on it. The balance is $375,000.

The General Fund still owes the Probation Services Fund #144 a total of $350,000 as Ms. Palmer mentioned. The General Fund is going to enact the liability insurance intergovernmental loan before the end of the month so it can pay all its bills. Ms. Ewert said she did notify Mr. Maranda, Mr. Brunk, and Mr. L. Moreno about the vouchers that are normally paid the Friday after County Board. She is going to delay those voucher payouts three business days and pay them on the 29th, which is right before the end of the month. The reason for that is the current General Fund balance is $321,894.49. The General Fund has $20,000 coming in from the state for salary reimbursements in the next day or two, but still has payroll next week and the vouchers that were supposed to be next week as well. The General Fund is running short. Payroll is usually $800,000. Vouchers are about $445,000. The General Fund is running about $1.1 million short of paying bills through the end of the month. There is still that $20,000 in salary reimbursement coming from the state, the local use tax, and income tax still coming in. She is hoping that the General Fund makes it to payroll. If not, it will borrow from the Working Cash Fund. The county will get a distribution on Tuesday in the last week of November and make a voucher payment on Wednesday. She will wait for that distribution from the November tax installment. That distribution represents 17% more of tax dollars coming in bringing that to about 98% of tax dollars the county is expecting to receive. The county is almost done with the tax cycle. There will be one more final distribution, but a very small one, in January 2018. With everything the county has to pay out, the intent to pay back the loan to Probation Services, and also the Sheriff’s Department needs some police vehicles at about $80,000 or $90,000, Ms. Ewert is hoping to end up the year a couple hundred thousand in the positive if everything works out as expected.

Hope Creek’s cash balance right now is $313,000. In order to even make payroll they need $375,000. At the moment they are still about $62,000 short. They are supposed to be getting in some receipts, so hopefully they will make payroll by the following week. If not, they might have to use a loan from liability to help cover payroll. By the time they distribute vouchers, Hope Creek should be able to pay a little of their back invoices, but she’s not sure how far back they are. Ms. Palmer said they are about $500,000 in the hole after $200,000 in payments. Ms. Ewert said that’s if they have enough money. They are probably either going to have to decide to pay vouchers or pay off that tax anticipation warrant. They still owe $375,000. Ms. Ewert thinks they probably want to pay that and then pay a little more on the loan balance. It matures at the end of January 2018, so they just have to pay it off by then. They have a little more time to get that paid off.

Ms. Ewert noted that she does have a call in to the Comptroller’s Office. She called last month to get the money Ms. Palmer told the committee about. She has another call and an email out to them trying to get another two or three months’ worth of probation officer salaries. He called Ms. Ewert back on Tuesday, but she was at a conference. She tried to call him back and told him Rock Island County is getting to the end of its fiscal year and would really like to have another two or three months’ worth of invoices the county had billed them for. Hopefully some money will come in from them as well.

6) Recognition of Rock Island County 4H winners

a. Drew Baxter – first place, State 4-H Shotgun Shoot

b. Tommy Keeshan – second place, State 4-H Shotgun Shoot

c. Jacob Dies – fourth place, State 4-H Shotgun Shoot

d. Drew Baxter, Tommy Keeshan, Jacob Dies, Trenton Lievens – highest team, State 4-H Shotgun Shoot

e. Hannah Close – second place, junior showmanship division, State 4-H Dog Obedience Training

Mr. Brunk noted that while they could not be at the meeting tonight, he would like to recognize some Rock Island County youth doing great things in Rock Island County 4H.

[Group applause]

7) Update on the Enterprise Zone

Mr. Brunk noted that most of this will be covered under Public Works and Facilities and Finance and asked Mr. Maranda if he had any updates. Mr. Maranda said he explained everything at committee. The current Enterprise Zone runs out in March. The Enterprise Zone group brought on a consultant for about $11,000 from McClure to move the Enterprise Zone up for the next option for next year. That would be effective in January 2019. If it’s approved through the state with the consultant and the information that has been accrued...Right that’s up to $511 million in businesses and retaining and adding jobs. All of that has been compiled and sent to McClure and will be used as part of the new Enterprise Zone application.

8) Courthouse discussion

This item was postponed until December’s meeting.

9) Finance & Personnel Committee report

Mr. L. Moreno reported that the Finance and Personnel committee met on Tuesday November 14. The committee considered delinquent tax resolutions as listed on the agenda. The committee considered board member per diem and mileage reports, appropriation resolutions for funds, and transfers of appropriation. The committee discussed transfers of appropriations from the Health Department and forwarded them to the full County Board for consideration. These transfers were not ready in time to make it to the Finance agenda, so the committee decided to take them straight to the

full County Board. The committee considered claims at $1,230,966.60 and TDs at $2,439,010.73.

