Peoria Standard

Woodford County Board met June 16.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

Board met and was called to order by Chairman John Krug.

Chairman Krug began the meeting with a moment of silence for former Emergency Services and Disaster Agency Director Bob Hix and then led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll call by the Clerk. Present: Emily Barker (Zoom), Justin Faulk, Richard Hill, John Krug, Barry Logan, Charles Nagel, Jerry Smith, Jason Spence (Phone), Dan Steffen and Donald Tolan. Absent: Russell Cotton, excused; Joshua Davis, excused; Bryant Kempf, excused; Blake Parsons, excused; and Randy Roethler, unexcused. Also present was County Clerk Dawn Kupfer. Note: unless noted otherwise, all Members were present in the Board Room.

Board announced in session by the Chairman.

Clerk Kupfer presented and read the Certificate of Giving Notice for this meeting.

Mr. Steffen moved the Certificate be approved as read, which motion was seconded by Mr. Faulk and was unanimously carried.

Clerk Kupfer submitted the minutes of the May 19, 2020 regular session County Board meeting for additions, corrections and approval.

Mr. Steffen moved to approve the minutes of the May 19, 2020 regular session County Board meeting, which was seconded by Mr. Logan and unanimously carried.

Clerk Kupfer submitted the Executive minutes of May 19, 2020 County Board meeting for additions, corrections and approval.

Mr. Nagel moved to approve and make public the Executive minutes of May 19, 2020 County Board meeting, which was seconded by Mr. Hill and unanimously carried.

Clerk Kupfer submitted the Special meeting of the May 26, 2020 County Board meeting for additions, corrections and approval.

Mr. Tolan moved to approve the May 26, 2020 Special County Board meeting minutes, which was seconded by Mr. Hill and unanimously carried.

Chairman Krug called for public input, hearing none.

The Consent Agenda was presented and clarified for the reporting of these minutes.

Mr. Hill moved to approve the consent agenda, which was seconded by Mr. Steffen. Chairman Krug called for any items to be removed from the consent agenda, hearing none; motion carried.

Appointments:

a. Approval of the appointment of Farrell Lord to the Farm Assessment Review Committee to replace Jeri Sue Johnson with no expiration date.

b. Approval of the appointment of Cayla Comens (representing FOP-Probation) to the Health Care Committee as an alternate for a three year term expiring the 1st Monday in December, 2022. 

Petitions, Resolutions and/or Motions:

a. Approval of Resolution 2019/2020-064 to award construction contract to Otto Baum Company, Inc for TR 47 Bridge replacement over Hallenback Creek, Section 17-07136-00-BR.

b. Approval of Resolution 2019/2020-065 to award construction contract to Knapp Concrete Contractors Inc. for Santa Fe Trail culvert replacement, Section 20-00172-00-DR.

c. Approval of Resolution 2019/2020-066 authorizing the Woodford County Board, Morton Community Bank Visa Card to be paid in vacation.

Chairman Krug moved on to the New Business portion of the Meeting; the only item under New Business was Item (a) the Amendment to the Woodford County Health Care Plan. Mr. Nagel moved on the approval of the Amendment to the Woodford County Health Care Plan, which was seconded by Mr. Faulk. Mr. Nagel referred this over to the Woodford County Treasurer Melissa Andrews. Ms. Andrews stated the reason for the amendment was due to a participant on the plan who had an issue they needed to talk to their doctor about during the COVID pandemic. They did not want to go to the doctor’s office so they called in and by teleconference, the doctor was able to change their medication. Ms. Andrews stated once the participant received the billing they found out the telecommunication was not covered under our plan and therefore the Health Care Committee would like to allow claims for consultations by telephone, email or online physicians to be processed as a standard office visit retroactive to March 21, 2020 and through the end of the plan year 2020. Ms. Andrews stated the Health Care Committee will be reviewing this at the end of the year to see if this should be made a permanent part of the plan coverage.

Mr. Logan inquired if anyone was aware of other insurance companies such as Blue Cross or Aetna were providing this type of coverage.

Ms. Andrews stated Jason Booth from Snedeker’s office had attended the Health Care Committee meeting by way of Zoom and he had indicated other clients their office is working with are having the same problems during this COVID pandemic and those clients were looking to do something similar to what the Woodford County Health Care Plan is considering.

