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Knox County Nursing Home administrator unemployed

The Register-Mail - 7/26/2018

July 26--GALESBURG -- The Knox County Board on Wednesday approved a separation and severance agreement for the administrator of the Knox County Nursing Home.

The 14 board members present at the meeting voted 9-5 to approve a separation and severance agreement for Rachel Secrist. Board member Bob Bondi, R-District 2, said Secrist would remain in her position for "probably just one more day" before starting 60 days of severance time, and that the county's search for a new administrator would begin "immediately." Until then, Donna Motz, director of nursing for the nursing home, will handle the duties of the administrator position.

The agreement comes five months after the county discovered that the nursing home had $1.2 million in outstanding bills from insurance claims for patients dating back to 2013. The $1.2 million includes claims for Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance companies and Medicaid-Medicare Alignment Initiative insurance companies.

Board President Pam Davidson, D-District 3, would not comment on whether Secrist was fired or resigned, or what her severance benefits will be. Knox County Clerk Scott Erickson said Tuesday the agreement with Secrist had not been finalized, and Wednesday after the board meeting he said the agreement is subject to Freedom of Information Act request.

Board members who cast a "nay" vote included Bondi; Lyle Johnson, D-District 1; David Erickson, R-District 4; Brian Friedrich, R-District 5; and Dick Conklin, R-District 1. Board member Todd Shreeves, D-District 5, was absent.

Several board members gave their opinions on the agreement prior to the vote. Bondi said that in his experience sitting on nursing home boards, he saw other nursing home employees have had trouble filing Medicaid reimbursements with the state given the complexity of the system. Board members David Erickson, R-District 4, and Brian Friedrich, R-District 5, objected to the agreement because the county's training for Secrist on how to properly file insurance claims had not been completed.

Board member Cheryl Nache, D-District 1, said if the county did not approve the agreement it would set a precedent for other boards in the future.

"When we see something wrong, we're here to fix it," Nache said.

Bondi said the county is considering changing the infrastructure for how the nursing home handles insurance claims.

"We might have a separate board like we have out at the (Knox County) Health Department, a group of professionals that would help us administrate that a little better," Bondi said.

The County Board also voted on matters regarding two renewable energy projects during its meeting. The first was two conditional use permits for temporary meteorological towers for a 300-megawatt wind farm project that Orion Renewable Energy would like to bring to the county. Board members approved the conditional use permits 10-4, with Erickson, Friedrich, Conklin and Rick Sandoval, R-District 5, voting no.

The two meteorological towers, each standing at 196.85 feet tall, will allow Orion to collect localized data on the county's wind resource for the project. Erickson questioned whether the county should grant temporary conditional use permits for the towers if the towers could be on the land for up to seven years.

Johnny Kinder, land consultant for Orion, estimated during the County Board'sAssessor and Zoning Committee in July that the towers would be installed in August and remain in place for four years at least. Michael Cressner, project development manager for Orion, said during the meeting that the seven-year timeline is "not unusual for a wind farm" of the size of the proposed Knox County project.

All 14 board members also approved a letter of intent for a potential solar farm project at the Knox County Landfill. San Diego-based TerraNavigator is considering bringing a solar panel project to either one or both closed cells at the landfill, 996 Knox Road 2150N, Oneida.

The company will conduct a feasibility analysis to see if the landfill could support a solar project. Ken Springer, president of the Knox County Area Partnership for Economic Development, said the number of panels, the cost, construction timeline and job figures for the project would be determined by the study.

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