The committee reviewed and recommended approval of contract with GovHR for county administrator search services at a cost not to exceed $22,000.

The committee recommended approval of the annual tax abatement ordinance for the Hope Creek Care Center bond.

The committee considered a tax anticipation warrant for Hope Creek Care Center at an amount not to exceed $2 million and a tax anticipation warrant for the Rock Island County General Fund at an amount not to exceed $3 million.

The committee considered an agreement with Bi-State Regional Commission and the governments of East Moline, Milan, Moline, Rock Island, and Rock Island County, Illinois for contractual services related to the preparation and monitoring of a contract for Enterprise Zone application assistance. The county’s portion of the cost for this agreement is $10,969.

Mr. Reagan asked if Mr. Maranda had mentioned at the last meeting that there was a more economical way to search for an administrator. Mr. L. Moreno explained that one thing they talked about is if this is something the county can do by itself to save taxpayer money. What they talked about at the meeting is this agency has helped before. They can do more than the county can do for itself. Mr. L. Moreno asked if Mr. Maranda had anything to add. Mr. Maranda said Mr. L. Moreno is absolutely correct and added that they discussed going out themselves or bringing a professional group back in. At committees, he handed out a contract that was sent to him. GovHR did give the county a discount at $17,000. The $22,000 he’s asking for is if they get [an applicant] out of Virginia or something and have to fly them in to interview if they make the final cut.

Ms. Mayberry added, having been a board member last time the county did this search, she wanted to note what a professional job GovHR did for the county and what qualified candidates they brought in. The county obviously landed on Mr. Ross, who did a fantastic job in his time here. Going with this professional company is a very good move for the county and they will bring in qualified candidates once again.

Mr. Brunk added that the advisory group was talking about potentially going out themselves. They spoke in the advisory group about the possibility of finding someone with experience in municipal administration that may be willing to come on as a contract employee for a limited amount of time to help facilitate that process. They weren’t actually looking at doing it 100% on their own. They were looking at doing it with some outside assistance from somebody with experience in the field. Mr. Philips looked into some possibilities and didn’t feel anybody in this area would be quite able to do what the county needs them to do at this time. That’s where the recommendation came in

with this GovHR discount and the county’s past experience with them. The group felt that would be the best option.

Mr. L. Moreno thanked Ms. Palmer very much for helping out with the extra work the County Board keeps asking of her. He knows it is more work on her, but it makes their jobs easier.

10) Governance, Health, and Administration Committee report

The committee heard a report from Ms. Kinney on vital records and upcoming election dates. The committee also heard a report from Mr. Bryant at the Health Department regarding the closing of the Silvis Health Link Office due to lack of staffing. Individuals who were served by that clinic can receive services at the Rock Island or Colona locations.

The committee heard from Ms. Smith at the University of Illinois Extension, who updated them on a few upcoming programs, including Master Gardener training and PSEP (Pesticide Safety Education Program) testing. The Extension is also hosting two upcoming local government webinars. If anyone is interested in attending those, they are over the lunch period on November 16 and December 7. Ms. Covella can get that information out to anyone who is interested. Links to the webinars are also available on the Extension’s website.

Ms. Mayberry added that she would like to recognize Mr. Scott Terry and Mr. Jeff Deppe for completing the University of Illinois/United Counties Council of Illinois Leadership Academy for County Officials. [Applause]. Ms. Mayberry noted that other current and former board members have been part of this. She encouraged all board members to also partake if they have time.

The committee discussed a proposal from GovHR for county administrator search services and recommended forwarding the proposal to the Finance and Personnel Committee with an amount not to exceed amount of $22,000. GovHR conducted the search for the previous county administrator and was able to provide a discount for the services. The State’s Attorney’s Office has advised that the county does not need to go out for bids for this service.

The committee discussed amendments to Senate Bill 871 as brought to committee by Mr. Wilson. The amendments seek to increase the amount for existing homestead exemptions and add an additional exemption for long-term occupants. If passed, the amended Senate Bill would cost the county approximately $250,000 in additional exemptions and staff time. The committee directed Mr. Davis to work with Mr. Wilson to write a letter to Senator Anderson addressing the county’s concerns. Ms. Mayberry asked if Mr. Wilson had anything to add. Mr. Wilson noted that the Senate did adjourn without calling the bill.

The committee discussed options for more thorough reports from Hope Creek. In the future, the committee will receive copies of the minutes from the Hope Creek Board of Directors meetings and Mr. Davis and Mr. Maranda will work with the administration at Hope Creek to have monthly reports presented to the GHA committee.

11) Public Works & Facilities Committee report

Mr. Burns reported that the Public Works and Facilities Committee considered ZBA cases as follows and recommended approval of all: SU-17-215, Jon & Shelley Anthony, Density Increase, Bowling Township; RZ-17-112, Kenneth Wright, AG-2 to SE-2, Coe Township; and RZ-17-113, Joel Grafton, AG-1 to SE-2, Rural Township.

