DeKalb County Executive Committee met on Jan. 11.
Here are the minutes as provided by the committee:
DeKalb County Government Sycamore, Illinois
Executive Committee Minutes January 11, 2017
The Executive Committee of the DeKalb County Board met Wednesday, January 11, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. in the Administration Building’s Conference Room East in Sycamore, Illinois. Chairman Pietrowski called the meeting to order. Those present were Mr. Bagby, Mr. Brown, Mr. Frieders, Ms. Leifheit, Ms. Little, Mr. Stoddard and Chairman Pietrowski. Mr. Faivre and Mr. Jones were absent. A quorum was established with seven Members present and two absent.
Others that were present included: Gary Hanson, Steve Reid, Marjorie Askins, Jeff Whelan, Roy Plote, Greg Millburg, Bart Becker, Gray Winschel, Jim Luebke, Craig Roman, Misty and Michael Haji-Sheikh, Chris Porterfield, Pete Stefan and Scott Zak.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES It was moved by Ms. Little, seconded by Ms. Leifheit and it was moved unanimously to approve the minutes from November 9, 2016.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA It was moved by Mr. Bagby and seconded by Mr. Brown to approve the agenda as presented.
PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments made.
CHAIR’S COMMENTS Chairman Pietrowski welcomed all the new and returning County Board Members and wished everyone a happy New Year. He added that he is anticipating the New Year to be a productive one and that he has and will continue to be meeting with Committee Chairpersons in order to assist in outlining their goals for the next two years.
PRESENTATION ON NURSING HOME EXPANSION Mr. Hanson provided a prelude to the presentation and introduced Mr. Bart Becker, DeKalb County Nursing Home Administrator and Mr. Gary Winschel, Director of Fiscal Services at Management Performance Associates, Inc. (MPA has been the County Nursing Home’s Management Firm since around 1997). Mr. Hanson provided that in November the DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center Operating Board passed a resolution to move forward with the process of hoping to expand the County Nursing Home. This is the beginning of a several step process and thought it would be a good time to ask Nursing Home Officials to provide a brief overview of the proposed expansion / improvement plan.
Mr. Hanson reviewed that when the County Nursing Home moved out to the DeKalb Campus Facility, one of MPA’s charges was that they had to operate the Nursing Home without using property tax dollars and they had to pay for the new facility out of operating revenues. That has been successful for the past 20 years and that same model is looking at this expansion; any debt payments have to come out of operating revenues. Mr. Hanson shared that has Board Members and audience present listen to the presentation it is important to note that there are no property tax dollars involved with this debt payment. The County Nursing Home has been a good success story and the proposed expansion will give the opportunity to position themselves to be remain competitive in the marketplace going forward.
Mr. Becker and Mr. Winschel reviewed that the Nursing Home is positioning itself to stay competitive in the marketplace and continue to meeting the needs of the residents while enhancing their quality of life. The proposed project adds 18 private Medicare rooms, including a dining and family room. This will be adjacent to the therapy department. The current Medicare Unit, 10 semi-private rooms and three private rooms, will be remodeling into 13 private rooms creating a Medicare Unit with 31 private rooms. A large activity room will be created in the center for the facility. Corridors for efficient food delivery will run next to the activity room and Resident Family Rooms will be enlarges and updated.
The project cost is not to exceed $15 million – total of all hard and soft costs. The Nursing Home will pay for the project out of operations, as it did with the prior bonds that were retired in 2016. Current plans are for the Home to use $2 million of equity, with the remaining costs covered by bonds, approximately $13 million. Affordability indicators include Debt Service Coverage and cumulative cash over the five years after construction to be: Debt Services Coverage ranges from 1.75 to 1.90, Cumulative cash ranges from $7 million to $11.2 million.
The Nursing Home currently has 88 semi-private rooms and 14 private rooms (190) – 23 beds of which are Medicare (adjacent rooms are used for additional Medicare residents), after construction there will be 31 private Medicare rooms, 13 private pay – private rooms and 76 semi-private rooms (196 beds). Conservatively, the payer mix is projected to remain the same which currently averages 50% Medicaid, 35% Private Pay and 15% Medicare.
Mr. Winschel additionally took the Committee through a few architectural planning designs of the proposed expansion and reviewed the current anticipated scope of work cost estimates. Chairman Pietrowski noted that it is a great source of pride for DeKalb County to have a successful County Nursing Home and would be pleased to see it continue to be competitive and functioning at a high capacity.