Mrs. Barker stated as a nurse she would like to advocate the County Board adopts this as it is very important that patients be able to access their provider just as they would if they had a regular office visit. She went on to say there really is no difference in care between a telecommunication appointment and one in person and she thinks this would be a good thing to add for the County’s employees.

Chairman Krug called for all in favor of approving Item (a) under New Business, which unanimously carried.

Chairman Krug moved on to Unfinished Business, the Heart of Illinois Reopening Plan and asked if there were a motion to put this back on the table for discussion; hearing none.

Chairman Krug then called for the vote to approve the claims Paid in Vacation since the last meeting of the Board. Mr. Smith moved to approve the Claims Paid in Vacation, which was seconded by Mr. Logan. Chairman Krug asked if there were any claims to be added.

Mr. Logan moved to add two claims, the first claim was for the Sheriff’s Office to pay for 18 officers reimbursements for uniform allowances in the amount of $9,000.00 to be paid in vacation, which was seconded by Mr. Tolan. Mr. Logan then moved to add a second claim for the Probation Office to the Secretary of State of Illinois in the amount of $158.00 to pay for the vehicle title work for the 2016 Ford Explorer, which was seconded by Mr. Tolan.

Mr. Nagel moved to add a claim in the amount of $5,016.38 to CivicPlus for the annual renewal fee and website support to be paid in vacation, which was seconded by Mr. Hill.

Chairman Krug called for a motion on the (3) claims to be added, which motion unanimously passed.

Chairman Krug called for a motion on the claims as amended, which unanimously carried.

Mr. Logan presented and read Resolution 2019/2020-067 approving the payment of the Claims, which was seconded by Mr. Spence.

Chairman Krug called for a roll call vote. County Board Members voting Aye: Dan Steffen, Donald Tolan, Emily Barker, Justin Faulk, Richard Hill, John Krug, Barry Logan, Charles Nagel, Jerry Smith and Jason Spence. County Board Members voting Nay: None. County Board Members absent: Russell Cotton, excused; Joshua Davis, excused; Bryant Kempf, excused; Blake Parsons, excused; and Randy Roethler, unexcused. Motion carried.

The Report of the County Treasurer on receipts and disbursement of the General Fund, current fund balances and interfund transfers for the period ending May 31, 2020 was presented, as well as a report on the Revolving loan payment activity and the quarterly report. Ms. Andrews stated she had also included an Extension & Collection Comparison Report. She went on to say real estate tax bills were mailed out on May 27, 2020 and they are due on July 2, 2020 and on September 4, 2020. Ms. Andrews stated the County has already collected over $14 million dollars, which is ahead of where we were at last year at this time. She noted $7 million of the amount represents people whom have already paid both installments. Ms. Andrews stated the Extension & Collection Comparison Report lists every taxing body in the County and it represents the monies which the County will be collecting for them. She stated this year compared to last year overall this year we will be collecting over $76 million dollars which is an increase of about $354,000 over last year. Ms. Andrews said this is not terrible as we have seen years where there is over $1 million increase.

Mr. Logan moved to place all of the Treasurer’s reports on file, which motion was seconded by Mr. Hill and was unanimously carried.

The report for the Office of the County Board dated June 16, 2020 was presented. Mr. Steffen moved to place the Report on file, which motion was seconded by Mr. Faulk and was unanimously carried.

The following communication will be placed on file for the regular meeting of the June 16, 2020 County Board meeting:

 Semi-annual Report of the Woodford County Clerk and Recorder dated June 12, 2020.

 Semi-annual Report of the Woodford County Sheriff dated June 4, 2020.

 Notice from American Legal Publishing Corporation regarding their new location and change of address to: 525 Vine Street, Suite 310, Cincinnati, OH 45202 phone number 1-800-445-5588.

 Letter from Frontier Communications regarding key milestones related to the Company’s court- supervised restructuring.

 Letter from Mediacom listing the upcoming changes to local cable television lineup.

 Minutes of the Road and Bridge Committee meeting held May 11, 2020.

 Minutes of the Public Safety Committee meeting held May 11, 2020.

 Minutes of the County Offices committee held on May 12, 2020.

 Minutes of the Health Care Committee held March 11, 2020.

