MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
APRIL 9, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Board of Supervisors: Emergency Communication Equipment Bill...................................... 1
Johnson County Historical Society Representative Shaner Magelhaes: Proposed Paranormal Investigation at County Poor Farm....................................................................................................................... 2
Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak and Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore: Recommendation Regarding Road Performance Standards............................................ 5
Board of Supervisors: Interest in Request for Match Funding from RC&D Executive Director Chris Taglia 9
Board of Supervisors: Appoint Board/Staff to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Committee 9
Board of Supervisors: Eide Bailly Audit Report................................................................... 9
Board of Supervisors: Forum on TIF Issues........................................................................ 10
Board of Supervisors: Setting Meetings with Local Congressional Staffs............................ 11
Board of Supervisors: Buy Local Policy............................................................................. 11
Board of Supervisors: Appoint Board Member to JCCOG Housing Committee.................. 12
Board of Supervisors: Action Plans for Future Key Issues Meetings.................................. 13
Board of Supervisors: State of the County Address............................................................ 13
Board of Supervisors: Board Attendance at Sierra Club Meeting........................................ 14
Board of Supervisors: Supervisor Representative to serve on the Community Health Needs Assessment and Health Improvement Planning (CHNA and HIP) Team............................................................ 14
Facilities Manager David Kempf: Project Updates.............................................................. 15
Internal Processes, Expectations, and Other Operational Issues of the Board of Supervisors Office 18
Meeting Agenda Items........................................................................................................ 18
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 8:30 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, and Rod Sullivan; absent: Sally Stutsman.
R. Sullivan asked about the status of the Emergency Communications Equipment Bill. Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan said that Johnson County Council of Governments (JCCOG) Transportation Planner Jeff Davidson had set up a meeting with the subcommittee to talk about the design work. M. Sullivan recommended moving the Emergency Communications Equipment Bill to the next Key Issues meeting. R. Sullivan said another option was to put the bill on the agenda for an informal meeting.
Harney said the bill was about the legislation that went through for the Emergency Communications Equipment, which would allow for the bonding of all the communications equipment. He said that Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) areas would be included and that would lower some of the tax impact on residents. Harney said the bonding agent determined that the Board could not drop the taxation level and bond because the budget was set and the Board could not change from the normal budget into the bonding area. He said that the communications equipment could be bonded for in the following year. Neuzil asked if the bonded amount was limited to $1.2 million. Harney said there is no limit and the Board can bond for all the equipment.
R. Sullivan said that the proposed investigation had come onto the agenda as a result of Brandon Cochran's earlier presentation to the Board. He noted that the Board did not see any problems with the investigation and contacting the Caroll Area Paranormal Team. R. Sullivan said since that time the Board received several strongly worded e-mails from members of the community and the Chatham Oaks Board of Directors encouraging them not to pursue the investigation. He asked Shaner Magelhaes and Cochran what kind of feedback they had been getting from the community. Magelhaes said that initially there were four factors taken into consideration for pursuing with the project. He noted that the Johnson County Historical Society was comfortable with the proposed investigation, former Chatham Oaks Director Mary Donovan was fine with the activity, Historical Society Staff Oversite and department heads had no problem with the investigation, and the Johnson County Attorney's Office was willing to handle any liabilities. Magelhaes noted that one of those four factors had changed since the first meeting. Magelhaes received an e-mail in which the Chatham Oaks Board of Directors officially declared that they did not want the proposed investigation to move forward. As far as community responses, Magelhaes usually gets a few chuckles from some residents and also some very serious letters from individuals, but nothing in between. He noted that Chatham Oaks expressed the desire that the investigation does not move forward, and that changed his stance as well.
Harney said that he had not supported the investigation from the start because he did not want to create a situation similar to the Black Angel in Oakland Cemetery. Harney said if talk about ghosts and goblins got out there would be people wandering around at the Johnson County Farm in the middle of the night. He was concerned about creating more issues for the individuals with chronic mental illness living at Chatham Oaks. Harney said he would not support the investigation.
Meyers said that at first the investigation seemed like a fun and harmless thing to do, but since then it had taken on a life of its own. Magelhaes said the investigation had inspired poetry that had been published in the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Meyers had been surprised at some of the community reactions received about the proposed investigation. He did not see a compelling need to proceed with the investigation.
R. Sullivan said that he had also received similar feedback as the rest of the Supervisors. He wanted to make it very clear that he did not think in any way that the investigation reflected poorly on the Johnson County Historical Society. R. Sullivan said there were things the Board needed to discuss with the Chatham Oaks Board, including the fact that the Iowa City community was growing out around their facility and the Farm would soon include a Joint Communications Center, an Armory National Guard, and other potential projects. He said the Chatham Oaks Board needs to understand that the neighborhood would continue to change and that they should be prepared to deal with that.
