July 9, 2015 Minutes of Regular Meeting

The Board of Trustees of Illinois Valley Community College District No. 513 convened a regular session at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 9, 2015 in the Board Room (C307) at Illinois Valley Community College.

Members Physically Present

Melissa M. Olivero, Chair
Michael C. Driscoll, Vice Chair
Larry D. Huffman, Secretary
Laurie A. Bonucci
Jane E. Goetz
David O. Mallery
Everett J. Solon
Austin M. Burnette, Student Trustee

Members Absent

Others Physically Present

Jerry Corcoran, President
Cheryl Roelfsema, Vice President for Business Services and Finance
Deborah Anderson, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Sue Isermann, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
Mark Grzybowski, Associate Vice President for Student Services
Walt Zukowski, Attorney

APPROVAL OF AMENDED AGENDA

It was moved by Ms. Bonucci and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to approve the amended agenda by adding a Closed Session after Public Comment and including the bills in the Operations & Maintenance (Restricted Fund), as presented.  Motion passed by voice vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Mr. Bill Mennie, president of Mennie Machine Company, was at the meeting as a business owner and local taxpayer.  He expressed his concern of what has happened with the Marquis Energy and Putnam County lawsuit with IVCC.  An estimated $1.1 million has been spent so far and the College could be liable for another $100,000 for the appraiser when he didn’t do his job the correct way. Mr. Mennie asked if this was true and why.  Mr. Mennie wanted to know what could be done so this does not happen again.  He was looking for a plan so it doesn’t happen to his family next week or maybe Maze Nails two weeks from now.  He thought someone should be held responsible for what has happened.  He also asked for a timeline in which the Board would get back to him with his questions and concerns. 

Mr. Peter Limberger noted he is fairly new in the area, about four years.  He is not an American citizen but is an American taxpayer and pays substantial taxes and so does his wife, Inga Carus, from Carus Corporation.  He is an investor in the area and one of his jobs is to attract more businesses to the area.  He receives calls almost every day of investors inquiring if they should invest in the area when they are reading that they could get sued if they invested in the area.  He has invested almost $10 million in the City of Ottawa and is planning to make another large investment in an Enterprise Zone.  He is wondering if he is going to be sued from someone like IVCC without a case.  This is the message which is being sent out to anyone who wants to invest in this area.  This is completely counterproductive in every effort for economic development.  Mr. Marquis probably invested more than $100 million based on something that brought in taxes and then was sued by a taxing body for more taxes.  The area will never succeed if investors are afraid to be sued by someone who cannot live within their budget.  

Mr. Steve Conrad pays taxes on four properties and noted that everyone at the meeting is a taxpayer.  He supports TIF and Enterprise Zones and appreciates that they are here.  At the same time everybody has to pay their rightful taxes.  He does not blame the IVCC Board, one bit, for doing what it takes to get what should lawfully be coming to the College

Mr. Dave Argubright, also a taxpayer, thanked the Board for not taking the donation from Marquis Energy, but going after what it believed was its rightful share.  People make donations who want to and not to get a special tax rate.  There is a way to go about it and that is in the courts.

