Carbondale Reporter

Jackson County Legislative and Public Safety Committee met Nov. 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Call to Order (5:00 PM)

Members Present: Basden II, Calandro, Comparato, Erbes, Morris, Scott and Snyder Also present: Orval Rowe, Kerri Gale, Jennifer Lindsey, Bart Hagston, Kenton Schafer

Approval of Minutes

I. 21-6512 Approval of October 12, 2021 Minutes

A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by Comparato, to approve the October 12, 2021 minutes as presented. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Communication

II. 21-6513 Zito Communication

The County Administrator commented that this was an informational item only in case committee members had questions from their constituents.

Animal Control

III. 21-6514 Animal Control Monthly Update

The County Administrator commented that the Animal Control officer had been working on the following:

1. Applied for a disaster relief grant

2. Finalizing intergovernmental service agreements

3. Finalized 2022 rabies tag order

IV. 21-6515 Animal Control Revenue

The County Administrator informed the committee that 75% of 2020 rabies tag money had been received from the local vets.

Health Department & Solid Waste

V. 21-6516 Jackson County Health Department

Mr. Hagston reported the following:

Flu vaccinations, including high-dose vaccine for those age 65 and older, are available at JCHD Mon-Fri, along with Covid vaccines. JCHD gave almost 800 flu shots at SIU over a two-day period.

COVID update: Thankfully Covid transmission data continue to trend in a good direction. Overall for October we had 291 new cases, compared to 1,046 new cases in September. The number of active cases is now 36, which is very manageable, and represents only a moderate public health risk at the moment. The last time overall Covid risk was this low was late June. However, with the example of this summer fresh in everyone’s minds, it must be understood how quickly local transmission levels can change.

JCHD vaccinations by appointment are going well. Since the authorization to begin Moderna and J&J boosters on Oct. 25 demand has been very high. JCHD is in the process of increasing the number of appointments it has available Mon-Fri by 45% to help meet demand. Last week, following CDC authorization, JCHD began administering Pfizer vaccine to 5-11 year old's. JCHD has a clinic just for that age range this Saturday, and all appointments are booked. JCHD is looking to hold additional clinics for 5-11 year old's over the coming month. JCHD also announced today a Moderna booster clinic for Nov. 19 & 20 at the Carbondale Civic Center.

In addition, State teams continue to also hold vaccination clinics in Jackson County at schools, churches, community centers and other locations.

The percent of Jackson County residents fully vaccinated sits at about 45.5% of the entire population, compared to almost 61% for Illinois as a whole.

VI. 21-6517 Solid Waste Enforcement

Ms. Gale reported the following: 7 open dumping inspections or field visits conducted, 7 revisits to existing sites, 0 visits to new sites, 2 revisits to sites resulted in closure due to compliance, 25 cubic yards of waste were removed from sites, and 0 citizen complaints.

VII. 21-6518 Solid Waste Fund Update

Ms. Gale reported the following:

Current Month Solid Waste Fund Transactions

Transfers: $7,487.58 - Trash, Document Destruction & Medical Waste Disposal $157,821.98 - Solid waste and recycling Program Expenses 3/1/21 - 10/31/21

Interest: $.04

Deposits: $87,177.30

Current Month Household Hazardous Waste Fund Transactions

Transfers: $$7,268.07 - June 2021 event expenses

Interest: $.44Deposits:$0

Host Fee Deposited

Deposits: $68,643.54

VIII. 21-6519 Recycling Program

A recycling flyer was handed out to the committee. Ms. Gale asked that anyone with questions could review the attachment.

Emergency Management

Mr. Rowe informed the committee on the following actions EMA had been working on:

∙ Continued to supply and deliver PPE resources to office holders and department heads in the County

∙ Met with Ryan Hall @ Carbondale OEM for an orientation of County EMA

∙ Conducted the quarterly Jackson County LEPC meeting at the Jackson County Health Department 

∙ Attended and conducted our Jackson County MHMP Mitigation Strategies Meeting with County stakeholders

∙ Completed County MHMP Mitigation Strategies Exercise Worksheet

∙ Attended the updated SPARC Southern Exposure planning meeting at Southern Illinois Airport

∙ Monitored Severe Weather that moved through the region October 24

∙ Attended and evaluated a Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise for SIH-MHC in Carbondale

∙ Attended Emergency Preparedness Meetings at both MHC and St. Joe’s Hospitals

∙ Attended and participated in the NWS-Paducah Winter Weather Workshop @ JALC Ambulance Service

IX. 21-6520 Ambulance Monthly Claims in the amount of $497,033.82

A motion was made by Comparato, seconded by Erbes, to approve Ambulance monthly claims in the amount of $497,033.82. The motion carried by the following vote:

Yes: 7 - Basden II, Calandro, Comparato, Erbes, Morris, Scott and Snyder

X. 21-6521 Directors Report

Schafer reported the following:

Monthly Claims: $497,033.82

Accounts Receivable Cash: $362,434.05

Activity Report: 880 patient reports for 850 incidents

Other Information:

The monthly claims include payment for 2 new ambulances, the Zoll Data Systems EMS billing software, and the annual payment for IT services-these invoices total $449,265.97

The department continues to struggle with minimum staffing issues. The department has engaged in labor management meetings with AFSCME Ambulance to work toward a potential solution. Feedback from some potential candidates we have interviewed indicated they declined employment due to the departments current schedule. This prompted the department to conduct research with several EMS agencies locally, regionally, and in the northern part of Illinois. Due to the nationwide EMS staffing crisis all agencies have instituted a more flexible hybrid schedule including scheduling employees to work 24 hour shifts in various shift patterns. The Ambulance department is currently planning with AFSCME Ambulance to make this change. This will require minor adjustments to the stations at first to accommodate bunk room facilities. The plan going forward would include more modifications to the stations to provide more adequate bunk facilities.

One of the issues has been maintaining minimum staffing on the weekends. The Ambulance department has polled its employees and discovered that 3 of the PRN (as needed) paramedics would consider working an education option schedule which would include being scheduled a minimum of 36 hours primarily on the weekends. The department would consider these positions regular full-time, and the employees would be entitled to benefits. AFSCME

Ambulance agreed to this change and the department gained 3 full-time paramedics, and this has helped to reduce mandated overtime and subsequently eased the workload on the remaining paramedics.

The Ambulance department will continue to work with AFSCME Ambulance to institute these changes to help improve the recruitment and retention of EMS staff.

The department has identified that it needs to replace its ventilators. The current ventilators are nearly 20 years old and are no longer supported by the company. It is estimated that the cost of replacement would near $100,000. The Ambulance department would like to seek community funding as a potential option to offset the cost of this equipment. Participation would be strictly voluntary and the department would not actively solicit participation by phone or in person. This would provide a networking opportunity with the department and these groups.

XI. 21-6522 Ambulance Transportation Agreement Addendum

A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by Comparato, to approve the Ambulance Transportation Agreement Addendum. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Legislative

Citizen Comments

Old Business

New Business

Executive Session

Adjourn (5:21 PM)

Comparato moved and Basden seconded to adjourn, motion carried.

https://www.jacksoncounty-il.gov/Home/Components/MeetingsManager/MeetingMinutes/ShowPrimaryDocument/?minutesID=6640&isPub=True&includeTrash=False