Rock Island County Governance, Health, and Administration Committee met June 11.
Here is the agenda provided by the Committee:
1) Call to order and roll call
2) Public comments
3) Approval of minutes from the May 7, 2018 meeting
4) Reports to the committee
5) Consider Electronic Consulting Services Agreement
6) Consider Intergovernmental Agreement between Rock Island County Board and International Association of County Board Members re: Equipment Purchase Program
7) Consider Wage Opener at Hope Creek
8) Review of pending/proposed state legislation & policy matters affecting Rock Island County
9) Committee member opportunity for brief comments (no decisions will be made)
10) Adjourn
Future scheduled meetings on July 9, August 13, September 10, and October 9
The Governance, Health, and Administration Committee of the Rock Island County Board met at the above date and time in the Conference Room of the Administration Office on the second floor of the County Building, 1504 Third Ave, Rock Island, IL. Chair Mia Mayberry called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Minutes as follows:
1) Call to order and roll call
Committee members present: Mia Mayberry, Pat Moreno, Kim Callaway-Thompson, Drue Mielke, Cecilia O’Brien (via phone), Ron Oelke, Mike Steffen (via phone)
Committee members absent: Scott Terry
Others present: Kenneth Maranda, Kurt Davis, Hayleigh Covella, Bill Long, Ed Langdon, Trent Vandersnick, Darren Hart, Amanda Van Daele, Bill Long, Tammy Weikert, Richard Brunk, Louisa Ewert, Karen Kinney, John McGehee, Dewayne Cremeens, Mariela Trevino, Diane Oestrich, Diann Moore, Russell Medley
2) Public hearing for 5311/DOAP program and 2018 Rolling Stock Capital Assistance
Application
Ms. Mayberry explained that later on the agenda, the committee will be considering various items related to the approval of this program. Item 2 is the public hearing for the annual application. This is essentially a pass-through grant that the county will help administer that provides rural transportation assistance in Rock Island County. There is no cost associated with this to the county and the county actually receives a payment from the grant to help administer it. They have run the program for years.
Assistance Grant. The grants will allow continuation in providing public transportation services to residents of Rock Island County. I will make three calls to the public if anyone wishes to address the public hearing. I will make a first call for anyone wishing to address the public hearing. I will now make a second call. I make a third and final call. Let the record state that I have made three calls to the public with regard to the 5311 Rural/Down State Operating Assistance grant and that all those wishing to address the Board have had an opportunity to do so. I declare the hearing is now closed.” Ms. Mayberry closed the public hearing at 10:03 a.m.
Ms. Mayberry opened the public hearing for the CVP 2018 Rolling Stock Capital Assistance Grant at 10:03 a.m. Chair Mayberry stated “I declare the Public Hearing for the purpose of considering a project for which financial assistance is being sought from the Illinois Department of Transportation to be open. Publication of such hearing did occur on April 23, 2018 in the Rock Island Argus/Daily Dispatch; being a newspaper of general circulation in the County. The only order of business is to conduct a Public Hearing as provided by Consolidated Vehicle Procurement CVP 2018 Rolling Stock Capital Assistance Grant requirements. Project NOW is requesting the award of a Consolidated Vehicle Procurement CVP 2018 Rolling Stock Capital Assistance Grant. The grants will allow continuation in providing public transportation services to residents of Rock Island County. I will make three calls to the public if anyone wishes to address the public hearing. I will make a first call for anyone wishing to address the public hearing. I will now make a second call. I make a third and final call. Let the record state that I have made three calls to the public with regard to the Consolidated Vehicle Procurement CVP 2018 Rolling Stock Capital Assistance Grant and that all those wishing to address the Board have had an opportunity to do so. I declare the hearing is now closed.” Ms. Mayberry closed the public hearing at 10:04 a.m.
3) Public comments
The committee received two requests for public comments from Ms. Diane Oestrich and Ms. Diann Moore. They both requested to address the committee regarding the Public Building Commission (PBC). Ms. Moore had handouts to provide to the committee. Mr. Maranda asked if he presented what she was going to hand out before this meeting. Ms. Moore said it’s just what Ms. Oestrich is saying. Mr. Maranda told her she may not present anything to this Board. Ms. Oestrich said they will just give it to the Board after they present. Mr. Maranda said no she won’t because the public comment says anything that’s going to be passed out to this Board has to be presented before you speak.
Ms. Oestrich of the Rock Island Preservation Society introduced herself and Ms. Moore from the Moline Preservation Society. They are representing their respective Executive Boards and combined membership in support of the question raised by Mr. Mielke at the April 19 meeting of this sub-committee about the legality of using any portion of the $28 million in bond funds for purposes stated in the proposed intergovernmental agreement between Rock Island County Board and the PBC.
