MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
SEPTEMBER 16, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Reports/Updates From Department Heads
Scheduling Date And Time Of Next Meeting
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, Terrence Neuzil, and Larry Meyers.
Department heads present were: Ambulance Director Steve Spenler, City Assessor Dennis Baldridge, Conservation Department Director Harry Graves, County Attorney Janet Lyness, County Auditor Tom Slockett, County Engineer Greg Parker, County Recorder Kim Painter, County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, County Treasurer Tom Kriz, Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson, 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/Disabilities Services Director Kris Artley, Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak, Public Health Director Douglas Beardsley, SEATS Director Tom Brase, Social Services Director Amy Correia, and Veterans Affairs Commission Director Leo Baier. Staff present were: County Deputy Assessor Gary Bilyeu, Board of Supervisors Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne, and Auditor’s Office Recording Secretary Nancy Tomkovicz.
Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek said that R. Sullivan sent out an email to Department Heads asking them to report to Human Resources any exceptions within their department that are not currently in the employee handbook. The Board is currently reviewing some departmental exceptions at this time. Shramek reminded department heads to follow the employee handbook and said exceptions to policies should not be made. She said if policy provisions are problematic to the departmental operations, they need to tell a Board member or Human Resources staff person. Shramek said it is important that employees, especially non-bargaining employees, are treated consistently.
R. Sullivan said they received responses from a few departments but not all. He said that if department heads don't respond, the assumption is that they don't have any issues that are outside the scope of handbook. R. Sullivan said, if any of the department heads come across anything where practice differs from written policy, they need to tell a Human Resources staff right away.
Shramek said Coralville is hosting the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) Fall School this year and will host for the next three years. Shramek said the Board thought it would be good for her to review the reimbursement or non-reimbursement expectation of meals for County employees who attend. She said this topic has been somewhat difficult for her to address, because she has never attended an ISAC event, doesn't know how the registration process works, and is not familiar with the affiliates. She said she thinks it will be a discussion rather than her telling how things should or should not be done.
Shramek said meals within the county are generally non-reimbursable. She said she has checked with Polk County and learned that meals at local meetings are not reimbursable. Shramek said, if the registration fee includes the meal, that meal would be paid. She said this year boxed lunches will be served on both days and if the meal has a separate identifiable charge associated with it, that meal is taxable for employees, because it is not associated with an overnight stay. She said it will be reported and the W2 will be adjusted accordingly. Shramek said if it doesn't include a separate identifiable charge, they don't know how much it is and therefore it isn't taxable.
Shramek said, if there is a separate registration for the affiliate, and it includes a dinner, the expectation is that the individuals attend the dinner. She said they are expected by the affiliate and department head to attend and so her personal opinion is that that meal should be reimbursable, but that is not covered in the employee handbook. Shramek thought it should be reimbursable at actual cost, because that may be less or more than the pre diem for in-state. County Attorney Janet Lyness said, if the meal is part and parcel of the conference, and the meal is served during part of the meeting, it should be acceptable. She said, if it is separate and is an identifiable cost, that's different. Shramek said the whole point of the policy is that residents have more options than people who come from out of town. She said at the same time they need to be reasonable and recognize that it can be difficult to take a sack lunch to a remote location where there is no refrigerator or microwave. Shramek said she doesn't want County staff or Board members excusing themselves from networking with people at the conference, so they can go to their car to get their egg salad sandwich out of their cooler. She said, at the same time, she doesn't think it should be open-ended. Shramek said she doesn't know if anyone else has any thoughts about this.
Neuzil asked what was done in the past for the Fall School. There was some group discussion, but no one remembered exactly what was done in the past. County Engineer Greg Parker asked if the ISAC registration for this year includes a box lunch. Shramek said yes. Shramek said in the evenings there will be hospitality rooms with hors d'oeuvres and in this situation meals should not be reimbursed, because she thinks people could find plenty of food there for a dinner. Neuzil said he doesn't remember the County paying for meals at meetings in town. He thinks everyone is on their own for breakfast and supper.
