MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
MARCH 2, 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Inquiries and Reports from the Public....................................................................................... 1
County Engineer Greg Parker: Five-Year Road Construction Program....................................... 3
Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Director Elaine Sweet: Life Skills Contract Addendum for FY 2006 Club House Rates............................................................................................................................... 5
GIS Coordinator Rick Havel: Approval of Contracting Related to 2006 Color Orthophotography.. 7
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors................................................................. 9
Inquiries and Reports from fhe Public...................................................................................... 9
Executive Session: Status of Negotiations to Acquire RT’s and Ya-Ya’s Real Estate................ 10
Chairperson Lehman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:17 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Coralville City Council Member Henry Herwig made a special request to address the Board. Herwig began by quoting a widely read but unofficial publication. “Johnson County is putting the finishing touches on the FY 07 budget. This budget was certainly tighter and therefore more difficult than last year. I want to make an important point here. The budget in Johnson County need not be this difficult. Johnson County was shorted $2,232,772 in FY 06 due to the prevalence of TIFs. Over $1.6 million of that is due to Coralville alone. That is $2.2 million the County could have really used. The County will be shorted even more in FY 07. Granted not all TIFs are bad. When used judiciously, TIFs can be a great tool, but the overindulgence of Coralville into TIF money has real impacts on real people in Johnson County. Some examples: the Sheriff needs more patrol deputies, the current level of service is embarrassingly low. Unfortunately things are going to stay that way. If you think there should be more law enforcement in the County, talk to Coralville. A local human services provider requested over $1.5 million in FY 07. They are going to get the exact amount they got in FY 06. This has hurt Shelter House, the Crisis Center, the Free Medical Clinic, UAY, DVIP and others. If you think there should be more funding for human services in the County, talk to Coralville. Johnson County needs to build and maintain more separated trails; that we have so little is really a shame. If you think the County needs more trails, talk to Coralville. Johnson County Public Health requested new positions that cannot be funded. This has a direct impact on the health and welfare of all county residents. If you think the County needs to adequately fund public health, talk to Coralville.”
Herwig said that in the spirit of cooperation he thought that maybe Coralville could talk to the Board. First, he said that the Coralville Engineering Department has consulted their GPS and other technical services and have concluded that the City of Coralville is entirely contained in Johnson County, which he said, means it is not “we” and “they”, it is “us”. He said that all Coralville citizens pay Johnson County taxes, and that Tax Increment Financing is legal in the state of Iowa to encourage development, and without development there are no taxes for anyone. Third, he noted that government is just a steward of tax dollars. He returned to the document, which read “the list goes on and on, yet people continue to pat Coralville on the back and ask how do you do it? The answer is simple: it is done at the expense of the County. A few individuals have noted this and complained, and they are dismissed as standing in the way of progress. Meanwhile most of the public fiddles while Rome burns. Unfortunately other cities are following suit. Swisher just proposed a new TIF district. It is interesting to now see Linn County complaining.” He went on to read from the document, which said that “perhaps now Johnson County will be taken seriously now that Linn County has a similar complaint. Coralville has plenty of capable leaders and we can find our way out of this mess. I sincerely hope that FY 07 will bring Coralville and Johnson County to the table to discuss ways in which we might be able to remedy our current situation.”
Herwig said he thought the Board should share more information. He said that he was in a meeting yesterday with two members of the Board to discuss cooperation and problem solving. He also met with two Board members several weeks ago about transferring funds and assisting on a project. Herwig said that he respectfully asks the Board how Coralville can work with Johnson County on one hand while being roasted on the other hand for not cooperating. He said that the citizens that they both represent deserve better than finger pointing.