Christian Cyr was present representing the Hennepin Better Business Association and as a business owner. He appreciates the position that the Board members are in and he understands the responsibility that comes along with being on the Board.  The lawsuit with Marquis Energy/Putnam County has so many facts, so many dates, and timelines.  He was not at the meeting to interpret those, but to talk about how the case was handled.  He had concerns, as a group, on how the timeline happened.  Over the past 4 ½ years, the Board did what it thought was in the best interest of the College.  They thought legal fees would be $200,000 and the College would collect $1 million in taxes.  This would have been a good financial thing to do for the College and the Board pursued the case.  The original expectations clearly did not come to fruition.  Legal fees are $750,000 in addition to legal fees to defend the appraiser.  Putnam County paid $250,000 defending themselves. Marquis spent a considerable amount of money defending themselves.   An approximate total of $1.5 million was spent by the tax payers – a potential $1million gain turned into a $1.5 million loss.  Mr. Cyr believes at some point the Board members should have said let’s call it quits.  The Board received two offers from Mr. Marquis – one to receive another opinion from another law firm and to get a second opinion on the appraisal and it would have cost the Board nothing.  The Board did not accept these offers.  In July 2014 would have been a good time to stop, but the Board kept on going.  IVCC signed a contract with an appraiser that was fined by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations for 20 errors and omissions on a misleading appraisal, more than double than other appraisals.  Who in the IVCC organization decided to choose this appraiser?  The appraiser estimated four times the cost per gallon produced at the ethanol plant and now the College’s obligation to pay for his court costs could be approximately $100,000.  Was the Board misguided?  Did the Board know all the facts? The College was told by the Putnam County Assessor the most the College could recover was $200,000.  Was this passed on to the Board?  Unfortunately, this has turned into the biggest waste of tax dollars in the history of IVCC.  Mr. Cyr asked what as board members are they going to do to answer these questions?  Mr. Limberger stated over seventeen hundred interested citizens signed a petition and would like answers to these questions.

A gentleman stated the College paid $775,000 in attorney fees and at $400 an hour that would be 48.5 solid 40-hour weeks which does not make sense.  How could the Board possibly pay this kind of money?  Taxpayers are concerned.  No one has had the common decency to explain anything to anybody except to just sit here and do nothing and hope it goes away. 

Bob Borri - As mayor of a small town if I ran the city this way, it would have been a disgrace.  McNabb and Standard, two little towns in Putnam County would have liked that $250,000, but it was wasted.  Accountability was expected when I became mayor and the IVCC Board should give accountability as to what has happened. 

MOMENT OF SILENCE

Ms. Olivero requested a moment of silence for Kevin Caufield who passed away this past week.  Kevin was a reporter for the NewsTribune and covered IVCC activities professionally with great integrity.  He will be missed.

STATEMENT BY MS. OLIVERO

Thank you for coming tonight.  I wish we had this much interest in all of our meetings.  I will first make a general statement regarding this litigation and then address the specific issues raised by the speakers and in letters received before the meeting.

First I would be remiss if I did not question both the impetus for and the timing of the recent attacks on the college, the Board, our administration and our attorney.  The cases involving Marquis Energy/Putnam County are over.  The litigation was pending from 2011-2015, a period of four years.  During that time, the Board would have held 48 public meetings.  No one came to any of these meetings to address concerns with the litigation.  No one came to the meeting in which we reviewed Dr. Corcoran’s, Ms. Roelfsema’s, or Mr. Zukowski’s contracts.  We now have legally binding contractual relationships with these three individuals, into which we are sure no one wants to tortuously interfere. 

We are also somewhat stunned by the vitriol in the letters and ads we have seen.  Where I come from, anyway, neighbors do not attack neighbors in letters and anonymous political ads.  Instead, people work together as a community to resolve their disputes.  They engage in civil discourse, even when they disagree. Most importantly, people work together in the best interest of the community as a whole.  How we arrived here, I certainly do not know.

I would first like to address the concerns raised by Mr. Marquis in his letter sent to each trustee and shared with many others. 

Mr. Marquis initially questions who hired Mark Pomykacz to appraise the ethanol plant.  It was the Board of Trustees who hired Mr. Pomykacz.  This was done after considering other candidates with proficiency in appraising ethanol plants.  References were checked for at least four candidates before we settled on hiring Mr. Pomykacz.  As to our obligations to Mr. Pomykacz, unfortunately we cannot comment further at this time in order to avoid potential exposure for further litigation.  We can say, however, that the College has not yet determined if it owes any obligation to Mr. Pomykacz.

As to the amount Mr. Pomykacz was paid, Mr. Marquis commented that it was out of line with other Illinois appraisers.  However, the Board would state Mr. Pomykacz is proficient in appraising energy companies and specifically ethanol plants.  This is a very special niche.  To say we could have hired another appraiser for less money is like saying you can have your family practice doctor prepare and complete a complex brain surgery on a member of your family.  You have to pay more for an expert.