The basis of the legality question is the amended and restated lease agreement for the PBC approved by the County Board on February 23, 2016 explicitly states that the bond funds can only be used for the construction of the Justice Center Annex, not the replacement of the Rock Island County Courthouse, the demolition of the Courthouse, nor remodeling the County Building and relocating the Recorder’s Office and other remaining offices out of the Courthouse. According to the State of Illinois Public Building Commission Act, the purpose of a PBC created by a County Board of any county may not be expanded until the question of expanding the purpose of the PBC has been submitted to the electors of the county at a regular election and approved by a majority of electorate voting on that question. There is no provision in the PBC Act allowing such a change to the purpose of the intergovernmental agreement.
Furthermore, the amended and restated lease agreement states that if the amount of bond proceeds set aside and made available under terms of the bond resolution for payment of the cost of the project to be in excess of the cost of the project, the Commission shall deposit such excess in the bond interest account as provided by the bond resolution. Therefore the PBC does not have the authority to use or offer these bonds for other than constructing the Justice Center Annex. Therefore, any remaining funds should be used to reduce the $28 million in bonds that are required to be paid back in the form of$3.6 million payment per year from 2016-2045 by the county to the PBC to cover the rent, maintenance, and upkeep of the Justice Center, thus reducing the total amount of the tax levied by the County Board on February 23, 2016.
Finally, the Rock Island Preservation Society and Moline Preservation Society are engaging an independent attorney specializing in construction and administrative law to research the legality and authority and administrative and political logistics of the county and PBC’s use of any bond proceeds for any of the above stated purposes. The findings will be presented to the County Board upon receiving them.
Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked for a copy of the handout. Ms. Moore asked if she can offer a copy of the handout. Mr. Maranda explained that public comment states that if something in writing is presented to the Board.so they can have it prior to public comments.
Ms. Moore thanked the committee. Ms. Oestrich noted that they can email the handout to each of the members.
Mr. Steffen asked if the committee ever approved the minutes from last month. He may have missed it. Ms. Mayberry said that’s Item 4. They haven’t gotten there yet.
4) Approval of minutes from the April 9, 2018 meeting
Motion to approve: Drue Mielke 2nd: Ron Oelke Voice vote Motion carried
5) Reports to the committee
County Clerk Ms. Kinney provided a copy of her Vital Report for April. She noted that all the totals are running about average. Some are up a little; some are down a little, so it all averages out.
Ms. Kinney reported that in the middle of last month, her office mailed out 999 new voter registration cards. Hopefully that number will grow.
Circuit Clerk Ms. Weikert introduced herself. She noted that she has a couple of updates. There are some staggering numbers that she is excited to start talking about in anticipation of her office moving into the new Justice Center Annex. They have sent out approximately 140,000 files to equate to just over 6 million images. They have sent out for shredding 7.26 tons of documents that have reached their age of destruction, so her office is able to get rid of them.
Ms. Weikert explained that her office is now completely on eRecord, which means the court is now accessing files electronically during the court hearings in the chambers. They have self-help terminals available for the public to use and have a Self-Represented Litigant Coordinator who helps litigants who come in and want to access those court files and other files electronically. Ms. Weikert’s office is having a second wave of training for the judiciary and for her staff this week. They will have the case management vendor in the office to talk about the new things the program can do for the courts and for her office, and to talk about how integration works between the eFiling system and the case management system.
Ms. Weikert reported that her office is continuing to collaborate with Family Resources on getting more of the types of cases that they see, which are typically orders of protection and stalking cases, so they can help guide those litigants to start utilizing the eFiling system as much as possible.
A couple weeks ago, her office held a second Q&A Symposium for the court filing community. They have a lot of questions come to them from not just attorneys, but their staff, their secretaries and people who file documents for the attorneys. They have questions and were confused about how the whole process works, so they got everyone together and went through their questions. They had the EFM company on phone, Tyler Technologies, to help answer the questions. It was a huge resource for everybody involved.
Ms. Weikert noted that they also did a demonstration of a new program that is coming for everyone called ResearchIL, which is for online court document access. That is the next mandate they have for July 1, 2018. Court records will be available online through that system. All eFile documents will be available as soon as they get the repository system up and running. Through the mandate, they are allowed to eventually integrate all their court records to be available online. Right now, the only individuals who have access to those electronic records are attorneys of record, litigants, court staff, judges, etc. Until the Supreme Court modifies the Electronic Access Policy, the only individuals who can have access are the people she just mentioned. Once that policy changes, depending on what the policy says, that will be expanded.
