Friday, July 12

Appellate court lifts LDC injunction;
AFSCME appeals to state Supreme Court

[JULY 12, 2002]  Plaintiffs suing to keep Lincoln Developmental Center open received a setback with Wednesday’s appellate court ruling, but will continue their fight by taking their case to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Late Wednesday the 4th District Appellate Court ruled 2-1 to reverse a Logan County Circuit Court’s temporary restraining order that kept Gov. George Ryan and the Department of Human Services from moving the last 200 residents out of the Lincoln facility for the developmentally disabled.

Plaintiffs in the suit include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, state Sen. Larry Bomke, and parents of an LDC resident.

The appellate court ruling means that the state can continue with its plan to move the last 190 residents out of the facility and close its doors, unless the Supreme Court chooses to hear the case and reverses the appellate court’s ruling. The Supreme Court is not obligated to take the case and may reject the petition for appeal.

Anne Irving, AFSCME Council 31 director of public policy, said this morning AFSCME will file its appeal today and will also ask for a stay of the appellate court’s decision.

"If they stay the decision, then DHS cannot move people out," she said. "We hope to have word by the end of next week. Theoretically, in the interim, that means the state can move people."

Irving said she thought right now DHS was concentrating on "internal consolidation" at LDC, closing some units and moving residents to other units where there were empty beds.

"They would rather have a smaller number of units full than have residents scattered around the facility," she said. She said she was concerned that the internal consolidation was subjecting residents to numerous moves.

 

Reginald Marsh, spokesman for DHS, said the state agency is moving forward with its plans to close LDC.

"We are scheduling transition meetings with parents and guardians. DHS must find an appropriate setting and will take into consideration where the guardians may want the individual to go.

"It is a process that takes a little time," he said.

 

[to top of second column in this article]

The lawsuit filed by AFSCME and others alleged that DHS must first get a permit from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board before moving out residents and closing the 125-year-old facility.

Logan County Circuit Court Judge Donald Behle agreed and ruled that DHS could not move residents without their consent until the planning board made a decision.

However, writing for the majority, Appellate Justice Robert Steigmann said the plaintiffs had no legal right to intervene in the case.

"The court did not rule on the merits of our case, but rather found that we as private citizens did not have cause to enforce state law," said Henry Bayer, Council 31 executive director. "We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will find that Illinois citizens do have a right to insist that the state follow the law."

The third member of the court, Justice Sue Myerscough, wrote a dissenting opinion that found that state law "creates public rights which may be enforced by those affected by its decisions."

Linda Brown of Leroy, co-president of the Lincoln Parents Association, hopes the Supreme Court will choose to hear the case.

"The department [DHS] has filed for a permit to close LDC. But they want to proceed with that closure before the permit is granted. We are asking the Supreme Court to prevent them from forcing our loved ones to move until the planning board decides whether or not the closure is warranted."

The planning board is expected to rule on the closure request at its Aug. 15 meeting. It has scheduled a public hearing on Monday, July 15, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Lincoln to gather public comment on the request to close LDC.

In spite of the appellate court ruling, the public hearing will go on as scheduled, Irving said.

[AFSCME press release and LDN staff]

 

 


County narrowly averts insurance lapse

[JULY 12, 2002]  To avoid going without insurance coverage for two days and to comply with the open meetings act, the Logan County Board Thursday night called a special adjourned meeting for Friday morning at 10 a.m. to vote on renewing its liability policy. At that meeting the current policy was unanimously renewed.

The liability/auto and property policy, with St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company through J.L. Hubbard Insurance and Bonds of Decatur, expires early on July 15. On May 20 the county received a notice of nonrenewal from St. Paul because the company could not yet give an exact premium cost. Illinois law requires an insurance company to give 60 days notice of premium increase or change in terms. The notice also included a statement that St. Paul wanted to renew the policy and would calculate a price.

On July 1 the county’s J.L.Hubbard agent, Greg Nussbaum, faxed the "general figure" of $116,000, an increase of about 45 percent including $4,200 for additional coverage for personnel and hiring practices. By the time bids were opened on July 9, the figure was corrected to $116,410.

The county received a second bid from Jerry Palmer of Lincoln, agent with Callender & Co. of Peoria, also for a policy with St. Paul. Palmer attached a memo from Gayle Neuman of the Illinois Department of Insurance, stating that the St. Paul nonrenewal notice was not valid because it did not give an acceptable reason for nonrenewal. Neuman said it was also not a valid renewal notice because it did not state cost and terms of the policy.

The position of the Illinois Department of Insurance is that St. Paul must renew the policy with a premium increase of less than 30 percent. This would mean a savings of about $13,000 compared to the J. L. Hubbard bid. To seek this reduction, the county must renew the policy and then file a complaint. Insurance Committee chair Dale Voyles said this complaint would be filed regardless of who is the county’s agent.

