Sangamon Sun

Logan County Safety Committee met Feb. 1.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

Safety Meeting

Logan County Safety Complex

February 1, 2018

Present: Bob Farmer; Scott Schaffenacker; Gloria Luster; Gene Rohlfs; Chuck Ruben

Absent: Emily Davenport

Guests: Bob Sanders; David Blankenship; Janet Dahmm; Cheryl Hedrick; Kendall Caruthers; Dan

Fulscher; Bob Thomas; Steve Siltman; Mark Landers; William Kelsey

Mr. Farmer called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.

A motion was made by Mrs. Luster, seconded by Mr. Rohlfs, to approve all of the minutes of the December 7, 2017 and January 4, 2018 meetings as printed. Motion carried.

Mr. Ruben stated that he had asked William Kelsey, Swift Current Energy, to come and speak on the HillTopper Wind Farm. He discussed having Mr. Kelsey speak with EMA and the Sheriff’s Office over procedures for when the roads close during construction of the wind farm. William Kelsey discussed finishing up all the things to comply with the conditional use permit. He stated that they would like to start construction sometime between March 1st and April 1st. Mr. Kelsey stated that the County is working very closely with them and being very cooperative. He discussed being done with the solicitations with the construction contractors and having an execution plan, and once the paperwork is in place those contractors will be announced. Mr. Kelsey stated that they plan to begin construction at the point of interconnection switchyard, which is where the substation will be built, and they are trying to start construction earlier than planned. He discussed still finishing construction of the project by the end of the year. Mr. Kelsey discussed working with the County on the Refuse Agreement, which details the traffic plan during construction, ways they are going to improve the roads, and how they will leave the roads when they are done. He reported that they have had a financial partner come into the project, a company called Enel Green Power, and they are a large utility company that owns a lot of windfarms within the United States. He stated that they will be a big part of the safety plan during operations. He discussed having planning meetings on a daily basis, and will coordinate with the County on these. Dan Fulscher discussed a box alarm and calling card and stated that they will help Swift Current to develop these for emergencies. Mr. Fulscher asked how long they are expecting for the project to be completed. Mr. Kelsey discussed that in the first phase of HillTopper, they would be building it all at once. He discussed doing some other projects in the area and they would like to do an expansion to HillTopper, called Whitney Hill. Mr. Fulscher asked how long it would take to put in the 74 turbines of HillTopper. Mr. Kelsey stated that they should be substantially complete before the end of December of this year. Mr. Fulscher asked for the digital mapping to put into the 911 CAD system. Mr. Kelsey stated that he could send Mr. Fulscher that information. Mr. Fulscher discussed training local emergency personnel with the wind farm personnel. There was discussion to have Will D’Andrea help set up the digital mapping. Mr. Kelsey asked who he should coordinate with. Mr. Fulscher stated to contact Cheryl Hedrick at the 911 office, and then with the Sheriff’s Office, and Mt. Pulaski Fire, Latham Fire, and Lincoln Fire.

EMA

1. EMA Call Report: Kendall Caruthers reported that on January 2nd they supported local and mutual aid firefighters at a structure fire in Lincoln, with below zero temperatures. He discussed the last couple of days in January they spent participating in Coalition Strategic Planning meetings in Springfield with the Illinois Department of Public Health.

2. Exercise Design Team – 2018 Start Up: Mr. Fulscher discussed that in the next 10 days the Design Team will start up again and they are looking at another Full Scale Exercise in 2021. He stated that they have already done the discussion type tabletop and this year will be doing the EOC tabletop. Mr. Fulscher reported that they are looking into electronic, paperless, calls coming in onto everyone’s laptop. He stated that this year they will be training on the hard copies and hoping to have training on electronic next year.

Old Business: None.

New Business:

1. EMA Truck Rotation (5 Years): Mr. Fulscher reported that next month they will have the truck rotation proposal, and he has been working with Kevin Bateman on this.