Treasurer Ms. Ewert reported that on Friday, they dropped 62,714 tax bills in the mail. The collection will total $251 million.
University of Illinois Extension Mr. Medley reported that the Extension has a couple events coming up on Saturday. The Master Gardeners are having a plant sale at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds. Also, with the Milan Optimists, the Extension is holding a Bike Safety Day. That will be at the Extension’s facility in Milan. Kids who come get put through a safety course and also get a free helmet.
The Extension just wrapped up their Juntos Program. That is kind of a workforce/college prep program that is specifically targeted in the Floreciente Neighborhood in Moline. It is a bilingual program. They also had the parents involved in this, not just the kids. They had 25 students this year and have been invited to apply for funding next year. They wrapped up by taking the kids to Blackhawk, Western Illinois University, University of Illinois, University of Iowa, Augustana, and St. Ambrose. They took their parents with them. It was a great program.
The Extension is working with a graduate student on developing curriculum on Economic Development 101 that will be distributed statewide and throughout the Extension network in the Midwest. They are looking at other programming focused on financial literacy and health insurance, how to select health insurance.
Mr. Medley noted that last time he was here, he talked about the Poverty Simulation exercise in Davenport. That was with Opportunities Quad Cities. They are doing four more through June, including one at the Community Development Institute that is held every year in Moline. The poverty simulation is an exercise where they have people role play being in poverty for a month period. It only takes an hour, not a month, but they look at it for a month.
The next local government education network webinar is June 14. Everyone will probably get notice of that through email. It’s “Creating Age Friendly Communities & Case Study: Preventing Senior Bullying.”
Mr. Mielke noted that there was a Community Health and Wellness Fair on 5th Avenue in Moline. He was helping out someone who had a booth. He heard a rumor there may be a greenhouse down in that area, in the Floreciente Neighborhood and asked if Mr. Medley knows anything about that. Mr. Medley said he has not heard anything about that, but it’s very possible. A lot of organizations are talking about greenhouses. Mr. Mielke said he didn’t know who was sponsoring and thought it may be the Extension. Mr. Medley said he doesn’t know, but he can check.
6) County Office Building updates
Mr. Davis reported that the Veteran’s Affairs Office has moved from the second floor to the basement to prepare for moving Rep. Halpin’s Office to other side of the building to get ready for the Recorder of Deeds to come over. Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked if it’s a sure thing that the Recorder of Deeds will be housed on this floor. Mr. Davis said it appears that the Recorder of Deeds will be housed in this area. Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked if Mr. Davis meant right in this room. Mr. Davis said yes. Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked where the County Board’s conference chambers will be and if that’s still to be determined. Mr. Davis said it’s still up in the air, but they have talked about the old Board of Review Conference Room or having it up in the Chambers. Mr. Maranda said or Room 320.
Mr. Vandersnick asked if there has been any talk about Juvenile Court Services moving yet. Mr. Davis said they are still trying to find placement for the Coroner’s Office and are looking at that area. Mr. Vandersnick noted that the air conditioner in their section of the courthouse is broken. He has been informed that they are not putting any more money into fixing it. It already got up to 85 degrees in there last week and it wasn’t even hot out last week. Mr. Hart said that is not correct. They are making repairs as needed in that building right now. Air conditioning is a priority for every office in that building. If that is such a case, they will definitely look at it, but that is not the case. He will look into it when he gets back. He apologized to Mr. Vandersnick for that.
Mr. Mielke asked, on the line of where this [committee] area might go, if they need an area for meetings if they can utilize the Chambers on the third floor. He asked if they need to have duplication. Mr. Davis said he guesses it’s up to the Board. Mr. Mielke said he never thought about it, but as far as building space needs and saving money, he thinks they could move there. Mr. Davis agreed and said they can also use Room 320.
7) Consider Transit 5311 Formula Grant Application
a. Resolution authorizing execution of Section 5311 Grant Agreement b. Public Transportation Applicant Ordinance c. Acceptance of the Special Warranty
Motion to approve 7a-7c: Kim Callaway-Thompson 2nd: Drue Mielke Voice vote Motion carried
8) Consider Downstate Operating Assistance Program (DOAP) Application for rural areas
Motion to approve: Pat Moreno 2nd: Kim Callaway-Thompson Voice vote Motion carried
9) Consider 2018 CVP Rolling Stock Capital Assistance application
Motion to approve: Pat Moreno 2nd: Drue Mielke Voice vote Motion carried
10) Consider Community Action Month Proclamation
Ms. Mayberry noted that May 15 is Project NOW’s 50th birthday. In recognition, they are requesting approval of a proclamation declaring May 2018 Community Action Month in Rock Island County and thanking Project NOW for 50 years of service.
