Quincy Reporter

Adams County Board Executive Committee met Sept. 5.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

1) Meeting called to order 5:34 pm on 09/05/2023

Present: R. Kent Snider, Bret Austin, Dave Bellis, Barbara Fletcher, Robert Reich

Absent: None

Others: Ryan Niekamp, Cisco Fuller, John Simon, Jessica Frese, Todd Eyler, Gary Farha, Anthony Foster, Travis Cooley

2) Approval of Minutes from August 7, 2023. Mr. Bellis moved to approve the minutes as written, seconded by Mr. Reich. The minutes were approved unanimously.

3) New Business

a. Adams County Ambulance Union Contract Ratification with the Machinist Union — Mr. Simon spoke about the ratification — He states this CBA addresses pay, mandating, holidays (recognize the 12 hours AM on Christmas Eve, they now pay double with super holidays). Mr. Simon states they did not add Juneteenth to the Holiday Schedule, they held to the twelve (12) days. EMS changed how they use personal time, holiday, vacation time — it will now all be vacation time. There will be no roll over – this is a benefit to EMS — the COA ends up paying roll over at the higher rate. EMS reduced the amount of payout the employee can get if they are terminated with cause — this was a new give — this guarantees the staff at least two vacation days a year, with 30 days in advance — this should help employee relationship. Mr. Simon states they refined language for using sick time next to vacations — where they can now provide a physician’s note. EMS contract increases the boot allowance – this has not been done in 2010. This Contract allows for physical fitness of an EMT / Paramedic. This gives EMS say in the trade-time. Mr. Simon states the wage scale has been changed to reflect what is competitive — they started at the bottom and worked their way up the scale. Mr. Simon states this is an increase that gets them up to their market base. Starting pay from $14 to $19, then continuing to discuss the purposed way scale of all the different wage categories. Mr. Simon states they changed the longevity scale – from 10 years, to five years but also lowers the amount — this should follow the Treasurer’s Contract. They further addressed the out-of-town transfers and take them off of a mileage rate, and moves them to an hourly rate. Mr. Simon states the last issue related today pay for special events will be paid at one-and-a-half (1.5) times their rate. This is budgeted every year — this was something they wanted to tentatively agree. Mr. Austin asked what the current term is. Mr. Simon stated November 30, 2023. Mr. Austin asked who started the negotiations. Mr. Simon states they reached out to the union and asked if they were ready to start early. Mr. Austin asked if anyone on the Board was involved. Mr. Reich stated he was. Mr. Snider states he asked Mr. Simon to start working on the contract due to their staffing issues. Mr. Austin asked if they had started paying the new rates yet. Mr. Simon states, no. Mr. Austin asked if they were promised the new rates. Mr. Simon states no, there were no promises made. Mr. Simon states they got ten people hired at $16. Mr. Simon states that Hancock County is ahead of where Adams is now. Hancock County is at $17, and then will be increasing again in December. Lifeguard out of Macomb starts at $23 for a paramedic, and $16.50 for an EMT. Downstate Illinois for paramedic was $24 with an average of $26 with a 4% increase year by year for longevity. Mr. Austin states the schedule of December 1, 2023, through November 30, 2026 and clarifies that this would be the pay for anyone hired — there would not be annual increases. Mr. Simon states they went back and fourth on different proposals and they ended up rejecting a year-over-year increase as what they ended up coming out with zero raises for the next two years. Mr. Austin asked if Mr. Simon come up with a number this would cost. Mr. Simon said it about $950,000. Mr. Austin asked if it’s safe to say this will cost $1.5 million. Mr. Simon believed that was a bit high. Mr. Austin stated that it would be $950,000 year one and then they agreed the cost would be around $1.2million and then asked where the money was coming from. Mr. Simon says they have seen an 8% increase in their costs, they want to get back on long distance transfers — this will be the largest #1 revenue factor that they have but they are unable to complete them due to staffing. Mr. Cooley asked if this was due to closing Mendon. Mr. Simon states they had to brown that location out as they were burning staff out. Mr. Simon states that it is about $50,000 per month they are losing out on long-distance transfers. Mr. Simon says they will need to request a levy increase because they are at a point where they support this or look at ways to changes the way they provide ambulance services within the county. Mr. Austin reviews all the changes with Mr. Simon. Mr. Austin asked why they did not include Juneteenth. Mr. Simon states his employees get to use Holiday Pay anytime of the year and the union rather wanted to amend the 12AM shift of Christmas Eve to double-time — this serves as an incentive for employees to work those super holidays. Mr. Simon continued that they added the 96 hours they receive for holiday time into their vacation bank due to the administration view they are used in the same exact way. Mr. Simon states the vacation schedule is consistent with the handbook and those on the non-union side. Mr. Austin asked if they had a vacation bracket of time like they do with the pay scale. Mr. Simon states yes, that they did. Mr. Austin asked what changed in their sick hour policy. Mr. Simon states what changed in sick time from their pay out on the 1440 to their last check of the year instead of at any point in time — this is a benefit on the administration side. Mr. Austin asked if from a cash flow standpoint when this would occur in the fiscal year. Mr. Simon states in November. Mr. Austin states that is one of the poorest time of the county’s. Mr. Austin asked if they were using PayCom. Mr. Simon states it is unable to track how they need it to track. Mr. Austin asked if they then track this manually. Mr. Simon states yes. Mr. Austin states that they are not using our payroll software to track, and then cutting the checks at the poorest time in the county — he asked if they understood their point — June would be better. Mr. Simon states that they do understand, and they did think about that and then explained why they agreed to November. Mr. Austin asked if the department pays EMTS and paramedics stipends. Mr. Simon states no. Mr. Austin asked what the certifications are. Mr. Simon provides all the certifications. Mr. Austin advised the Executive Committee that if this is approved, it would be assumed it would increase the tax levy as there is no way to consume this increase. Mr. Austin states this department is one that works 24 hours per day — not like any other department and at one point the county had 1.8 million in unfunded liabilities — does this increase this? Mr. Austin states that there is a time when the water goes over the dam. Mr. Reich states that going into it, he believed everyone knew that the levy would end up being increased — he states that Mendon is in his district — how do you respond when someone cannot get medical help because of staffing issues and the station is closed. Mr. Reich states that he believes we need to bite the bullet and increase the levy. Mr. Austin states that a couple of years ago there was a study that was conducted about should we co-locate the station, etc., and the public wanted us to keep the ambulance service; however, that was not a time we did not need to increase the levy — what would they say now? Mr. Reich stated that co-locating with fire is great but asked about the more remote locations — they pay taxes, too. Mr. Reich states that they looked at bonuses, longevity, etc. Mr. Reich stated that one paycheck he saw had 86 hours of regular time and over 90 hours of overtime — that is not sustainable for them. Mr. Austin advised Mr. Simon that Mr. Simon did a good job with the pay comparison, but the questions go beyond that. Mr. Bellis states that the ambulance people were being underpaid but what happens if this is passed? Are those making $14 going to be requesting $19 per hour? Mr. Austin states yes, in fact, that has already started. Mr. Simon iterated the point that in order to be an EMT or paramedic, they must be licensed, and keep licensed — we are unable just hire off of the street. Mr. Austin requested that they add the number of hours required for each class for each rate of pay. Mr. Simon states that none of us can disregard what these people go through — they are front line. The committee all agreed. Mr. Austin asked a detailed level of job descriptions in order for him to support this. Motion to approve by Mr. Austin as presented with the stipulation of adding the extras details in the job descriptions; Seconded by Fletcher. Approved unanimously.

