Carbondale Reporter

At a recent meeting, the Jackson County Executive Committee considered a proposed travel-reimbursement resolution that would correspond with a new state law.

Below is the agenda for this meeting, as provided by the committee.

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Call to Order (5:00 PM)

Members Present: Erbes, Hunter, J.S. Rendleman, Peterson and Redmond

Members Absent: Larkin and Rowe

Also Present: Tamiko Mueller, Susie Kilquist, Maureen Berkowitz

Approval of Minutes

I. 16-0647 August 4, 2016 Minutes

A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Erbes, to approve the August 4, 2016 minutes as

presented. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Internal Office Matters

II. 16-0654 October Calendar Adjustments

The committee discussed options for moving the Finance & Administration Committee meeting

that is scheduled for October 10th to October 12th at 5:30 pm to accommodate the Columbus

Day holiday.

III. 16-0669 Temporary Secretary Position

Human Resources Subcommittee Report

The Committee Coordinator updated the committee on the next scheduled Human Resource Subcommittee meeting and what the

tentative plans are for that meeting.

IV. 16-0648 Animal Control Truck Update

The committee reviewed the three truck bids that Animal Control has received. They discussed

getting a 4x2 or a 4x4 and reviewed the suggestion from Mr. Rowe regarding purchasing local.

A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by Hunter, to authorize and direct Animal Control to go

back to Vogler and see what it would cost to purchase a 4x4 v6 truck from Vogler and direct

Animal Control to purchase the truck and topper provided they cost less than $27,000. The

motion carried by unanimous vote.

V. 16-0649 William "Bill" Alstat Award

Chairman Rendleman brought up the idea of an award in honor of Bill Alstat. The Alstat Award

to be given annually by the County Board to someone who worked hard, worked in government

and knew what they were doing. The award could include a plaque/trophy and a financial

stipend. The Chairman asked the committee to consider this idea as well as other parameters

including should this be a retired person or current employee, amount of award, type of award,

and other attributes to be included. Mueller suggested giving the plaque to a person but the

financial stipend to go to a nonprofit of the recipient's choice as a way to show that the Board is

investing in the community. Mueller was asked to put together a presentation showing how

this would work and present it at the October committee meeting.

VI. 16-0650 Consent Agenda Bylaws Revision

Mr. Brenner submitted suggested wording changes based on the new statute that was recently

passed. The committee discussed the proposed change to the Jackson County Bylaws to allow

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the board to act on consent agenda items. The committee discussed the use of the consent

agenda and the amount of notice that is required to make changes in the bylaws. The

Chairman indicated that he would consult with the committee chairs about what would be on

the consent agenda. The committee discussed who would be allowed to ask for things to be

removed from the consent agenda and decided that both board members and members of the

public could request this. They requested that Mr. Brenner make the change requested in the

motion.

A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Redmond, to approve the consent agenda bylaw

change in accordance with the Jackson County Bylaws in accordance with the recommendation

of Mr. Brenner, as amended byspecifying that any board member or citizen may ask that any

item may be removed from the consent agenda. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

VII. 16-0651 Community Engagement Plan Working Group

The Chairman reported on the recent Community Engagement meeting. He reported that each

person was given a task. Redmond reported that he spoke with Mr. Siefert and asked him to

prepare something that could be presented to the committee, Mr. Siefert said he will bring

something to the meeting on Monday.

VIII. 16-0652 Resolution/Ordinance Governing Travel Reimbursement Policies

The committee discussed the new statute that requires all board members to have all their

travel, food, and mileage reimbursements approved by the full Board. The Committee

Coordinator informed the committee that the State's Attorney's office is working on this

issue. The committee would like to ensure that the reimbursement rate is the standard IRS

reimbursement rate. Additionally, they would like to make sure that the resolution or

ordinance allows for estimating cost of travel and food in the event of a need to advance

funds. Kilquist mentioned some of the issues that the Sheriff's office is considering with this

new statute. The committee requested that Mr. Brenner and/or the Committee Coordinator

create a standard form to be used by all departments and offices in the county.