Secondly, Mr. Marquis asked about Cheryl Roelfsema, as to why she omitted a refund to other taxing bodies in her report.  We have seen no evidence that the omission was deliberate or intentional.  There is no evidence that Ms. Roelfsema stood to gain or benefit in any way from such an omission.  The Board of Trustees was aware in 2010, prior to the institution of this lawsuit that we would need to share any recovery with other taxpayers.  We had discussions with other county clerks on how the taxes, if corrected, would be disbursed before we filed suit.  Although Ms. Roelfsema once mistakenly stated the College would recover only $.50 on the dollar recovered, she misspoke.  The fact is that if we were to recover any improperly abated taxes, 14 percent of the amount would be returned to other taxpayers and IVCC would keep 86 percent.

As to why Mrs. Roelfsema testified that she would prefer not to answer a question regarding omission of the return of funds to other taxing bodies from a report to the Board, she was simply caught off guard.

Third, Mr. Marquis asked why IVCC excessively redacted documents produced pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (or FOIA) request.  There is no evidence that the excessive redactions were made.  It is up to the Illinois Attorney General to determine whether the documents were excessively redacted.  The letter the College received from the Attorney General merely asks for un-redacted documents so that they can conduct a confidential review of them to determine whether, as we maintain, the redactions were proper under the law.  It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the pending investigation as we await the Attorney General’s findings regarding Marquis Energy’s complaint on the redactions.  

Fourth, Mr. Marquis asks if the Board was aware that our attorney, Mr. Zukowski had withheld his bills. Again, there is no evidence that Mr. Zukowski withheld anything.  It is not uncommon for attorneys to bill a client five to six months after a given action.  This certainly does not mean that the attorney is withholding anything; only possibly that the attorney is busy.

Finally, in today’s issue of the NewsTribune, Mr. Marquis is quoted as saying “I knew the appraiser wasn’t right….. and I offered to pay for the College to get a second opinion from another law firm on the validity of the suit.”  First, although Mr. Marquis states that he knew the appraisal wasn’t right, neither he nor Putnam County ever offered a different appraisal.  Second, as an attorney, I was shocked at Mr. Marquis’ offer.  I have been involved in complex, multi-million dollar litigations over the period of my career and I have never heard of such a thing.  We are unsure how another attorney, being paid by a party with interests adverse to those of the College, could have competently reviewed the action with the College’s best interest in mind. 

Next, Mr. Mennie asked to address the Board and sent an email to ask us to “stop mismanagement and waste of taxpayer funds at IVCC and address specific mismanagement regarding our legal representation, its choices of real estate appraisers, and the failure of IVCC staff to communicate critical information to the Board.”  So, working backwards:

As I have said, it has always been our understanding that we would need to share any recovery with other taxpayers.  This was discussed in closed sessions going back to 2010.  The fact that this was not computed into a spreadsheet given to the Board, should have no bearing on our understanding of that fact.

I have addressed the appraiser issue and will not repeat myself.

Regarding our choice of legal representation.  The Board has been more than satisfied with the services of Mr. Zukowski and his law firm.  I think our support is evident from the Board’s unanimous approval of his contract for services earlier this year.  He has competently and zealously represented interests of the College.  The actions he took were at the express direction of the Board of Trustees.  He provided frequent and thorough updates to the Board regarding the litigation.  In every motion and on every appeal during the litigation, the College prevailed.  We are not sure how Mr. Zukowski could have been more successful regarding this litigation.  The amount of Mr. Zukowski’s bills has received heavy coverage in the press.  Initially, we should remember that these bills were spread over a five-year period (2010-2015) and were generously discounted by Mr. Zukowski.  Secondly, we have estimated that the litigation strategies of Marquis Energy drove up our legal bills by $260,000 (or 1/3 of the overall bill).  In short, we did not give up our lawsuit because we believed it was unjust or wrong, we simply could not afford it.