Thursday night board members voted 11-2 to renew liability insurance with St. Paul at the $116,410 premium. Jim Griffin and Dave Hepler opposed the measure. On a 9-4 vote the board favored changing to Jerry Palmer as agent of record. Voyles, Rod White, Roger Bock and Lloyd Hellman were against the change.

 

However, neither of these votes is binding because they occurred in the board’s committee of the whole working session. State’s Attorney Tim Huyett said this session is like a big committee meeting and binding votes cannot be taken. Board chair Dick Logan said such a vote would also violate the open meetings act. But delaying the decision until the voting session on Tuesday would leave the county without liability coverage for two days.

Huyett, moving back and forth between the board meeting and the close of the Christopher Sprinkel molestation trial, said the open meetings act permits special meetings with less than 48 hours notice in bona fide emergencies. Still, notice of the meeting and its purpose must be posted beforehand. So a meeting was called for 10 a.m. Friday, with the policy renewal as the only item on the agenda. Change of agent will be considered at the regular meeting July 16.

The binding vote to renew the St. Paul policy for $116,410 was 11-0, including Griffin and Hepler. Paul Gleason and Doug Dutz were absent.

Voyles said one reason for the near lapse in insurance was that the committee for some time thought the expiration date was July 17.

Palmer recommended that the county avoid future problems by retaining Debra Callan, a Chicago insurance consultant for public entities. He said several local bodies including the city of Lincoln, Lincoln Elementary District 27 and Lincoln Community High School District 404 employ Callan. Griffin said the county board voted against hiring her several years ago.

 

[to top of second column in this article]

Earlier the board tentatively voted in favor of adding the Logan Lanes and American Legion properties on Fifth Street Road to the county enterprise zone. Both are adjacent to property owned by Bud Behrends that is already in the enterprise zone. In addition, both Logan Lanes and American Legion Post 263 are expected to generate jobs.

Zoning officer Bud Miller, representing Regional Planning Commissioner Phil Mahler, said he was unable to determine why the quarter section in which the two properties are located was left out of the enterprise zone when it was created 15 years ago.

In another matter, Airport Committee chair Roger Bock announced that bids on two projects at Logan County Airport came in so far under estimate that the cost of both runs just over what was budgeted for one. P.H. Broughton & Sons, the low bidder on reconstruction and extension of taxiways, bid $47,831.82, compared to the estimate by Hanson Engineers of $64,302. With federal and state governments picking up the majority of the tab, the county’s share is $4,060.

Twin Builders Construction offered the low bid of $56,704.95 for a water line. Currently, airport water is supplied by wells. The estimate was $90,176, and Bock said the county’s share is $1,273. Subsequent to the meeting, he discovered that this figure is actually $5,501.

The county had budgeted $5,255 for the taxiway project alone. The water line was not planned for this fiscal year, but Bock said the county "can handle it monetarily" because fuel profits have improved the airport bottom line. Previously, Heritage in Flight, a not-for-profit corporation which was airport manager, pumped the fuel and received the income. In a straw vote, board members approved accepting both low bids.

Health Department administrator Lloyd Evans reported receiving a $21,000 grant from Project Life, Area Agency on Aging, Inc., to develop a family resource center. The money will be used for computer hardware and software to get the program going. Although a list of health care sources is already available on the department’s Internet site, the grant will provide for an upgraded Web-based format. The program will also establish an 800 number to receive calls for information from anywhere in Logan County. Evans expects to get grants of $6,550 a year to continue to run the resource center.

Responding to complaints about dust on the parking lot behind the Health Department, Evans said he hopes to apply calcium chloride in several weeks.

 

The public safety complex parking lot will also be improved soon. White, speaking for the Road and Bridge Committee, said the slurry seal recently applied by Specialty Paving, affiliated with Merrill’s Contractors in Springfield, was unsatisfactory and would be redone within 30 days.

Donations for playground equipment for Scully Park total approximately $12,000, with $2,500 recently received from Knights of Columbus. Plans are to begin installation when the fund approaches $20,000.

[Lynn Shearer Spellman]


Articles from the past week

Thursday:

  • Leaving LDC:  Trauma for residents and their families

  • Mount Pulaski flips switch

Wednesday:

  • City wants railway wait station kept open

  • City receives award for water treatment plant

Tuesday:

  • LDC public hearing set for Monday

  • July 15 date set on hearing to close LDC

Monday:

  • Kids discover fun new summer activity

Saturday:

  • Ryan unveils first statewide strategic plan for state government

  • Gov. Ryan signs Pledge of Allegiance bill

Friday:

  • Contest draws blood between local chiefs

  • Lincoln Land Communications donates lifesaving vest to police (Law & Courts)

  • Lincoln native lives his dream

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