MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
MARCH 18, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek: Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Military Service 1
Board of Supervisors: Parking Committee............................................................................ 2
Board of Supervisors: Buy Here Policy................................................................................ 3
Assistant Planner Josh Busard: Implementation of Cool Counties........................................ 3
Reports and Updates from Department Heads...................................................................... 4
Scheduling Date and Time of Next Meeting......................................................................... 6
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building as a Department Head Meeting at 1:30 p.m. Members present were: Rod Sullivan, Sally Stutsman, Pat Harney, and Terrence Neuzil; absent was Larry Meyers.
Department heads present were: Ambulance Director Steve Spenler, County Assessor Bill Greazel, County Attorney Janet Lyness, County Engineer Greg Parker, Facilities Director David Kempf, Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek, Information Services Director Jean Schultz, Juvenile Court Administrator Lloyd Smith, Medical Examiner Administrator Michael Hensch, Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Director Kris Artley, Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak, Public Health Director Douglas Beardsley, SEATS Director Tom Brase, and Social Services Director Amy Correia. Staff present were: Board of Supervisors Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan, Board of Supervisors Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne, and Auditor’s Office Account Clerk John Deeth.
Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek reported that the new employee handbook was in effect for three months when a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY08 was signed by President George Bush and became effective immediately on January 28, 2008. The provision expands the leave protections under the Federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for employees caring for family members injured in the line of duty. It provides up to 26 weeks of unpaid caregiver leave and job-protecting provisions including continuation of health care coverage. Shramek reported that it is uncertain if family members would have only one opportunity to take the 26 weeks caregiver leave.
Shramek noted that it is important to distinguish FMLA from the military leave for employees who have a family member on or called to active duty. Shramek said that the active duty leave allows immediate family members of soldiers, reservists, and members of the National Guard, to take 12 weeks of FMLA leave if they have a qualifying exigency. Shramek reported that the Department of Labor (DOL) will draft new regulations for the FMLA expansion, and will issue a new poster. All employers with 50 or more employees and all public agencies must post the revised information.
Shramek stated that the FMLA expanded military family leave obligations have taken effect only for military family caregiver leave. The new active duty leave provisions of the FMLA will take effect only after the FMLA defines it in the final rules. R. Sullivan asked if it was defined who could count as a qualifying exigency. Shramek said that the current definition generally refers to family members. R. Sullivan stated that under the current FMLA employees could get unpaid leave to care for a child or spouse.
R. Sullivan said that after long discussion and debates the Parking Committee decided to make a recommendation to the Board in terms of parking for the Administration Building and the Human Health and Service (HHS) Building. R. Sullivan said that the decision was to charge employees $25 a month for a regular parking space. Facilities Director David Kempf said that the monthly fee would give employees access to a restricted area. Kempf said that the employee parking would be on the second level of the ramp and would have a key card access. County vehicles, handicapped, and public spaces would be located at the first floor. R. Sullivan asked if the access card would provide access to the parking space 24 hours a day. Kempf said yes.
Stutsman asked what the options are for individuals that do not pay the monthly fee. Kempf said that one alternative would be to purchase a 24 hour parking card. Neuzil said that outside regular County business hours he would prefer to park in front of the building rather than in the ramp. Kempf said that would be breaking the rules. Neuzil asked if they could write in that on weekends the first floor of the ramp allows open parking.
R. Sullivan stated that they have not discussed adding additional enforcement. He said that if enforcement would became a problem they would have to find other means to handle it. Kempf said that if needed they could come up with an enforcement committee but hoped that would not be needed. Medical Examiner Administrator Mike Hensch was unsure about the rules on parking outside the regular business hours. R. Sullivan said that the City will install meters on Clinton Street and asked if they would do the same for South Dubuque Street. Kempf said that there was no discussion about South Dubuque Street. Neuzil said that installing meters would alleviate the issue of long term parking on South Dubuque Street.
Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak asked if there would be any provisions for part-time employees. Stutsman said that people do not have to park in the ramp and could choose to walk, carpool, or use public transportation. Stutsman said that they only agreed on the $25 per month fee and have not discussed about the parking for part-time employees or interns. R. Sullivan said that the parking fee would apply to County and State employees. R. Sullivan said that if employees do not pay the monthly fee they would not be able to use the parking ramp. Stutsman said there will be problems if they start creating exceptions. Neuzil said that part of the fee could go towards no driving incentives and cleaning up the ramp.
Public Health Director Douglas Beardsley asked if County vehicles would have their own reserved section. Kempf answered yes. R. Sullivan said the intent is that the fee will begin November 1, 2008, the anticipated opening day of the building. Beardsley asked if the public would need to pay an hourly fee for parking. Kempf said that there would be public spaces at the first level of the ramp and directly outside the building. The public would also be able to park outside the Administration Building. Stutsman said that the public parking would not be charged. Kempf said that the people would need to pay if they park at the meters on Clinton Street, which are controlled by the City. Kempf noted that part of the reasoning for installing the meters is to cut down on students using the streets for long-term parking. Kempf said that $25 is less than half of what City employees pay. R. Sullivan said that the City's lowest rate is $32.50. Kempf said that a monthly pass in the City parking ramp is $60. Stutsman said that the Parking Committee should discuss incentives for not driving. Harney said they need to make accommodations for the disabled. R. Sullivan said that they could make sure that the disabled employees pay the monthly fee but have a reserved parking spot closer to the building.