Magelhaes had met with Chatham Oaks Executive Director Vivian Davis earlier in the week as a result of the e-mail received from Chatham Oaks. He wanted to reiterate that should the investigation proceed there would be as little disruption to Chatham Oaks as possible. Magelhaes wanted to make it clear to Davis that the Johnson County Historical Society wanted to put more attention to the County Farm, which means that more people would visit the site. He said the Society's collective goal was to tell a story and to make more people aware of it.
Harney said that the whole investigation creates an air of paranormal activity, and noted that the Board had never received complaints or indication that there was such a thing out there. He said the investigation would extend beyond the facility to the cemetery, and added that he did not want anyone wandering around in there. Magelhaes said he wanted to be perfectly clear that they were just coming with a request. Magelhaes said the benefits of having a paranormal investigation on the site were tremendous, though there were some concerns raised that proceeding with the investigation would impugn the reputation of the Johnson County Historical Society. Magelhaes noted that the Society received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from the community and even from persons out of state attracted by the stories of the site. Harney said the Board wanted to support preserving the County Farm and did not want to take away from its historical significance, but at the same time they wanted to avoid creating an adverse side. R. Sullivan said the Board would continue to meet with the Chatham Oaks Board to discuss the future of the neighborhood.
R. Sullivan said the Board had a work session regarding the Road Performance Standards and had prompted Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak to come up with a recommendation. Dvorak said the only consensus the Committee could agree on was to not get rid of the Road Performance Standards. Even though there were no other decisions taken by the Committee, Dvorak decided to come up with a recommendation and let the Board decide how to proceed.
Neuzil said that he continues to be against the Road Performance Standards. He noted that his biggest issue is that there are chip seal roads like Sandy Beach Road with daily traffic counts of up to 2,600 vehicle trips per day. Neuzil would support any standards above what the Board currently uses. He said that the Board could change the phasing of the Land Use Plan and asked if while doing that they would allow some growth to occur, even if that was planned in phase X, as long as the land is zoned residential. He noted that there are situations when the development is already platted, but cannot move forward because of the strict Road Performance Standards.
Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore said that he envisions the County only using land that had already been zoned residential. He said the other option would be to buy rights to zoned land or do a trade to allow for development. Moore explained that there were different ways of doing development. He said that sometimes buyouts and transfer development rights could occur, when one person would down-zone so that another person could upzone. Neuzil said the County had previously used buyouts and transfer development rights. R. Sullivan concluded and said the transactions were mutually beneficial to both parties. Moore said that for the transfer of development rights there has to be a sending area, where development does not occur, and a receiving area where the development does occur.
Neuzil asked what the argument is for choosing the standard of 2,000 vehicles over 2,750 vehicles. He asked if Sandy Beach Road could get above 2,600 vehicle trips. Neuzil asked how much build-out was left that could impact the daily vehicle trip numbers, and if there were still a number of lots off Sandy Beach Road zoned residential that could be platted. R. Sullivan said there were several lots out there but the developers cannot do anything. Moore said that Chris Huberty has land that he would like to develop but cannot because of the Road Performance Standards.
R. Sullivan said the argument for choosing the vehicle trips standards was that the Board didn’t want to let another place become as large of a problem as Lake Manor. Neuzil said that it was not a problem. Moore said that he has received complaints from residents, including Huberty, about people driving too fast down the road and that they wanted speed limit signs posted and shoulders for joggers and cyclists. Moore said they could not install the signs and shoulders but they could stop additional development. Harney said the issue was like a dog chasing its tail because there are people who don't want the roads improved and the same people don't want any building to commence until the roads are improved. He said that the development in the County has been stopped almost completely and that adversely affects the tax base and revenues. Harney said he is unsure how to get to a compromise and noted that if the Board raises the Road Performance Standards there will be more traffic on the roads.
R. Sullivan said the answer was to pave some roads. Harney said the Board does not have funds to do that. Neuzil said the Board did not come to an agreement on what it means to improve a road. Moore reiterated that the Committee could not reach a consensus and could only decide not to get rid of the Road Performance Standards. Moore said everyone had to acknowledge and accept the fact that there is a link between Land Use and transportation infrastructure. He said the committee was hoping that by raising the Road Performance Standards they would allow development in some areas and give some time for the Board to work out the criteria for improving roads in built-up areas.
Harney said the Board could upgrade roads, but noted that the entire burden would fall on the taxpayers. Neuzil said he couldn't tell the difference between 2,000 and 3,000 vehicle trips per day and asked if the numbers are arbitrarily chosen. Dvorak said he would like the Board to have some latitude, and noted that the numbers are somewhat arbitrary. He said the Committee felt that raising the Road Performance Standards would give the Board time to come up with money for upgrading the roads or changing the standards. Dvorak said that some threshold has to be set because otherwise the roads would never be fixed. He wanted the Board to have time to figure out what to do with the Road Performance Standards, and in the meantime facilitate some development in rural Johnson County.
