MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
JANUARY 15, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Board of Supervisors: Johnson County Council of Governments/County Small Cities Meeting 1
Board of Supervisors: Johnson County Strategic Plan Update.............................................. 3
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:00 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
R. Sullivan said as a result of poor attendance at past Small Cities Joint Meetings, he had discussed combining this meeting with the Johnson County Council of Governments (JCCOG) Rural Policy Board Meeting. He said JCCOG Executive Director John Yapp is OK with having a joint meeting with the County adding five or six agenda items. R. Sullivan said that the only problem was that Yapp had already set the date and time of the meeting, and the Board needed to find out if the date and time were appropriate for a joint meeting and decide what agenda items they wanted to give Yapp.
Stutsman said that a better way to approach it might be to have it as an agenda item at the Small Cities Meeting to get feedback on a joint meeting with JCCOG or more frequent meetings with the Board. Only the mayors serve on the JCCOG Rural Policy Board and not the council people, and historically the Board has included all the council members.
R. Sullivan said he and Yapp had not discussed that and Yapp’s Rural Policy Board budget was small. Stutsman said that that might be even more reason to discuss it at the Small Cities Meeting, to see if they would rather meet more often and what kinds of things they’d like to see on the agenda.
Neuzil said he liked Stutsman’s suggestion of holding a regular meeting and then bringing up that the Board is interested in trying to create better dialogue between the counties and the cities. He said that they could do it as an agenda item and that maybe they could find ways in which the County government could go to a city as kind of a listening post, and have the city buy into the idea. Neuzil said otherwise they could go back to their liaison approach, and Supervisors would bring in the mayor or a city councilor to a Board meeting and ask for an update. He said trying to get the Board together with the small towns was not working because of the lack of interest. Stutsman said that they would have to do it regardless at least once a year.
Meyers asked if the Rural Policy Board meetings were well attended by the mayors. R. Sullivan said they were not. Stutsman said small towns needed to be involved, even if just for the exchange of information. R. Sullivan said that he was concerned about the County relationship to Shueyville, and that he would like to start some dialogue before things went down a bad path. Stutsman said that it might be better to approach Shueyville and ask them what their ideas were, rather than the Board saying what they were going to do because they thought it was in Shueyville’s best interests. R. Sullivan said he thought they could try to solicit that through correspondence, and he was concerned a meeting would be poorly attended. Neuzil suggested that a Supervisor could attend a city council meeting, read a letter from the Board, and ask if there was an opportunity to get together. Stutsman said that the Board could make suggestions. R. Sullivan said they could invite Yapp to attend also. Neuzil said it would be a possibility if Yapp was willing, but that the big issue was making it more than a two-minute agenda item. Either someone like Yapp should come in, or a letter should be brought in that was extensive, so that questions would be allowed to try and start a dialogue. He said that gesture would demonstrate that the Board was reaching out.
R. Sullivan said it is OK to talk about future ideas, but they also had to make decisions regarding the meeting that is scheduled for January 30, 2008. He said Yapp was willing to make it a joint meeting and invite everyone, but the Board had to decide what they wanted to do. Neuzil noted that January 30th was also the night of the Compensation Board Meeting. Stutsman said that she would need an alternate for the Rural Policy Board Meeting as she would be out of town. Meyers said he would be unable to attend.
R. Sullivan said that the approach would be to have a single item on the Rural Policy Board agenda and ask how the small cities felt about it. Neuzil said the Board should explain their ideas to Yapp or whoever else showed up at the committee meeting. Stutsman asked how many Board members should attend the Compensation Board Meeting. R. Sullivan said he would be at the JCCOG Rural Policy Board Meeting but he did not think there would be any votes. Stutsman asked if someone other than an elected official could be an alternate. R. Sullivan said Iowa City has sent City Attorney Eleanor Dilkes. R. Sullivan said the Joint Communication Center might be on the JCCOG agenda. Harney said he would attend the JCCOG meeting and Neuzil said he would attend the Compensation Board meeting.
Stutsman asked if the Board were going to put a proposal together for the Compensation Board Meeting. Neuzil said Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan had written a letter in the past. R. Sullivan said the issue was not on the agenda, but he would put it on the agenda for the January 17, 2008 informal meeting.
R. Sullivan said he would tell Yapp that it would be a JCCOG meeting and not a joint meeting, but that the Board would like an agenda item about improving communication with the small cities. The small cities would then go on the February Key Issues agenda and the Board could discuss feedback from the small cities and a possible plan. Harney asked if the JCCOG meeting had good attendance from the small cities. R. Sullivan said no, but that it was better than what the Board gets for the joint meeting. Stutsman said in some years it was better than others. Harney said there were many new small city officials and he would like to see another Small Cities Meeting. Neuzil said Oxford Mayor Don Saxton and University Heights Mayor Louise From often attended. Stutsman said former Tiffin Mayor Glenn Potter had always attended, and Hills and Lone Tree sometimes attended. She had never seen anyone there from Swisher, Shueyville, or Solon. Stutsman said all the Supervisors seemed to agree there needed to be some kind of joint meeting, though they were not sure what form it was going to take.