Stutsman asked Herwig to clarify who wrote those comments, and said she didn’t think that it was fair that the assumption should be that the whole Board wrote those comments. Herwig replied that the document was taken from Supervisor Rod Sullivan’s “Sullivan’s Salvos”. He said that there had also been other incidents. Herwig said he thought that they had worked hard to deal with that problem, and it was unfortunate to work on those plans and then being shot as if they were not doing anything. He said he carries this as a message from the City of Coralville. R. Sullivan said that since this item isn’t on the agenda the Board can’t respond. County Attorney J. Patrick White said that the Board can respond to comments, but not deliberate.
R. Sullivan said he stands by what he wrote, and would be more than happy to talk about this in a meeting. Herwig said that it is important that information is shared among Board members because there have been a number of things done between Coralville and Johnson County, and it is important for R. Sullivan to understand that what he wrote is not accurate. R. Sullivan replied that the numbers don’t lie. He said that the $1.6 million is real and it has very real impacts. Herwig said it was not the numbers, it’s the implications and the motivation attached to it. R. Sullivan said he didn’t know what Coralville’s motivation was, he just knows that the results are not working for Johnson County. R. Sullivan said that he would love to have a scheduled meeting to talk about this issue, since he thinks it’s a serious problem. Herwig advised R. Sullivan to talk to his fellow Supervisors and get up to speed on everything else that’s been going on.
Lehman said that the Board had a work session on the Five-Year Road Construction Program a couple of weeks ago where they took into account some of the feedback from the public and members of the Board of Supervisors. He said that the intent was to talk about this again now, wait a couple of weeks for more input, and put it back on the formal to get the program to the State for approval. County Engineer Greg Parker agreed. He said that the draft report has not had any changes to it since the work session, in accordance with the recommendations from the Board. He said that the presentation that they gave is now on the County website.
Lehman said that the current Five-Year Road Plan which was passed last year had the cut-through connector. He said it was not included in the proposed Five-Year Construction Program. He asked if by approving the proposed plan without the connector, would the State automatically realize that, and wondered if they had to make clear to the State that the plan had changed. Parker said that when the plan is submitted, that project will be removed. He said they will be adding the lower Newport portion of the project which was not in last year’s Five-Year Road Program. The Department of Transportation then assigns and sets numbers for those projects.
Lehman said that several Board members received phone calls about 120th Street. He said there was a lot of concern about Interstate 380 into Shueyville. He said that they are waiting for a study to come back before they can take any action as far as design, and whose jurisdiction it is and so forth. Parker said that they have had lots of conversations regarding 120th Street, and this portion is from Curtis Bridge Road west to just past the bank, to Interstate 380. He said that they have asked JCCOG to put together a draft report with recommendations with how they feel that road should be designed. He said they should be receiving the final report by the end of the month. At that point they will have JCCOG and Secondary Roads staff meet with the City of Shueyville to discuss what the recommendations are and to find out how the City would like to proceed with the project. He noted that this is a static document that is approved on the day that it is approved, but is actually dynamic because projects can shift. He said they do currently have 120th from I-380 West to Highway 965 on the program, and depending on where the conversation goes with the City of Shueyville Council, they may want to postpone that section of roadway and do the whole section together. Parker went on to say that they are looking at a lot of different issues, including funding. As part of JCCOG’s report they are going to recommend Federal funding sources that Johnson County can apply for. He said it appears that there are some funds available for that project, which they will pursue. Parker explained that the unfortunate thing is that when federal funds are brought in, it’s often almost two years out before they can start building. He said he does understand the importance of the project, and that there has been some accidents out there. Lehman said there was also some concern that they have had to do considerable maintenance out there, and will probably have to do more. He said that they are spending money on maintenance and would like to see it turned into a reconstruction project in order to save those funds.