Neuzil said the Road Performance Standards were inconsistent and was happy to hear a realistic approach. He said his point was that even if the vehicle trip count would be raised to 2,000, Sandy Beach Road would be the first road that needed to be fixed. He said that Sandy Beach Road was the only road where growth was not allowed and added that increasing the count to 2,000 would force the Board to fix Sandy Beach Road first. Moore said they would need to raise the Road Performance Standards to about 4,000 to allow for development on Sandy Beach Road. Harney said people did not want Sandy Beach Road improved. Neuzil disagreed.
Dvorak said that if the Board would come up with a design outside current engineering standards a lot of people would go along with it. Harney said if the Board would do that the taxpayers would have to pay for it. R. Sullivan said the idea was questionable in light of what Polk County had done utilizing State and Federal money. Neuzil said the Road Performance Standards issue needs to be on the radar in 2008. R. Sullivan concurred. Moore said another benefit to having roads in a growth area is being able to implement the right-of-way dedication. Harney said the road counts were not doing the job and should not be kept. Meyers said it was not needed to lump all the roads together in one decision.
R. Sullivan said that County Attorney is concerned that it becomes arbitrary when deciding to improve one road over another and added that the Committee was given the responsibility to come up with a policy that does not pick out certain roads. R. Sullivan appreciated that the Committee was pushing the Board to not let the issue die. Moore said the Board had already come up with several ideas, and reiterated that raising the count to 2,000 would give the Board some time to find solutions. He said that one option would be doing segments and letting the State and Federal money cover it.
Moore said that the Board had a fund for improving chip seal roads, and noted that the Board could use its own money to build up over the years and prioritize. Harney said that it would take a long time before the County would afford to repair the roads. Neuzil said that the State transferred roads would be upgraded in about six years. R. Sullivan agreed with Neuzil that if the Board uses objective criteria for the roads they would have to look at Sandy Beach Road and put it on the radar screen. Moore suggested doing Sandy Beach Road in segments. He noted that Sandy Beach Road would be as contentious as any road the Board ever looked at. R. Sullivan said a lot of the newer houses have the needed setbacks. Moore said the road has curvature issues.
Meyers said that in an earlier meeting County Engineer Greg Parker had brought up the issue of speed limits being an enforcement issue, and noted that there was an enforcement issue everywhere in the county. Moore agreed. Meyers said there are only two deputies doing patrol. He added that having a speed limit sign posted at 35 miles per hour was an enforcement issue because there cannot be a cop out there at all times. Meyers said the speed limit sign was also a statement that drivers can take the chance and drive over 35 miles per hour while knowing that they might get a ticket. R. Sullivan said 100% of Johnson County rural residents would say that the traffic has picked up incredibly and speed has increased. Meyers said the more the development is spread around the more the issues of traffic volume and speeding are compounded. He had no problem with the current Average Daily Traffic Count (ADT). Meyers did not feel compelled to accommodate development all over the place, and noted that was a mistake made 50 years ago. Moore said that prior to 1998 when the Land-Use Plan was adopted, the Board used to rezone every section of the County. Neuzil said the committee has helped develop his philosophy to infill areas zoned residential.
Neuzil said the issue should be put on the informal agenda. Moore said it would be an ordinance amendment process. Harney said it should be put on the informal agenda for further discussion. R. Sullivan did not want to have a work session as part of an informal meeting. Neuzil would support 2,000, 3,000, or 4,000 ADT or getting rid of the Road Performance Standards. He said it would be easier for him to support 3,000 instead of 2,000 ADT. Moore said that developing zoned ground meant having to meet the Road Performance Standards. Harney said that that wouldn't be an issue if the Board eliminated the phasing. Meyers said that being amendable to rezoning because of the different phasing areas was just compounding the mistake that had already been made. R. Sullivan said the County currently has zoned ground in Phase II, and added that the County was not buying development rights.
Neuzil said that increasing the count to 2,000 vehicles would allow for more infill development even though there was not a lot of demand. He said that Sandy Beach Road could be placed in the Five Year Road Plan. Neuzil asked if changing the ADT to 2,000 would lead to additional requests. Moore said they received several inquiries for smaller properties, and said that bigger developers were not making inquiries because they were well aware that they had no chance until the Road Performance Standards were changed. Dvorak did not anticipate a developer building 115 homes and selling them in one year because of the economy. He added that it could take as long as five years before the County would see a fully developed road.
Neuzil said the discussion was going back to which roads were really being affected, and if the County wanted to allow more growth to occur. He said that he keeps imagining being the person who bought property 15 years ago in an area zoned residential and has the plans ready but is not allowed to develop. Neuzil said that property rights were being taken away. Moore agreed. Moore said that chip seal roads have a maximum of 1,000 ADT, but there was a first threshold of 700 where the County could only develop in the one and 20-acre density. Neuzil was thinking of 70% of 2,000. Moore said that would still put the ADT at 1,400, well over the maximum. Meyers asked if the Board planned on leaving the gravel roads at a maximum of 750 ADT. Moore said everyone wanted to leave the gravel roads alone because studies had shown that once a gravel road gets around 200 or 300 vehicles per day the maintenance costs increase considerably.
