Carbondale Reporter

Jackson County Legislative and Public Safety Committee met March 12.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Call to Order (5:00 PM)

Members Present: Calandro, Endres, Erbes, Nehring and Snyder

Members Absent: Comparato and Mueller

Also Present: Robert Burns, Kenton Schafer, Kerri Gale, Bart Hagston, Jeff Whitbeck, Michelle Tweedy, Sarah Patrick

Approval of Minutes

I. 19-4045 February 5, 2019 Minutes

A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by Calandro, to approve the February 5, 2019 minutes as presented. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Communications

II. 19-4044 Datalock Notice

Gale informed the committee that Datalock has been bought out by Shred It. They will be changing the way the county is charged from per pound to per container. Tweedy informed the committee that the Rehab & Care files that have been stored by Datalock in Mt. Vernon will be either destroyed or stored at the Crain building. This item will be discussed further in April.

Animal Control

Nehring asked about the FAQ page on the website and the map outlining the Animal Control contacts. The FAQ page is live on the website with the map and contact information attached. Animal Control fees are included in the county wide fee study and will be addressed again once the fee study has been completed.

Health Department & Solid Waste

A. Jackson County Health Department

B. Solid Waste Enforcement

C. Solid Waste Fund Update

D. Recycling Program

A. Patrick informed the committee that she is working to find additional sources of funding for the Health Department (HD). Recently the HD applied to participate in a pilot study with assistance from the Sheriff's Office for the Violent Deaths Reporting System. Patrick also talked about the Good Neighbor Award and provided a handout to the committee. Finally, she mentioned a presentation that was held at the Carbondale Public Library, the movie is available to view and will be on PBS.

B. Gale reported that there were 15 open dumping/burning inspections, 14 we re revisits, 2 were closed due to compliance, approximately 18 cubic yards of waste was removed, there were 2 citizen complaints and 1 landfill inspection.

C. Gale reviewed the included handout on the current state of the Solid Waste Fund. Nehring asked about the money owed to the Solid Waste Fund, what it was used for and how it's being paid back.

D. Gale reported that the next Shred/Med Day will be on April 6th. She provided flyers for the board members. Additionally, Gale presented at the IEPA & ILCSWMA Electronics meeting in Springfield in February. Finally, she reported that staff presented 26 recycling education presentations to 507 kids in Jackson County Schools.

III. 19-4046 2019 Household Chemical Collection Funding

a. Household Chemical Collection Intergovernmental Agreement for Perry County participation

b. Household Chemical Collection Resolution for Perry County participation

A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by Calandro, to approve the Household Chemical Collection Intergovernmental Agreement for Perry County Participation. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

A motion was made by Calandro, seconded by Snyder, to authorize the Jackson County Health Department to expend Household Hazardous Waste funds up to $55,000 to coordinate and conduct a household chemical collection. The motion carried by una nimous vote.

A motion was made by Snyder, seconded by Erbes, to approve the Household Chemical Collection Resolution for Perry County Participation. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Emergency Management

Ambulance Service

A. Payment of Ambulance Monthly Claims

B. Ambulance Director's Report

i. Accounts Receivable Cash

ii. Activity Report

A. Snyder moved and Erbes seconded to pay the Ambulance monthly claims in the amou nt of $43,202.59, motion carried.

B. Schafer reported that there is $201,020.27 in accounts receivable cash. He went on to report that there were 759 patient care reports for 740 incidents for EMS and 21 Livery transports.

Schafer reported the following to the committee:

There was an issue with the Ability Network that was going to administer the Ambulance online pay option and credit card payments. Once customers enter the online payment portal at the top of the portal it read “Free Service” Schafer asked them to take that off the page and the company refused. He asked them to make a footnote or reference that the customers would be charged the fee for use of the credit card. They again refused. Schafer did not want to fraudulently advertise to customers a service was free when it was not so he cancelled the merchant agreement with them. The company will continue to be the Medicare payment clearing house, however they will not administer the merchant agreement. Schafer apologized for the confusion, he went on to explain that he wanted merchant fees transferred to the user and was told that would not be an issue. However, the company did not explain this would create a problem with the online payment option deceiving customers. Schafer then investigated Heartland. Heartland is used by the Treasurer and Clerk’s office. He has explained the Ambulance position to them. They are accustomed to working with government entities and have reassured him there will not be any of the issues he encountered with Ability.

Schafer would like to set up the merchant agreement with them. The committee agreed. Schafer would like to make changes to the supervisor schedule to help save employee costs. He also recommends not filling the Assistant Director position in the immediate future. It would save additional money in employment expense if he does not fill that position. It could become necessary in the future, however at this time, with the current issues, Schafer believes he can save that expense. The committee agreed with Schafer and thanked him for working so hard to save the county money.

Legislative

IV. 19-4047 Residential Tax Incentives Subcommittee Update

The letter provided has been sent to the State Representative and Senators.

V. 19-4048 Kinkaid Marina UTV Trail-Jason Peach

Mr. Peach was unable to attend the meeting.

Citizen Comments

Old Business

New Business

Burns mentioned that Unity Point and Giant City Schools would like to share their own resource officer. The other schools will take the extra time from the current resource officer. This item will be discussed further in April.

Executive Session

Adjourn

Erbes moved and Calandro seconded to adjourn, motion carried.

https://www.jacksoncounty-il.gov/Home/Components/MeetingsManager/MeetingMinutes/ShowPrimaryDocument/?minutesID=4904&isPub=True&includeTrash=False