Parker said that since Johnson County has taken over 120th Street as part of the Code of Iowa language that was passed by the State legislature two years ago, Johnson County receives around $11,000 annually to maintain that section of roadway. He said it is still the City of Shueyville’s road, but Johnson County is responsible for maintaining it, which they will do if there are any potholes that need patching or striping activities. Neuzil asked if that is because of the threshold on residents. Parker said it is, and he doesn’t know what the population of Swisher is. He said that when the policy was put into place it was for cities that were less than 500. Neuzil said that he imagines that Shueyville has more than 500 people. Parker agreed that Shueyville is growing, and once they are at 700 population they are responsible for the roadways. Lehman added that either way the project may be eligible for Federal funds. Parker said he had a brief conversation with JCCOG who has suggested a couple of good funding sources which will possibly provide some favorable results. He added that when applying for Federal funds it is a competition against other governmental agencies for the same dollars. The Federal program is based on needs, and he said this would be a good project from a needs standpoint for the reimbursement of Federal funds.
Neuzil asked if there are specific designs yet for Prairie du Chien and Newport Road in years one, two and three. Parker replied that the final design should be available by the end of the month. Neuzil said there were a lot of residents who wanted to know what things have changed particularly on the Kempf-Gable corner and a few of the S-curves. Parker replied that his department has requested that the title search be completed for all the properties and as the plats are coming in, they will have them appraised for acquisition. He said they would be discussing acquisition activities with property owners within the next 60 days and through the summer. Harney added that his understanding was that the design on the curve would be 35 miles per hour. Parker agreed. Stutsman observed that there were no changes, and that none of the things that were discussed at the last meeting were incorporated into this, as far as the recommendations from Planning and Zoning, or Oakdale Boulevard. She said that she hoped they at least would start the process of investigating this. Parker said that they would He said that to put a project on the plan a preliminary design for the project must be completed, because a cost estimate is necessary. He said that this has not been done yet for Oakdale. He said that next year at this time if the Board would like to go in that direction, it could be a project.
Parker said that that out of this range they have the future projects list. One of the things that Planning and Zoning had recommended was that their prioritized projects should be added into this list. He said that what Secondary Roads needs is a recommendation from the Board how they would like the projects prioritized, and how they feel they would like them to be added into the Five Year Road Plan. He said that everyone realizes that these are projects that will be taking place near the end of the plan or beyond. Lehman said the Board has had discussion about how certain projects should be on the radar screen for the future even if they aren’t written into the Five Year Road Plan. He said the Board had talked about letting the public know that these projects would be under more consideration than others. He said he appreciated Parker’s comments about how it wasn’t possible to tell how these things would fit in dollar-wise or staff time until the staff addressed them and came up with an estimate. He said that Parker had mentioned that projects like Lake Manor, Sandy Beach and Scales Bend might be fairly extensive and may take a project year themselves. He said as they get closer the Board may have to prioritize the items. Harney said that he didn’t mind making the final decision, but he wants to see Secondary Roads and Planning and Zoning get together and justify why the projects are on the list. He said that he thinks the recommendation should come from the professionals in the field.
Stutsman added that during the last time they got together there was a question about 245th Street, and why that was still on the plan for redesign. She said that Harney was part of the decision making discussion when the Board decided to put that on the list. She said her understanding was that they had publicly said that the road was not safe, and that was why the Board had decided to go ahead with that intersection. White said that at least two members of Secondary Roads staff could testify that the County Attorney’s Office has been a bit upset that it has taken so long to get here. White said that there was a pretty clear record that said the intersection was dangerous. He said they negotiated with the developer who advanced some money which they have had for about five years now. The track record in getting to the improvement has not been what he would like it to be, but he said he thinks they are finally there. Lehman asked if the right-of-way has been purchased for 245th Street. Parker replied that it has, and that Secondary Roads is going out to bid for that this summer. The construction will be completed by fall.
Neuzil asked about when Parker plans to bring the 5 Year Construction Plan to the Board for a final vote. He said that he was not supportive of this plan as is. Stutsman asked Neuzil why he would not be supporting the 5 Year Construction Program. Neuzil replied that he believes that Newport Road shouldn’t be next year’s project. He said he thinks there are other roads within the North Corridor and within the Land Use Plan that have been identified as roads that have higher priority than Newport. He added that if Newport was delayed at least until the Board has had the opportunity to review the Land Use Plan, the Board might see that the road is not the highest of priorities. Stutsman said that he flipped from what he said before. Neuzil said he hadn’t. He said that the vote in December was on an amendment that would remove the cut through, which was all he supported. Lehman said that the other part of the vote was that it would be replaced by the Newport Road project. The Board agreed to place the 5 Year Construction Program on the March 23, 2006 formal agenda for approval.
Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Director Elaine Sweet said that she has one contract amendment this morning, which is a proposal for Life Skills Clubhouse. She said that Clubhouse is a new service that was implemented during the current fiscal year. The rate MH/DD negotiated and contracted for FY 06 was based on projected costs since it is a new service. After the initial six months of operation the actual costs for operating Clubhouse on a per unit level significantly exceeded the projected costs. The proposed amendment to attachment B of the contract reflects the actual cost of providing the service for established CRIS processes.
Sweet said that the Life Skills Clubhouse program fills a gap in Johnson County’s MH/DD services system which was identified in the 2003 needs assessment. Clubhouse provides socialization and recreational opportunities in the evenings and on weekends so that individuals don’t isolate themselves thereby preventing potential reentry into the hospital. Clubhouse is a cost-effective alternative to Supported Community Living and Respite Services, which MH/DD contracts with at higher cost. She recommended that the Board approve the proposed amendment which increases the half-day rate from $20.34 to $29.86 per unit. She said she thinks this should be monitored as well, since the program is in the early stages of implementation, and if they find out as time goes on that the rate is coming down because the units are increasing or the costs are leveling out, then they could reduce the rate at that point.
R. Sullivan observed that this is a mid-year adjustment, so the Board will still review the contract in six months or whenever it’s due. He said that if some of the cost is because it has been starting up, then if it’s a lower rate they will get it at that time. Sweet said that would be her recommendation. She said the cost is related more toward the number of units they projected rather than the costs themselves. She said that when they did the original projections they were pretty close on what the cost would be, but they haven’t had the utilization level that was anticipated during the first six months. R. Sullivan said he was assuming that the fact that Sweet wants the Board to consider this means that she thinks the program is working well. Sweet agreed. She added that as they move forward with Services Management Plan amendments and with budget amendments, this is a realistic service. She said it is a lower cost service that can fill in some of the gaps as they move forward with these other things.
Life Skills Director Gillian Fox said that is has been a very successful service. They see increased utilization in units each month that service has been provided. The feedback they are getting from the individuals who are using the service is that they are appreciative that they have a place to go in the evening and on weekends, and that it is helping them to maintain mental stability and is also helping them to rely less on emergent services such as on-call services or middle of the night hospitalizations. The other thing they are seeing is an increase in the development of natural supports for the people who are using the program. They are making friends together and on their own, and developing support systems which are difficult for a provider to help someone develop. She said that this program gives individuals the opportunity to choose relationships and other individuals with whom they want to interact.
Sweet said that this is the only program of this type in Johnson County and it doesn’t require a lot of paperwork. It focuses on recreation and socialization not on rehabilitation and skill building. She said it has been very good for the clients and for the MH/DD budget. Lehman asked if the services are offered at different locations. Gillian replied that it is in a downtown location. They also have programming that takes place in the community as well. The Board came to consensus to put it on the agenda for approval for next week.
GIS Coordinator Rick Havel said that Johnson County first collected countywide digital orthophotography in 2003. Since then it has become one of the most used layers in the County’s GIS. Having a countywide database of high quality digital imagery has provided many benefits to several departments throughout the County. It has been used to provide reports to the Board of Supervisors; Conservation has done several mapping applications with the data; parcel database development has increased by having this information; road centerline development occurred, and it is also served out to the public through GIS online. He said that with the high rate of development that Johnson County has seen in recent years, the 2003 photography has become outdated. He said the department feels that a new collection of photography is needed at this time. To the County’s advantage, the cost for collecting this data has decreased over the years, as is demonstrated by submitted proposals to a current RFP. On January 13, 2006 GIS sent a proposal out to eight vendors, four of whom submitted formal proposals for the project. The County is currently partnering with Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, and University of Iowa in this project as a whole. He said there is a lot of local coordination going on to do this at this time. As part of the project, the County will purchase countywide photography. The partners will be updating their plan-o-metric mapping; roads, center lines, edge of pavement, elevations, building outlines, etc. At this time they are looking at one particular company. Based on the pricing, they are at about half of the budget which GIS had allocated for this project.
