In the ever dire news of the Nursing Home debt, a vendor is suing over a chunk of the roughly $2.7 million owed to vendors overall (not including subsidizing loans from the County or other budget issues). Excerpt from the N-G:
Former county nursing home vendor sues over $235,000 in unpaid billsIn the County Board meeting, the N-G had a summary, excerpts with a quick run down quoted below:
A Pennsylvania-based company that once provided dietary and housekeeping services at the Champaign County Nursing Home has filed suit against the nursing home and the county, alleging breach of contract and asking to be paid about $235,000.
Health Care Services Group of Bucks County, Pa., filed the lawsuit earlier this month, saying that the nursing home was behind in its payments.
According to the suit, the nursing home was to pay HCSG $60,955 a month for services provided. But as of Oct. 31, the suit said, the county owed the company $234,622.
Last week, in a report to the county board, County Auditor John Farney said that HCSG had been owed $234,610 on Nov. 8 but that by Dec. 12, the sum had been reduced to $182,278 after a payment on Nov. 29.
Champaign County Board OKs hiring law firms to sue opioid makers
Champaign County Board members voted unanimously Tuesday to join other Illinois counties that have hired law firms to pursue claims against drug makers believed to be partly responsible for the nation's opioid crisis.
The 21-0 vote came without debate.
Under the agreement, three Illinois law firms will split 25 percent of the gross amount recovered on behalf of the county...
Meanwhile, the board deferred action until January on two items related to the county-owned nursing home.
One was to renew $500,000 in loans from the county's general corporate fund to the home. The original terms said they had to be repaid by Dec. 31.
The second item calls for the issuance of more than $1 million in tax-anticipation warrants —essentially short-term loans to be repaid with property-tax revenue in the spring — to help the nursing home's cash-flow problems.
Champaign Republican Jim McGuire said he asked for the deferral on the nursing home issues because "we just need more time to accomplish some things. There is a lot going on in the background, and we just weren't ready tonight."
"We're discussing things and working together to get some things accomplished," McGuire said. "Some financial issues have come up, and we're just waiting to see what happens. We're trying to settle things down. We're getting there, but we're not there yet, so in January we hope to get some things accomplished."
Board members also approved, 19-1, the county's participation in an application to establish a land bank that advocates say would be a more efficient way of acquiring blighted properties and redeveloping them. The village of Rantoul is the lead agency in the application to the Illinois Housing Development Authority, along with the cities of Champaign and Urbana and the county. One goal of the land bank, said county zoning director John Hall, is to make the agency self-sustaining.
Also Tuesday night, the board approved the appointments of Richard Barnes of Urbana to the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District board; Susan Fowler and Thom Moore, both of Champaign, to the county mental health board; and county board Republican Diane Michaels of Rantoul as the new county auditor, effective Jan. 1. She succeeds John Farney, who will become the county treasurer, replacing Dan Welch, who is retiring after 19 years in that position.
Also, the board named a five-person committee to review the upcoming transition to a county-executive form of government. Champaign County will elect a partisan county executive next November, and the powerful position will become effective in December 2018. Appointed to the committee were Democrats C. Pius Weibel, Kyle Patterson and Steve Summers, and Republicans Jim Goss and McGuire.
Board member James Tinsley, an Urbana Democrat, was absent from Tuesday's meeting.
Amy's 12/19 County Board Notes:
The January County Facilities Committee meeting (scheduled for Jan. 2) was canceled. No public participation at this meeting. During the Communications portion, upcoming events that were announced include a January 12 Martin Luther King event at Vineyard Church in Urbana and a February 25 Art Fair organized by the Friends of the Champaign County Nursing Home.
During the Finance portion of the meeting, resolutions 10187 and 10188 both received a motion to defer the decision to January. Both times, the motion was raised by Councilman McGuire and passed on a voice vote.
Resolution 10186, Authorizing Purchases Not Following Purchasing Policy was for several thousand dollars in extra Nursing Home supplies (from janitorial, soap, etc) according to the full agenda. The motion passed.
Resolution 10191 Establishing a County Executive Style of Government Transition Committee was approved. Wiebel said that the committee would consist of Patterson, Summer, McGuire, Goss and Wiebel.
Three agenda items of the night received the most discussion.
The first was Environment and Land Use Resolution 10166 Authorizing Champaign County Participation in a Joint Application with Municipalities for the Illinois Housing Development Authority Land Bank Capacity Program. I believe that Esry gave the presentation and stated that the short notice to this request was due to a grant deadline of 1/15. This grant will offset the costs of creating an operating land bank to more efficiently address and dispose of damaged properties. Rantoul will lead the agency, with duties to include a feasibility analysis, developing operational plans, and initiating the land bank. It is anticipated that the agency will become self-supporting through income from the land bank with no cost to the cities involved. Questions were raised to Mr. Hall (Head of Planning and Zoning Department) regarding whether or not a board would be established and questions about liability issues.
The second were the Rural Transit Service Report for FY2017 and the approval of a Budget Amendment for State Capital Grant toward Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Software to improve services. Zoe Keller reported on the implementation and growing ridership of the Rantoul Deviated-Fixed Route, available for just over a year.
The third was regarding Resolution 10195 to pursue claims against opioid manufacturers. This was pretty well covered by the News Gazette. The only addition that I’d add is, as Council member Furtado pointed out, this request is rather timely given last week’s COW approval of additional funds to the coroner’s office needed to fund, in part, the increased number of tests for an ever-changing range of opioid compositions on the street.
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