Public Health Director Doug Beardsley asked if an affiliate activity occurs in the evening with a meal integral to the meeting, is that meal reimbursed at cost. Shramek said she thinks it should be. She said, if the County employee is at the Amana Colonies for example, the employee should be reimbursed for the actual cost of the meal, even if it is over the per diem, because the employee doesn't have a choice. Shramek said all this is situational and there is a mixed bag of guidelines. County Recorder Kim Painter said sometimes people just get together for dinner with people they want to network with. She said, if she makes a choice to go out to dinner she would not request reimbursement for that meal. Painter said she would expect some of her peers would though, because they are out of their home community.
Parker asked for clarification of per diem reimbursement. He said some things have changed in the past month. Parker said he recently submitted a request for reimbursement for out of state per diem and it was modified by the Auditor's Office to adjust the per diem for the date of departure and the return date, which each qualify for in-state per diem. He said this was new to him and so he is asking for clarification. Shramek said she would need more information on the individual situation, but that nothing has changed. Parker said this is the first time he has been questioned on this and he'd like to know how to submit future reimbursement requests. R. Sullivan said this clarification would be useful to everyone. He said lunch in the airport in New York City versus Des Moines would be quite different.
R. Sullivan asked Shramek to check with Deputy Auditor Dana Aschenbrenner to inquire how to interpret the regulations and to report on this at the next Department Heads meeting. Shramek said she will and she asked Parker to provide her with more particulars on his situation. Spenler said his reimbursement request was also recently adjusted to reflect in-state versus out-of-state per diem.
Shramek said the vehicle usage policy currently reads that distractions, such as the use of handheld cell phones, eating, and reading printed materials are strongly discouraged while driving. She informed the group that soon text messaging will be added to this policy. Shramek said not only does text messaging jeopardize the driver's life and their passengers' lives, but it poses great financial risk through liability to the County. She said there is no reason she can think that people need to be text messaging while driving. Stutsman said it will be interesting to learn the outcome of the recent commuter train wreck to learn if the engineer was in fact sending text messages.
SEATS Director Tom Brase said things are going pretty good and they are very busy. He said SEATS just made the expenditure for the bus wash. Ambulance Director Steve Spenler asked when the wash will be operational. County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said the rescue truck can go through just fine. Brase projected the wash would be operationally by the end of November, 2008. He said they had a positive survey response through paratransit. Pulkrabek asked if they have a system to bill departments for the car wash? Pulkrabek said they are willing to pay for the wash. Brase said it isn't too much and they will not worry about that.
R. Sullivan said a question has come up regarding some adjusted claims due to meal reimbursements during travel in state and out of state. R. Sullivan asked Aschenbrenner what they need to be doing for that situation.
Aschenbrenner replied, if the individuals are traveling out of state and that is their ultimate destination, he thinks they will still be paid reimbursable expenses during that time, whether they eat their meal here or not. Stutsman said the question was whether the employee should submit in-state or out-of-state reimbursement requests. Aschenbrenner said it will come down to individual situations. He said, if a person lunches in Iowa, then it is probably the lower level than lunch in Chicago.
Aschenbrenner said it is a difficult question and he suggested using common sense when filling out the reimbursement request. If the meal was actually eaten in Iowa, the form should state that, other than that he doesn't have a whole lot of direction. Aschenbrenner said that seems to him to be a reasonable way to do so. Stutsman said that is what department heads have been asking. She summarized by saying that the person will be reimbursed wherever they are eating the meal. Aschenbrenner said that makes sense to him.
Facilities Manager Dave Kempf said he still would like to know who is responsible for making the determination whether it is in-state or out-of-state. He asked if the employee should take care of that when they fill out the form, or is that something the Auditor's Office will adjust for. Aschenbrenner said, if Kempf could do so on his end, that would be best. He said the question comes down to how much fact-finding they would have to do in the Auditor's Office. Kempf said that is what he is talking about.
