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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-21-2012 Health & Human ServicesNOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES BOARD March 21, 2012 — 8:30 A.M. Board Room, St. Croix County DHHS Building 1445 N. 4ch Street, New Richmond Wisconsin L CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: 02/15/2012 IV. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Financial Report for Nursing Home and Health and Human Services 2. 2011 Annual Report for Health and Human Services 3. Industrial Wind Turbines Report on Health Impact 4. Nursing Home Operational changes V. ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE VI. ADJOURN DATE OF NEXT MEETING: 04/18/12 at 8:30 A.M. REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY: Committee Chair and County Administrator DATE APPROVED: 03/05/2012 A quorum of the St. Croix County Board of Supervisors (County Board) may he present at this meeting. Therefore, this notice also serves as notice of'a meeting of'the County Boardfor the purpose of'ohtaining information relaxing to subjects listed above for use at future County Board Meetings. 3/5/2012 ST. CROIX COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES BOARD March 21, 2012 The St. Croix County Health and Human Services Board met on March 21, 2012 at the St. Croix County Health and Human Services/Health Center complex. MEMBERS PRESENT: Esther Wentz, Chair Leon Berenschot Roger Larson Linda Luckey Richard Marzolf Deb Rasmussen Alfred Schrank MEMBERS ABSENT: Frederick Horne Dr. Lisa Ramsay STAFF PRESENT: Fred Johnson, Health and Human Services Director Deb Suchla, Financial Manager Cindy Anderson, Nursing Home Administrator Wendy Kramer, Health Officer/Public Health Coordinator Ed Thurman, Environmental Health Specialist Malva Sirek, Administrative Support Supervisor OTHERS PRESENT: Pat Thompson, County Administrator Daryl Standafer, County Board Chair Sharon Norton - Bauman, County Board member Tammy Funk, Human Resource Director Pete Kling, Planning and Zoning Director Kim Dupre, Information Systems Analyst Dave Ostness Norm Matzek Town of Forest Residents (see attached sign -in sheet) Chair Wentz called the meeting to order at 8:30 AM noting the meeting was properly and legally publicized. NEXT MEETING The next Health and Human Services Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 8:30 AM. MINUTES Motion A motion was introduced by Berenschot, seconded by Larson, and unanimously adopted: That the minutes of the 02/15/12 Health and Human Services Board meeting be approved as distributed. St. Croix County Health and Human Services Board Page 2 March 21, 2012 FINANCIAL REPORT FOR NURSING HOME AND HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Due to the transition of staff in the Finance Department, there is no January report available. Johnson reported Deb Suchla has agreed to remain on as Financial Manager through October. At this time her focus is year -end close out. Discussion on the Financial Director and anticipated time frame for filling the position were reviewed. 2011 ANNUAL REPORT FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Review of the report noted comparable between the 2011 and 2012 approved budgets. Johnson highlighted the format that was followed for each service area. 2012 strategic planning goals, which were recently approved by county board, are also included in the annual report. Additional highlights included the increases in benefits paid under Economic Support. In 2006 BadgerCare/ Medicaid benefits paid were $30,955,389 and in 2010 benefits paid increased to $45,652,009. Johnson also highlighted recent adjustments in services at St. Croix Industries related to client transportation. In April client workers who live in residential -based facilities will need to receive their transportation services through the residential providers. Johnson estimated 25 to 30 client workers live with residential providers at this time. MUSTRIAL WM TURBINES REPORT ON HEALTH IMPACT Brenda Salseg, Doris Schmit, and Laverne Hoitomt spoke regarding the health impacts of the proposed wind turbines in Town of Forest. Information was also distributed on statistics regarding the Town of Forrest, the timeline of the proposed wind turbine project, Town of Forest noise levels, details on turbine setbacks, public health impacts of wind turbines, the Shirley Wind project in the Town of Glenmore, Brown County, Wisconsin, and personal testimony. A wind turbine project similar to the one proposed for Town of Forest went on -line in the Town of Glenmore in Brown County in late 2010. Residents near the Town of Glenmore wind turbines are reported to have experienced numerous health issues to the extent that they have had to abandon their homes near the wind turbines. Electrical engineers have studied the 6 homes near the Town of Glenmore and discovered 16 to 291 times the average amount of current (stray voltage) found in a typical home. Residents near the wind turbines also experience interrupted telephone, cable and cell reception. Additional issues presented are shadow flickers from the turbines, blinking lights on the turbines, noise from the turbines and webcams located on the turbines. Emerging Energy is the same developer that installed the eight wind turbines in the Town of Glenmore and they are proposing 41 wind turbines in the Town of Forest. Hoitomt highlighted possible problems with static electrical build up problems and carrying the voltage from the wind turbines through approximately 13 miles of ditches in the Town of Forrest. The Board recessed from 9:28 — 9:35 AM. Other issues highlighted include the equipment that will bring in the equipment for the wind turbines is too heavy for the county /township roads. There is a plan to place a substation to route the power to, but the cable will be buried, not overhead, until it reaches the substation. It was St. Croix County Health and Human Services Board Page 3 March 21, 2012 reported that there currently is no power purchase agreement in place with Emerging Energy and any power company at this time. Pete Kling assured that he is listening to the citizens' concerns and paying attention to the information presented. Kling indicated the Town of Forest is not zoned. Kling has been in communication with the Town of Forest board. He indicated if the power from the wind turbines would go to the Town of Cylon power substation, then the Zoning Department would be involved. The County would need to approve a substation in the Town of Cylon. St. Croix County has a Tower Ordinance that prohibits structures over 200'; the proposed wind turbines would be approximately 495' high, but it appears at this time that the Public Service Commission has final authority on the project now. Town of Forest citizens encouraged St. Croix County to get a wind ordinance beyond the tower ordinance. Ed Thurman, Environmental