public meeting -
03/11/2015
Tri-County LTR Public Meeting Minutes
March 11, 2015
The public meeting of Tri-County Long Term Recovery was called to order at 3 p.m. by Vice Chairman Jennifer M. Orban. In attendance were Darius Alemzadeh, Terry Bibo, April Crotts, Shelley Epstein, Jim Fassino, Kevin Gramm, Jennifer Orban, Lu Ori, Liz Pollack, John Rothfusz, Amber Wells, Walter Wilkins.
January minutes: Approved. There was no public meeting in February.
Treasurer: Gramm said LTR had a balance of $354,080.76, plus a checking account balance of $10,075.87. He said $222,748.31 has been granted. (As of March 2, he later updated, $241,000 had been granted through LTR, with an additional $39,000 pledged at the March 4 Funder's Forum. The remaining balance will be roughly $296,000.)
Spirit/emotional: Trish O'Neal and Corey Campbell were unavailable. Their committee meeting was delayed by bad weather, but Orban said they have been working on œNo Disaster Left Behind materials with United Way. Walter Wilkins later joined the meeting, saying that some people want to pretend there isn't a problem. One goal is helping them to figure out they're not at fault or failures. In that light, he said, the œnumber of actual victims is far greater than what we're aware of.
Communications: Epstein mentioned an uptick in calls along with stories about tree planting in local newspapers. Stories are anticipated for InterBusiness Issues and Healthy Cells magazine. Website myltr.org is up and offering current information. Facebook is moving along, but could always use more friends and content. Orban said communication overall is flowing well.
Donations: Mark Roberts was unable to attend at the last minute.
Volunteer Management: Davidson and Turnbull were unavailable. The volunteer hotline plans to go live again beginning March 16 in anticipation of upcoming tree planting events. Disaster Case Management: Alemzadeh said there are 147 open cases and 871 closed cases. All cases are assigned; more are expected to be closed after money from the March 4 Funder's Forum is sent out. He said two more cases came in during the last week in February; more are expected as the weather improves. Pollack said there were more than two new cases after the story about Washington Illinois Area Foundation funding.
Pets: Yanko was not present. She sent word via Bibo that the Illinois Department of Agriculture seems willing to work on a pet trailer for disasters, although momentum has slowed with the change of administrations in Springfield. She will be meeting with some pet groups on March 20 to let them know what is happening.
Construction Management: Ori asked where liability falls for labor accidents. He said usually it is through an umbrella insurance policy carried by one of the volunteer groups. Fassino said the insurance is not through LTR, but through the churches; he will connect on that. Pollack said she has talked with the group Hope is on Its Way, which used to be Sheds of Hope; they may come in June. Rothfusz said to ask what their insurance is. Alemzadeh said the Red Cross carries insurance for volunteers, but not for coordination.
Funder's Forum: Fassino said he has been visiting with funders to get feedback. Most think things are going well; some are getting low on funds. He said cutting the checks has become cumbersome for Peoria Friendship House, which has been providing this service for free. The board has asked the director if this is the best use of their resources. Since this will continue to be burdensome, particularly in the complex soil remediation cases, the executive committee would like to reimburse Friendship House for some costs.
He added he has had three calls about LTR service in 60 days. He would like to get a second review internally and welcomes feedback.
Ori asked if there was a mechanism to trade credits; Fassino said he wasn't sure trade credits would help.
Pollack said she anticipates the same level of need for funders in April as in March; which was nearly 50 cases. She added that resolving soil cases may be difficult because landscapers are booked. Alemzadeh said he expects a light caseload by summer. Fassino asked if some cases would be reopened; Alemzadeh said some. Requirements for code updates have affected some clients. Pollack says clients with insurance discrepancies are told to take their concerns to their insurance agents rather than the adjustors, which seems to help.
Other business: Orban said the tree project appears to be going well. Fassino said he'd like to see LTR communicate lessons learned, particularly about how tenacity pays off when insurance is denied initially.
Open forum: Rothfusz said he was distressed to see the Red Cross overstepping its bounds. He has been told there is pressure to close cases in a process which has been œa dream to this point. He thinks the executive board should have been aware of this. He has worked with Lutheran Social Services and sees the process as being œsignificantly undercut.
Fassino asked Rothfusz if he would like to meet to discuss his concerns. Rothfusz said Fassino should speak with the staff because LTR was never meant to be a one organization structure. The multiple group concept is what has generated good will and this situation violates that understanding. Epstein asked if this happened recently; Rothfusz said it had become clear in the last several weeks and œI would suggest it is going to be important to our future.
Ori said the timetable on soil remediation needs to be considered. Planting mid-summer is a mistake unless the homeowner has sprinkling; this could push cases back to October/November.
Crotts said she wanted to reiterate what Rothfusz said. She thought the Red Cross was pushing in the beginning and œit would be a mistake if we went backward and handed this over to Red Cross. She also thought it was a mistake to call cases closed because there are œhundreds, if not thousands of illegal assessments. She said that is most important in lessons learned, and lawsuits will be filed soon on this issue. She said fencing is needed. There is also confusion about how much money people can get, an issue which should be addressed.
Community LTR meeting: 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, at the LTR Center.
The meeting adjourned at 3:49 p.m.