The committee recommended approval of an Ordinance Establishing an Enterprise Zone in the City of East Moline, Illinois; City of Moline, Illinois; City of Rock Island, Illinois; City of Silvis, Illinois; Village of Milan, Illinois; and Rock Island County, Illinois.

The committee recommended approval of an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of East Moline, City of Moline, City of Rock Island, City of Silvis, the Village of Milan and Rock Island County for the Enterprise Zone.

The committee considered an agreement among Bi-State Regional Commission and the governments of East Moline, Milan, Moline, Rock Island, and Rock Island County, Illinois for Contractual Services Related to the Preparation and Monitoring of a Contract for Enterprise Zone Application Assistance and forwarded the agreement to the Finance and Personnel Committee. The county’s portion of the agreement is $10,969. All other parties to the agreement are also contributing to the contract cost as detailed in the agreement, which is embedded in the Public Works and County Board agendas.

The committee considered a Motor Fuel Tax Resolution for Bi-State Regional Commission. This is an annual resolution to pay a portion of Rock Island County’s obligation to Bi-State Regional Commission from the County Motor Fuel Tax Fund (MFT) in the amount of $35,000. The committee recommended approval.

The committee considered the FY18 Motor Fuel Tax Maintenance Resolution to appropriate MFT funds for maintenance operations in the amount of $2,800,000. These funds help pay for various maintenance activities, materials, and projects.

The committee considered the annual resolution allowing the County Engineer’s salary, benefits, and expenses to be paid from MFT and for half of his salary to be reimbursed from Federal Surface Transportation Program Funds.

The committee approved an agreement to provide an Engineering Technician V, Mr. Ron Standley, for various Bridge Inspections and Bituminous plant inspections for Rock Island County and various Road Districts on an as needed basis. The cost for the services to the

County will be paid from the County Highway Fund. The cost for the services to the Road Districts will be paid from the County Highway Fund and reimbursed by the appropriate Road District.

The committee considered county aid requests and recommended approval of a culvert in Coe Road District.

12) Approval of County Board agenda

Motion to approve: Brian Vyncke 2nd: Luis Moreno, Drue Mielke Voice vote Motion carried

13) The Committee of the Whole may vote to enter into closed session for the following:

• 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (1) – The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity.

• 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (2) – Collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees.

• 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (11) – Litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probably or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting.

The committee did not enter into closed session.

14) Board member opportunity for brief comments (no decisions will be made)

Mr. Terry noted that he has a very quick comment in relation to the reservations and concerns addressed regarding Hope Creek, the fines they have received, and the details behind the fines. He explained for those not already aware that because Hope Creek serves and houses Medicaid and Medicare residents, all those things are posted for the public online every quarter. They are posted in March and so on. If anyone wants to take the time to hop online, it’s very easy to access. They can actually read notes from the regulator. They are very detailed. He can assure everyone that this is exactly what the newspaper is doing. They should all be abreast and aware of the fines and issues going on. If they remember and are concerned enough to take the time to hop online and read it every three months...Mr. Mielke said Mr. Terry is exactly right. He has done that in the past. He’s just harkening back to about three years ago when the County Board had a Health and Human Services Committee and a constituent in his district brought something to his attention. He hopped on there, expressed concern, and brought it to Mr. Oelke’s attention and went to that committee. Nothing was said. This was a few years ago. Another month went by and nothing was said. He thinks it has been addressed that there is a recurring problem where things that are maybe not palatable aren’t brought to the County Board’s attention. Mr. Mielke noted that the County Board can go into closed session. The chair at that time said he didn’t trust the County Board members, but the County Board is in charge of the oversight of this home and they are ultimately responsible to make sure things are running correctly. Members can all go to this site, but nothing prompts him to know it is released. Mr. Terry said it’s released every three months. Mr. Mielke said he knows. He asked if everyone has gone there and noted he has not seen it yet. He believes Mr. Terry and will be watching, but since they have fixed the reporting thing, that’s the kind of information they can expect from Hope Creek. They’ll know that this report is now online and everyone can view it.

Mr. Brunk noted that there may even be a lot of opportunities to keep the County Board abreast of what’s going on there possibly sooner than it becomes available to the general public.

Ms. Shelton added that she believes some of that information used to be provided to the County Board from Mr. Ross on those updates before the County Board meeting. He’s not here any longer. She did speak to Mr. Davis earlier this evening and he is going to get that information and put it out. That’s where the County Board would know what was paid out.

15) Adjourn

Chair Richard Brunk adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m.

http://www.rockislandcounty.org/CountyBoard.aspx?id=40517#CAW