The Belvidere Daily Republican Featured News

Rosecrance to celebrate new Belvidere location

Nov. 15, 2013

BELVIDERE – The community is invited to visit Rosecrance’s newly opened Belvidere office at 915 Alexandra Drive for a Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting and Open House starting at 4 p.m. Dec. 4. The event goes until 6 p.m.

Behavioral health services were moved to the new location in October from a smaller site in the community. The move allows Rosecrance to serve more clients and offer new services, including an intensive outpatient program for adults in treatment for substance use.

The office provides a range of services for individuals with mental health or substance use disorders, including mental health assessments, crisis intervention services, individual counseling, social skills groups and case management.

The Belvidere Chamber of Commerce has scheduled a ribbon cutting at the new location for 4 p.m. Staff will be available at the open house to provide information about Rosecrance programs, and refreshments will be served. Guests are asked to RSVP to Jo Lyttle at 815.387.5607 or jlyttle@rosecrance.org.

 

Resident encourages county officials to move more quickly on new building

Nov. 15, 2013

By Bob Balgemann

BELVIDERE - Boone County officials think they're moving along quite nicely toward construction of a new building for the animal control department.

Not so with resident Robert Christianson, who thinks the county should be further along at this point.

He and Paul Larson, chairman of the health and human services committee, agreed to disagree during the committee's Nov. 7 meeting on how much progress has been made so far.

While the meeting had moved past the public comments portion of the agenda, Larson recognized Christianson several times and allowed him to speak from the audience.

The first occasion came after the standing committee of the county board looked at available options for construction of a new building. One of them was lease/option that Christianson, who has a lengthy background in real estate, said should not be underestimated.

There was some discussion about whether the health department had inspected the existing animal control facility off Appleton Road. Had that been done an official inspection, committee member Marion Thornberry said the building would have had to be closed.

"I went out there last week and there were ants coming out of the fax machine," he said. "I asked the health department if they had gone out there and they said, 'no.' They're afraid to go out there and shut it down because they would be in more trouble."

Christianson spoke for a second time at that point, saying the animal control project "has been kicked around and nothing gets done. It's frustrating to me that this has happened."

Larson took exception to those comments, saying, "We have been pursuing it. We are making progress down that trail. But government does not move rapidly."

"This topic has been on the agenda for 20 years," Christianson countered. "There are some on the (county) board who don't think this is a priority."

Larson also took exception to that observation, saying the county board was behind the project.

It was his opinion that working through an architect or a lease/purchase arrangement should be pursued.

 

Committee supports consultant seeking higher jail per diem

Nov. 15, 2013

By Bob Balgemann

BELVIDERE - The Boone County Finance, Taxation and Salaries Committee has voted unanimously to recommend hiring a consultant to negotiate a new contract for housing federal prisoners in the county jail.

County board members are expected to consider the recommendation at their Nov. 20 meeting.

Joe Summerill, senior principal in The Summerill Group LLC, based in Washington, D.C., made a detailed presentation to the committee at its meeting Tuesday, Nov. 12. He said he was confident he could negotiate a new per diem of $79.12, up from the current $65, for each U.S. Marshals Service inmate lodged at the jail.

He formerly was the chief contracts attorney for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

In October there were 20 federal detainees among a total population of 85 in the Boone County jail. That number included 57 local inmates and eight from DeKalb County.

Summerill said there is a need in the region, within two hours of Chicago, for more beds to accommodate federal inmates. There only are three jails in this area that accept those prisoners - Boone, Ogle and McHenry - with the Ogle jail at capacity. Kankakee County, south of Chicago, also has federal inmates.

Boone County sheriff's Lt. John Hare, the jail commander, said the $65 per diem had been in effect since the county began housing federal detainees.

Boone has lower rate

That rate is lower than the $75 per diem charged by Ogle and the $85 charged by McHenry and Kankakee. Summerill said his company has contracted with McHenry County and expects its per diem to increase to $110.

He said he had taken a preliminary look at the Boone County Jail operation and came up with a new per diem of  $79.12.

With the U.S. Marshals Service looking for more beds, he said it was realistic to believe Boone County could increase its average daily population of federal inmates to 28. That would increase the annual revenue from the current $427,050 to $808,600, he said.

A three-year contract, which he said he wanted to secure, would bring in $2.426 million compared with the current $1.281 million.

Before the vote was taken committee member Cathy Ward looked to County Administrator Ken Terrinoni for his thoughts.

He said he was undecided coming into the meeting. But after hearing Summerill's presentation, he said, "I'd say 'do it.' If we don't generate additional revenue it's going to be a tough three-to-five years. To me, it's all about the revenue."

Questions from members of the committee, he said, satisfied his concerns.

Committee member Karl Johnson had a number of questions. He asked Hare if he could handle 28 federal inmates without having to hire additional corrections officers?

"Today, yes," Hare answered, adding it would depend solely on how many local inmates and those provided by DeKalb County were in the jail. "I don't think I want to turn away any DeKalb  prisoners," he said. With the number of detainees changing every day, he said, "I prefer to see it as fluid as possible."

Another five officers would be needed if the county opened up another 20 beds at the jail.

Part of the committee recommendation included paying $40,000 for Summerill's services, with $20,000 required up-front. The money would come out of the county's contingency fund.

"We do have the space" at the jail, committee Chairman Paul Larson said. "If we can utilize that it's a win-win for everyone."

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