Health Specialist, reported on information that he has reviewed with State of Wisconsin Department of Health (DHS). He said studies on wind turbines have been done by the states of Minnesota, Oregon and Massachusetts and DHS has indicated they have no intention of completing an additional study. Thurman reported that the conclusion of these studies indicate that if appropriate setbacks are followed, noise concerns and health concerns can be mitigated. With this information he is not making a recommendation from the Health Department regarding adverse health effects of industrial wind turbines. Discussion included that these studies did not address stray voltage or the low frequency noise issues. Thurman suggested a letter be sent to the State Department of Health to request that these concerns be addressed. Johnson asked for details on the timing of the process for potential approval of this project. The application for 41 wind turbines in Town of Forest was resubmitted to the Public Service Commission (PSC) on 02/28/12 and the PSC has 30 days to review and determine if the application is complete. If the application is approved, the timeline for the process was reported to be approximately 180 days. Johnson offered that with this potential time frame and changes that will occur with the board due to elections, there is time to review the materials. Rasmussen indicated she would like more time to read the information presented and would like more information on the symptoms and exacerbation of the symptoms attributed to the wind turbines. Marzolf indicated there is no reason to delay the matter. Motion A motion was introduced by Buzz Marzolf, seconded by Linda Luckey, and unanimously adopted: That the Board approves the recommendation of the representatives of the Town of Forest, and that their four -part request, made March 21, 2012 in the conclusion printed on page 9 of their presentation, be honored as follows: We request the St. Croix County Department of Health and Human Services, in consideration of the potential and real risks of wind energy development in our rural residential populations, please execute the following: 1. A letter of official support of the Brown County Board of Health Resolution on behalf of the Town of Glenmore and the Town of Forest to the State of Wisconsin. St. Croix County Health and Human Services Board Page 4 March 21, 2012 2. File a Letter of Declaration of Health Concerns for the Town of Forest residents and residents within the project footprint with the Public Service Commission on PSC Docket 2535 -CE -100. 3. Petition the State of Wisconsin to authorize and execute third -party, non - biased health studies in existing wind energy project areas to determine why industrial wind turbines make some individuals sick. 4. Assist the Town of Forest and residents within the project footprint with a voluntary baseline population health assessment before and after should the Highland Wind project be permitted by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Johnson will put a letter together and review letter with Wentz before sending out. NURSING HOME OPERATIONAL CHANGES Johnson reviewed the materials in the Board packets which included the two resolutions regarding advisory referendum for the Nursing Home, one from 2008 and the other from 2012; U.S. census information and St. Croix County census information by age; and the 2010 report on percent of Medicaid occupancy in nursing homes in St. Croix County. Operational projections were outlined from the revenue /expense projections that were presented last month. The operational projections and assumptions have been reviewed with Trent Fast, who does the audit for St. Croix Health Center, and he felt that the model utilized was good. The monthly available bed report was also distributed. The St. Croix Health Center census data from January, 2009 through February, 2012 was distributed. Anderson reported today's Nursing Home census is 53 with one discharge anticipated today. From 11/17/2011 through 03/14/2012, 61 referrals were received. Of that number, 18 residents were admitted, 15 went to other locations, 23 were not appropriate for placement, and 5 were not admitted due to being at room capacity or due to the flu . It was questioned where the referrals went if they were not admitted to St. Croix Health Center. Staff do not track that data, however, do make follow up phone calls to potential residents. At a previous meeting there was discussion regarding sending out a direct mailing to people in the area regarding the Nursing Home. Approximately 10,000 household were identified and the decision was made not to do a direct mailing. Johnson reviewed market studies that have been done for St. Croix Health Center in 2007 and again in 2009. Both of these studies projected bed shortages, but right now there is a bed surplus. He indicated Family Care may have impacted the actual bed need and this variable was highlighted in the market study reports. Johnson also highlighted additional assumptions such as limited capital expense has been put in past budgets. Also, no depreciation expense has been put aside and the Nursing Home equipment is aging. In addition, the Nursing Home budget does not include any administrative overhead costs or expense related to the plan of correction. There is no anticipated decrease in 2012 for IGT funds but we will see a reduction of IGT funds in the future with a smaller facility. St. Croix County Health and Human Services Board Page 5 March 21, 2012 Johnson indicated his recommendation to go to 50 beds remains and will move forward with operational adjustments for a 50 bed facility. Johnson will be following up on proposals to the Department of Health Services regarding Nursing Home prior to changing the number of licensed beds of the facility with the state. Bed tax is still paid at the rate of $170 /month per bed and bedhold revenue cannot be claimed at this time, which costs the facility more until license adjustments occur. Also discussed was the budgeted tax levy for 2011 which is roughly $369,000, but the financial reports indicate a projected need of $400,000 for 2011 in addition to the budgeted tax levy. It is anticipated Presbyterian Home opening their new facility this summer will have an impact on the St. Croix Health Center census. Wentz asked if there were any other issues to bring before the Board. Berenschot indicated he feels bad for the residents of Town of Forest. He wants to go on record that he went to Glenwood, Emerald, Springfield and Forest in the 1990's regarding getting County zoned. Johnson thanked Wentz, Luckey and Marzolf for working with Health and Human Services and their services will be missed. Wentz complimented Johnson's work and his work made her job as chair easier. Wentz adjourned the meeting. Time: 11:30 AM Chair: Attest: (Secretary) N N Town of Forest attendance Presentation. pdf sheet. pdf