Havel explained that to help with the project they contracted with Dan Corbin to provide professional consultation, in regards to developing the RFP and evaluating the companies who submitted proposals. He said that this cost, which is about $5,000, is being divided up between the five partners. On February 16, 2006, they met with Corbin and the partners to select a company to interview. As part of Corbin’s services he provided a qualification based selection evaluation, where he looked at the quality of the company and the quality of the proposals submitted. They selected the company Kucera, although they were not the lowest bid. It was felt by everyone involved that they would supply the best service. He said that he went through reference checks for Kucera and ASI. The responses received reinforced his decision to move forward with Kucera.
Havel said that one local reference came from Scott County and Muscatine County who used this company in 2005 and were very pleased with the products that were provided, and that the deadlines for delivery were met. Kucera then provided a presentation to the partners, who unanimously voted to pursue a contract with them. In addition to Kucera’s cost, it is also necessary to do ground control targeting prior to when the data is actually collected. He said that Corbin has provided a quote for this, which would set approximately 65 targets throughout the County to be used as quality control, and to be used by Kucera on 25 of those points to do orthorectification, to be used in the processing of the data. Corbin Inc. would remove the targets after the project is completed as well, in contrast to what other companies do, which is just leave them out there.
Havel indicated that there was a potential additional expense, which is additional consultation by Corbin in regards to providing a standard for spatial data accuracy on the data to ensure that it is meeting the quality and accuracy guidelines that have been set forth. He said that this is still an option, but he just wanted to mention it at this time. It is possible that this work could be done in-house.
Havel went on to say that last Friday the GIS Policy Committee met to discuss this project, and voted to move ahead and enter into a contract with Kucera and with Corbin. The total cost for this project for Kucera’s portion will be $96,170, and $8,206 for Corbin. The total is $104,376. He said that this is a third of what it cost to do this same project in 2003.
Harney observed that the prices quoted by the companies varied significantly, and asked whether the Kucera quote would cover everything that’s needed. Havel replied that it would, and that it will be in color this year rather than black and white. He said that in regards to the pricing, it is very common in orthophotography projects to see a lot of range. It’s unlike building construction projects where it’s pretty cut and dried in terms of what the costs are and how much percentage profit is usually calculated in. He said the issue is the nature of the company. Larger companies will usually bid higher because they have the capital to do that. Havel said that if they don’t win the bid it wouldn’t hurt them as much as it would the smaller companies.
Lehman asked about the targeting, and whether that was just the Johnson County share. Havel said at this point Johnson County was going to assume the cost because the number of targets within the cities are pretty low, about three or four, and that most of the targets are in the outlying areas. Stutsman said she gave a lot of credit to Havel for bringing everyone together on this expensive project. Havel replied that all the cities see the value in this project. He said that the cities were pleased with the price that was quoted, which is less than what they had budgeted for as well. He said at this point there is a high level of confidence in Kucera. He said that in regards to the parcel database, they are currently at a high rate of match between the parcel and the GIS data, at about 98%. The Board agreed to put this item on the formal agenda for approval on March 23, 2006.
Neuzil attended a Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee meeting, a Chamber of Commerce meeting, the League of Women Voters Legislative Forum, and has a listening post on March 3, 2006 at 7:30 a.m. at the Hy-Vee on First Avenue.
