Carbondale Reporter

Jackson County Legislative and Public Safety Committee met July 9.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Call to Order (5:00 PM)

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

Also Present: Bart Hagston, Kerri Gale, Lloyd Nelson, Kenton Schafer

Approval of Minutes

I. 19-4260 June 11, 2019 minutes

A motion was made by Comparato, seconded by Snyder, to approve the June 11, 2019 minutes as presented. The motion carried by unanimous vote

Animal Control

Erbes stated that Nelson was here to answer any questions. Nehring asked how things are going, Nelson replied that they are good, there are always some citizens that have issues and there have been more welfare check requests since it's been so hot. Nelson also informed the committee that he will be off at 3pm for the next three weeks or so for personal issues. Nelson then informed the committee that he recently attended a State wide conference and the opportunity came up for people to give off the cuff presentations to get some grant funding. Nelson used the opportunity to talk about the Homes for Hounds program the County has that provides good quality used dog houses to those in extreme trauma circumstances in the winter and the plan he has for expanding it to provide sun shields in the summer in acute hot weather situations. Out of all the presentations given at the conference Nelson's was selected to receive the grant. He was given $750 to use to purchase sun shields for Carbondale, Murphysboro and the County. Mueller asked about the cost of a sun shield and Nelson said it depends on where you get them. He also mentioned an idea to contact some sun shield manufactures to see about them giving some and/or some remnants that could be used in the County. Nehring suggested doing a press release about the grant and putting it on the County website. Nelson thinks it would be good once some of the sun shields have been given out and pictures taken. Nelson concluded by informing the committee that all of the rabies clinics have concluded and thanks to help from the Murphysboro Police department advertising on their social media this looks like it was the largest turn out in a while. He is still waiting on final numbers from the vets and he reminded the committee that these clinics are designed to reach the pets that don't go see veterinarians on a regular basis. The committee thanked him for the update and congratulated him on the grant.

Health Department & Solid Waste

A. Jackson County Health Department

B. Solid Waste Enforcement

C. Solid Waste Fund Update

D. Recycling Program

A. Hagston reported that the two programs he discussed last month closed on July 1, both are being handled by other agencies. He emphasized that the Health Department still offers vaccines to kids they just no longer handle the State compliance program. He went on to discuss the adjusted work flow at the clinic and the new staff, both of which did result in a bit of a longer wait time during the adjustment period. The Board of Health is currently accepting applications for a Public Health Administrator an d two other positions, applications and information can be found on the Health Department website. Hagston recently received a Leadership Award for his work at the Health Department, the committee congratulated him on the honor.

B. Gale reported there were 15 open dumping/burning inspections, 4 were new sites, zero were closed due to compliance, 4 citizen complaints were received, 2 field visits and one meeting with landfill representatives.

C. Gale reviewed the handout on the Solid Waste fund, the only changes were interest paid and bills pad for trash.

D. Gale reported that the IEPA conducted a site visit on the electronics recycling program at Southern Recycling. The IEPA was looking at paperwork and educational materials. The permanent collection program has been operational since 2002 and runs consistently and successfully, recycling approximately 550,000 lbs annually. The IEPA stated that they did not see any issues or violations at the time of the visit. Gale went on to discuss the IL Dept. of Ag 2019 Pesticide Clean Sweep program that allows for safe disposal of pesticides, insecticides and other agrichemicals. The Health Department, Gale, is working with the Jackson County Farm Bureau and the U of I Extension to help get the word out to local farmers and anyone else who may be interested.

Emergency Management

Erbes reported that Route 3 is now open.

Ambulance Service

A. Payment of Ambulance Monthly Claims

B. Ambulance Director's Report

i. Accounts Receivable Cash

ii. Activity Report

A. Mueller moved and Calandro seconded to pay the Ambulance monthly claims in the amount of $31,008.85, motion carried.

B. Schafer reported that there is $238,790.85 in accounts receivable cash. There were 734 patient care reports for 711 incidents for EMS, and 42 livery transports. Schafer also reported the following:

 His staff, sheriff’s dispatch, Carbondale Police dispatch and local fire departments attended training we coordinated with Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital to train on their Special Needs Tracking and Awareness System (STARS) valuable information was learned about residents that have children that participate in this program. 3 participating children and their families from our county were on hand to interact and speak on behalf of the STARS program. As a result of the training Cardinal Glennon allows participating agencies to use their database for detailed patient history, treatments, specialized handling or equipment. He has included a copy of the agreement. It has been vetted by our insurance carrier, IT and the State's Attorney's Office. The Ambulance Department has all of the necessary requirements in place and participation doesn’t cost anything. Access would be restricted to the Captain’s desktop computer and my computer.

 He included an update on the condition of our fleet. (This was mistakenly left out of the packet). He would like to start preparing bids now for the August meeting and would like to purchase 2 ambulances and a command vehicle. The command vehicle would be purchased on Illinois Procurement Joint Purchasing contract so it would not be subject to the bidding process. He has a 2006 Ford F-550 crew cab utility truck that was originally purchased with grant money. The truck has only 5,000 miles on it and estimated worth $20,000. He would like to begin the disposal process with this truck, accept sealed bids with a minimum bid of $20,000. The bid money would be used to offset the cost of the replacement command vehicle. He would not recommend making any purchases until after September, but prior to next budget year.

 He is still waiting to hear about the Assistant to Firefighters (AFG) grant. He wrote this grant specifically to fund a bariatric ambulance. He has money budgeted for 2 ambulances and a command vehicle. If he obtains the grant he could replace 3 of the ambulances.

Legislative

Citizen Comments

Old Business

New Business

Executive Session

Schafer asked the committee to go into Executive Session to discuss personnel.

Comparato moved and Calandro seconded to enter into Executive Session under 2 (c) 1 of the Illinois Open Meetings Act to discuss

personnel; Roll Call Vote: Calandro-Yes, Nehring-Yes, Comparato-Yes, Erbes-Yes, Snyder-Yes, Mueller-Yes, motion carried.

Adjourn

Comparato moved and Nehring seconded to adjourn, motion carried

https://www.jacksoncounty-il.gov/Home/Components/MeetingsManager/MeetingMinutes/ShowPrimaryDocument/?minutesID=5005&isPub=True&includeTrash=False