Mr. Smith moved to place all correspondence on file, which motion was seconded by Mr. Logan and was unanimously carried.

The respective Chairmen gave the reports of each Standing Committee.

Chairwomen Andrews reported for the Health Care Committee (Health Insurance Committee). Chairwoman Andrews commented on a weight loss program issued by Tria Health stating the Committee plans on looking into that further. Chairwomen Andrews reported on the appointment of Cayla Comens as an alternate to the Health Care Committee, which was approved at tonight’s meeting. An issue with medical billing reimbursements being denied on telecommunication bills being processed as in office visits how those claims will be approved for payment as well as any future claims. Chairwomen Andrews reported on the fund balances stating they continue to stay stable in the health plan fund. Mr. Steffen asked a question on the stability of the health care fund and wanting to know if it is doing as well or better over last year. Chairwomen Andrews stated at last Wednesday’s meeting those fund balances were over $818,000.00 and performing a little bit better than last year however she does expect to have a bit of a deficit at the end of this year because of the stop loss premium was increased after the rates were set further explaining as claims come in for the rest of the year she anticipates there will be less in the bank this year than last year. Chairwomen Andrews explained that will be addressed through the rates this fall and hopefully bringing it to a breakeven point for next year.

Mr. Hill, Chairman of the Road & Bridge Committee reported they discussed county road repair. Mr. Hill stated they are in the process of discussing and reviewing the Access Ordinance and hopefully will have something to bring before the County Board soon.

Mr. Spence, Chairman of the County Offices Committee, reported County Clerk and Recorder, Dawn L. Kupfer, brought to their attention the mandated changes and costs involved for the upcoming election because of the push to vote by mail due to Covid19. There is also additional hours the voting center will need to be open at the Courthouse as well as the possibility of needing extra help. Mr. Spence gave an overview of the mandated requirements put into place just for this election and how the possibility of those budgeted line item amounts could go over.

Mr. Nagel, Chairman of the Finance and Economic Development Committee reported their committee did not meet but he wanted to explain about the new budget season. Mr. Nagel stated he sent a note out to the budget makers to try and create a budget that is flat, non-contractual employees will start at no raises larger than 2%. Mr. Nagel reported what he tried to show everybody this budget is going to take many different forms as they go into the next several months. County Treasurer Melissa Andrews will have those numbers by the end of June and then it will go onto the full Board. Mr. Nagel went over meeting dates and encouraged everyone to try and make them. Mr. Nagel discussed the economic downturn from neighboring counties in relation to Woodford and the possible revenue downturns from sales tax and investment income being the two areas of concern. Mr. Nagel stated it really isn’t about the budget it’s where you set that levy and the need to keep their eye on that as well. Mr. Nagel discussed the importance of not over or understating your line item budget amounts which in turn could factor into the levy figure and the need to get the process right the first time through.

Mr. Logan, Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, reported most of their meeting was spent on discussing colors and tops for the desks at Annex 4. Mr. Logan stated he met with 3 more audio visual vendors and how that is probably going to be the most expensive cost involved. They discussed monitors, microphones and speakers stating they are working their way through that.

Chairman Krug stated Conservation Planning and Zoning meeting was cancelled and there was nothing from Zoning Board of Appeals.

Chairman Krug called for Public Announcements, stated the Village of Roanoke will be having a Car Show and Fireworks on July 3, 2020.

Mr. Steffen stated he felt the COVID pandemic has been a different situation for everyone. He went on to say we have all worked through Zoom meetings, cancelling or rescheduling meetings when and where necessary and after talking with some of the Department Heads and employees learning of the different ways they have all had to cope with. Mr. Steffen stated he had recently talked with an engineer from Livingston County whom reported they have a mess with people quitting work and he felt Woodford County is fortunate to have the dedicated Department Heads and employees whom have done an excellent job of battling through all of this and keeping everyone safe. Mr. Steffen publically thanks them all.

Chairman Krug stated there were no need to go into Executive Session.

Mr. Hill moved to adjourn until 6:30 P.M. the third Tuesday in July, A.D. 2020 same being the 21st day of said month, which motion was seconded by Mr. Logan and was unanimously carried.

Chairman Krug announced the Board adjourned at approximately 7:00 PM.

https://www.woodford-county.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_06162020-1071