2. Mr. Fulscher reported that today they had an on-site inspection by the Illinois Terrorism Taskforce. He stated that they were impressed with the software that was developed to keep track of the assets that they oversee. Mr. Fulscher stated that they received compliments on the 911 staff in Logan County.

3. Mr. Fulscher discussed when they remodeled the warehouse and made that into the Resource Reception Center, he had a meeting with Mr. Ruben and Mr. Farmer to go over some things. He stated that they discussed some cost sharing, since Mr. Fulscher also has assets in the warehouse and lives next door. He stated that he has paid for the water, garbage, and sewerage for the warehouse from the beginning and will continue to do so. He discussed that since the spotlight shines on his yard, he would pay for 25% of the electrical bill. Mr. Fulscher stated that one month’s rent for the County of the warehouse is $650, and then in November he would pay for 1 month’s rent. He discussed paying for the heating for the LP gas that is used for the kitchen in the warehouse. Mr. Fulscher stated that if there is a disaster, he would vacate the warehouse until the disaster was over. There was discussion to bring this agreement up at Workshop to be voted on.

Budget Review: None.

A motion was made by Mrs. Luster, seconded by Mr. Ruben, to approve the bills for EMA. Motion carried.

Coroner

Old Business:

1. January Cases: Coroner Thomas reported that there were 45 cases in January, with 6 autopsies and 10 transports and he signed off on 4 cases that were not taken to autopsy.

New Business:

1. Mr. Thomas reported that there is a Coroners Conference coming up in late February in Mt. Vernon. He stated that he and one deputy will be attending.

February Meeting Reports (FY 17/18)

1. Summary of expenses: Mr. Thomas stated that he has passed out a summary of his expenses to the Committee.

Budget Review: None.

A motion was made by Mr. Rohlfs, seconded by Mrs. Luster, to approve the bills for the Coroner. Motion carried.

Ambulance

1. Vouchers: None.

2. Call Report: Steve Siltman reported that there were 496 calls in January, making the total for the fiscal year 958 calls. He discussed the call volumes continuing to increase. He reported that there a little over 300 911 calls, 75 inter-hospital transports, 23 specialty care transports, and 11 critical care transports.

3. Vehicle Status Report: Mr. Siltman reported that they are all in running order but one of the vehicles, the one that was fixed last year, was taking a patient to Springfield and a large item came down from the bridge overpass and hit the ambulance. He reported that no one was hurt; it broke the windshield, and went through the box. He stated that he is unsure of the total cost of the repairs currently. Mr. Siltman discussed that they reported it to the State Police, but are unsure if someone threw an object or if it fell off the bridge. He stated that IDOT was contacted, and if they find out it fell off the bridge, the State will pay for the repairs to the ambulance.

Old Business: None.

New Business:

1. Ambulance Contract: Mr. Siltman reported that the State’s Attorney has looked over the contract and was satisfied with the content of it. A motion was made by Mr. Ruben, seconded by Mr. Rohlfs, to accept the contract. Motion passed.

2. Mr. Siltman discussed the old ambulance that was turned over to the County to use as a Coroner’s vehicle and that there still is no storage for it. He discussed checking with the Treasurer to see if there were any unused monies in the Ambulance levy and she stated there was $41,000 available. Mr. Siltman discussed wanting to build big enough storage for the Paramedics to use also and to put it up at their facility. He stated that he would not charge the Coroner rent to store his ambulance. Mr. Ruben asked Mr. Siltman to pursue costs for this and bring it back to the Committee.

Budget Review: None.

Law Enforcement

Old Business: None.

New Business: None.

Budget Review: None.

A motion was made by Mr. Ruben, seconded by Mr. Schaffenacker, to approve the Sheriff’s bills. Motion carried.

Communications:

Public Comments:

A motion was made by Mr. Ruben, seconded by Mrs. Luster, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.

Meeting ended at 7:45 pm.

https://logancountyil.gov/images/Safety020118.pdf