Logan County Board briefs: County
to seek public transportation provider, and votes and other updates
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[October 19, 2017]
LINCOLN
On
Tuesday, October 17, the Logan County Board held its regular monthly
board meeting to vote on motions and resolutions and hear committee
updates. Other updates came from Nathan Whiteman of Work Titan LLC,
Community Action Executive Director Alison Rumer-Gomez, and Logan
County Department of Public Health Administrator Don Cavi.
Transportation Committee update
The board unanimously approved Transportation Committee Chairman
Kevin Bateman's motion to accept the Termination of Operator
Agreement letter from Community Action Partnership Central Illinois.
CAPCIL will stop being the county's pass through operator, but have
agreed to run the transportation operations through December 31.
Board member Gene Rohlfs said their letter stated CAPCIL would
continue offering transportation for seniors and critical medical
patients, and he asked for comments.
CAPCIL's Executive Director Alison Rumler- Gomez said the Area
Agency on Aging will continue to provide senior and critical medical
transportation, which has been offered for over 40 years. She said
senior and critical medical transportation had been rolled in with
the public transportation once they took that on.
As part of the consent agenda, the board approved a motion to begin
looking into a different provider for public transportation. Bateman
said they are looking into three possible providers out of nearby
counties.
Health Department update
Logan County Department of Public Health Administrator Don Cavi said
their home health department will be closing at the end of the year.
He said the home health department has been serving the community
for 35 years.
Cavi said the home health department closing is due to competition
from hospitals and largest home health agencies providing these
services plus increased administrative and regulatory demands. They
stopped taking in new patients October 1.
Cavi said there are other home health agencies in the community, so
there will still be resources for those needing it. There are six
employees affected by the closing and Cavi said some are retiring
and others have jobs they can move into.
Cavi said the health department is offering both high and low dose
flu shots and takes all major insurance. They will be giving shots
to county employees at the courthouse on Thursday, October 26.
Cavi also said they have several free services like blood pressure
testing and Hepatitis C screening.
Executive Committee update
Executive Committee Chairman Emily Davenport made a motion to
approve placing a sign at the courthouse declaring Logan County as a
Purple Heart Community.
Board member Kevin Bateman amended the motion to erect Logan County
Purple Heart signs at any thoroughfare entering the county. Bateman
said in discussion with Joe Schaler of the Veteran's Assistance
Commission, Schaler said he has signs to place on county roads
pending IDOT approval. Tourism paid for all the signs.
Davenport then made a new motion to approve signs at the courthouse
and any thoroughfare entering the county and this motion was
unanimously approved.
Logan County Highway Engineer Bret Aukamp said they would definitely
need approval from IDOT to place signs along the roadways. For signs
on county highways and township roads, he could look at it on a
case-by-case basis and have it approved by the appropriate highway
authority.
Insurance/Legislative/Liquor Committee update
The board unanimously approved Insurance/Legislative/Liquor
Committee Chairman Annette Welch's motion to accept recommendations
from Nathan Whiteman to move Vision, Life, and Accidental Death
Insurance to MetLife, and also combine Accidental, Critical &
Hospital Insurance by moving them to Colonial. The renewal dates of
all of these will be moved to the spring renewal date to go with
Medical & Dental renewal dates. Nathan Whiteman will be the agent
for the policies.
Whiteman said moving Vision, Life, and Accidental Death Insurance to
MetLife consolidates carriers and renewal rates. The rates are
locked in for three years.
Whiteman said moving to Colonial consolidates Accidental, Critical,
& Hospital Insurance. He said Colonial will provide a teladoc
service for free with no co-pay. The teladoc offers telephone and
videoconferencing technology to provide on-demand remote medical
care via mobile devices, the internet, video and phone.
These consolidations will reduce Whiteman's administration of
insurance to just MetLife, Colonial, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Whiteman said those who have had AFLAC coverage for many years can
choose to keep AFLAC and he will assist them in keeping it on a
direct bill basis.
Whiteman will be available to assist anyone with questions about the
changes as the new enrollment period approaches.
Finance Committee update
The board unanimously approved several motions from Finance
Committee Chairman David Hepler:
1. A motion to approve the Annual Abatement Ordinance .
2. A motion to approve Clifton, Larson, Allen Engagement Letter.
3. A motion to approve compliance with the State of Illinois
Comptroller letter on audit reporting.
