Peoria Standard

Peoria County Board - County Health Committee met Oct. 24.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

MEMBERS PRESENT: Rob Reneau – Chairperson; Camille Coates – Vice Chairperson; Jennifer Groves Allison, Linda Daley, Betty Duncan, Brian Elsasser (via teleconference), Nathan Hoerr, Danny Phelan, Steven Rieker, Phillip Salzer, Sharon Williams

MEMBERS ABSENT: Eden Blair, Brandy Bryant

STAFF PRESENT: Scott Sorrel – County Administrator; Shauna Musselman – Assistant County Administrator; Jennie Cordis Boswell - State'sAttorney's Office; Heather McCord – Chief Financial Officer;Gretchen Pearsall – County Administration; Monica Hendrickson – Health Department; Jason Marks – EMA;Beth Crider – Regional Office of Education; Becca Cottrell –Sustainability & Resource Conservation

VISITORS: John Worsham, Kevin Nowlan – Center for Prevention of Abuse

Call to Order

Chairperson Reneau called the meeting to order at 2:23 p.m.

A motion to allow the participation of Mr. Elsasser via teleconference was made by Mr. Hoerr and seconded by Ms. Duncan. The motion carried unanimously.

Approval of Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes of September 26, 2023 was made by Ms. Daley and seconded by Ms. Williams. The motion carried (11-0).

Informational Items / Reports / Other Minutes / Updates

• Regional Office of Education

Ms. Crider provided an update on activities. Highlights include:

• Over 5,000 8th grade students attended Career Spark, held at the Peoria Civic Center September 28th and 29th.

• A DIGIM Career Fair hosted by the YANI Collective is being held at Bradley University today. This Career Fair exposes students to non-traditional careers such as those in entrepreneurship.

• The ROE is in receipt of a large safety grant from the Federal government and have hired a Regional Safety Director, whose job will entail supervising the Safety Directors of the North and South for the state of Illinois. Efforts will be made to align school safety undertakings. A new Director has also been hired in regard to truancy, and the ROE is in the process of hiring a Regional Office Operations and Grant Manager.

• The ROE is hosting the FAFSA Federal Student Aid Symposium on October 25th at Illinois Central College.

• Board of Health

Ms. Hendrickson provided an update on activities. Highlights include:

• Ms. Hendrickson advised that the Board of Health has awarded the implementation of “Cure Violence” program for the South Side of Peoria to the House of Hope.

• As a nationally accredited Health Department, an annual review of accreditation is being undertaken, as well as a large-scale Community Needs Health Assessment, which is completed every three years.

Ms. Hendrickson commented that the COVID-19 vaccine is now being utilized as vaccines such as RSV and influenza vaccines. She stated that the Health Department is procuring the vaccine, but is currently limited.

• Care & Treatment Board

No report. No questions or comments from committee.

• EMA

Mr. Marks provided an update on activities. Highlights include:

• Meeting with the City of Peoria Fire Department on Community Risk Reduction

• Incident Command for Senior Officials training has been scheduled for February

• Faith-based emergency preparedness training with community agencies will be held in November

• Active assailant training in conjunction with the Illinois Fire Service Institute will be held in school districts in June

• Several hazardous materials exercises have been scheduled, as well as an active shooter exercise

• Working with TRIAD on developing a Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT)

• Took part in a webinar with the State Terrorism Intelligence Center

• Center for Prevention of Abuse Long Term Care Ombudsman (LTCO) Program Mr. John Worsham, Regional Ombudsman, provided an update on the progress, status of the program, and trends through the 3rd quarter of 2023. He stated that 175 family members and residents have been presented education on resident rights and the LTCO program in 2023 to date, and education to direct service and administrative staff was provided 124 times. He commented that 109 resident cases have been closed, and 109 resident council meetings were attended by the ombudsman. He added that 72 referrals have been provided to other agencies for services that the LTCO was unable to provide, and 366 routine facility visits were conducted.

Mr. Worsham stated that continuing trends include an increase in involuntary discharges, and four facilities in Peoria County continue to contend with bedbug infestations. He also stated that an increase of staff members in facilities demonstrating a lack of respect and empathy for residents has been found, and as a result the Program is participating “Articles of Cultural Change”, a new state-wide initiative encouraging facilities to become more home-like.

• Sustainability & Resource Conservation

Ms. Cottrell provided an update on activities. Highlights include:

• The Limestone Township electronics collection held September 26th-27th collected 14,515 pounds of electronics

• Held an initial meeting with township supervisors on October 19th to discuss how the department could best support the work of the supervisors, i.e. expanding collections, composting, electronic collection, etc.

• Ms. Cottrell will be presenting at the Illinois Counties Solid Waste Management Association on Peoria County’s approach to composting and food scrap composting

• County Facilities staff attended the Ameren Convention held earlier this month • Solid Waste Management Plan Update

Ms. Cottrell explained that Illinois counties with a population over 1000,000 are required, through the Solid Waste Planning Act, to have a plan for solid waste management. She stated that the most recent 20-year plan was adopted in 2015, and she added that counties are asked to update the plan and submit to the IEPA every 5 years. She stated that although the initial update provided in late 2021 was submitted via a short worksheet, availability of IEPA grant funding allowed the resources for a more thorough update.

Ms. Cottrell advised that the update reviews 5-year goals and the success of implementing those goals. She noted that the original 20-year plan heavily relied on the opening of Landfill #3 and the Citizen’s Convenience Center, and the impacts of those on recycling efforts, and advised that the update focuses more specifically on a private sector model. She also noted the importance of a continued focus on efforts to address multi-family recycling.

• Landfill Update

Ms. Cottrell advised that further development of Landfill #3 continues to be on hold until direction is received from the IEPA. She stated that both revenues and the amount of waste received are higher than projected.

Public Comment

Mr. Reneau called for any public comments. There were none.

Miscellaneous

None.

A motion to go into executive session to discuss Probable Litigation was made by Mr. Salzer and seconded by Ms. Williams. The motion carried.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Regular session resumed upon a motion by Mr. Phelan and second by Ms. Coates.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by Chairperson Reneau at 3:35 p.m.

https://www.peoriacounty.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11282023-1534