Harney proposed to have a work session with the Secondary Roads Department and Planning and Zoning Commission and have a detailed discussion on demand and needs. Neuzil concurred and said that if the Board wanted to change an ordinance it would be good to get the information out and receive input. R. Sullivan said they already had a work session, and noted that at some point the Board would need to make a decision. He said the Board could never get Secondary Roads on the same page as the Planning and Zoning Commission and at least three Supervisors. M. Sullivan asked if the Board wanted to have the work session during the next Key Issues meeting. R. Sullivan thought the work session needed its own informal meeting. Dvorak said he will put together a draft to mail out to Parker and JCCOG before the work session.
Recessed at 9:28 a.m.; reconvened at 9:38 a.m.
R. Sullivan said he spoke to Stutsman on the phone during the break. R. Sullivan said that Linn County has put money towards an initiative of Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) related to local food. He said that Stutsman wanted to know if there were three Board members interested in putting the topic on the agenda for a future informal meeting. Neuzil asked if the Board budgeted money for local food because the budget does not have a specific line item for local food. Harney said the Board set about $3,000 aside for Economic Development which includes local food. R. Sullivan asked if the Board wants to move the discussion to an informal meeting. Neuzil said the County does not get credit for a lot of things done and if this initiative was just another gift of money where the County was not properly acknowledged he would be against it. He added that if the County would benefit it would be worth moving the initiative to an informal meeting. Meyers said he will contact RC&D Executive Director Chris Taglia about the initiative.
R. Sullivan said the last time the Board met jointly with Linn County and the cities there was a presentation and a lot of talk about the Local Food Initiative. He said Woodbury County has had success with a similar initiative, and individuals were hoping to replicate some of that success. R. Sullivan said Linn and Johnson Counties both expressed an interest in moving forward jointly, and that East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) Executive Director Doug Elliott has suggested that the Counties form a committee. R. Sullivan said Elliott and one appointed staff person from each county would be on the committee. R. Sullivan said that Stutsman was very interested in joining the committee. Harney asked what CSA was. R. Sullivan said that CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Neuzil asked if Stutsman still wanted to be on the Housing Committee. R. Sullivan said Stutsman had not said anything about that and only expressed interest in the CSA Committee. R. Sullivan would e-mail Elliott that Stutsman would represent the Board on the committee.
R. Sullivan said Stutsman was wondering if the Board wanted to make the Audit Report part of a Board meeting. Harney said that in 2007 the Board gave a short overview and touched on the shortcomings. Neuzil said the Auditor's Office sent out a press release on the report, and asked if the Board needs to formally approve it. M. Sullivan said no. M. Sullivan said the audit mentions the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) requirements. He said the first GASB deadline will be in July 2008, and noted that most of the requirements deal with post employment benefits. Harney suggested having M. Sullivan do an executive summary of the report. M. Sullivan said it's a good audit and the Board is doing well. M. Sullivan would have the executive summary ready by the next Board meeting.
R. Sullivan, Stutsman, and County Auditor Tom Slockett attended the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) meeting and saw the presentation on TIF given by Iowa State University Professor of Economics Dave Swanson. R. Sullivan said he, Slockett, and Stutsman thought it might be a good idea to have a presentation and involvement from local University of Iowa Urban and Regional Planning Professor Peter Fisher and Bonding Attorney Bob Josten. He said the presentation could be tailored to answer any questions the public might have and asked if any Board members were interested in pursuing this. R. Sullivan said a good presentation would need to be at least 20-30 minutes. Neuzil asked if the presentation would be the type to be hosted at the library. R. Sullivan concurred and added that Montgomery Hall would be another option. R. Sullivan said the presenters could have 15-20 minutes to present and then one-half hour for questions.
Harney asked how big of a turnout there was at the ISAC event. M. Sullivan said there were 30-40 people, comprised mostly of officials, some public, and some legislators. R .Sullivan said that Josten, Swenson, and ISAC officials have pointed out that there are only four counties out of Iowa’s 99 counties where TIF is considered a big issue. Harney suggested hosting the event at the Iowa City Public Library and asking Iowa City to air it on Public Access Television.
Neuzil asked if this was the kind of presentation to have at a Public Leadership function. Harney said that everything depends on what the Board is trying to accomplish. R. Sullivan said Josten, Swenson and the others could tailor the presentation to the audience. Meyers said if the presentation happened at the Library, there would be some officials as well as citizen interest. Neuzil asked what the presentation would accomplish, besides education. M. Sullivan asked if the target audience should be the public. Neuzil said if the Board would like to reach out to the public the Library would be a great location, but if they would like to have elected officials in the audience there is a venue at the Public Leadership Summit. Meyers said that there are several communities that utilize TIF, and noted that it would be beneficial to the cities if the public knew more about what is going on and how TIF works. R. Sullivan said the speakers are not pro or con TIF but believe that this financing option should be used correctly.