Kempf said for example, if he left at 6:00 a.m. his meals will be eaten out-of-state, but it seemed like the Auditor's automatically changed that to the Iowa per diem rate. Aschenbrenner said he is not aware of that happening and asked Kempf for more details. Kempf said he thinks that Spenler's and Parker's forms were changed. Aschenbrenner said they are just trying to match it up with the reality. He said if it takes three hours to travel to the border, and the employee leave at 10:00 a.m., it would be assumed lunch was within the state of Iowa. Aschenbrenner said with Parker's specific request, he has submitted a mileage reimbursement request but not at the correct rate and the Auditor's Office changed that. He said that is the only other change he is aware of recently. Kempf said it should be up to the department head to determine whether it should be the Iowa rate or the out-of-state rate. Pulkrabek added, especially if the employee has the discretion to decide when and where they want to eat.
County Auditor Tom Slockett said there are also IRS rules that have to be observed. He said he understands there is a 50 miles rule, which states if the meal is eaten within 50 miles of the border, it is considered in-state. Slockett said it is clear that specific direction needs to be given, and also the Auditor's Office needs more specificity about where the meal is eaten. He said if it is eaten on a day where travel is in and out of state, the Auditor's Offices needs to know that. Neuzil said they use the per diem, because in a bigger city, supper can be $50, so the employee decides to skip lunch knowing they will have an expensive supper and it evens itself out. Neuzil asked how to deal with that.
Aschenbrenner said the Auditor's Office requires the registration forms to be on file and they have the breakout by meal within the per diem. He said, if lunch is included in the registration cost, the per diem is reduced by the cost for lunch. Aschenbrenner said the Auditor's will not know if they skip lunch or other meals and they always pay the per diem if the employee is at the meeting the entire day. Kempf clarified that the Auditor's Office would like detailed information on where and when meals are consumed only on travel days. Aschenbrenner said he thinks that is the only appropriate time to do so.
Neuzil asked if others feel there is any need to make the reimbursement forms more specific. Aschenbrenner said it is a fairly new policy, so they expect some bumps in the road. He said compliance and having everyone on the same page will just take a little time to understand. Aschenbrenner said, if there are any questions, employees should call the Auditor's Office. Account Clerk Mydge Krob said she would like of the employees to fill in the departure and return times, because those are the times the Auditor Office refers to in determining how the meals qualify. Krob said, if the employee leaves home before 7:00 a.m. they may claim breakfast. If they depart home before noon, they may claim lunch. Lunch on the return day may be claimed only if the return is after 1:00 p.m. and dinner may be claimed only if the return to home is after 6:00 p.m.
Parker said that recently the Board increased the mileage reimbursement rate. He asked if it is a violation of the policy for someone to request less than what the amount is. Parker said in his case he requested less and asked if he can do that. He explained that he is just trying to minimize travel expenses. Aschenbrenner said he wouldn't say it is a violation of any policy per se, but they do try to standardize the rate, so people are getting what they deserve. He said that is the reason they have increased Parker's.
Parker said, if he comes back again for mileage reimbursement, looking at the differential in costs, maybe he should reduce the mileage reimbursement request, so the amount is closer to what his actual expenses would be for the trip round trip. Aschenbrenner said he wouldn't adjust the mileage rate, and thinks it needs to be standard across the departments. He said, otherwise, if there is a situation like a personality conflict between the department head and the employee, the department head might penalize the employee by saying the employee is not deserving of the mileage rate and the County does not want to get into that. Shramek said absolutely not.
R. Sullivan asked Parker what his reasoning is. He asked Parker if Parker is worried about departmentally going over certain line items in the budget. Parker said no, his whole trip was covered by an outside source. He said he requested cash in advance to cover gas, because he drove his personal vehicle round trip. Parker explained he checked air fares and the fares were $700, so he decided to request less than what the flight would cost but just enough to cover his expenses driving round trip. He said he requested a lesser amount. R. Sullivan asked if driving would have been $50 more. Parker said, according to the policy, it would have been about $300 more than the flight. He said it was his choice to drive and that is why he requested a lesser mileage rate. Shramek asked Parker where he was going.
