Committee of the Whole 6/12

 
In the wake of the Champaign County Nursing Home vote to sell last month, this meeting was far less contentious (and shorter). The video is available on the County Clerk's YouTube Channel here. Here's a quick write up:

Public Participation:
Claudia Lenhoff of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers asked the board, and the general public watching, to ensure the terms and conditions of the county nursing home sale are upheld, including it's capacity and employee protections.

Mark Sheldon of the Recorder's office spoke against a referendum being put on the ballot to merge the County Recorder's Office into the County Clerk's Office. He argues that it is better to keep it independent and accountable. He made arguments along cost and impact to services to support his opposition. [UPDATE: The News-Gazette argued that it should be merged afterward in an editorial column here.]

Communications:
Jon Rector spoke up about his frustration with the tornado sirens not sounding with two funnel clouds. He was not satisfied with the explanation by the director of the Emergency Management Agency that it technically was within protocol not to without more verification. McGuire thanked the first responders.

Petrie asked interim Administrator Busey to go over the details of the Nursing Home process regarding the terms and conditions Lenhoff  had raised in Public Participation.

Marsh highlighted the upcoming aquifer meeting in Mahomet Monday, June 18th at the High School auditorium at 10am (expected to go to noon or possibly later). They will be discussing possible legislation to protect the aquifer over the gas leak controversy.

King highlighted a couple Juneteenth events on the weekend.

General Agenda Items:
The rest of the agenda started with a change. The Rosecrance agreement to be considered wasn't ready yet and rescheduled. They then moved on to submitting reports by the committees.

There were several appointments approved (see agenda packet for details) without opposition and more reports submitted.

There was a motion to defer the recorder consolidation vote until next month. The reason appeared to be a need for more research according to Stohr. McGuire asked why given other pressing needs to drag the vote out that's come up in the past. Crews, who asked to put it on the agenda is absent today. Stohr asked to wait for her. Rector called it borderline ridiculous and political that it even got put on the agenda. He asked to get this over with. Summers argued for letting the voters decide finally. Anderson said he was in favor of keeping the Recorder office and questioned the need for a referendum since this doesn't save or cost the voters any fee or tax. He said there haven't been any complaints or problems for a need to have a referendum.

They had a roll call vote to vote on the matter or continue discussion of the recorder merging... that was very confusing. I couldn't tell if the 2nd vote was to clarify what people were voting for or another vote. The end result was that the vote was deferred to the next county board meeting in July (not the one next week).

Two budget amendments passed for the Regional Planning Commission to use new grant funding for their housing programs. Questions for the RPC (Petrie raised some) will be addressed later on the program by a representative from the RPC.

The Treasurer's report sounded less dire with recent tax revenues coming in and less future concern about the Nursing Home. An upcoming property sale has the interest of Nasty Joe and will be highlighted in the local press (link to the WCIA coverage here). To jump to the Treasurer's explanation of the upcoming Delinquent Tax Auction and Surplus Sale (in response to costs related to that sale) click this link here in the meeting video. Petrie had a question about whether the properties could be used for housing programs, but the Treasurer explained that they're not up to the standards (often being trashed, condemned or mobile homes more valuable as scrap, etc).

The Auditor submitted her report. Petrie had the only question on the Nursing Home population (roughly 140). The Clerk answered a couple quick questions about a state grant that helps pay for support of the voter registration system. Approval of the "acceptance agreement" to get the grant passed.

The Nursing Home report by the interim Administrator showed improvement for the month after a couple "lousy months" as Weibel described them. Goss had some technical questions on the Accounts Receivable (AR) issues of being on the books and the money that the County is owed by the Nursing Home. The interim Administrator said that the details would be dealt with more specifically in a future contract with SAK (a financial contract in addition to their management contract).

The Administrator report mentioned they received an award in recognition for distinguished budgeting. The deputy administrator then went through various budget details. The salary and insurance recommendations for non-bargaining County employees were approved. The interim Administrator explained the thinking behind the numbers, such as inflation and comparison to other workers asked by Fortado.

No other business. Fortado's Finance Chair's report asked for input from everybody towards the upcoming budget work. Offered to come to members' districts and hear concerns and ideas. Petrie suggested everyone meet in retreat fashion so everybody can learn about each other's districts. One on one only advantages to the finance chair alone (as opposed to all members benefiting).

Weibel pointed out that there aren't usually extraneous meetings in July and pointed out that many will be canceled and a Committee of the Whole will not be held. There may still be a zoning board meeting due to Solar Farm concerns, but that's not confirmed yet.