Peoria Standard

Peoria County Board - County Operations Committee met July 29.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Attendance

Present:

Members: Member Rieker, Member Coates, Member Blair, Member Bryant, Member Daley, Member Duncan, Member Elsasser, Member Groves Allison, Member Phelan, Member Reneau

Staff & Guests:

Scott Sorrel, Shauna Musselman, Jennie Cordis Boswell, Angela Loftus, Mark Little, Chris Watkins, Amy McLaren, Heather McCord, Julie Kusturin, Rachael Parker, Jennifer Shadid, Scott Mettille, Megan Bentley

Absent:

Members: Member Williams

1. CALL TO ORDER

1.1 Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Rieker at 12:02 pm.

1.2 Approval to Join via Teleconference

A motion to admit Member Elsasser to the meeting via teleconference was made by Member Duncan and was seconded by Member Blair.

Motion carried. (9-0)

Absent: Member Coates, Member Williams

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

2.1 June 3, 2025

A motion to approve the County Operations Committee meeting minutes from June 3, 2025, Executive Session from June 3, 2025, and June 12, 2025

Special County Operations was made by Member Duncan and was seconded by Member Blair.

Motion Carried. (9-0)

Absent: Member Coates, Member Williams

2.2 June 3, 2025 - Executive Session

2.3 June 12, 2025 - Special County Operations

3. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS / REPORTS / OTHER MINUTES / UPDATES

3.1 Workforce Report

Ms. Loftus provided a brief overview of the information from the report included in the packet. She stood for questions; there were none.

Chairperson Rieker commented that some committee members have asked if some improvements could be made to these reports. He advised that he had spoken with the administrative staff regarding this.

3.2 Vacancy Report

Ms. Loftus provided a brief overview of the information from the report included in the packet. She stood for questions.

Member Daley asked if Ms. Loftus could explain why an FTE was moved from County Highway to County Administration.

Ms. Loftus advised that this is related to two recent hires; one was the Director of Special Projects. She explained that County Administration did not have the approved FTE, so after reviewing the budget, it was decided that to keep the FTE numbers the same, the FTE was moved from Highway to County Administration.

3.3 Worker's Compensation & Liability Reports

Ms. Loftus provided a brief overview of the information from the report that was included in the packet. She stood for questions; there were none.

4. RESOLUTIONS

4.1 Collective Bargaining Agreement with Laborers (Local 165), Operating

Engineers (Local 649), and Teamsters (Local 627)

A motion to approve the resolution was made by Member Reneau and was seconded by Member Elsasser.

Ms. Loftus advised that a tentative agreement was reached at the end of June. It is a four-year deal with 4%/3%/3%/3.25%. The contract starts June 1st, and increases will be effective June 1st each of the following years. Ms. Loftus explained the language changes in the contract.

Chairperson Rieker called for questions from the committee; there were none.

Chairperson Rieker thanked the Highway Department and each of the three bargaining units for working together on this contract.

Motion Carried. (10-0)

Absent: Member Williams

4.2 Tyler Enterprise Jury Upgrade and SaaS Migration

A motion to approve the resolution was made by Member Blair and was seconded by Member Coates.

Mr. Little provided a presentation regarding Peoria County’s Integrated Justice System.

Ms. Shadid advised that this would allow them to check in jurors much faster and more efficiently, it would eliminate a lot of paper risks, it would allow scheduling of automatic text and email messages to communicate with the jurors, and batch scanning processes would be built into the new system.

Member Blair asked what the disadvantages are of having all these systems integrated.

Mr. Little advised that he sees more advantages than disadvantages. He stated that they will be locked into a single vendor.

Member Allison asked what the intergovernmental agreement portion will look like and when we will see it.

Mr. Sorrel advised that he is unaware of whether we have a timeline on it.

He stated they still have to do a demo on the software package.

Member Phelan asked if this is a contract separate from all other Tyler contracts.

Mr. Little advised that it will be because we are moving to a SaaS.

Member Phelan asked if it is typical to see agencies buying multiple products and having multiple contracts.

Mr. Little confirmed and explained that it is because they are all separate business units.

Member Phelan asked if there are any group purchasing organizations or states using leverage to get deeper discounts with this type of company.

Mr. Little advised that there are none that he is aware of.

Member Phelan asked if Mr. Little finds that his position empowers him to have conversations regarding software that he does not think is the right fit.

Mr. Little confirmed that they do have those types of conversations monthly.

Motion Carried. (9-0)

Absent: Member Elsasser and Member Williams

5. DISCUSSION

5.1 Paid Parental Leave Policy

Ms. Musselman provided an overview of the paid parental leave policy and referred the committee to the policy, which was included in the packet. She explained that this is not an additional form of leave. This is just a funding mechanism for the first two weeks of FMLA leave. She stated that this is capped at two weeks per parental event and must be used within four months of the qualifying event in one continuous period. Unused parental leave is forfeited if an employee leaves the county. Formal documentation will be required for approval of FMLA leave. The committee is asked to consider the two weeks of leave time today. Ms. Musselman stood for questions.

Member Blair asked what it means to “be in a regular pay status”.

Ms. Musselman explained that it means not on military leave or off on workers’ compensation.

Chairperson Rieker stated that if everyone is good, we will probably put this on the agenda for the August committee meeting.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT

6.1 Public Comment

Chairperson Rieker called for public comments. There were none.

7. MISCELLANEOUS

7.1 Miscellaneous

Chairperson Rieker called for miscellaneous comments. There were none.

8. EXECUTIVE SESSION

8.1 Labor Relations

Member Duncan moved to go into Executive Session to discuss Labor Relations and Pending Litigation. Member Coates seconded.

The motion carried. (9-0)

Absent: Member Elsasser, Member Williams

The board entered into Executive Session at 1:01 pm.

8.2 Pending Litigation

9. ADJOURNMENT

9.1 Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by Chairperson Rieker at 1:18 pm.

https://www.peoriacounty.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08262025-1798