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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.
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this article]
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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]
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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.
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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]
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