Carbondale Reporter

Jackson County Legislative and Public Safety Committee met June 11.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Call to Order (5:00 PM)

Members Present: Calandro, Comparato, Erbes, Mueller, Nehring and Snyder

Erbes request an attendance roll call, all current members were present.

Also Present: Kerri Gale, Jeff Whitbeck, Sheriff Robert Burns, Kenton Schafer

Approval of Minutes I. 19-4207

May 14, 2019 Minutes

A motion was made by Comparato, seconded by Calandro, to approve the May 14, 2019 minutes as presented. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Communication 

II. 19-4206

IDNR Knight Hawk Notice 

Information only.

Animal Control

Erbes informed the committee that the letter notifying the veterinarians of the rabies tag fee increase is in the packet. The veterinarians were given until the July meeting to provide comments. At the July meeting the committee can vote to increase the rabies tag fees. Nehring asked if Nelson was required to attend meetings, he attends at the request of the committee. The consensus of the committee is to ask him to attend all future Legislative & Public Safety Committee meetings in the event their are questions or concerns.

Health Department & Solid Waste

A. JacksonCountyHealth Department B.SolidWasteEnforcement

C. SolidWasteFund Update

D. Recycling Program

A. Gale began by informing the committee that Hagston is on vacation. Gale went on to report that the Health Department is working on their FY20 budget and have been able to submit numerous State grants, the State process is running much earlier than in the past few years. She went on to say that currently they are doing some internal reorganization of clinical services. They have four people taking early retirement this month and they will only fill two of those positions. Also, there are two other positions that were recently vacated that they are not planning to fill. The Health Department has been monitoring the flood situation and has made staff available to EMA if needed. Finally, last week the Board of Health voted to conduct an internal and external search for a Public Health Administrator in the mean time Hagston will remain as the Interim Administrator. Mueller questioned whether the Health Department could sustain services without replacing the staff. Comparato informed the committee that the program that will be affected is one that has been commended by the State and he has concerns about how the program will be effective with a shoestring staff.

 B. Staff completed seven open dumping/burning inspections, five were revisits, one revisit closed due to compliance, approximately 12 cubic yards of wast was removed, there were three citizen complaints, one routine landfill inspection and six field visits. 

C. Gale reviewed the fund handout.

D. Gale completed the Household Chemical Collection with 617 vehicles, 56 additional households for a total of 673 total households served, 505 were from Jackson County and 79 from Perry County. Additionally, Gale reported that there were 26 recycling education presentations to 494 kids in Jackson County schools. Since school is out this program has ended.

Gale and Schafer talked about the Ambulance parts washer and the disposal of hazardous material. Schafer requested that the quarterly payments for this be taken out of the Solid Waste Fund. Gale stated that this is an appropriate use for Solid Waste Funds. She also stated that she has been working on the trash and document shredding contracts and bills and has been able to save the county about $400 a month on trash and she will be storing the old Rehab & Care files so that cost will go away. Comparato moved and Mueller seconded to authorize quarterly payment for the disposal of Ambulance hazardous waste from the parts washer, motion carried

Emergency Management

Sheriff Burns gave a brief update on the flooding in the County. He stated that in the past Michelle did the IEMA forms for reimbursement and since she is gone he will be reaching out to IEMA to have someone walk them through the process. He concluded by inviting any Board member to take a ride down to where the flooding is to see what is going on. Mueller commented that she did this and it was very informative. Burns also reiterated what he said the evening before about everyone working well together.

Ambulance Service

A. Payment of Ambulance Monthly Claims

B. Ambulance Director's Report

i.AccountsReceivableCash

ii.ActivityReport

A. Comparato moved and Calandro seconded to pay the Ambulance monthly cl aims in the amount of $37,946.26, motion carried.

B. Schafer reported that the dishwasher and refrigerator both stopped working at headquarters. They were both over ten years old and beyond repair, they have been replaced and can be found under capital outlay in the claims report. He went on to report that the Advanced Life Support Board Team is back in service after being dormant for three years. They participated with the Sheriff's Department and provided paramedics on the boat for Memorial Day Weekend at Kinkaid Lake. Schafer concluded by mentioning that they were having communication issues at the Murphysboro station which have been resolved by in stalling an alert station and replacing two aged portable ra 

B.i. There is $286,693.88 in accounts receivable cash. 

B. ii. There were 872 patient care reports for 843 incidents for EMS with 45 livery transports.

III. 19-4208 Ambulance Fee Increase Schafer began the discussion by reminding the committee that these are the recommended fee increases he presented the FinanceCommittee. The Ambulance Department fees are not set by statute, the County Board can change them as they deem necessary and they have not been changed since2016,some have not been changed for decades. The FinanceCommittee recommended he bring the recommendations to the Legislative committee for action. The document presented shows his recommended fee increases. A motion was made by Comparato, seconded by Snyder, to approve the recommended Ambulance Service fee increases. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Legislative

Citizen Comments

Old Business

New Business

Adjourn

Comparato moved and Mueller seconded to adjourn,motion carried.

https://www.jacksoncounty-il.gov/Home/Components/MeetingsManager/MeetingMinutes/ShowPrimaryDocument/?minutesID=4981&isPub=True&includeTrash=False

Executive Session