Stutsman said that she was the report from Jeff Schott, and under Final Comments he wrote that “it is recommended that staff prepare an action plan for accomplishing the planning goal.” Stutsman then asked if the Board wanted to refer it to staff. Neuzil said that it was hard to have the meeting without M. Sullivan, but the Board needed to move forward. He said the Board needed to divide the three major goals up among two board members each and make it the project of the year. R. Sullivan said that goal number one was a tie between a new Justice Facility including Jail Alternatives, and developing a Metropolitan Transportation Plan. Goal number three was to develop a Multiyear Strategic Plan for the County, and goal four was to hire a Criminal Justice Coordinator. He said County Attorney Janet Lyness had proposed a Case Expediter position in the budget, and he was not sure if that included some duties of a Criminal Justice Coordinator. Neuzil said a Criminal Justice Coordinator would be for someone basically taking over from the report of Durrant. Stutsman asked if the Board wanted to get involved with rural economic development. R. Sullivan that these were very big projects, but there were also some simpler projects. Neuzil said the report discussed increased funding and commitment to the Economic Funding Committee as far as initiatives and programs were concerned.
Neuzil that the Justice Facility was something the Board had already split up between themselves. As for the other issues, the Metro Transportation Plan was big enough for two Board members to get on. R. Sullivan said JCCOG was arguably the appropriate home for that. Neuzil said developing a multiyear strategic plan for the County seemed to be the job of M. Sullivan, and asked how they would get the other departments to buy into it. He said that Ambulance Service, Public Health, and Conservation all had strategic plans. Neuzil said since there was really only one top issue that was not already in progress, the Board could select additional issues.
Stutsman said that it was one thing to identify these things, but she wanted a more formalized action plan timeline. Neuzil said the only way it was going to happen was to have two of the Board members lead it. R. Sullivan said he was concerned that the major goals would stop them from doing other things. Harney said the Board did need to keep the Justice Center Facility out there. Neuzil asked what specifically the Board wanted to do right now. R. Sullivan said the report was not in the form of a strategic plan, and that they needed to take the list from Schott’s letter and put it in a format that they were more comfortable with.
Stutsman suggested the Board members divide the issues up with two supervisors plus M. Sullivan to work on the action plan. Neuzil said that the jail issue was going to be the number one issue but noted that they already had a structure in place for that. The Metro Transportation Plan was something that the County needed to be more involved in and that two Board members could be a part of that. Two other Board members could be a part of the Rural Economic Development. Neuzil said that one of the things that continues to come up is the area of Green Initiatives, and two Board members could also get involved in that issue. Stutsman said the Board had just ignored the issue of developing a Multiyear Strategic Plan. Neuzil said that they had already discussed it as a job for M. Sullivan. Stutsman said the Board still needed an action plan.
Stutsman asked if the Board wanted to include a Rural Economic Development Plan. Neuzil and R. Sullivan said he would like it on the list. Neuzil said the question for the next year and a half was which three or four things the Board could accomplish, and the jail is the major issue. Stutsman said the jail was in the same place as it was a year ago and it was essentially on hold. Neuzil said he did not want the report until he was interviewed about it; Harney and R. Sullivan agreed. Stutsman said if the Board were going to take a leadership role on transportation they needed to step up to the plate. She said it would be ideal to talk about the Multiyear Strategic Plan, Rural Economic Development, and Green Initiatives. Neuzil said there is already a structure in place on the Justice Center. Stutsman said there was no action plan for the Justice Facility and that was what she wanted out of the meeting.
R. Sullivan said in the past there have been issues where a couple Board members do something, and then have a hard time communicating to the other three what they have done. A regular strategic planning meeting would be the perfect opportunity to report back for feedback and which steps should then be taken. Neuzil asked if there were any things on the list of goals that individual members of the Board preferred. R. Sullivan said all the issues were important and it was hard to rank the goals.
Stutsman said in the 2000 Strategic Plan, it was spelled out what the goal was and how they would accomplish it, and that was what needed to be done with this list. Harney said the Board needs to address Road Issues and Goals so that residents would know actions were being taken. Stutsman said if it was spelled out residents would know what the Bard agreed on and what needed to be put in place. R. Sullivan said he felt like the Board did that last year. Stutsman asked if that was the case why they had not gotten it done. R. Sullivan said it was up to the Board to put that in the evaluation of the person whose job it is to do it. Harney said that he did not feel they needed to upgrade every road significantly, instead some roads just need chip seal. Neuzil said the Chip Seal Policy was coming and some of the road issues were being addressed. Harney said that was a voluntary issue, and that they had nothing long-term for Secondary Roads. R. Sullivan said he was very proud when last year they put in $500,000 for four priority roads. While the Board knew $500,000 would not cover all expenses, they told workers to make some progress. He said not much has happened so they had to put in another $500,000 for a $1,000,000 total, so he expected something to be done.