Parker said he just wants to make sense of it, because he thinks it is not a penalization of an employee, it was his travel and his request for himself. He said he didn't want that much money and he just wanted enough to pay for the round trip. Parker said it doesn't state in the policy that it can't be done or it doesn't state the employee has to ask for the exact amount. He said he thinks there is something to the effect that it can be discussed. Shramek said, if she understands correctly, Parker is being reimbursed for that trip and Parker will then reimburse the County for the costs but it will be a wash, right. Parker replied the expenses were 100% reimbursed by the American Public Works Association (APWA). Shramek asked if Parker got the money in advance from the County. Parker said yes. Shramek said APWA will reimburse Parker and Parker would then reimburse the County. Aschenbrenner said Parker has already reimbursed the County. Parker said he submitted a personal check for overpayment because it was more than he had requested. He said he submitted his actual costs.
Parker said all he was trying to do was minimize his travel expenses as much as possible and that is good common sense on their end to do so. Slockett said another way to handle a situation such as this is to follow policy and still write a check to the County General Fund any time you want to. He said that way it won't interfere with administration of the policy. Parker said the way he submitted his sheet is that he used the old mileage rate and there must have been some confusion with people thinking he made a calculation error. Slockett said that is right.
R. Sullivan said it sounds like with more work on the front end, talking with the Auditor's Office, they could figure out how to best handle that type of situation. Medical Examiner Administrator Michael Hensch asked if it is fairly common that a person would want to drive their personal vehicle if the mileage would be more than the plane fares. He asked how to adjust for that. Aschenbrenner said technically within the policy, the employee is supposed to take the most economical mode of travel. Hensch said if employees don't, is there a mechanism for making an adjustment. Slockett said it would seem rational to allow people to drive but would have to ask County Insurance Agent of Record Bob Saunders.
R. Sullivan said that when department heads or elected officials sign off on a travel request, they are essentially giving their approval. He said, if a person doesn't take the most economical route, the department head or elected official either approves it or doesn't. Stutsman asked if the policy says the claim can be denied if the employee didn't take the more economical route. R. Sullivan said he thinks that would be the job of the department head. Slockett said all the vouchers are signed and authorized by the department supervisor. He said if the Board wants the Auditor's Office to just stop doing the checking because the vouchers have been authorized, he thinks that opens up a can of worms.
Shramek said the County needs to have a checks and balance system. Stutsman agreed. Public Health Director Douglas Beardsley said in some situations, when the mileage exceeds a certain point, it is actually more economical to rent a car. He said there was a policy that the department would pay up to the most economical rate. Beardsley said, if the employee wanted to do more, they could, but they would only be reimbursed for the most economical option. He asked if that is doable within the framework of the policies. Aschenbrenner said he thinks that is something that can be implemented.
Neuzil said he can see a situation with the NACo conference in Nashville in 2009. He said it may be cheaper to fly than to drive, but driving may be more convenient. Neuzil asked if he discovers flying is cheaper, but he chooses to drive so he can return home sooner, can he ask for reimbursement for the amount it would have cost to fly. Aschenbrenner said he doesn't think the form is set up for that, but it is something they can look into. R. Sullivan asked who checks these costs. Stutsman said the Auditor's Office checks. Meyers asked Aschenbrenner if he checks airfares. Aschenbrenner said he does check if he thinks the request is out of line. R. Sullivan asked how they check airfares because they change so much. Aschenbrenner said a lot of times vouchers for mileage, travel, and such are submitted before the traveling occurs. R. Sullivan asked if they go to Price Line and check. Aschenbrenner said yes.
Parker said Secondary Roads had an issue with this. He said when he submitted his request for travel at least a month and a half before the date of travel, the flights were listed at $750. Parker said when it got closer to the travel date, he was monitoring the flights and the cost went down and he does not know why the cost dropped. Neuzil said airlines drop the prices all the time. Parker said about two weeks out from his trip, the roundtrip fare was around $550. As a department director, he is just trying to minimize expenses and make sense of what those expenses are. Parker said sometimes it is more economical to drive even though the flight may be cheaper, because a person can sit in the airport for 10 hours and drive in three and a half.
