Peoria Standard

Fulton County Finance and Insurance Committee met March 7.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

1. Call to Order

Time: 5:30 pm

2. Roll Call

Doug Manock (present/xxxxxx)

Garry Hensley (present/xxxxxx)

Jason Myetich (present/xxxxxx)

Eric Pigg (present/xxxxxx)

Warren Potter (present/xxxxxx)

Other Board Members: Bob Bucher – Fulton Co. Board Chairman

Staff: John D Young – Executive Asst. FCB, Audra Miles – Administrative Comptroller

Elected & Appointed Officials: Staci Mayall – Co. Treasurer, Nicole L Darling County Engineer, Justin Jochums State’s Attorney

3. Call for Additions/Deletions To and Approval of the Agenda

Member Manock asked that 11. New Business be moved ahead of Consent Agenda. Young said that item 11a should be Quit Claim not Parcel. No further changes were made.

Member Hensley moved to accept the agenda as amended with a second from Member Myetich. No Discussion was made. Motion carried by voice vote with all voting ayes.

4. Approval of Previous Minutes – February 13, 2018

Member Myetich asked to have the dates corrected on the minutes.

Member Myetich moved to accept the minutes as corrected with a second from Member Pigg. No Discussion was made. Motion carried by voice vote with all voting ayes.

5. Announcements, Communications and Correspondence – None

6. Public Comments – None

7. New Business

a. Discussion/Action: Trustee Quit Claim

Member Hensley moved to approve the Trustee Quit Claim with a second from Member Myetich. No Discussion was made. Motion carried by voice vote with all voting ayes.

b. Discussion/Action: Resolution – Ameren Construction Fee

Manock asked Darling, there was two different sums of money from Ameren. Bucher said she and Darling spoke in the Fall two years back a check in the amount of $220,000.00 for road. Bucher spoke to Mayall about a check coming in that amount and it was to go to the highway department funds. Bucher said he checked numerous time but the check never came. Bucher went on to say that in April/May 2017 an Ameren representative was giving to the county in the amount of $237,000.00 to which was confirmed the money was confirmed the fund went to the county and the road agreement was a separate amount. Darling said that Bucher was mistaken, the $220,000.00 to $240,000.00 per the agreement and by statute goes to the county. Darling went on to point out that some counties distribute the money to the road districts affected, some give to the highway departments and the road districts some counties keep the money. Darling said in 2015/2016 a conversation was had on who get the money and how the final agreement was written, adding that she would had collected the money in a different way and the county would have kept the $237,000.00. Bucher said the Ameren representative who spoke at the board meeting needed to be contacted and clarification needed to be made. Young said he would contact Rick Trelz. Darling said Trelz was mentioned in the agreement but reiterated she knew the funds would go to the county by statute and she had attempted to secure the money ahead of time per the agreement. Neither the county nor the highway department had put the funds in their budgets. Bucher said it was the county’s understanding that the when the line went active the money would come to the county. Darling said that the money was in lieu of permits for overloads. A general discussion on the number of loads and the overloads that went over county roadways, bridge and township bridges was made. Darling reported that in October of 2014, prior to any agreement Ameren estimated 227 overloads was being planned, permit fees alone would be $28,000.00. Darling said that the agreement still has two years remaining and she could invoice Ameren for the funds. Manock asked for a reading of the April 2017 minutes. Bucher said the county thought there would be two sums, one for $237,000.00 one for $220,000.00. Darling went on to relate the information about the substation that was built and not permitted for, highlighting the interaction with Emmons on that issues. Darling stated that maybe the $237,000.00 should not all got to her but some should go to zoning or the ZBA to cover expenses. It was determined that since the agreement was open for two years that Darling could invoice Ameren. Bucher said that both contacting Trelz and having Darling write up an invoice to Ameren would be a good way to proceed.