Stutsman said the Board had identified Sioux Avenue, and found out it couldn’t be done, and that she hasn’t heard a word about Observatory Road. Neuzil said the Board needed to ask County Engineer Greg Parker where that project is currently when they meet next month. Harney said the Board needed to be more direct in saying what they expect and what they want. R. Sullivan said that he thought they had been direct on Observatory, and he had expected it to be done by now. Stutsman said she thought as soon as it was clear that Sioux was not workable, work should have started on Observatory. Neuzil said he expected it to be done this year and asked what the Board would like to see this year. Harney said that he would like to see a plan where they try to use more chip seal. Neuzil asked if the Chip Seal Policy would help address that. R. Sullivan said it would not really address the issue because it is targeted towards the individuals who want to do it. He said when Parker and Maintenance Superintendent Kevin Hackathorn addressed the Board, they had a list with a clear ranking of eight roads. Neuzil said that the only way they were going to be able to do more roads was to increase the rural levy to pay for it. R. Sullivan said the priorities were already there. Meyers said there may also be money for trails coming in. R. Sullivan said he did not think the County could use General Fund dollars for rural roads. He said there seemed to be a clear breaking point on Parker's list of eight to ten high traffic roads.
Neuzil said it sounded like a good system but was just a matter of getting it done. He said Parker had told the Board that with only $1,000,000 they would only be able to check off maybe one or one and a half of the eight roads on the list. R. Sullivan said that it would be a multiyear commitment and that over the course of ten years maybe five of these projects would get done. Harney said that he was tired of hearing why they could not do it, and that he’d rather hear how they were going to do it. Stutsman said that would be one of the goals, trying to come up with some ideas to upgrade these roads. Neuzil said a Metro Transportation Plan may need to add some rural roads. R. Sullivan asked if the rural levy was just over $2. Neuzil and Stutsman said they did not know. R. Sullivan said that it was over a dollar less than Linn County and that he has often wondered how important it is to people and do they want to pay for it. Harney said that would be good conversation for the small cities. Stutsman said a community meeting to see how the community feels about increasing the rural levy in order to have better roads would be a good goal to add to the list. R. Sullivan said he had the impression that people liked it the way it was. Stutsman said the Board needed to spell it out and tell people what it would cost, and people would be shocked at the cost of a half a mile of road a year.
Stutsman asked if they wanted to do Transportation/Roads for a goal. Neuzil said roads could go under the Metro Transportation Plan. He noted that it was from the Boards’ point of view, not JCCOG’s. Harney said, to him, the transportation issue was to try and bring the communities together and that it would equate to two different items. Stutsman asked if the Board was in agreement on the Rural Economic Development, Justice Facility, Transportation/Roads, and Green Initiatives as the goals. Stutsman then asked if there were any Board members who wanted to work on a particular issue and develop an action plan. Neuzil said he was interested in the environmental issue. R. Sullivan said he would prefer to work on any issue other than the Justice Facility. Stutsman said she would like to work on transportation and roads. Harney said that he would work on the Justice Center or the green initiatives.
R. Sullivan asked if they were combining the hiring of a Criminal Justice Coordinator with the Justice Facility issue. Neuzil said that they needed to develop with the Durrant report where they wanted to go. Stutsman asked if M. Sullivan and Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne would work on the strategic plan. R. Sullivan said that was correct. Meyers said that his two favorite projects were the roads and the Green Initiatives. R. Sullivan asked if everyone was going to be on two issues. Stutsman said that she would take Rural Economic Development. R. Sullivan said he would fill in wherever there was a gap. He said Harney would work on the Justice Center, Harney and Meyers on the Metro Transportation Plan, Stutsman on Rural Economic Development, and Neuzil on the Green Initiatives. Neuzil said he would also work on the Justice Center. Neuzil suggested that R. Sullivan could help M. Sullivan and Claiborne with Strategic Planning. Harney said if they wanted his help, he could pitch in on the Multiyear County Strategic Plan.
Stutsman suggested that for the next time the Board met that they have their action plans done. Neuzil said they had a good start on it. Stutsman stated they should first address goals, and then action plans. Neuzil said that their next strategic planning meeting was scheduled for February 19, 2008. R. Sullivan said M. Sullivan and Claiborne were very busy with the budget. Neuzil said that when they got started everyone should at least have a report to give.
Adjourned at 9:43 a.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2008
By John Deeth, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on February 20, 2008 at 10:30 a.m.