Regarding the College’s alleged mismanagement, as I stated in April, this College made a decision in 2011 to try to correct a perceived ambiguity regarding the 2006 Bureau/Putnam County Enterprise Zone agreement.  The unequivocal intent of the 2006 Board of Trustees was the abatement of taxes in the Enterprise Zone would only apply to projects that began after July 1, 2007.  This point was clearly understood and agreed upon by officials from Princeton who reached out to IVCC asking for the College to participate in the Enterprise Zone in the first place.  Because construction of the Marquis Energy Ethanol plant was underway prior to July 1, 2007, the Board believed it was ineligible for such an abatement.

IVCC went to great lengths to avoid this litigation.  The Board tried to reach an amicable agreement with Putnam County officials prior to filing suit.  We were told they were not interested in settlement and that we needed to “let a judge decide.”  At that point the College had two choices, either file suit or walk away.  After considering the interest of the 2006 Board and in consideration of fundamental fairness to all district taxpayers, the Board decided to file suit. 

Separate and apart from the abatement issue was an issue over the Equalized Assessed Value (or EAV) of the Marquis Energy facility.  Initially, Putnam County assessed the plant at $42 million in 2009.  In 2010, with no notice to the College, Putnam County decreased the plant’s EAV to $26.3 million for a difference of about $16 million.  Illinois law requires counties to notify taxing bodies of any change in EAV over $100,000.  As I said, we were given no notice.  Subsequent assessments were as follows:  About $17 million in 2011 (a decrease of about $8 million over the previous year and about $25 million from 2009 (or more than half), about $18 million in 2012, 2013 and 2014.  The College was provided no information to support the County’s decision to drastically reduce the plant’s EAV and without notice to the Board, we were unable to appeal locally to the Board of Review.

Furthermore, these decreases deprived the College of much needed tax dollars.  The 2010 reduction cost the College about $57,000, the 2011 reduction cost this College about $90,000, and each reduction in 2012 – 2014 cost the College about $86,000.  In total, this cost the College over $400,000 in tax monies, only on the EAV issue and only through 2014.  The appraisal obtained by the College put the correct EAV closer to the original $42 million assessment.

The reason that the Board must remain vigilant in protecting its tax base is because the State of Illinois has failed to properly contribute its fair share of the College’s operating budget.  The College is supposed to be supported like a three-legged stool – 1/3 by the State, 1/3 by local property taxes and 1/3 by the students.  However, the FY2016 budget anticipates the state only giving about 11 percent to operating funds in which the remainder shifts to the burden of the local taxpayers and the students.  Unlike public universities, IVCC cannot count on the state to pay its share of the College’s expenses.

During the four years of this protracted litigation, the College, through its attorneys, reached out to representatives of Marquis Energy and Putnam County on numerous occasions in an effort to bring the matter to closure and find a common ground.  However, both defendants indicated they were not interested in reaching an agreement.

Instead, the defendants engaged in various litigation strategies that repeatedly delayed the case and significantly increased the College’s legal bills.  As I said, at every level and on every motion, the College has prevailed.  Nevertheless, after four years, the College never got its say in court.  We clearly would have preferred to have a judge rule on the merits of our case, but we could not afford it.

The Board has discussed, at length, in closed session the costs attendant to this litigation.  When it became apparent that the dispute could drag on for several more years with no compromise or judicial decision in sight, the Board made the business decision to drop the suit and focus on what this College does best – teaching and learning.

With regard to Mr. Limberger’s comments, I believe that I addressed many of them already. However, there is no evidence that the College’s actions were counterproductive to economic development or that it cannot live within its means.

Our new Peter Miller Community Technology Center, filled with cutting-edge technology and equipment, sends a powerful message to the business community that we are committed to workforce development.  We built the Center by combining the most important features from two planned building projects into one and saved the district $10 million in the process.

All of our career and technical program faculty work collaboratively with program advisory committees.

Our partnerships with the building trade representatives are phenomenal and our apprenticeship agreement with the IBEW is a model for the State.

Our Truck Driver Training program has an exceptional record of success and job placement.

IVCC was recently named one of the top community colleges by CNNMoney.

IVCC has operated with a balanced operating budget in every year since at least 2009 when I joined the Board.  Any deficits were planned to spend down fund balances and this is more than most school boards or educational institutions can say.

