HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-05-2014 Health & Human Services Minutes MINUTES
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES BOARD
May 5, 2014 8:30 AM
Board Room, Department of Health & Human Services
1445 N 4th Street, New Richmond, Wisconsin
CALL TO ORDER
Meeting called to order @ 8:30 AM on May 5, 2014. Convener Roger Larson and Administrator
Pat Thompson welcomed everyone. Introductions were made.
ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Organization Title Status Arrived
Christopher Babbitt St. Croix County Supervisor Present
Howard Novotny St. Croix County Supervisor Present
Chris Kilber St. Croix County Supervisor Present
Paulette Anderson St. Croix County Supervisor Present
Shaela Leibfried St. Croix County Supervisor Present
Leon Berenschot St. Croix County Board Member Present
Lisa Ramsay St. Croix County Board Member Absent
Deb Rasmussen St. Croix County Board Member Present
Roger Larson St. Croix County Supervisor Present
Others present: Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Fred Johnson, County Administrator
Pat Thompson, Corp Counsel Scott Cox, Human Resources Director Tammy Funk, Financial
Director Tabatha Hanson, Fiscal Manager Beata Haug, Social Services Director Lisa Leahy,
Director of Nursing & Interim Nursing Home Administrator Sandy Hackenmueller, Public
Health Administrator Deb Lindemann, Public Health Environmental Services Specialist Ed
Thurman, New Richmond News staff and several other HHS staff, college students, and
community members.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. March 5, 2014 8:30 AM
Chair Roger Larson asked if there were any corrections to the March 5, 2014 minutes. No
corrections were stated. Larson announced minutes are approved and stand as distributed.
RESULT: ACCEPTED
PUBLIC COMMENT*
No Public Comment
BUSINESS ITEMS
1. Election of Officers
Larson asked for nominations for the position of Chair on the Health and Human Services
Board. Deb Rasmussen nominated Roger Larson, Larson declined as he informed the
Board that due to his commitments as County Board Chair he would be resigning from
his position on the HHS Board after this meeting. Paulette Anderson nominated Chris
Babbitt and Leon Berenschot nominated Chris Kilber. With no further nominations,
Larson closed nominations for Chair and a voice vote was held.
Kilber received 3 votes and Babbitt received 5. See vote box.
At this time Chris Babbitt took over as Chair, he thanked the group for their vote of
confidence and proceeded with the meeting.
Chair Babbitt asked for nominations for Vice Chair. Rasmussen nominated Kilber, no
other nominations were voiced and Kilber was named Vice Chair of the Health and
Human Services Board. No vote was needed.
RESULT: APPROVED [5 TO 3]
MOVER: Roger Larson, Supervisor
AYES: Howard Novotny, Paulette Anderson, Shaela Leibfried, Deb
Rasmussen, Roger Larson
NAYS: Christopher Babbitt, Chris Kilber, Leon Berenschot
ABSENT: Lisa Ramsay
2. Establish Regular Meeting Schedule
County Administrator Pat Thompson informed the Board that the preferred plan is for all
committee meetings to be held in the boardroom in Hudson so they can eventually be
recorded and live streamed. This is in response to the public's request that the County be
more transparent and meetings more accessible. With that said, it is up to this Board to
determine where and when they want to meet. The Board members agreed that Hudson
would be the best location as this is the only location equipped at this time to record the
meetings. The date and time was suggested to not be so close to the date of the County
Board Meeting so the HHS Board has more time to prepare for this meeting. After
further discussion the consensus was that HHS Board meetings be held the 2nd Tuesday
of the month at 5:30 PM in the Hudson boardroom. The next meeting will be June 10th
at 5:30 PM, with the Open Public Hearing to follow at 7:00 PM.
3. Department Fact Sheet Review and HHS Board Orientation Folder
HHS Director Johnson reviewed the packet of information that was compiled by himself
and Nursing Home Administrator Sandy Hackenmueller for the Board members to use as
a reference for information regarding Health and Human Services.
4. 2013 Annual Report
Johnson informed the group that this is a look back into 2013 and is also a source of
information regarding services here at HHS. The Board decision was for each member to
take some time to review this document. If questions or concerns arise they are
encouraged to contact Johnson or Hackenmueller to set up some time to meet with them
and or other HHS staff to discuss.
5. Nursing Home Report
Administrator Sandy Hackenmueller and Social Services Director Lisa Leahy gave a
brief update regarding the Nursing Home. The census is full at 50 with 64 % on
Medicaid, 10 % Medicare, 2% Medicare Advantage, and 24% private pay. The payer
source mix has improved since January which helps the budget. Referrals continue to be
strong and they continue to have a wait list. They are always monitoring the wait list to
meet both the Nursing Home and the client need.