b. Williams Brothers – FINAL Pay Application (New Jail Construction) — Mr. Snider explained that this is their final pay with retention. Mr. Austin made a motion, seconded by Mr. Bellis — motion carried unanimously.

c. Ameren Powerline Burial (Discussion Only) — Rick Ehardt spoke on behalf of the Quincy Riverfront Development Foundation. Rick states their first project is to burry the electrical lines from Ameren. There is a one-time opportunity to get this project completed. They existing lines, are around 100 years old. Ameren has agreed to verbally agree that if we provided some assistance, they will pull the wiring and complete the work. There is two phase — phase one is from Hampshirite to 400 feet of Broadway. Second phase is from the second sub station to north of broadway. The original discussion of the cost were taking from estimates that occurred before the pandemic prior to inflation. There were several who took out bids for this project. One bid is from D&L construction of 1.8m the second is from Lavendere of $1.9m about a $700,000 deficit in request. Mr. Ehardt is asking the different committees how to go about this deficit. The county has committed $200,000 in the past year and they are now requesting an additional $150,000. Rick states there is a $300,000 grant from the state that will expire at some point. If the county can provide $350,000 and the COQ increases their contributions by $130,000 it still leaves the project short, but the remaining amount they are optimistic to raise the funds privately. Mr. Bellis stated the Park Board President was unable to attend the meeting, but they will be leaning on them more as they have more skin in the game. Mr. Bellis states that if the project started three years ago, the bids would have been right on estimate; however, the cost of inflation doesn’t allow that. Mr. Austin states that the one zero on the request and it’s the Park District — it’s their land. Rick states they will be seeking something. Mr. Bellis states that there is new interest in it from the QPDs perspective as there is a new board. Mr. Snider states that if the Park Board would put more skim in the game, the County could probably put more into it. Mr. Austin states that the partnership is starting to become in-balanced and that needs to be looked at — the Quincy Park did not even pay for any of the study. Mr. Bellis stated that the day they opened the bids started the clock of of 45 days. Mr. Snider said they would like to help, they need to see something from the Park Districts.

4) Executive Session

a. The committee went into Executive Session at 6:27pm for the purpose of personnel. Motion made by Mr. Autin, Seconded by Mr. Bellis. The committee went into executive session.

The committee came out of Executive session at 6:55pm. Mr. Austin made a motion to approve the grievance as written by Mr. Wear and to grant the extra vacation time at the beginning of his ten years of service. Motion was seconded by Mrs. Fletcher. The grievance was approved unanimously.

5) Adjournment

Mr. Austin made a motion to adjourn at 6:59pm. Seconded by Mrs. Fletcher. The committee voted unanimously to adjourn.

https://www.co.adams.il.us/home/showpublisheddocument/8833/638327079012870000