R. Sullivan said the meeting should be held for the public, and down the road the Board could organize a meeting for policymakers. M. Sullivan said that if the Board wants to have dialogue with the speakers they should have a Board Meeting at the Library. R. Sullivan said Slockett will want to go to the meeting anyway so it will probably not be a problem to have the meeting taped and minutes taken. R. Sullivan asked if the Board would like to pursue this initiative. There was general Board consensus to proceed. M. Sullivan asked if the Board would accept the meeting if only one or two of the presenters could be present. R. Sullivan said they should have at least two speakers. Neuzil said that if the Board is would like to have residents in the audience they should schedule the meeting in the evening. R. Sullivan said that another option would be to have the meeting at noon over the lunch period. He added that the meeting should be at least one hour and a half long. M. Sullivan said he will look into it and bring options back to the Board.
R. Sullivan said that in addition to the trip to Washington D.C., it might be beneficial for the Board to have a conversation with the staff of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, and Congressman Dave Loebsack. Neuzil said it would be good to know the staff and to learn about the resources available. M. Sullivan said there are people in the Iowa City/Coralville area that represent all three elected officials. Neuzil said it is almost unbelievable that members of the Board take a trip to Washington D.C. without speaking with the local representatives. Neuzil said that it is frustrating to find out that the Board went to Washington D.C. to deal with an issue that could have been dealt with locally. Neuzil would like to know what kinds of things the Board is allowed to ask for and what the process of doing that is. He would like some examples of successful presentations to make and what to ask for.
M. Sullivan said he could try to coordinate a meeting with staffers from the offices of Grassley, Harkin, and Loebsack no later than August, which would give the Board six months before the trip to D.C. He will ask them to be prepared to present and discuss tips and strategies for meeting with the senators and congressman. He said there is no reason for this dialogue to not be conducted on an ongoing basis.
Neuzil said the Public Policy Group could coordinate a meeting with Linn County. R. Sullivan said Linn County has a lobbyist and a bigger staff. Harney said they have a lobbyist, they get more information, and are spending extra time in D.C., and he added that the Board needs to determine if any changes are needed to the process. R. Sullivan said there have been instances when other officials got additional meetings in Washington D.C. in which Johnson County officials were not included. R. Sullivan would like to have the meeting include only the Board to help build the individual relationship with staff members. R. Sullivan said the Board is supportive of all Chamber corridor projects but feels the County is not being included in all of the meetings that it supports for the Chamber groups. M. Sullivan will inquire whether the Board members would be able to make site visits to the Iowa offices.
R. Sullivan said the Board went through the lowest bidder process for the seed contract and noted that the process does not allow any flexibility in terms of local selection. R. Sullivan said that County Attorney Janet Lyness recommended that the Board create a policy to address the issue. Neuzil asked what was keeping the Board from changing the policy. R. Sullivan said the Board had to take action to do it.
R. Sullivan said Harney had written a brief policy. Meyers liked Coralville's policy because it provided guidelines and parameters. Neuzil suggested having the County Attorney draft a policy similar to the Coralville one and the Board could discuss about it at the following Key Issues or Informal meeting. Harney and R. Sullivan concurred. M. Sullivan could draft a policy to give to Lyness. He explained that the policy is only for goods and services, and not for capital projects. Meyers said that Coralville's policy uses a 10% difference on purchases up to $5,000. He noted that the policy defines local taxpayers as any business that owns or leases a building within the City limits of Coralville and uses the building for the conduct of actual business operations within the City. R. Sullivan said the Board could adopt the definition. Neuzil asked when Coralville adopted the policy. R. Sullivan said the policy had been in place for at least two or three years.
M. Sullivan said he would draft a policy to submit to the County Attorney. Harney said the policy should coincide with the Buy Local Policy. M. Sullivan said the Board does not have a Buy Local Policy. He noted that the Board had only signed off an agreement with the Chamber. Neuzil said that the Buy Here Business Fair would take place on April 16, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Conference Center. Neuzil said that the Chamber will present how much money has been saved by having the Buy Local Policy in place. R. Sullivan said that Information Services Director Jean Schultz and Facilities Director Dave Kempf have both submitted information to the Chamber for their statistics.
Iowa City had performed a Housing Study and had presented it to JCCOG. R. Sullivan said that JCCOG decided to move forward and look at the issue of housing in more detail. Meyers asked if the discussion was about affordable housing. R. Sullivan agreed and said they were looking at affordable and low-income housing. Neuzil asked if the Board representative on the JCCOG subcommittee had to be someone already on the JCCOG Board. R. Sullivan said that it does not have to be someone from the JCCOG Board, and noted that the representative needs to be an elected official and not a staff member. Neuzil asked if the Board would implement a rotation system for representation on the JCCOG Board. R. Sullivan said that Harney has not been on JCCOG for awhile. Neuzil and Meyers have never served on the JCCOG Board. R. Sullivan said Harney had done the work on the Johnson County Joint Communications Center which was a JCCOG project. Meyers had expressed interest during the committee assignments in January, 2008. R. Sullivan said Stutsman had been on the JCCOG Board for about eight years.