After successfully raising $2.1 million for the Capital Campaign, we have begun a new initiative to build an endowment so that we could award more than 300 scholarships per year – one of our most recent donations was $25,000 from the Illinois Manufacturing Association. 

The College has aggressively and successfully pursued grants to achieve many of our goals.

In addition, the College is a major economic force in the area by employing over 450 local residents.

In short, IVCC has a great deal to be proud of.  Each of us on the Board is an unpaid community volunteer.  We must act in the best interests of the College for our students and the over 154,000 residents of our district spread over eight counties.

Although the lawsuit was not ultimately resolved in the College’s favor (in fact it was not resolved in anyone’s favor as none of the substantive issues were ever decided), there is no evidence that the Board, the College’s administration, or our attorney did anything wrong by attempting to protect the College’s tax base in the face of declining revenues.

Thank you.

CLOSED SESSION

It was moved by Ms. Bonucci and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to convene a closed session at 7:04 p.m. to discuss 1) the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel of the public body; and 2) litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent.  Motion passed by voice vote with Mr. Mallery voting “naye.”

On a motion by Dr. Driscoll and seconded by Mr. Burnette, the regular meeting resumed at 8:02 p.m.  Motion passed by voice vote.

STATEMENT BY MR. MALLERY

Although many people have left, I appreciate your concerns and willingness to appear tonight.  You have asked for accountability and action.  On the accountability side I will emphatically state that as the most tenured board member here tonight, I am the one that opened this issue first and brought it to light.  The first action though is a positive action where the College had acted never before and that it was to be a participant in the Enterprise Zone.  The act began with open dialogue to change our College to be open to economic incentives called an Enterprise Zone and as an incentive it was to bring new commitments to our struggling economy.  Those developments which were already committed could not be included.  The unfortunate part of this issue is the only business that will ever benefit from our short involvement in the Enterprise Zone is the one which already committed and had begun construction.  All new companies and those wishing to expand such as Mennie’s will not be offered the incentive or enticement.  The second part of accountability was acting to the question of abatement.  The Board’s job is to ensure that taxpayers are treated fairly.  One cannot evade taxes while others pay.  I will make no apology and stand steadfast that the developments which began before our resolution was passed deserve no abatement.  That is not the case.  As such, I and every Board member for the last five years have directed at one time or another, the administration to continue this suit.  I assure you that it was not whimsical and was not without continuous data and tough debate.  I assure you that each person thoroughly evaluated the information provided.  Once the data showed a net loss, we all agreed to discontinue the course of action.  Does that rational decision make us wrong?  You have asked for action. I want to share with you first timers here that I normally oppose the pay raise for our president for various reasons.  Last week I emphatically supported his compensation.  Why?  Because this man before you has done what the Board has asked of him on this issue and has unfortunately taken the brunt of why we are here.  Do I agree with all aspects of his management?  No.  But on this issue he has done what we have asked of him.  Hold us accountable if you must.  Others have been accused of wrong doing.  Since they are employees and report to the president, they deserve deliberation in closed session and due process.  I ask for your respect of the process.  Thank you again for expressing your concerns here tonight.

STATEMENT BY MS. BONUCCI

Thanks to everyone for being here tonight and I am sorry to see that so many have left.  As tough as it is to hear what you have to say, it is important to listen to all of your concerns.  The events of the last few years has been highly stressful for all involved and no one is more disappointed in the outcome than me along with the rest of the Board.  I apologize for my personal actions, however well intended they were, that resulted in a loss of confidence from the community.  I will personally work hard with this Board to repair and rebuild those relationships.  I believe this Board has IVCC’s best interest at heart.  Thank you.

CONSENT AGENDA

It was moved by Mr. Solon and seconded by Dr. Huffman to approve the consent agenda, as presented.  Motion passed by voice vote. 

