Carbondale Reporter

Jackson County Legislative and Public Safety Committee met April 14.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Call to Order (5:03 PM)

Members Present: Basden II, Calandro, Comparato, Erbes, Mueller and Snyder

Members Absent: Morris

Also present: Kenton Schafer, Orval Rowe, Bart Hagston

Approval of Minutes

I. 20-4916 Approval of February 11, 2020 Minutes

A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by Snyder, to approve the February 11, 2020 minutes as presented. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Communication

II. 20-4917 Williamson County Building Permit Article

Calandro requested that this article be read by the committee members and be discussed at the May meeting.

Animal Control

III. 20-4918 Animal Control Quarterly Update-- 1st Quarter

The County Administrator gave the committee an update on what is happening with animal control during the first quarter of the year. The County Administrator also let the committee know that this would be a monthly update going forward. She also requested that if the committee members had any suggestions on items they would like to see in the memo, they should email her their requests. Calandro commented that he liked the format and thought the information was concise.

Health Department & Solid Waste

IV. 20-4919 Jackson County Health Department

Hagston gave an update on the COVID-19 situation. He relayed there were currently 38 cases in Jackson County. He also noted that 4 people have died and 12 have been removed from quarantine due to recovery. The Health Department is having daily communications with the residents and staff of Manor Court who are dealing with the virus currently. There are daily phone calls with other facilities in the county to help prepare the facilities in the event they would have a COVID-19 case. Facilities are doing everything they can to prevent the disease from happening. Hagston also reported that the Health Department is updating their social media pages daily. Mueller questioned whether the Health Department had heard of anyone who had the disease and recovered if they could again get sick or if those people were "vaccinated." Hagston relayed that there wasn't a lot of information on this topic, but that it really depended on the person and how strong their immune system was as to whether or not they would contract the disease again.

Comparato questioned the daily information given to the media concerning the residents of Manor Court. Hagston noted that the information in the Southern Illinoisan came from the Manor Court administration. Although he has spoken with the media to confirm cases, the Health Department does not give out specific detailed information regarding the cases. Snyder questioned whether the state had reached its peak of cases and Hagston replied that it was unclear when the peak would occur. Mueller and Calandro thanked the Health Department staff for their tireless work.

V. 20-4920 Solid Waste Enforcement

Haston reported there were 6 open dumping/ open burning inspections or field visits, 6 re-visits to existing sites, 6 citizen complaints and 1 routine landfill inspection.

VI. 20-4921 Solid Waste Fund Update

Hagston reported that there was no fund update this month and that he would have one for the May meeting.

VII. 20-4922 Recycling Program

A. Funding For Household Chemical Collection Event

Hagston reported that Ms. Phoenix has completed the following actions:

 The new recycling coordinator, Kassidy Phoenix started Monday 2/24/20.

 Monitoring and keeping waste collection/disposal and recycling entities up to date on the current recommendations and guidelines to protect workers and others from the spread of COVID-19.

 Collaborating with the FEMA Home Care Team at the Health Department to compile resources for county residents.

 Organizing, planning and strategizing for the upcoming Shred Day and Hazardous Waste Collection events; looking into alternative ways to hold events if need be. Hagston also relayed that in order to plan for and conduct a Spring 2020 collection event, it was being requested that the committee forward the following motion to the full board:

• Recommend a motion for JCHD to be authorized to expend HHW funds up to $6,000 for event supplies and advertising.

A motion was made by Comparato, seconded by Snyder, to approve JCHD to be authorized to expend HHW funds up to $6,000 for event supplies and advertising. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Emergency Management

Rowe gave a quick update noting that he has organized over 50,000 emergency items, pulling resources from Murphysboro, Carbondale, and the surrounding area. Mueller offered thanks to Rowe for the work he has put into this.

Ambulance Service

VIII. 20-4923 Ambulance Monthly Claims

A motion was made by Snyder, seconded by Mueller, to approve payment of the Ambulance Monthly Claims in the amount of $26,507.64. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

IX. 20-4924 Director's Report

Schafer reported that there were 712 patient care reports for 694 incidents for EMS and there were 28 Livery transports. Schafer also reported the following:

 Upon restricting public access to the Ambulanc facilities Schafer contacted the credit card payment processing company and requested the user fee be temporarily suspended to allow patients to pay online or over the phone without any penalty or fee.

 Schafer highlighted the accounts receivable cash (amount is $347,210.60), this is the first time the Ambulance Department has surpassed the $300,000 mark for monthly deposits. Schafer offered special thanks to his business office staff for their hard work and dedication.

 Livery staff (wheelchair van) was deemed non-essential and those 2 employees have not been working.

 Computing Services Mangaer Barringer helped set one of the medical billing employees up to work from home. This process has been working well. The continuity of operations plan for the Ambulance Service includes the business office as essential staff. This is necessary to process claims in a timely manner and maintain our monthly income.

Mueller also thanked Schafer and his staff for the work they have been doing.

Legislative

X. 20-4925 Board By-Law Changes

Calandro commented at the beginning of the discussion that with all the things going on with COVID-19, the County Administrator has a lot of added work, and updating any by-laws at this time would create more work for her which was not needed. He asked to make a motion to move this item to a later date.

Comparato agreed that this is not the ideal time to be adding more work for the County Administrator, but that this is something that should not be put off. He relayed that the budget situation is not getting better and that this is something that needs to be discussed and resolved right away. He feels the board is in a crisis and nothing is being done to correct the situation. Basden commented that with the loss of sales tax, the board needs to adjust the budget for no money coming in. He understands that board members are to be paid if they want, but also the by-laws need to be looked at and an effort needs to be made to change them.

The County Administrator commented that while she feels changes need to be made, this will be a several month process. She suggested that the committee review the changes and give recommendations. These recommendations could be emailed to her and she would present them to the committee at the next meeting so as not to violate the Open Meetings Act. Mueller agreed that was a valid point and that the Finance committee should be incorporated in the discussion to help the County deal with future budget concerns.

Comparato relayed that he had not gotten any feedback thus far since having this item on the agenda since February. Comparato agreed with the sending of the committee's recommendations to the County Administrator for her to relay to the members to keep the conversation going.

A motion was made by Snyder, seconded by Erbes, to approve Board By-Law changes being discussed at a later date. The motion carried by the following vote:

Yes: 5 - Calandro, Comparato, Erbes, Mueller and Snyder

No: 1 - Basden II

Absent: 1 - Morris

Citizen Comments

Old Business

New Business

Executive Session

Adjourn (5:52 PM)

https://www.jacksoncounty-il.gov/Home/Components/MeetingsManager/MeetingMinutes/ShowPrimaryDocument/?minutesID=5162&isPub=True&includeTrash=False