Motion to approve: Pat Moreno 2nd: Kim Callaway-Thompson Voice vote Motion carried
11) Consider Birdies for Charity Proclamation
Ms. Mayberry explained that this proclamation declares the week of June 17-23, 2018 Bonus Fund Giving Week in Rock Island County and recognizes the contributions to the John Deere Classic Bonus Fund, which raises donations for more than 500 area charities.
Motion to approve: Pat Moreno 2nd: Mike Steffen Voice vote Motion carried
12) Consider Resolution for an Intergovernmental Agreement Between Rock Island
County and the Rock Island County Public Building Commission Re: Courthouse
Ms. Mayberry explained that this is an updated resolution regarding the future of the courthouse, which is something that the committee discussed last month. The resolution is linked on the computer packet if anyone would like to take a look at it or another look at it.
Mr. Brunk pointed out that this resolution sets the county back on the course the County Board set in December of last year. Not only was the majority of the County Board for this, the PBC agreed to it after consulting with the construction site manager. This puts the county back on course for a decision to be made during the July committee cycle. The resolution also states that should the decision at that time be demolition, the IGA will go into effect no later than July 18, 2018.
Mr. Moreno asked for confirmation that this vote is just to take it to full County Board. Ms. Mayberry confirmed that it is to take it to full County Board. Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked if it’s correct that this is going to County Board so they can have robust discussion, debate, and dialog. Ms. Mayberry said yes.
Ms. Mayberry asked if the resolution is going to Committee of the Whole. Mr. Brunk said anything going to County Board goes to Committee of the Whole.
Motion to approve: Drue Mielke 2nd: Pat Moreno Voice vote Motion carried
13) Consider vacation time carryover request at Hope Creek
Ms. Mayberry explained that Ms. Baker is requesting to carry over an additional 26 vacation hours. Mr. Davis noted that Ms. Baker has been really busy administrating Hope Creek and hasn’t had time to take all of her vacation. She is asking to roll over an additional 26 hours.
Motion to approve: Pat Moreno 2nd: Kim Callaway-Thompson Voice vote Motion carried
14) Consider Resolution Re-Establishing The County Executive Committee
Ms. Mayberry explained that this resolution reestablishes the County Board Executive Committee, which will meet as needed for the committee to oversee the work of the Administrator. The Executive Committee will consist of the committee chairs, the County Board Chairman, and the County Board Vice Chair.
Mr. Brunk explained that this is something that was discussed with the administrator search committee along with Ms. Swett from legal. They determined that it is a good idea to have a committee to work with the Chairman to address or oversee any specific concerns with the County Administrator should anything develop. Mr. Oelke added that they would also conduct an annual performance review. The search committee members felt that with the reestablishment of this committee, it’s not just the Chairman dealing with the Administrator. If there is a conflict, it can’t be viewed as a personality conflict or whatever. Mr. Maranda said that’s exactly right.
Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked if this is mostly in light of the fact that the county just hired a new administrator. Mr. Oelke said yes. Mr. Maranda said that it’s part of the learning experience.
Mr. Steffen noted that he is very pleased with the reduction of the committees to four. He can’t vote for this. He doesn’t think there is any need for a new committee.
Motion to approve: Drue Mielke 2nd: Ron Oelke Voice vote Motion carried Opposed: Mike Steffen
15) Consider addition of Class H Liquor License to Liquor License Resolution
Ms. Mayberry explained that this item would add an additional license type to the existing resolution which would cover resorts/campgrounds that wish to serve alcoholic liquor. The proposed fee is $2,794. The State’s Attorney’s Office has been sent the proposed language, so this is a vote for approval pending State’s Attorney review.
Mr. Maranda noted that he has Mr. McGehee’s opinion and it’s good to go. Ms. Mayberry said the approval vote is not pending review, then.
Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked if they are saying that these are not drug-free zones like the local parks. Mr. Maranda explained that this is for a private campground. Ms. Mayberry said it’s not the Forest Preserves.
Ms. Kinney asked what the fee is for that. Ms. Mayberry said $2,794. Mr. Oelke asked how that compares to the other license types. Mr. Maranda explained that this is a dual license. He is asking to pour in a fenced-in area where he can serve food at the patio and the pool. Then he’s asking for a separate part of the building for packaged liquor, so whatever is sold out of the packaged end of the campsite to the campers where he can’t dispense and the packaged liquor cannot go into that secured area. In the secured area, he is going to serve food and pour and open a beer. That’s got to be an enclosed area. It has to be all fenced in. That’s what it is. The packaged is out of a different portion to sell to the campers.