R. Sullivan said that the Board joined the Chamber of Commerce initiative to try to buy more things locally. The goal of the initiative is to move 5% of outside the county expenditures back into the county. Kempf has encouraged his staff to buy locally as much as possible. Information Services Director Jean Schultz said that there is a local printer vendor and they have been using much more. Kempf said that the new Courthouse cameras would be purchased from a local vendor. Neuzil said it would be helpful if department heads would forward such information to the Board. R. Sullivan said that the process is fairly informal and encourages entities to find and use more local vendors. R. Sullivan said that the Chamber would like to hear successful stories as well as information about items that can not be found locally. He added that if there is a market for a certain product the Chamber will try to find someone to provide it locally.
Assistant Planner Josh Busard said that the Board was part of Cool Counties. He noted that they are pursuing a program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from County operations. As part of the project they would scrutinize operations, building energy use, the amount of waste produced, County vehicle usage, and employee commute data. He said that they must quantify how much greenhouse gas is produced and determine how and where to make reductions. Busard asked the department heads to encourage their employees to fill out the vehicle usage survey. He said that after they collect the data they would make a presentation to the Board about the current situation, the amount of money being spent, and options for energy reductions. R. Sullivan encouraged everyone to fill the surveys. Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Director Kris Artley asked if the State employees housed by the County need to fill the survey. Kempf said that the survey was only for County employees.
Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia asked if they should estimate the total mileage for staff that use their own car for County related business. Busard said yes. Busard said they are trying to determine the total amount of fuel used by each department and by employees for their commute. Kempf said that the department heads should fill out the first page of the survey, and each employee should fill out the second page. The deadline for returning the survey is April 1, 2008. Busard said that the survey could be submitted in paper or electronic form.
Correia said that the United Way Celebration of Communities is on March 26, 2008. County Government Week will be from April 6, 2008 to April 12, 2008. She said that the theme of the week is protecting children. There will be pamphlets in the foyer of the Administration Building with information on ways to get involved.
County Engineer Greg Parker said the County had one of the worse winters in awhile with over 60 inches of snow. Parker said that typical diesel usage for the month of February is between $30,000 and $40,000 and this year they spent $100,000. Parker asked everyone to thank his employees for their efforts.
Kempf said the SEATS/Secondary Roads project is moving forward. He said that there were a couple things that still need to be finished but would be ready by the time they have to start putting the steel up. Kempf said that the camera surveillance system for the Courthouse is up and running. There are 15 operating cameras that give a comprehensive overview of the Courthouse.
SEATS Director Tom Brase said that the bad weather caused increased maintenance costs but the drivers are working hard in keeping the service up and going.
Ambulance Director Steve Spenler said that they have a program held in the springtime. He noted that they had an event scheduled in Solon that was cancelled because they had to make up for snow days. They will conduct a session at Iowa Mennonite School on April 18, 2008.
Juvenile Court Administrator Lloyd Smith attended the Linn County/Johnson County Detention Committee meeting. They discussed the Detention Alternative Program (DAP) which is funded partially by the County. Stutsman noted that Tama County has added another wing to their Toledo detention facility. She added that they are asking $100 a day per inmate transferred plus transportation.
Artley said that they are working on internal restructuring and cross training. She said that the Federal Government is making decisions on how to deal with Medicaid in the future. She noted that Iowa does not have a game plan. She attended the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) meeting.
Schultz said that they completed updating addresses for the 2010 Census. Spenler had been receiving tons of junk emails but lately those have gone down to two or three a day. Schultz said that they had been adjusting the servers.
Beardsley said the National Public Health Week was coming up and they would have a display and organize different activities.
Dvorak thanked everyone for helping out with the census project. He noted that they discovered 12,000 addresses that they didn’t previously have. Dvorak said that they are almost ready to present the Land Use Plan to the Board. He noted that the County has adopted Residential Remodeling Permits.
Shramek said that they worked on several grievance arbitrations and are currently updating two contracts. Shramek encouraged all employees to fill out the flexible spending survey. She said that they would start the salary survey sometime in the spring. R. Sullivan said that the Board put aside money for the salary survey and asked if after July 1, 2008 they would start the process of looking at whom they were going to work with. Shramek said yes.
County Attorney Janet Lyness said that they started a drug court that consists of a Judge, a Defense Attorney, a Probation Officer, and a Treatment Coordinator from the Department of Correctional Services, and a person representing the Jail Alternatives Program. The drug court is focused on treatment and would help keep people out of prison. Lyness said they conduct closely monitored meetings and have very strict guidelines. She said that the driving suspension is for people who have had a suspended license due to traffic violations, tickets, or other means and has been moving along well. Harney asked if there was an age break-off point for people to get into the drug court. Lyness said that it was just for adults. She said that they could have a drug court for juveniles someday.
Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan said that the primary purpose of county government is to provide services to the citizens. He said that the County and the taxpayers are lucky to have great department heads. M. Sullivan received more calls with good comments than in any other year.
Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne said that the FY09 budget was smooth and accurate. He said that they would be doing a spring amendment.
R. Sullivan said that the date and time of the next Department Head Meeting would be May 20, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.
Adjourned at 2:30 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2008
By John Deeth, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on April 9, 2008 at 12:30 p.m.