Stutsman said they are still saying they will be reimbursed, just not the total reimbursement. She said an individual still has the flexibility to drive, but they should not expect to be reimbursed mile for mile. Parker said he just wants clarification if they have the flexibility to do so. R. Sullivan said it will behoove them all to be in contact with Accounts Payable before they try one of these options to make sure they are doing things correctly.
Slockett said maybe they can look at the form and think of some ways to incorporate some of these nuances into the form. He said they will know whether the policy is understandable. Shramek said they are talking about exceptions to normal travel, and the form should be developed for the majority, and then exceptions can be written out. Aschenbrenner said a note attached to the form explaining the logic would be sufficient. Shramek said the Auditor's Office gets audited and they need to have proper documentation. Slockett said there are a lot of claims and multiple exceptions every week.
Brase asked if forms are supposed to be turned in before the travel with estimates, and then afterwards with the actual payments. Aschenbrenner said not necessarily. He said, if payments are advanced, the payout is generally for the per diem. Aschenbrenner said that people don't know their actual mileage until they arrive back home. He said that includes airfare or prepaid hotels, if the person has already taken the hit financially. Aschenbrenner said each situation is a little different. He said, if department heads are capping someone at a certain dollar amount, the Auditor's Office needs to be informed of why it is being done, so the Auditor's staff doesn't have to follow up on everything. Slockett said his only point in pointing out there are multiple exceptions is that maybe the Auditor's Office could modify the form. Parker said he just wants to make sure everyone understands each other and the Auditor's Office understands what is going on. Slockett agreed and said employees need to know what the rules are.
Stutsman said maybe they need to talk about use of County vehicles driving to a County meeting. She asked if the policy also says that if there is a County vehicle going and available to drive to a meeting, technically a person shouldn't be reimbursed if the employee drives their private vehicle and doesn't go in the County vehicle. Stutsman asked if that is correct. Budget Coordinator Richard Claiborne said on behalf of Saunders, he said anytime employees can use a County vehicle or rental vehicle they should do so, because of the liability issues. Stutsman said it will help Information Services Director Jean Shultz, who is working on a program to identify who is taking a County vehicle to a meeting. She said that right now it is haphazard, and that it will be much easier to know who is going and who is taking a County vehicle. R. Sullivan asked if they are asking the Auditor's Office to do the research to find out if there is an available vehicle. Aschenbrenner said they rely on department heads. R. Sullivan asked if that is the department head's responsibility. Slockett asked if they should take a van or a truck. Beardsley said they should be looking at stretching their departmental budgets. He said he wouldn't expect the Auditor's Office to check on the going rate for vehicles.
Stutsman said everyone knows that if someone turns in a claim to go to a meeting, and all there is are meals and no mileage, it is known a County vehicle was driven. Aschenbrenner said it could also indicate the County bought them a plane ticket. Parker said it could indicate that the employee drove their personal vehicle and they are requesting reimbursement. Slockett said the form has a check box to indicate if an employee used the County vehicle. Aschenbrenner said usually, from an economic standpoint, that the upkeep is built into the budget. He said they are basically paying for the gas, which generally costs less than $0.42 per mile.
Slockett said he doesn't agree with that. He said the County has all the cost appreciation, maintenance, insurance, and licensing and those are all paid for by the individual which is why the rates are so high, because the Federal Government has determined that is the real cost of driving the vehicle. Slockett said it can be argued that if all the employees drove their own cars and were reimbursed, and the County would have cars of it's own, it would be cheaper. He said if everyone used the County cars, the County would have to buy many more cars. Slockett said there are pros and cons to argue what is most economical.
Stutsman said if the County van sits out all weekend long, and everyone else drives their own car, that makes no sense. Slockett said oftentimes the Auditor's Office staff can't find an available vehicle when one is needed. Stutsman said she hasn't had that problem. She said she will check with Planning and Zoning. Aschenbrenner said it depends on the length of the travel. Stutsman said, like she has said, the program will help a lot when that gets up and running.
