Written by Jalen Maki
Tomahawk Leader Editor
MERRILL – In a special joint meeting this week, two Lincoln County committees will discuss a possible referendum related to the financial support of Pine Crest Nursing Home Merrill.
The Council’s Administrative and Legal (A&L) and Finance committees are scheduled to meet at the Lincoln County Service Center, 801 N. Sales St., Merrill, on Friday, Aug. 9 at 7:30 am. www.tinyurl.com/2edcsd9f.
The agenda includes discussions about Pine Crest funding, possible action on a resolution seeking to authorize a binding referendum and possible approval of the referendum question language.
The proposed resolution, authored by District 10 Supervisor and Board Chair Jesse Boyd and sponsored by District 12 Supervisor Julie DePasse, seeks to exceed the tax limits every year from 2025 to 2029. support Pine Crest’s operations, maintenance and debt services.
The amount by which the tax limits would be exceeded if the resolution were ultimately approved by the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors was not provided in the resolution and is expected to be discussed during Friday’s joint committee meeting.
The announcement comes about a month after Merrill Campus LLC and Senior Management Inc., the entities previously slated to purchase Pine Crest, terminated the Asset Purchase Agreement with Lincoln County due to a lawsuit filed by Donald J. Dunphy in May.
Under the agreement, buyers can terminate the agreement if Lincoln County or Pine Crest faces legal action that would “adversely affect the operations or financial condition” of Merrill’s agency or “prevent or restrict the commercial use” of business. Pine Crest.
In the lawsuit, Dunphy, who represents District 7 on the Lincoln County board and is a member of People for Pine Crest, a group that advocates against the sale of the Merrill facility, alleges that Lincoln County failed to follow the best practices. . on a Lincoln County resolution related to the sale of valuable property. By failing to follow these best practices, Dunphy said the county ended up agreeing to sell Pine Crest and the Health and Human Services district building for less than they needed.
Dunphy also alleged that, under the Lincoln County code, the county Forestry Committee has the authority to sell the property.
Dunphy added that “the lack of performance experienced by the nursing home in the years prior to 2023” was a “major consideration” in the county board’s decision to sell Pine Crest and said that “the increase in the rate of return of Medicaid-paid nursing homes has eliminated Pine Crest’s operating cost deficit beginning in the first quarter of 2023.”
In a written response filed in Lincoln County court in June, Lincoln County Corporation Counsel Karry Johnson acknowledged that Merrill’s lack of performance was one of several factors considered by the board. district to the decision to sell Pine Crest and rejected Dunphy’s claim that the facility was right. The shortfall in operating expenses for the first quarter of 2023 was offset by an increase in the Medicaid reimbursement rate.
Johnson also disputed Dunphy’s claim that the change in Medicaid reimbursement rates was ignored by the county board and said the board was not required to follow the best practices outlined in the decision cited by Dunphy. .
Dunphy’s allegation that the Forestry Committee’s power to control property was also denied by Johnson.
Dunphy said in an interview with Merrill Photo News that the lawsuit was “his vehicle preventing Pine Crest from being sold.”
“I was against the decision to sell Pine Crest from the beginning,” Dunphy said. “When I ran for the (Lincoln) County board, I told everyone I talked to that I would do everything in my power to reverse that decision. … My goal is to have the court declare the contract of sale void.”
According to court records, Dunphy’s case was dismissed on Monday, July 29.
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