The committee then discussed the proposed credit card policy presented by Erbes. The

committee suggested a few changes to the policy and the Chairman suggested that Erbes

contact him to work on this policy. They would like to remove the reference to food and make

item seven more clear. This policy will be on the agenda next month.

IX. 16-0653 Policy on Employees Purchasing Time from IMRF

The committee considered the request by an employee to purchase one year of IMRF time

from the time they built up in another state. IMRF has a policy allowing this but currently the

county does not have a policy on this. Kilquist indicated that the Sheriff's department lets

employees purchase time whenever they want. The committee discussed what this would

mean to the county and decided they would like the county to have a policy for this and any

future requests.

A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Hunter, to approve adopting a policy that would

allow employees to purchase not more than one year of IMRF service credit. The motion

carried by unanimous vote.

X. 16-0657 Board Members Voting on all Committees

The committee discussed the idea of all board members being able to vote on any

committee. The main issue would be quorum problems. The Chairman suggested a provision

in the bylaws allowing for board members to give advisory votes on any committee if this is

something that the rest of the committee is interested in. The committee discussed it and

decided there was not a consensus of the committee but that if there was ever a specific

proposal they would consider it.

XI. 16-0659 County Board Budget Discussion

The committee discussed adding a County Administrator position. This idea was presented

several years ago and the indication is that their are board members on both sides of the aisle

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who would like to consider this idea again. None of the board members have the time to be

their own staff and there are a lot of issues (i.e. HR things) that the members can not give the

time necessary to evaluate. Erbes asked about a salary and the committee discussed starting

someone at around $75,000. The committee agreed that this is something the board should

consider. They also discussed where the funding for the salary would come from since there is

no new money coming into the county. The suggestion was made to take some money from

other offices since it is the boards intention that the County Administrator would also be

responsible for some of those functions. The committee is aware that there will be some

resistance to the idea but the growing consensus among the board is that this is a necessary

position. There are things that a County Administrator would do that would allow for shifting

some of the duties in the county board office as well as the rest of the county. There are things

that the board will not be able to accomplish without a County Administrator. Redmond

pointed out that someone will need to be able to monitor the building commission if that

moves forward. Then discussion moved to what the exact job duties would be and Redmond

stated that he has the presentation from several years ago that he can send to the Committee

Coordinator to pass on to the rest of the committee. Chairman Rendleman pointed out that

this year alone there have been instances where some things have been postponed or taken

longer because they can not get done by the current staff. The committee decided it would like

this position put into the County Board budget in addition to the Secretary position. Berkowitz

voiced her concern that the salary for the County Administrator is 50% higher than any of the

elected officials. Chairman Rendleman emphasized that there is a need to pay someone

enough for the position to be taken seriously and there is a hole right now that needs to be

filled. Discussion continued about the specialization of the position and the need for the

position. Chairman Rendleman requested to see the BIS 32 report on how much every

employee makes. Hunter asked how many other counties have a County Administrator and

Redmond indicated that there are a number of them. The committee agreed that the board

needs someone who is responsible to ensure that things are bei ng done, that the "buck needs

to stop somewhere".

Appointments

XII. 16-0663 Buncombe Water District Appointment

The committee discussed the application from Kolar for the Buncombe Water District and

agreed to move it to the full board meeting.

XIII. 16-0660 Crosswalk Community Action Agency Appointment

XIV. 16-0661 Farmland Assessment Review Commission Appointment

Berkowitz discussed with the committee that she would like to get someone appointed to this

committee as soon as possible and waiting until the next board meeting might be to long for

the Farmland Commission to accomplish what they would like to get done before the end of

the fiscal year. The Chairman said that he could do an interim appointment between board

meetings if someone does apply for the position before the next board meeting.

XV. 16-0662 Greater Egypt Regional Planning & Development Commission

XVI. 16-0670 Jackson County Mass Transit

XVII. 16-0671 ETSB 911

Old Business

The committee inquired about the Ambulance Director contract and requested that it be placed on the County Board agenda for the

September 20 meeting.

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Peterson requested a proxy for the SIMPO policy committee, Erbes volunteered. Chairman Rendleman agreed and requested that

the Committee Coordinator draft the letter.

New Business

Executive Session

Adjourn (6:30 PM)

Adjourned by the Chairman.