8. Consent Agenda Items

a. Claims

Member Potter moved to approve the Claims with a second from Member Pigg. No Discussion was made. Motion carried by voice vote with all voting ayes.

b. Reports

c. Other Reports

9. Transfer of Funds – None

a. General Funds Transfers

b. Other Funds Transfers

10. Immediate Emergency /Appropriation(s) – None

a. General Funds Immediate Emergency Appropriations

b. Other Funds Immediate Emergency Appropriations

11. Old Business

a. Discussion/Action: County Website – ADA Compliance

Young explained that after a revised quote from the website developer CivicPlus, which was up from $33,500.00 to $48,500.00 he proceeded with the subscription for an ADA plugin that had been approved at a prior meeting. Young stated he had begun the process of bringing the website into compliance, adding that it was a slow process but all of the images had alt text captions and that the 2,930 jpg files were the next portion to be tackled. Young expressed his hope to save the county between $30,000 and $45,000.00 by doing the work himself. Young added that once the compliance issues was dealt with, he intended on working on redesigning the appearance of the website, and added he hoped to be done by later this Spring.

b. Discussion/Action: Update on Solar Development – Landfill

Bucher reported that he, Rick Regnier, Young and Chris Oswald of Miller, Hall & Triggs had met with Paul Currin and Michael Rauch of BQ Solar. Oswald spoke for the county, obtaining money in advance to cover the cost of legal fees and on-going maintenance of the site for a period of up to three years. Bucher added that with the timeline the state laid out, BQ would have to get working on their due diligence related to the EPA/IEPA and the interconnection study with the utility company as soon as possible but hoped to get the process going by mid-summer. BQ had given the most competitive bid and had the most experience in working with landfill sites. Oswald had gotten a clear definition on Kws the county would be getting paid by, obtaining the higher amount but the 1.5% accelerator could not be changed as BQ sited the changing climate of the industry. The lease works out to $700.00/acres. BQ pointed out that the larger the area that is leased, the smaller the dollar per acre and gave an example of a site in an urban area were the 8 acres rented for $1,200.00 per. The agreements from the BQ were not back to the county yet but would be sent to Oswald once they were for his consultation.

c. Discussion/Action: Targeted Buy-Outs

Mayall said that one employee was interested in the buyout, with the payout happening in May, there would be no further payout but the employee was leaving this month. Mayall stated that she would have to sit down with the employee, Jim Nelson and Randy Stevens to look over the retirement plan as well as have Justin Jochums create an agreement. The concerns about the $12,000.00 accelerated payment being reportable wages was made. Mayall added the payout would come from the salary line item.

12. Transit

Miles reported the 1st and 2nd Qt. Federal payments had come in but still waiting for the 4th Qt. from last fiscal year and the 2nd Qt. from this fiscal year to come in, commenting that a new project manager could be part of the current delay. A general conversation on the delays caused by the operations of IDOT was made.

13. Treasurer’s Report

Mayall reported that the county was showing a surplus of $13,086.45 but next month several quarterly payments would make the funds look not so positive. Mayall stated she was working with Regnier on the tax bills in an effort to make certain the tax bills were going to the correct addresses. With 100’s of certified letters coming back the effort to get the letters to the correct addresses was paramount. Mayall went on to explain she had negotiated with a mailing service for $75.00 to run the tax files through a national database to get corrected addresses. The credit card processing company was being changed was also on Mayall’s list. Mayall went on to inform the committee that she was going to have to hire a part time person to fill the open position that had been unfilled for some time. The person would work less than 1000/hours per year, no benefits or IMRF and they would work during only the busy times for the office, April to November. Member Hensley commented that the position would be ideal for a retired person who spends winters in a warmer climate. Mayall reported that she had filled the full-time payroll clerk position, Jenny Bankert of Canton who was involved with the Dunfermline/St. David Water – Sewer district and the Village of Norris. Member Manock asked about the workings of ADP, Mayall stated it wasn’t working well, she was looking at alternatives and would have more information at a later meeting.

14. Executive Session – None

15. Misc. – None

16. Adjournment

Time: 6:20 pm

https://www.fultonco.org/march-7-2018-finance-and-insurance-committee-meeting-minutes/