Meyers is serving on the Johnson County Housing Task Force. R. Sullivan said Stutsman is on the Johnson County Housing Task Force Board, which was head of the Rural Advisory Committee. Neuzil asked if anyone present had any interest in being on another committee. R. Sullivan expressed interest in serving on the committee. Neuzil asked if the appointment had to be done formally. M. Sullivan said they do not need to make a formal appointment and noted that at the end of the year the Board would go back and reappoint someone. M. Sullivan said that the Housing Committee is not a committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors so someone does not have to be formally appointed. R. Sullivan would e-mail JCCOG Executive Director John Yapp to inform him that he was the appointee to the Committee.
M. Sullivan said the action plans for future Key Issues meetings would be written in the following format: topic/activity, action needed to be taken, person(s) responsible for seeing it through, how it would be monitored and evaluated, and time scale. M. Sullivan will be fully responsible for putting the actions plans together. He said Stutsman's idea of utilizing action plans to keep everyone on the same page was a good one. M. Sullivan said he will distribute the action plans before every monthly meeting so Board members have a chance to read them beforehand. R. Sullivan said the action plans should be distributed the week before Key Issues meetings. Neuzil said the Board could also use actions plans for Strategic Planning meetings. M. Sullivan agreed and said the action plans will make sure things are done in a timely fashion. The Board was in favor of utilizing actions plans.
R. Sullivan said the Board did not have much success with getting people to the State of the County Address. He asked Neuzil if, when he was Chairperson of the Board, he gave the address as part of a Board meeting. Neuzil said he gave the address as part of a presentation with former County Attorney J. Patrick White. Harney said the presentation was part of County Government Week. Neuzil said the attendance dropped off the following year. R. Sullivan asked Harney if he had given a State of the County Address. Harney said did not give the Address because no one attended.
Neuzil said the Board should give the Address at an event or during a Board meeting. R. Sullivan said that Linn County has big turnouts for their State of the County Address. Neuzil agreed. R. Sullivan said the League of Women Voters organizes the Linn County Address. He added that the League uses the event as a fundraiser. Meyers had seen the Address and fundraiser on the local news and noted that it had a great turnout. R. Sullivan contacted the local League about doing something similar. He said the League felt bad because they are interested in the Board actions, but not interested in putting in the effort to organize the event.
Neuzil asked how the City proceeds with the State of the City Addresses. R. Sullivan said the City gives the address in January of each year. Harney thought the address was included in the Iowa City City Council meeting. Neuzil said that it would be nice to create a tradition in which the Supervisors collectively give the State of the County Address. Neuzil said the County, Iowa City, North Liberty, Coralville, and Iowa City School District could organize an event and give the address collectively. M. Sullivan agreed to put the topic on the agenda for the next Joint Cities meeting.
R. Sullivan said that “Earthapalooza” would take place on April 22, 2008. He said that it is a unique event where different organizations would be represented. R. Sullivan asked how many Supervisors would attend the event to determine if they needed to have an agenda. Neuzil said that it is similar to going to the County Fair or Prairie Preview and noted that they do not need an agenda. Neuzil said that in this case the Board is asked to collectively be there, and they need to determine if discussions will take place. M. Sullivan said he would put an agenda together. Neuzil said that an agenda is needed only if discussion will take place. R. Sullivan said the invitation to the meeting indicated that each body, not each individual, could have two or three minutes to speak.
M. Sullivan said that based on the Open Meetings Law the agendas are there to inform the public any time three or more Board members are together at any event, regardless of whether they speak or not. Neuzil said that it is impossible to post agendas for every public event. M. Sullivan said this is the County Attorney’s opinion. He added that the public has a right to know where the majority of the Board will gather for an event. Harney said that when Supervisors attend Chamber meetings, business meetings, or anything similar, they are separated amongst other attendees and there is no discussion on any particular issue. M. Sullivan said he will debate the issue with County Attorney Janet Lyness. He said that the agendas are designed to inform the public when Board members will have discussion and deliberation.
Neuzil does not want to get in the habit of having an agenda for all the events because that creates attendance obligations. R. Sullivan said there is also a problem if the agenda is posted, but only two people show up. Harney has a difficult time posting an agenda for someone else’s event. R. Sullivan said this could be an agenda item for the Key Issues Meeting in May 2008, where Lyness could attend and go review some of the policies with the Board.
Harney said he has been on the HIP for two years. HIP does planning initiatives for promoting health in schools. R. Sullivan has been on a different team than Harney. R. Sullivan said the organizers are trying to re-energize the team and would like to have Supervisors join. M. Sullivan said they must have Supervisors because of the policy-making component of the team. M. Sullivan said the bulk of the work was done on this in 2005-2006. R. Sullivan is on the team and added that if Stutsman would like to join there will be another Supervisor involved.