Johnson County Conservation Director Harry Graves said visitor numbers are up 7,000 over last year and camper use at Kent Park is up almost 22% since last year. He said Hills and River Junction were impacted by the flood, but have been cleaned up and the Hills Access is getting a lot of camper use. Graves said the River Junction area was just sheeted. He said September 16, 2008 is the first application to sign up for the annual deer hunt. Graves said it is for bow hunters and they will issue 100 licenses to 30 bow hunters. He said there will be another licensing application on September 27, 2008, which will include any remaining bow licenses available to those 30 hunters, and 60 shot gun licenses to 40 hunters.
Parker said Secondary Roads employee Bob Mahoney just achieved over 30 years of service with the County. Parker asked people to congratulate him for his commitment to the County. Parker said Stutsman and he did a road tour and saw the Calkins Aveneue bridge replacement near the Linn-Johnson Road in the very northwest part of the County. He said they are fast-tracking that job and it should be opened in the next 30-45 days, weather permitting. Parker said 500th Street, which is west of Frytown to the Iowa County line, is being reconstructed. He said they put the base down for that road, and it should be done within the next 30 days. Parker said Secondary Roads is just getting in some equipment and the staff is starting to think about winter. Hopefully there won't be another winter like 2007-2008.
Social Services Director Amy Correia said the Social Services Department is in the final stages of hiring for a Community Project Specialist. She said the person in this position will work on the Community Partnership Initiative in the County and disproportionate minority contacts. She hopes to hire the specialist by next week and have them start work around October 1, 2008. Correia said in the meantime she is trying to cover the Community Partnership activities. She said the Community Partnership operates the after-school program at Savannah Village, and they have negotiated a nice collaboration with the owner of the housing complex and it is a partnership with Grace Community Church. Correia said Grace Church will also provides a meal once a month at Savannah Village.
Correia said the Social Services Department is also working on a family support and after-school program with youth and family at Breckenridge Mobile Home Park in rural Johnson County. She said it is a pretty isolated area and the kids go to school at Lemme Elementary School. Correia said they are going to start a pilot after-school program in the spring, which will include Neighborhood Centers, Iowa State Extension, and the School District. She said the response from the families and school has been great.
Correia said she and Mental Health/Disabilities Services Director Kris Artley are on the Aging and Disability Resource Center, and is a pilot that elder services apply to the State for Federal funds to create an aging and disability resource center in the county. She said there is a kick-off for the Center on September 19, 2008 at noon at Elder Services. Correia said during the kickoff there will be an unveiling of the Livable Community for Successful Aging website. Correia said it won’t be fully completed, but people will be able to view the structure of the website. She said it will cover topics such as helping people stay in their homes, resources when an elderly person needs to not be at home as well as other social and recreational resources available in Johnson County.
Mental Health/Disabilities Services Director Kris Artley said MH/DS is coming off of a whirl wind of a summer when everything came to a head at once. Now the staff is either involved with cleanup detail or wrestling with the powers that be. She said they are still awaiting the results of the case management and preservation survey that was conducted in July 2008. Artley said in July 2007, the legislature approved legislation which required counties’ mental health services start going based on residency as opposed to legal settlement. She said they have a myriad of issues there and they decided they would be very gracious in allowing the Counties to wrestle with the problems. She said the legislature decided that after they get the issues results, they would write the rules.
Artley said she received a draft copy of the rules on September 14, 2008. She said now the staff will need to figure out if the rules will actually work, because there are so many nuances that people never even dreamed about in trying to get legal settlements to go away. Artley said the Quality Assurance (QA) Specialist who was hired last December 2007, has worked very, very diligently in trying to resolve some back billing issues for target case management. Artley said they have had a tremendous number of outstanding units of service which have been denied over the course of time. She said as of this week, the QA Specialist was down to 32 situations, and they are is very happy with those results.
