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Kane County

KC Human Services Committee

Meeting Minutes

SURGES, Linder, Allan, Garcia, Gripe, Lewis, Tarver, ex-officios Roth (County Vice Chair) &

Pierog (County Chair)

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

9:00 AM

County Board Room

Call To Order

Chairman Surges called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM.

Roll Call

Board Member Clifford Surges

Board Member Michael Linder

Board Member Deborah Allan

Board Member Sonia Garcia

Board Member Jon Gripe

PRESENT

Board Member Anita Lewis

Ex-Officio County Board Vice Chair Bill Roth

Board Member Bill Tarver

REMOTE

ABSENT

Ex-Officio County Board Chair Corinne M. Pierog

Also present: Co. Bd. Members Juby, Kious*, Molina*, Penesis*; HRM Exec. Dir.

Lobrillo & staff Davis, Larson; ITD/BLD Exec. Dir. Fahnestock* & staff Lasky*, Peters;

KCHD Exec. Dir. Isaacson*; KCAC Admin. Youngsteadt*; Spec. ASA Shepro; and

members of the press and public including Alliant Representatives Dane Mall, Dan

Mackey.

Remote Attendance Requests

Chairman Surges announced the remote attendance requests for today's meeting. He

asked the Committee if there were any objections to Committee Member Tarver

attending today's meeting remotely. There were no objections.

Approval of Minutes: September 10, 2025

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Jon Gripe

Public Comment

None.

Monthly Financial Reports

Monthly Finance Reports

Chairman Surges stated the monthly financial reports were on file. No additional

report was made.

Department of Human Resource Management

Health Insurance

Chairman Surges inquired if there was anything out of tolerance within the

following reports. In regards to the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) invoice, HRM

Exec. Dir. Lobrillo stated that it was larger than normal. She explained that the

$1.9M invoice will now be the new normal due to settled contracts with providers

and inflation. Lobrillo addressed questions and comments from the Committee.

Much discussion ensued. (Committee Member Tarver arrived remotely at 9:04

a.m.)

HRM Asst. Dir. Davis spoke on Open Enrollment. She reminded every employee

throughout the County to sign into eSuite to select their individual/dependent

benefits, if not, they will not have benefits on January 1, 2026. She stated that

reminders have been sent to all department heads and employees. Lobrillo and

Davis addressed questions and comments from the Committee. Discussion

ensued.

Risk Management

Chairman Surges asked Risk Manager Larson, if there have been any patterns

that the County should be working on. Risk Manager Larson stated that there

are no arching patterns. He explained that there have been few issues that have

been addressed on an individual basis. Discussion ensued.

Staffing

None.

Compliance

Monthly Training Report

None.

Old Business

None.

10.

New Business

Liability Insurance Renewal with Alliant

Chairman Surges spoke on the County's former Account Executive, Rich Ryan,

who helped the County through challenging times. He introduced Alliant

Representatives, Dane Mall and Dan Mackey.

Alliant Account Executive, Dane Mall, introduced himself and Senior Vice

President, Dan Mackey. He explained that Alliant is the largest public entity

practice in Illinois. He stated that Alliant has had the benefit to get familiar with

the County and it's exposures. He explained that Alliant works with a number of

the collar counties. Therefore, they are familiar with the County's insurance

program and the options available. Mall stated that there are a lot of great things

happening in Kane County, as it pertains to Risk Management. He explained

that the objective for today's meeting is to provide answers to any questions and

provide an update on the insurance renewal process and a snapshot of the

insurance market.

Surges provided a brief history on the County's self-insured insurance program.

He explained that the County had to build their own model to better understand

as an organization how to manage the program more efficiently and effectively.

He hopes with the County's changes, such as acquiring a Risk Management

Manager, that they can better themselves moving forward with input from Alliant.

Surges spoke on the County's weaknesses and challenges, such as the total

liability limits and what is appropriate for a County of this size. He stated that if

Alliant is a true municipal guide, one of the challenges the County would have

them look into how to come up with a computation to rely upon. The second

challenge Alliant would be asked to advise the County on would be regarding

the cyber insurance marketplace. Surges requested Alliant work on these two

challenges and report back to the Committee for potential changes to the policy.

Mall explained that those in the room who are providing the risk tolerance and

who determine the appetite for risk is for the County. He stated that the appetite

is determined by the amount that is decided upon for a retainer, or deductible,

and the County's limits. He explained that limits have a multitude of things that

will influence them, such as the amount of self-insurance, and having a healthy

internal service fund. He noted that one of the benefits of utilizing Alliant is that

they have the opportunity to look into other Chicagoland counties' limits. He

stated that the County is consistent with other organizations. Additionally, Mall

spoke on the insurance market and the cost it would bear. He shared that the

Causality/Liability Insurance marketplace is challenging for public entities, due to

a lack of carriers that do not want to take the risk of unknown payout amounts.

He explained that Alliant will be able to make those limits available and

determine the price of it. He spoke on the type of cases that could bring large

settlement amounts to the County. Mall and Alliant Senior Vice President Dan

Mackey addressed questions and comments from the Committee. Discussion

ensued.

Authorizing EyeMed Vision Care as Kane County’s Vision Insurance Plan

Provider for 2026

HRM Exec. Dir. Lobrillo introduced this resolution. She explained that EyeMed is

the same provider that the County has been utilizing for vision insurance. She

stated that there has been a slight increase to the cost: $0.34 for individual plans

and $0.93 for family plans.