The following items were approved in the consent agenda:

Approval of Minutes – June 11, 2015 Board Meeting; June 11, 2015 Closed Session Minutes Committee Meeting; and June 16, 2015 Audit/Finance Committee Meeting

Approval of Bills - $965,261.79

Education Fund - $745,832.47; Operations & Maintenance Fund - $63,614.86; Operations & Maintenance (Restricted Fund) - $217.92; Auxiliary Fund - $33,429.03; Restricted Fund - $24,810.37; Audit Fund - $2,525.00; and Liability, Protection and Settlement Fund - $94,832.14

Treasurer’s Report

Personnel

Approved the stipends for the pay periods ending May 30, 2015; June 6, 2015; and June 13, 2015

Purchase Requests

Approved to expend $84,612 for annual radio advertising, billboard contracts, and television advertising for fiscal year 2016 from NRG Media; LaSalle County Broadcasting Corp.; Studstill Media; WZOE, Inc.; and Comcast Spotlight.

Purchased the following through buying consortiums:  Janitorial supplies from Interline Brands, Inc., d/b/a/ AmSan, Peoria, Illinois, at an estimated annual cost of $54,000 through the Illinois Public Higher Education Cooperative (IPHEC) and elevator maintenance services from ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corporation, Peoria, Illinois, through National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA) at an annual cost of $22,921.44.

Approved to expend an estimated $55,000 for fuel for the Truck Driving Training Program using WEX Inc. fuel cards.

Daikin Applied Americas, Inc. Chiller Maintenance

Approved to extend the existing contract with Daikin Applied Americas Inc. for one (1) additional year at a cost of $46,321.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corcoran reported employee recognition has always been a priority at IVCC and that’s why he encouraged everyone to stop by the area near the stairwell just west of the main entrance to the Peter Miller Community Technology Center and see how the College is recognizing three employees on an annual basis: winners of the Stephen Charry Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence, the Connie Skerston Memorial Award for Support Staff Distinguished Service, and the Outstanding Part-time Faculty Award.  Dr. Rebecca Donna, Lorri Foockle and Dan Serafini respectfully are the first three to be recognized.  Dr. Corcoran also recognized Glenna Jones and Paula Hallock for the fine job they do of being such strong advocates for employee recognition.  As a reminder, Dr. Corcoran noted the LPN pinning ceremony will be held on Tuesday, July 21 at 5 p.m. in the Cultural Centre. There are 17 graduates in this year’s class. The College would love to have as many board members as possible for the event so he asked the board members to please advise Jeanne or himself of their plans which would be much appreciated. The IVCC Foundation golf outing held on June 17 was a success thanks to Janice Corrigan, Donna Swiskoski Carey Burns, David Dodge and Fran Brolley. Approximately 40 golfers participated, including Trustees Jane Goetz, Laurie Bonucci, Everett Solon and board attorney, Walt Zukowski. The event netted over $6,000.  Sue Isermann and Jamie Gahm recently brought to Dr. Corcoran’s attention that the Truck Driver Training program started class number 300 on June 22, 2015 having served the community for over 15 years. IVCC’s TDT program is a perfect example of when somebody says the role of the community college is to respond to the needs of the community it serves.  Dr. Corcoran congratulated Bruce Hartman, program coordinator extraordinaire, on a job well done. And finally a word of thanks to (1) Trustee David Mallery for the role he played as a key member of the Board’s Facilities Committee in positioning the college favorably for receiving a $113,000 grant for implementing energy efficiencies in the Community Technology Center, and (2) Cheryl Roelfsema for keeping Phase 3 of our major construction project on track with a December end date by working out an agreement with the Capital Development Board, despite the fact that a state budget for FY2016 is not yet in place. 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Dr.  Huffman noted the Audit/Finance Committee met on Tuesday, June 16 and the minutes from that meeting are included in the board book.  Eventually everything the Committee discussed will be brought to the Board.  He reported the Workers’ Compensation Experience Rating for IVCC went down dramatically and commended employees, Human Resources, and the insurance carrier in helping the College to manage the claims. 

Mr. Mallery reported the house passed legislation to restrict severance packages for community college presidents.  It will now go to the Governor’s desk for his signature.  ICCTA was opposed to this legislation and thought it should be controlled by the local board of each college.