4. A motion to remove 2017-2018 budget from display.
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After the board voted to take the budget off display,
Hepler made a motion to postpone action on the 2017-2018 budget
until the November board meeting.
Hepler said every year, there are questions about revenues and
expenses and this year, there is a question of the likelihood of
permit fees coming in. He said they can discuss alternatives in
terms of potential amendments at the Finance Committee meeting in
November. That way, they have alternatives in preparation if there
is not assurance of permit fees coming in. The board unanimously
approved the motion to delay voting on the budget until November.
The board then unanimously approved Hepler's motion to delay voting
to approve the Levy Ordinance until after the budget is approved.
The board also unanimously approved Hepler's motion to disband GIS
Committee and transfer such duties from Finance to Planning and
Zoning Committee.
At last Tuesday's Finance Committee meeting, Zoning Officer Will
D'Andrea said the GIS Committee was created in 2004 to help with the
county infrastructure and the Geographical Information System. He
said there is poor attendance at meetings now, and it would make
sense to dissolve the GIS Committee.
D'Andrea said the GIS page is up and running and the site has
migrated to a GIS platform. He will now report anything related to
the GIS directly to the Planning and Zoning Committee and they will
share the information with the board.
Liquor Ordinance update
Last month, the board voted to take the amended liquor ordinance off
display. The liquor committee had worked on amending it over the
summer because it hadn’t been updated since 2004/2005.
Changes made to the ordinance:
The Board changed the words Liquor Commission to Liquor Committee.
The committee also updated the paragraph on dram shop insurance
according to the state’s attorney and the updated laws. The dram
shop insurance is liability insurances establishments must have
before getting a liquor license.
The updated ordinance also increased all of the liquor license fees
by $50, since those hadn’t been changed since the original ordinance
was established in the 1990’s.
Finally, the ordinance was amended to include wording to allow
alcohol on Logan County property with the permission of the Logan
County Board since events like the Balloon Fest already serve
alcohol on county property.
Planning and Zoning Committee update
Planning and Zoning Committee Chairman Scott Schaffenacker made a
motion to direct the Zoning Officer to draft an initial ordinance
outlining public utility solar panel projects. Zoning Officer Will
D'Andrea said he has received many calls from solar energy
companies.
Board member Kevin Bateman asked about removing the word "panel"
because some projects are towers rather than a grid of panels.
Board member Dave Blankenship said referring to these systems
"photovoltaic systems" is the industry standard.
After the brief discussion about the wording, the board unanimously
approved the motion to have D'Andrea begin drafting an ordinance
related to photovoltaic systems.
Road and Bridge Committee update
The board voted three motions by Road and Bridge Committee Chairman
Bob Farmer.
One motion was to approve a county engineer contract with Bret
Aukamp that outlines the conditions and salary for a six-year term,
which passed unanimously.
A motion was made to reappoint Bret Aukamp as county engineer.
Bateman had made an amended motion to postpone voting until next
month on Aukamp's reappointment, but his motion failed with only
Hepler and Bateman voting yes.
Aukamps reappointment was approved by an 11-1 vote with Dave
Blankenship, Janet Dahmm, Emily Davenport, Bob Farmer, David Hepler,
Gloria Luster, Chuck Ruben, Gene Rohlfs, Bob Sanders, Scott
Schaffenacker, and Annette Welch voting yes; and Kevin Bateman
voting no.
The last motion was to enter into an agreement with IDOT to use
federal funds to pay a portion of the county engineer salary, which
passed unanimously.
Appointments
Three appointments were approved as part of the consent agenda:
Debra S. Alberts was appointed to the San Jose Fire Protection
District.
Todd
Walker and Mike Rohrer were re-appointed to the Board of Health.
Board members present were Board Chairman Chuck Ruben, Vice Chairman
Emily Davenport, Kevin Bateman, Dave Blankenship, Janet Dahmm, Bob
Farmer, David Hepler, Gloria Luster, Gene Rohlfs, Bob Sanders, Scott
Schaffenacker and Annette Welch.
The next Regular Board meeting will be held Tuesday, November 21,
2017 at 7:00 p.m. in the Logan County Courthouse.
[Angela Reiners] |