Discussion was held regarding why we continue to be a 50 bed facility when there
continues to be a wait list. The main reason being, there are enough beds within the
county to meet the need and the only way to change bed capacity would be if another
facility was to close. This is something the Board would like to have further in depth
discussion on sometime in the near future as the wait list is a concern.
6. Health Center Facility Planning Options
Hackenmueller informed and updated the group regarding the options she, Administrator
Thompson, and Finance staff have been working on regarding the building of a new
facility and where things stand with the initiative from the state.
In August they received a letter from the state regarding the initiative, stating the funding
could be made available, but it would be monitored and have a potential take back of
$1.1Million.The initiative also requires another bed reduction from 50 to 40.
Working with our accountant, different options were drawn up. In March Hackenmueller
took these options to Madison and met with the Head of HHS Finance Dept. for him to
review. Tuesday of last week he came here and further discussion was had, but the
initiative stays as is.
Hackenmueller presented four options for the Board:
1. Stay a 50 bed Health Center in current facility with upgrades costing
approximately $3.175 million.
2. Build a new 40 bed Health Center with State Property Incentive based on our
current application with estimated cost of $9.75 to $13.25 million, with a potential take
back of $1.1 million.
3. Build a new 50 bed Health Center, remodel current building to a 40 bed
Community Based Residential Facility/Assisted Living, and use 10 beds as a Regional
Behavior Center. This would follow the state Dementia Care redesign and the 10 beds
would serve as a behavior stabilization facility. Estimated cost of $9.1-$12 million. This
is the option being recommended.
4. Build a new 50 bed Health Center, a new 40 bed Community Based Residential
Facility, and a 10 bed Regional Behavior Center. With estimated cost of $14-19 million.
In depth discussion was held regarding each option and the pros and cons of each.
Today we are asking the Board to vote and authorize which option we should move
forward with to start to gather data and get true costs of the project. This information will
then be brought back to this Board and then to the County Board to determine next steps.
There was a Motion by Roger Larson and 2nd by Shaela Leibfried, stating; We as the
Health and Human Services Board will support moving forward with Option 3.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Roger Larson, Supervisor
SECONDER: Shaela Leibfried, Supervisor
AYES: Christopher Babbitt, Howard Novotny, Chris Kilber, Paulette
Anderson, Shaela Leibfried, Leon Berenschot, Deb Rasmussen,
Roger Larson
ABSENT: Lisa Ramsay
7. Frac Sand Report
HHS Director Fred Johnson along with Public Health Administrator Deb Lindemann and
Public Health Environmental Specialist Ed Thurman reported to Board regarding the
Public Health concerns surrounding the Frac Sand mining project in Glenwood City.
A pre-annexation agreement is going before the Glenwood City Council for a vote on
May 12, 2014 to annex land for frac sand mining that is near the Glenwood City Schools.
Staff has looked at the pre-annexation agreement and has identified some potential
concerns related to the monitoring of the ambient air and remediation should a problem
arise. From the staff review, the agreement states that the mining company itself will be
doing the monitoring of the air, with no independent monitoring or chain of custody of
the data listed within the agreement. Also, there is no plan listed as to what the mining
company will do if the air quality becomes poor. At this time, there is no national
standard for monitoring of the air surrounding frac sand mines. The concern is that
fugitive dust that gets into the air surrounding the frac sand mine can contain silica. If the
concentration of these particles gets too high there are potential health implications, one
of which is called Silicosis.
Discussion was had about the positives of this mine for the community of Glenwood City
such as income and jobs, and also the fact that this matter has been reviewed by the
Glenwood City Council for quite some time. A Memorandum of Understanding is still
not signed by the Glenwood City School district, but is up for a vote this week as well.
Scott Cox from Corp Counsel informed the Board what role the county has and what
options we have at this time to legally deal with this matter. Cox shared that Counties are
creatures of the legislature and can only do what has been explicitly granted to counties
per statute. In regards to the regulations for this type of mine the county does have
authority under zoning laws, but only in unincorporated areas in the county. The strategy
being used by Vista Sand and other large frac sand companies is to annex properties
within municipalities to avoid county regulations. If they are successful at annexing, the
county would lose its authority under its police powers within the zoning regulations, as
the property would no longer be within county jurisdiction. The County PH Dept. has
jurisdiction in both incorporated and unincorporated areas, though it is questionable that
the county would have the authority, if ever challenged, to impose a moratorium based on
its PH authority. The PH statutes are intended for regulation of known health hazards and
at this time we don't know what the effects are. In Trempealeau County, the Public
Health (PH) Board, after a failed attempt by the Planning Committee, brought forth a
Resolution for a moratorium. It doesn't make reference to PH statute for the very reason
that the statute deals only with known human health hazards. The moratorium in
Trempealeau County is only effective in unincorporated areas, so development of
mining continues in incorporated areas.