Dr. Huffman questioned whether IVCC should continue to be a member of the ICCTA with the apparent financial misdealing at the College of DuPage and the report on alleged mismanagement at South Suburban.   He believes ICCTA should take a stand on this.  The ICCTA organization has boiled down to a social gathering place.  Dr. Huffman questions going forward.  Mr. Mallery asked Dr. Huffman to help him draft a letter to the ICCTA that they should question material issues and if it is wrong, they should stand up and oppose legislation. 

FY2016 TENTATIVE BUDGET

It was moved by Dr. Huffman and seconded by Mr. Solon to adopt the Resolution approving the FY2016 Tentative Budget, as presented and authorize publication of the Notice of Public Hearing.  Motion passed by voice vote.

STAFF APPOINTMENT – QUINTIN M. OVEROCKER, DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS, RECORDS, AND TRANSFER SERVICES

It was moved by Mr. Burnette and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to approve the appointment of Quintin M. Overocker as the Director of Admissions, Records, and Transfer Services with an annualized salary of $60,500.  Mr. Overocker is a native of Ancona, Illinois and this position brings him back home.  His last position was the associate registrar at Illinois Wesleyan University. Mr. Grzybowski believes Mr. Overocker will be a wonderful fit at the College.  Motion passed by voice vote.

FACULTY APPOINTMENT – DANIEL J. SERAFINI, MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTOR

It was moved by Mr. Mallery and seconded by Ms. Goetz to approve the appointment of Daniel J. Serafini as Mathematics Instructor assigned to the Division of English, Math and Education, with placement on the salary schedule at Step C-12 - $58,931. Mr. Serafini has been a part-time mathematics instructor at IVCC for the past five years. Motion passed by voice vote.

REDUCTION IN FORCE – JANICE STUDER, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, FINANCIAL AID

It was moved by Mr. Solon and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to approve with regret, the termination of the employment of Janice Studer, Administrative Assistant in the Financial Aid department due to changing needs of the College, effective August 31, 2015.  This reduction in force is not associated with her performance.  Motion passed by voice vote.

PROPOSAL RESULTS – HEALTH INSURANCE CONSULTANT

It was moved by Ms. Goetz and seconded by Mr. Mallery to accept the proposal of Northwest Comprehensive, Inc., in the amount of $8,000, to assist in analyzing health insurance options and the bidding process.  It was noted there was a wide range in proposed fees and the administration specifically raised these concerns.  Everyone on the selection committee felt strongly that Northwest Comprehensive was the right proposal.  Motion passed by voice vote.

PROPOSAL RESULTS – CLASSROOM CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

It was moved by Dr. Huffman and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to accept the initial implementation proposal from Utelogy Corporation, Santa Ana, California, in the amount of $40,640.  Motion passed by voice vote.

STUDENT ATHLETIC AND CATASTROPHIC STUDENT ATHLETIC INSURANCE RENEWALS

It was moved by Ms. Bonucci and seconded by Mr. Solon to accept the recommendation of the insurance consultant to accept the proposal from Guarantee Trust Life for the student insurance coverage with 1^st Agency at $39,400.  Motion passed by voice vote.

LASALLE TIF – INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT EXTENSION

It was moved by Mr. Solon and seconded by Ms. Goetz to approve support of the 12-year extension of LaSalle TIF District I and authorize the administration to send a letter of support for securing approval in the State Legislature.  Motion passed by voice vote.

REQUEST FOR BOARD APPROVAL ON TRANSFER OF FUNDS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS

It was moved by Ms. Goetz and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to transfer $663,052 from the Auxiliary Enterprise Fund to the Education Fund for Information Technology Infrastructure Improvements made during FY2015.  Motion passed by voice vote.

SEMI-ANNUAL REVIEW OF CLOSED SESSION MINUTES

It was moved by Ms. Goetz and seconded by Mr. Solon to approve the release of closed session minutes of the November 19, 2013 (Semi-annual Review of Closed Session Minutes); June 9, 2014 (Semi-annual Review of Closed Session Minutes); June 12, 2014 (Student Discipline); September 11, 2014 (Letter of Understanding); November 13, 2014 (Semi-annual Review of Closed Session Minutes) meetings.   Motion passed by voice vote.