Johnson County Facilities Manager David Kempf said progress is being made on the Health and Human Services (HHS) Building. He said they are currently working on steel erection and noted that there will be another steel crew that will start working on the deck after three bays are completed. Kempf explained that the deck is the steel floor on which the concrete floor is poured. Neuzil said the building is on the corner very close to the sidewalk. Kempf noted that the building is within the City right-of-way, and added that there is not a lot of space between the sidewalks and the building. Kempf said the corner vision for cars would not be impeded and noted that the City has approved the designs all along.
Neuzil said there has been discussion of redesigning the road when the Armory is gone. Kempf said some of the possibilities discussed at the Community Development meetings involved turning the intersection between Benton and Gilbert Street to two way traffic. He said that the southbound traffic would follow around the Armory towards Aero Rental and then left. He added that there would be traffic going straight on Benton Street up against the one way traffic and that would be northbound traffic. Kempf noted that the traffic would go through two intersections, southbound going one way and northbound going the opposite direction. Kempf said Iowa City planners are trying to come up with an entrance into the Downtown District, which will eventually be Gilbert Street.
Kempf said they are working on making the water connection to the main outside the Administration Building. Crews encountered some issues with the water main but solved them and continued work. Kempf said they are currently working on boring underneath Benton Street to take the water service to the HHS Building. Kempf said crews are a little behind schedule on the concrete work, due to the harsh winter. Kempf estimated that crews are about two weeks behind schedule. Neuzil asked if they will work weekends. Kempf replied that they would have to work weekends in order to catch up and added they are still confident that they can reach the completion date.
Kempf said Harney has received some questions about building inspections. The general city inspections are performed by Iowa City. Those are between Iowa City and Tricon, who holds the building permit. Kempf said that a new Special Inspections Ordinance went into effect January 1, 2008, that requires the County to have concrete testing, which is done anyway, but also steel, weld, and bolting tests. Kempf said that Tricon was responsible for concrete testing. The new City Ordinance says the contract cannot employ the testing entity and that the owners must employ it. The County is in the process of negotiating an agreement with Terracon to do the special testing and is working with Tricon to get a credit for the cost of the concrete testing. The anticipated fee for the special testing is around $50,000 to $60,000. There have been discussions with Iowa City about the cost impact of the Ordinance to property owners. Kempf said the City will not grandfather the project in and will not waive the special testing requirements. Neuzil said the County will get that money back because there will be an opportunity or a time when Iowa City needs something from the County. Kempf said there is enough breathing room in the project financing to afford this unforeseen expense. Kempf will notify the Board when a final agreement is reached with Terracon and Tricon.
Neuzil asked if the campus concept design was still matching up. Kempf said yes. Neuzil said that HHS Building was too close to the road. Kempf said that the image is representative of what the building will look like on the property. Neuzil asked if the drop-off site would dip into Benton Road. Kempf said the drop-off site will not dip because the City of Iowa City did not want that. Neuzil asked if there was going to be an entranceway. Kempf said there would be an entranceway from underneath the skywalk. R. Sullivan asked if the entrance would have limited access. Kempf said yes. Harney asked if there would be a drop-off site on the west side of the building. Kempf said the main drop-off site would be on the north side of the building. Kempf said there will not be a drop-off on the west side because the City did not want any pole ends or other drop-offs. R. Sullivan asked if the bus stop would remain on Benton Road. Kempf concurred.
Neuzil said that people drive at 25 or 30 miles per hour and hit the corner pretty hard. Kempf said people should not take a 90-degree corner at 30 miles an hour. Harney said the feedback he was getting is that Kempf needs to watch Tricon because they cut corners for steel and other things. Kempf said he did not think Tricon could be watched any more closely. He said that part of the commissioning process was that there would be extra people in there making sure equipment was being installed and functioning properly.
Kempf said that DeVry University sent a letter in which they said they were doing the electrical work for a new school. He checked and DeVry said they are not the contracted electricians for the project. Kempf said the pictures sent could come from anywhere because there was no date or timestamp on them. Kempf said that the quality of work impressed him, even though he could tell the structures in the pictures had never been inspected. He wasn't sure if the pictures were of work done by DeVry University. Kempf said that DeVry University knows the Board has been contacted, and that lets them know that other people are watching. Kempf is impressed with Tricon and noted that this was probably one of the larger projects they have worked on. He said Tricon would like to use the project as a showcase.
Neuzil asked when they would start the ramp construction. Kempf said the public hearing notice was supposed to appear in the paper on April 17 or 18, 2008 and the project would go out to bid the following week. Neuzil asked if the ramp is planned for two levels with the possibility of a third level. Kempf confirmed. Neuzil said he does not like the skeleton type ramps. Kempf said the artist rendering would show the ramp in proportion to the building. He said they were aiming for an Indiana Limestone look. Neuzil said the last City ramps were very well done, and added that the campus ramp should have a matching aesthetic value.