KC Finance and Budget Committee

RESULT:

MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE

KC Finance and Budget Committee

Jon Gripe

TO:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

Sonia Garcia

Clifford Surges, Michael Linder, Sonia Garcia, Jon Gripe, Anita

Lewis, and Bill Tarver

AYE:

Deborah Allan, and Corinne M. Pierog

ABSENT:

Internships at Kane County

(Committee Member Allan arrived in-person at 9:29 a.m.).

Chairman Surges explained that the Human Services Committee was

challenged with looking into internships for the County. He stated that he is a

believer in mentoring internships. He explained that when this topic was brought

to the Committee's attention, there was a notion that this was a new program.

However, these types of programs exist throughout the County. Surges stated

that the County would not need to recreate the wheel, but will need to follow

what is already in place. He explained that based on the actions at yesterday's

County Board meeting, this conversation has been tabled for a later date.

Revising the Personnel Policy Handbook Sections Regarding Extended Illness

Leave

HRM Exec. Dir. Lobrillo introduced this resolution. She explained that the

Extended Illness Policy was discussed at last month's Human Services

Committee meeting. She sought out feedback from all department heads who

were all pleased. With the positive feedback, she moved forward with revising

the Personnel Policy Handbook sections regarding Extended Illness Leave.

Lobrillo explained that one of the changes was an increase to the number of

days that an employee could use for a family member from three days to six

days. At the recommendation of the Kane County State's Attorney's Office

(SAO), she stated that the section regarding employee Sick Leave, that at least

half of this time be available for sick family. Additionally, a Parental Leave has

been included. This will allow a mother and/or father to take a non-medical leave

associated with the birth or placement of a child. Lobrillo addressed questions

and comments from the Committee. Discussion ensued.

KC Executive Committee

RESULT:

MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE

KC Executive Committee

Jon Gripe

TO:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

Michael Linder

Clifford Surges, Michael Linder, Deborah Allan, Sonia Garcia,

Jon Gripe, Anita Lewis, and Bill Tarver

AYE:

Corinne M. Pierog

ABSENT:

Department Head Evaluations

Chairman Surges explained that there has been a slight gap in how department

heads are managed, such as annual evaluations. He stated that it is unclear

within the County's Code who evaluates each department head position. He

explained that this Committee has continually tried to change or revise certain

processes or procedures to better the County. He stated that the reason the

Committee is looking into department head evaluations is to figure out who

should be providing them; the standing committee in which the department head

reports to, or the County Board Chairman. He noted that the County Code does

not specify who manages County department heads. Surges stated that the

Committee will have to make a decision on which of the following three

resolutions to move forward.

Committee Member Lewis requested that the discussion points that were

included in the agenda packet be reviewed. She mentioned that a hybrid

resolution was added to the agenda that states the Committee Chairman and

the Chairman of the Board would perform the evaluations. She added that once

the decision is made on who will be evaluating department heads, that

parameters will need to be set on how this will be implemented.

HRM Exec. Dir. Lobrillo introduced the discussion points. She stated that the

discussion points would help make the decision on who would conduct the

evaluations and the implementation process. She explained that the

implementation of these evaluations would take place in the first quarter of 2026.

Lobrillo stated that staff is seeking direction for the Committee to put forth an

ordinance regarding this change in the rules of order. She noted that the

ordinance would need two readings at the County Board level. Due to the

second reading, it will allow an opportunity for the Board to refine the evaluation

process. One item within the process would be the timing of the evaluations,

such as the employee's work anniversary or once a year. Lobrillo stated that

some of the discussion points will need to be addressed, in order for them to be

included within any future ordinance. Lobrillo addressed questions and

comments from the Committee. Discussion ensued.

Surges stated that the following three ordinances do not provide the ability to

hire, terminate, or set salaries. Lobrillo stated that the ordinances pertain to

performance evaluations. Surges stated that the evaluation's purpose is to

evaluate the department heads' performance at reaching the set committee

goals and evaluating how the department heads are succeeding or not

succeeding. Much discussion ensued regarding the following resolutions as to

on which one to move forward for County Board reconsideration.

Amending Section 2-48 of the Kane County Code to Provide for Management of

Department Heads by Committees

Committee Member Allan stated that the County Board Chairman is elected by

the 500K County citizens. She explained that the County Board's structure

entails the Chairman to be notified when a catastrophe occurs. However, since

the County Board has been strengthening the committee structure, these

emergent phone calls to the chairman is occurring less. She believes the County

should utilize the chairman within these evaluations because this person is the

one who deals with the day to day operations of the County. She voiced her

opposition of hiring a County Administrator. She believes that it takes all County

Board members to take responsibility for their constituents who elected them to

make the best decisions for everyone throughout the County. She stated that if

the standing committees gets more involved with their department heads, the

County will become stronger. Additionally, she explained that having the voice of

the County Board Chairman would strengthen the evaluation process.

Discussion ensued.

KC Executive Committee

RESULT:

TO:

MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE

KC Executive Committee

Jon Gripe

MOVER:

Michael Linder

SECONDER:

Clifford Surges, Michael Linder, Deborah Allan, Sonia Garcia,

Jon Gripe, Anita Lewis, and Bill Tarver

AYE:

Corinne M. Pierog

ABSENT:

Amending Section 2-51 of the Kane County Code to Provide for Management of

Department Heads by County Board Chairman

Due to the previous vote, the Committee decided to table this ordinance due to it

being an alternative to agenda item 10F.

RESULT:

TABLED