APPOINTMENTS Chairman Pietrowski recommended the following appointments for approval:
a. Board of Health: Jill Tritt, JD, appointed to fill the unexpired term of Keith Foster, JD, until December 31, 2018. LeAnn Gruber, Celeste Latham, Mayuri Morker, and Christine Jones all reappointed for three year terms until December 31, 2019. Kevin Bunge appointed for a one year term until December 31, 2017.
b. DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center Operating Board: Ferald Bryan and Veronica Casella reappointed for two year terms until December 31, 2018.
c. Supportive Living Facility Board: Ferald Bryan and Veronica Casella reappointed for two year terms until December 31, 2018.
It was moved by Mr. Frieders, seconded by Ms. Little and it was approved unanimously by voice vote to forward the recommended appointments to the full County Board for approval.
APPROVAL OF THE COUNTY BOARD AGENDA The Chairman next asked to go around the table and hear an update from all of the Committee Chairpersons on what their Committees had done at their last meeting together and/or what they are anticipating in the months to come.
Mr. Frieders, Chairman of the County Highway Committee shared that the Committee is forwarding one resolution to the full County Board. The resolution is to support transportation infrastructure funding. He shared that it was explained in Committee that in the past, funding has been somewhat consistent with the percentage of traffic utilizing the highway system. The State roadways carry approximately 60% of the traffic and the local roadways carry approximately 40% of the traffic. Historically, highway user fees dedicated to the roadways matched the amount of traffic being carried. In other words, IDOT would receive approximately 60% of the dedicated funding and local agencies would receive approximately 40% of the dedicated funding. Over the years, this percentage of dedicated funding has shifted with IDOT remaining close to the 60% funding, but the local agencies funding has been reduced to approximately 21% of the dedicated funding. This result was partially due to “sweeps” of funds dedicated for our roadways and used for non-transportation funding. It is important that our State legislators know that we, as a County, are concerned with how the funding is being allocated down to the local agencies and this issue needs to be addressed. This is what the resolution is supposed to accomplish.
Mr. Brown, Chairman of the Forest Preserve Committee, noted that the Committee has not met in a couple month but there is still many activities and happenings that are going on in area Forest Preserves. Mr. Brown shared information regarding The Great Western Trail restoration, winter seeding, Sycamore Forest Preserve, and upcoming Winterfest that will be held at Russel Woods on Saturday, January 21st. At the next meeting the Committee will be reviewing and voting on the Somonauk to Sannauk Forest Preserve Trail Corridor land acquisition.
Mr. Bagby, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee provided a summary of their last meeting which included two resolutions. The first resolution is for the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Initiative. The resolution includes the County Board approving (a) the continuation of an alliance with our community partners from the previous visioning process and that said partners serve as an overall Steering Committee, (b) the agreement with Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies to guide and coordinate the process to complete a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, (c) accepts with thankfulness a $20,000 grant from the DeKalb County Community Foundation to be used towards the formulation of this Strategy, and (d) authorizes the Board of Directors of the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation to serve as the Planning Committee that will gather input from public and private sectors throughout DeKalb County. Mr. Bagby continued that the second resolution was an annual housekeeping item to select DeKalb County Convention & Visitors Bureau as the County’s Agency of Record for Tourism Promotions. The Committee additionally heard from City of Sandwich Mayor regarding a possible Enterprise Zone Amendment and updates regarding the Business Incubator Program.
Mr. Stoddard, Chairman of the Finance Committee shared that the Committee did not meeting this month.
Ms. Leifheit, Chair of the Law & Justice Committee noted that the Committee has not met yet but at their next meeting they will continue to discuss the future of the Sober Living Home.
Ms. Leifheit, Chair of the Health & Human Services Committee shared the Committee received presentations from Love INC and U of I Extension at their last meeting. She also announced that at the next meeting they will be meeting at the County Nursing Home where they will received a tour of the facility. All County Board Members are welcome to come.
It was moved by Mr. Bagby, seconded by Ms. Little and it was carried unanimously to approve the County Board Agenda and to forward it to the full County Board for approval.
COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT Mr. Hanson presented the Committee with his County Administrator’s Report. He noted that much of what he has been working on has already been mentioned like the CED’s contract, Nursing Home Expansion contracts, and the possible City of Sandwich Enterprise Zone Amendment. He also mentioned that he will be initiating the formation of this year’s Legislative Agenda.
The Jail Expansion Project is moving forward despite the winter weather. The west half of the building’s panels are all in place and the temporary roof should be going on soon. Overall everything is still on track for a substantial completion by next January and a move-in and operational by summer of 2018.
ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Mr. Stoddard, seconded by Ms. Little, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.
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