Ms. Kinney asked who “he” is and what campground they are talking about. She didn’t hear about this. Mr. Maranda said Sun Communities out in Hillsdale.
Motion to approve: Pat Moreno 2nd: Ron Oelke Voice vote Motion carried
16) Update on AFSCME 2371 wage opener
Item 16 was discussed in closed session under Item 18.
17) Update on County Administrator contract
Item 17 was discussed in closed session under Item 18.
18) The committee may enter into closed session per:
• 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) (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.
Motion to enter into closed session: Drue Mielke 2nd: Pat Moreno Roll call: Yes – Mielke, Callaway-Thompson, Oelke, Moreno (4) No – None (0) Motion carried The committee entered into closed session at 10:30 a.m.
Motion to enter into open session: Pat Moreno 2nd: Ron Oelke Voice vote Motion carried The committee entered into open session at 10:50 a.m.
19) Review of pending/proposed state legislation & policy matters affecting Rock
Island County
There were no items to discuss for Item 19.
20) Committee member opportunity for brief comments (no decisions will be made)
Ms. Callaway-Thompson noted that Chairman Maranda had asked all the County Board members to disperse out into the community during the QC Big Table event. She wanted to say to the Chairman and the committee, while she was traveling she did not think she would have an opportunity, but that Saturday she did attend two of those events. She thought they were outstanding events. Both meetings were. She does hope that in whatever way the county might be able to offer some assistance with the analysis or going over the results of the report once it’s out, that the county will be able to lend whatever help that they can. There were a lot of big and bold ideas out there.
Mr. Moreno asked where those ideas go from those meetings. He asked what the next step is. Mr. Maranda explained that they were supposed to aggregate them somewhere and send out a report. Ms. Callaway-Thompson said it’s through the QC Chamber. After the meeting, all the participants were sent a survey. There wasn’t a moderator taking notes and she didn’t see any recorders or anything like that. That was not the model. She filled out surveys for the meetings she attended. She doesn’t know what kind of numbers they got back in terms of the surveys, but she believes there were over 500 tables, so about 5,000 people over two days. Ms. Mayberry said she heard they were well-attended and asked if the county’s was well-attended. Ms. Ewert explained that Ms. Gomez hosted one; however there was very little participation. In actuality, one outsider showed up and the rest of the group was employees. Bi-State had one at the same time and they only had one person show up, so they actually combined tables and met here. They had a full table once they could find them between Bi-State’s employees and the county’s.
Mr. Long added, for whatever it’s worth, that they had one that only had three people register, but 13 showed up. Surveys have been sent out and were sent in by 9 so far. Mr. Maranda noted that the county’s signup was full, but whoever didn’t show.
Mr. McGehee noted that he could have talked about this earlier, but he does have the legal opinion from bond counsel. Their formal opinion in the legal opinion that they gave to the county is that the demolition costs are covered under the forms and bond language as well as under the PBC Act. He does have a formal opinion from them and will be indicating that to the full County Board to discuss that. He wanted to let this committee know. Ms. Mayberry asked if he will report that to the Committee of the Whole on Wednesday. Mr. McGehee said he can’t. He won’t be there because his son is graduating from college, so he will be out of town.
Ms. Moore asked what group gave the opinion. Mr. McGehee said Chapman and Cutler. They are a Chicago law firm. They are the legal attorneys who underwrote the bonds initially. They provided the legal opinion to the financing people so they felt comfortable in providing $28 million to the PBC. They are a bigtime law firm in Chicago.
Mr. Mielke asked if they had an opinion on renovations here. Mr. McGehee said they did. They gave an opinion as it relates to other renovations as well. They said that’s authorized under the act as long as it’s part of the move from the courthouse. If she were to stay there, of course, it would not be authorized. It’s all part of the same project to make the Justice Center and Annex comply with the building requirements. He will give the formal opinion to the entire County Board so they can review it and look at it. He warned the committee that it’s very legalistic.
Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked when they can expect it. Mr. McGehee said he has it already. He received it last week. They did bill the county $2,500 for getting that legal opinion. Mr. McGehee had some correspondence with them earlier on and some memos back and forth for him to render his own legal opinion because he represents the county. Because of the request from the community and other County Board members, they actually have a formal legal opinion from Chapman and Cutler. He will provide that to the public as well as to other people so it will be part of the discussion. He won’t be at Committee of the Whole, but he will be at the County Board meeting.
21) Adjourn
Meeting adjourned at 10:56 a.m.
Future scheduled meetings on June 11, July 9, August 13, and September 10
http://www.rockislandcounty.org/CountyBoard.aspx?id=41261#GHA
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