Kemp estimated that the project would go out to bid around April 23, 2008. Bids would be received starting on May 13, 2008 and he would make a recommendation to the Board the following Thursday. Kempf said that in a perfect world Tricon would win the bid on the parking structure but noted that there is the possibility that there will be two general contractors onsite. Neuzil asked about the pervious concrete concept. Kempf said the line of predominantly handicapped parking next to the HHS Building is designated to be pervious concrete.
Kempf said one alternate of the project is the CarQuest parking. He said that if they decide to change the parking lot they would be required to install a retention base and a pond area. Kempf said the area that is grass will have to be paved, and the paved area will have to be converted to grass. He said that if they chose not to alter the CarQuest parking they could just blacktop the area. Neuzil said the Board should receive monthly updates so the community could be informed on the construction progress.
Kempf said the footings and foundation walls for the SEATS/Secondary Roads Office Building is complete. He said they have also set the transformer pad and roughed in the electrical and are scheduled to pour the south footings for the garage on March 31, 2008. He said the delivery of steel for the office building is scheduled for April 21, 2008, and the delivery of steel for the garage is scheduled for April 29, 2008. Kempf anticipated that the drilling of the well field for the geothermal outlet would start in the first part of May 2008. He said the workers are currently getting the plumbing and the electrical stubbed in under the floor, and prepping the office building for the slab work. Kempf hoped to have the webcam up and running by the end of the week so everyone could go online and see the work being done.
Kempf said that both the SEATS/Secondary Roads Building and the HHS Building would have brick mock-ups for the County to look at before the workers order all the bricks. Neuzil asked if the brick had been purchased from a local business. Kempf concurred. Neuzil said that Kings Material got the top bid and Phil's Building Supplies missed out by about half a cent. Kempf said it is important that the new HHS Building is color matched as closely as possible to the Administration Building.
Kempf encouraged each Supervisor to attend a Construction meeting. Neuzil is scheduled to attend the April 29, 2008 meeting. Kempf said Stutsman attended a meeting and was quite pleased and impressed that he and Novak Design Group Representative Gary Landhauser were present and keeping track of things. Kempf and Landhauser are meeting with the contractors every other Friday at 11:00 a.m. in the Secondary Roads Conference Room. On alternating Fridays Kempf is meeting onsite with Neumann Monson Architects representatives.
Meyers asked if there was any progress in terms of the floor plan for offices and the Boardroom. Kempf said no. Kempf said they need to determine what needs to be done to upgrade the HVAC system. Meyers was thinking of minor differences in the layout of the Boardroom. Harney asked if the layout included a secondary exit. Kempf said there was a secondary exit out into the hallway. Neuzil said that as the County continues to grow more meetings would take place at the HHS Building. R. Sullivan asked if they were ready to bid out the project. Kempf said they were not at that point yet and added that they will refine the plans, run them by the Board, will write the full construction documents, and then start the bidding process. Kempf explained that a full set of plans and specifications has to be in place when the advertisement comes out in the paper for a notice of a public hearing. Kempf is looking to start the bidding process by the end of May 2008.
Kempf said it needs to be decided whether they would submit the bid as one big project or break it up into smaller projects. R. Sullivan said that if they do it as a big project they would be able to access TIF dollars for three or four years. Kempf said money has already been set aside for the project. Harney prefers doing it as one project because bringing in different contractors could create problems and duplications. Neuzil said that if a new HVAC system is installed the whole project would cost more than $1.2 million. Harney wanted to make sure things were corrected and not just improved. Kempf said they would not be able to fix all the problems 100% because it just wasn't feasible to do that while trying to be energy-efficient.
Neuzil said there had been a lot of talk about the communication between the Physical Plant and the Conservation Department. Kempf said there was no conversation between the two departments. Neuzil said that was a problem. R. Sullivan said that if the Conservation Department chooses not to use Kempf they would have to keep the Board informed of progress.
Neuzil said the Board has five groups working on different Strategic Plans. M. Sullivan said the next meeting should be used to set benchmarks and timelines for things to be achieved. Neuzil said he had met with Meyers about the Green Initiatives long ago and was hoping the following meeting was just a refresher to get everyone back on track. M. Sullivan would create the action plans for the meetings so everyone stays on task. Neuzil said there were two Supervisors for each Strategic Plan.
R. Sullivan asked if there were any joint meetings coming up. M. Sullivan said there were none. Neuzil said he has continued trying to get someone to respond about the township meetings and has not gotten any responses. R. Sullivan asked if any Joint Cities Meetings were scheduled. M. Sullivan said Coralville was still the host. Neuzil asked M. Sullivan to investigate possible dates for the meeting. Neuzil said they would have an update from Durrant, about the Jail, on April 24, 2008. Neuzil added that the Planning Council meeting would be on April 23, 2008.
Adjourned at 11:59 a.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2008
By John Deeth, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on May 5, 2008 at 12:45 p.m.