Madison County Grants Committee met May 8.
Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:
Present: Clint Jones, Liz Dalton, Judy Kuhn, Ann Gorman, Gussie Glasper, Chrissy Dutton, James Futrell, Bruce Malone
Absent: Helen Hawkins
Others: Kristen Poshard, Nadine Pfeiffer, Lisa Mersinger, Samuel Borders, Matt Jones, Scott Cousins, Ray Wesley, Tom McRae, Robert Pollard, Lisa Ciampoli
Clint Jones made the motion to approve the minutes from the May 8, 2017 Grants meeting. Motion to approve was made by Liz Dalton, second by Gussie Glasper Motion approved unanimously.
New Business:
Bills and Purchases Requests Approval-
The bills and purchases were presented by C. Jones. A motion to approve was made by Gussie Glasper, second by Liz Dalton. Motion approved unanimously.
K. Poshard from MCCD presented a Resolution Authorizing an Infrastructure Loan to the Village of Worden.
A motion to approve was made by Liz Dalton, second by James Futrell. Motion approved unanimously.
K. Poshard from MCCD presented a Resolution Authorizing a Park & Recreation Loan to the City of Alton.
A motion to approve was made by Ann Gorman, second by Bruce Malone.
Motion approved unanimously.
Madison County Employment and Training Update-
Matt Jones gave an update informing the Committee that they are still recruiting for the summer youth program which is starts in June for 8 weeks at 32 hrs per week, $10 per hour. This program is for out of school 18-24 year olds and is often the first work experience for many of the participants. They have already placed 4 youths at the Venice Gardens Project as well as 2 youths working with the county’s facilities management department.
Their local and regional plan have gone through the 30 day public comment period, been updated, and sent to the state for approval. Their Workforce Innovation Board (WIB) is in the process of approving the One-Stop Operator after going through the RFP/bid process of approving the youth program providers (In-School & Out of School) after completion of the RFP/bid process. The WIB leadership will be at the June Grants Committee meeting to present all of these for approval. The WIB is still accepting applications for graduating high school seniors in Madison and Bond counties that plan to attend one of our 3 local community colleges in Fall 2017. Deadline for application is June 16th and the application is on the county website or you can contact Matt Jones at 296-4315or mjones@co.madison.il.us
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is conducting its annual monitoring the week of May 22. The Illinois Office of Monitoring and Compliance (EOMC) will be monitoring both one-stops in Wood River and Greenville the week of May 29.
They are currently administering On The Job & Incumbent Worker Training Contracts with companies in Edwardsville, Alton, and Greenville. There are also 11 different hiring events this month at the Wood River One-Stop Center & they are also working on 2 additional job fairs. Testing for Phillips 66 concluded with 205 total applicants completing the process.
Ms. Glasper asked Mr. Jones if he had contacted the High Schools regarding the Scholarships and he said that they had.
Mr. Malone asked if Employment & Training would be rolling into Community Development. Kristen Poshard stated that her understanding was that it was presented to the Personnel Committee because Employment & training would just fall under Community Development because they are both grant based. She also stated that we were told that perhaps there will be an administrator appointed so the Personnel Committee would pull it back off the agenda.
Mr. Malone asked the Chairman of the Personnel Committee Ray Wesley if he could comment on the issue and he said that it was brought to the Committee, but no action was taken, it was pulled off the agenda. Mr. Malone stated then, that for now they will be separated.
Kristen stated that there is no vote and they create a reorganization chart and the County Administrator has say over that. Mr. Malone then asked if we would encounter Union problems if they tried to merge the 2 departments. Kristen stated that she wouldn’t say problems with the Union, but would be some bargaining that would have to be done. Gussie Glasper asked Kristen if she knew where the direction was going to come from if the Personnel Committee will do it or if the Chairman will appoint somebody. Kristen stated that the Chairman would appoint someone and that it is the Chairman & the Board’s decision.
Mr. Ray Wesley then spoke again regarding the Personnel Committee in March. Back on Feb 15, 2017 the Personnel Committee requested an organizational chart to be developed to be used as an informational document so they knew how the county is structured. When presented to them, under the Community Development section, there was listed an Administrator, Chief Deputy Administrator, and an Employment & Training Box, which was moved under Community Development in March. The Personnel Committee did not vote on this, this was just informational literature given to the Personnel Committee so they would have a better understanding of the structure. Since then, there has been, he believes, an agenda for a later meeting, they had put a job description for another administrator, if he is not mistaken.
Kristen then stated she had put in a job description that MCCD were considering creating. But she then asked that it be pulled off the agenda until she has more information on what becomes of the Employment & Training Administrator issue.
Tom McRae then asked about the refinery & how many people were tested. He stated that people are being trained, but he wanted to know where are the deliverables, wanting to see that those people being trained were getting jobs. Matt Jones stated that they had those people ready for the pipeline, but when the economy crashed, the people who were supposed to retire didn’t retire. Matt stated that the Unions are not accepting new applicants until those employees retire. We have the pipeline, but they are not accepting people into those apprenticeship programs. Matt stated that their department has been doing this for 40 years and there has never been one finding from the state or any money re-allocated and they have always met all of the requirements by the state.
Kristen then stated that we do CSBG training through Community Development, and so for what we do, LIUNA & Carpenters, they are looking for apprenticeships and are calling us all the time looking for apprentices to join their programs. She also stated that we are required to show DCEO what our outcomes are and she will make sure that we distribute those at the next meeting. She also stated that we are working with Ages, which is one of the bigger cyber security firms in our region working with coding.
Kristen stated that this job market is so hot right now that by 2020, there could be a half million unfilled jobs and they have money to send people to the training so we are working with organizations such as Mannie Jackson Center for Humanities and others that were on the STEM programs to help send young people into training.
MCCD Update:
Kristen discussed the HOME program and stated that it may be the last year for this program. In the past they have always just given the HOME dollars to 1 developer. We are recommending a system where they are actually graded and the spread out among multiple developers instead of just the 1- RISE. This program is supplemental dollars who receive the Illinois Housing Tax Credit. She also stated that it takes a lot of staff from our department and we lose money from this program. Ann Gorman asked how much money is allocated for the program, and Kristen stated it would be about $350,000 for this round of the program.
Kristen then passed around the flier from the Family of Distinction dinner from Sunday night.
Kristen then stated that we have ample Weatherization dollars and that the Weatherization department has done a great job in serving Madison County with
Weatherization upgrades on houses. We have also been given money that was not spent from other Counties. Kristen stated that if anyone knows anyone who is looking for a job, and would be interested in a Carpenter’s program, the Carpenter’s Union is looking for people who would want to work on a crew for our Weatherization program for a couple months, and then they will put them into a job at a bigger organization.
Next meeting date: Monday, June 12, 2017 at 4:00 pm.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn was made by Liz Dalton, second by Ann Gorman.
Motion approved unanimously.
http://www.co.madison.il.us/document_center/CountyClerk/Grants/05-18-17m.pdf
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