Cox answered questions from the Board and further discussion was had regarding how
the Board should proceed with this matter.
Due to time constraints it was decided the best option would be for the Board to request
from the Glenwood City Council more time to further look into the Public Health
implications of this mining project. Johnson shared that we will have County staff at the
May 12th Glenwood City Council meeting so we can bring any recommendations the
Board has to the meeting, as well as information regarding the upcoming Frac Mining
webinar.
A motion was made by Anderson that The St. Croix County Health and Human Services
Board would like to advise the Glenwood City Council to delay the annexation of the
Frac sand property for 90 days while we at the Department of Health and Human
Services review the Public Health implications of Frac Sand Mining. 2nd Rasmussen-
Vote 5 Yes : Anderson, Babbitt, Leibfried, Novotony, Rasmussen
Vote 3 No: Berenschot, Larson, Kilber
Motion carries
In regards to another Public Health matter, Lindemann informed the Board of the
upcoming accreditation process and is in need of Board representation on Wednesday
May 21st from 10:30 -11:30. Deb Rasmussen, Shaela Leibfried, and Paulette Anderson
volunteered to attend. Dave Ostness has previously agreed to attend and will also be part
of the accreditation process.
Board chair Chris Babbitt asked for a 10 minute recess.
8. Children's Long Term Support Waiver Contract Increase and Hiring an Additional Social
Worker
Johnson informed the Board that the Children Services Department will be receiving a
contract increase from the state in the amount of $888,948. This is above and beyond our
regular budget. As a condition of accepting this funding we need to increase our case
load by 36 and to facilitate this would need to add a Social Work position. We are asking
the HHS Board to support a budget amendment resolution that will come from the
Administration Committee to amend the 2014 HHS budget for the Children's Long Term
Care Expenditures and the addition of a Social Work position.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Roger Larson, Supervisor
SECONDER: Deb Rasmussen, Board Member
AYES: Christopher Babbitt, Howard Novotny, Chris Kilber, Paulette
Anderson, Shaela Leibfried, Leon Berenschot, Deb Rasmussen,
Roger Larson
ABSENT: Lisa Ramsay
9. Dementia Care Specialist Grant Award and hiring an Additional Social Worker
Johnson, HHS Director along with Brad Beckman, ADRC Administrator informed the
Board on this agenda item. Previously the Council on Aging and Disabilities approved
the submission of the grant application and last week we were notified we have been
awarded this grant. Johnson commended Beckman and the ADRC staff for their hard
work on the grant application. The funding from this grant includes $53,000 for the
balance of 2014 and $80,000 for calendar year 2015. There is a chance that the Dementia
Care Specialist program funding could be eliminated after 2015 and if that were to occur,
Johnson recommends looking at the position at that time. Johnson recommended that the
HHS Board to support a budget amendment resolution that will come from the
Administration Committee to amend the 2014 HHS budget for the ADRC and the
addition of a Social Work position.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Chris Kilber, Supervisor
SECONDER: Leon Berenschot, Board Member
AYES: Christopher Babbitt, Howard Novotny, Chris Kilber, Paulette
Anderson, Shaela Leibfried, Leon Berenschot, Deb Rasmussen,
Roger Larson
ABSENT: Lisa Ramsay
10. St. Croix County Services Center Facility Planning Report
We have a move in date of July 1st with a Ribbon Cutting ceremony and other Grand
Opening events being planned. On May 29th from 3:30 to 4:30 there will be an
opportunity for the HHS Board and the Council on Aging and Disabilities to get a tour of
the new St. Croix County Services Center.
11. Future Agenda items
At this time when agenda items come forth the Chair is notified, is reviewed with the
Administrator, and then an agenda is populated. If any Board members have agenda
items they would like added to the agenda they can contact Fred Johnson or Sandy
Hackenmueller.
One suggested agenda item for next meeting would be a Frac Sand mine update.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE
No Announcements
ADJOURN
Adjourned by Chris Babbitt at 10:55 AM
Respectfully Submitted: Colleen Linder
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Tuesday June 10, 2014 at 5:30 PM in the Hudson Boardroom. Open Public participation to
follow at 7:00 PM