R. Sullivan attended a GIS Policy Committee meeting, a liaison meeting with Ambulance Director Steve Spenler, attended the City and County Conference Board meetings, a department head evaluation work session, and a JCCOG Urban Policy Board meeting. He also spoke to members of the Farm Bureau at their monthly meeting, and was one of the readers in the North Lucas Elementary Read-a-thon.
Stutsman attended the League Forum, the JCCOG sub-committee meeting, and the liaison meeting with Spenler. She also met with Reverend John McKinstry from First Christian Church to talk about homelessness, and with Hills Mayor Russ Bailey about the Hills Area Fringe Agreement. She announced that the Melrose Ridge project is going forward, and clarified that a contract signed last week should have read that the County would pay $30,000 and the State would pay $10,000.
Harney attended an ECIOG Executive Committee meeting, a Chamber of Commerce business meeting, the Chamber Ag meeting, a talk by John Edwards, the Coralville Chamber Committee meeting, the City and County Assessor Conference Boards meetings, the Farm Bureau meeting, and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee meeting.
Lehman attended the Chamber Ag meeting, a liaison meeting with County Engineer Greg Parker, the League of Women Voters Legislative Forum, and the Iowa Valley Resource Conservation Development meeting.
Perry Wendell said he lives in Johnson County and has to travel 120th Street every day. He said he has been worried about the shrub for four to five years. He said the surface is wallowed out in the tracks that the car tires run in, which then means the snow plow drivers can’t do their job and leaves ice and snow in those ruts which makes the road even more dangerous. The edges of the road are crumbling away. He said he was assured that this would be repaired, but now it’s not even on the Five Year Road Plan. He said that there have been head on collisions on that road, two cars have flipped over, and roads which cause a threat to personal safety ought to have a priority. He said he spoke with Parker and heard that they were looking at making it a three lane road from the Interstate to Shueyville. He said that in 16 years of driving that road, he has never seen a situation where traffic is backed up, and making it a three lane road is overkill.
Wendell said that last year they patched about one third of the bad spots. He said the road surface is crumbling and losing an inch or two inches of depth in some spots. He said that the outer third of the road’s surface is not safe. He said that if the population of Shueyville goes to 700 in the next couple of years and Johnson County isn’t responsible for maintaining it, he is worried that no one will ever repair it. He said he spoke with Harney in 2004 about this.
Lehman relied that Parker is still waiting for a report from JCCOG. He said that he thought there was consensus on the Board that they would help Shueyville get that project done. Harney said he had met with the Mayor of Shueyville who does want to repair it. Wendell said that Shueyville has been taking $18,000 a year from the State for road use repair and haven’t been putting it into that road.
Greg Pickett said the last time he was here to speak to the Board about the Five Year Road Plan it was about right-of-way funding. At that point in time the County Engineer made the remark that he believed that part of the $1.8 million on Newport Road was for right-of-way purchases. This morning Pickett received a message from Anderson-Bogert Consultants Representative Jeff Morrow, who stated that all of the $1.8 million for South Newport is allocated to construction, and that no right-of-way costs are included in that number. The County has allocated about $250,000 countywide for right-of-way acquisition for all projects scheduled for 2007. Right-of-way acquisition includes costs for appraisals, professional services and so forth, not just compensation or payment for easements and right-of-way. He said he wished the County Engineer would have stayed to listen to the public.
Recessed at 10:29 a.m.; reconvened at 10:44 a.m. with Lehman absent.
Motion by Stutsman, second by R. Sullivan, to enter into Executive Session at 10:44 a.m. to discuss purchase of RT’s and Ya-Ya’s Real Estate under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, “To discuss the purchase of particular real estate only where premature disclosure could be reasonably expected to increase the price the governmental body would have to pay for that property.” Roll call: aye: Harney, Stutsman, Neuzil, Sullivan; absent: Lehman.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Stutsman, to leave Executive Session at 11:14 a.m. Roll call: aye: Stutsman, Neuzil, Sullivan, Harney; absent: Lehman.
Adjourned at 11:14 a.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Casie Kadlec, Recording Secretary