Artley said she received Project Recovery Program information from R. Sullivan. She explained the program is put on by the State of Iowa through the Department of Human Services. She said essentially it is a hotline as a result of the tornados and disastrous flooding. Artley said the intent is to empower survivors and teach some coping skills, assess their immediate needs, and guide people to resources for ongoing support. She said the services that will be offered will be individual and group crisis counseling, educational services, and referrals. Artley said the toll free number is 1-800-447-1985, and confidential counseling is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Artley said they are expanding the number of positions on the Planning Council, so there is a better array of people to bounce ideas off of for future planning for Mental Health Services. She said they have now filled all but two positions. Artley said she and MH/DS Assistant Director Jan Shaw have been re-invited to the Parent’s Transition night in October 2008. She said Parent's Transition night is to inform parents of 16 and 17 year olds understand what they need to do in case their child needs adult services when they turn 18.
Artley said another thing they are wrestling with is the Services Management Plan, which after it was approved, was challenged by the Attorney General’s Office. Artley said the sentence in question is the one which states that anyone with a primary diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, Dementia, or substance abuse would not be eligible for mental health services. She said what MH/DS was emphasizing was if a person has a primary diagnosis of a mental health issue, but secondarily has Dementia, Alzheimer's or a substance abuse condition, they would still be eligible for service.
Artley said the Attorney General's Office position is that Alzheimer’s and Dementia are mental health issues yet, according to the Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer’s and Dementia are physical deteriorations. She said she is getting no response from anyone except the Community Services Consultant, who said the State will not approve the plan unless that one sentence is omitted. Artley said she defers to the Board. She said it is a major point of contention for her, because she has dealt with the issue for many years. She said the very idea that the Attorney General's Office is considering Alzheimer’s as a mental health issue is an insult. Artley said she is deferring to the Board, because the plan will not be approved without removing that sentence.
Artley said they have four staff members that go to the University of Iowa Psychiatric Unit and on occasion they have trouble getting off the units. She asked if MH/DS staff should have a County ID Badge and she said she assumes those are obtained from the DOT. Pulkrabek said he thinks Artley should meet with Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson, who has an ID making machine. He said Wilson could create IDs for Artley's staff. Pulkrabek said they have created IDs for people who need to be in the EOC. Beardsley said he sends Public Health employees to the DOT and they get the County ID cards for a dollar. Pulkrabek said he thought the DOT quit issuing the ID's. Neuzil said they are back to doing so. Beardsley said he paid for his and then got reimbursed.
R. Sullivan said, if the ID is made in California, they could be reimbursed $1.25. Stutsman said from time to time the Communications Committee has discussed County-wide ID's. Kempf said that with the current new buildings keycard discussions, he thinks it would be a good opportunity for the County to move towards a uniform identification badge. Stutsman said it seems like Johnson County is the only one that doesn't have one. Kempf said the discussions usually get hung up on whether to require employees to display the identification badge during work hours and whether it should include the first and last name or just the last name. He said they have never quite completed that discussion, because some people have strong feelings about it. Kempf said other entities all have them. The University of Iowa, the school districts, the City of Iowa City, they all have them and it is just time that the County has identification badges also.
County Recorder Kim Painter reported that the Recorder's summer school was held last week. She said they have been busy as always. Painter said the ISAC Board's annual retreat is scheduled for September 18 and 19, 2008 in Creston, home county of Mike King. She said she will attend that as one of her last meetings as an ISAC past president.
Painter said that after the flood, she was disappointed with the timeliness of State issued proclamations for Recorders. She said these proclamations gave Recorder's the ability to issue free duplicate snow and ATV registrations from the DNR and also free duplicate birth, death, and marriage certificates for people whose documents were damaged in the flood. Painter said the Recorder's Office initially charged for the duplicate documents, because there was no provision for issuing free documents. After the proclamations were issued, only a few people got their freebees. On August 23, 2008, the state announced they would again begin charging for duplicate documents.
Painter said she is disappointed, because she thought they should have provided better service with their partners at the State, and that things should have happened quicker and allowed to run a little longer. Painter said she knows of a lot of regulations that affect that, but it was too bad that more people couldn't take advantage of this opportunity. She said she is not aware of any complaints and that people seem fine to be doing what they are doing. She said it is one issue that seems to be a “kinks in the pipeline” kind of issue.
Iowa City Assessor Baldridge said it is a slow period in their office right now and there are no assessment notices going out or Board of Review hearings. Baldridge said the first hearing with the new Iowa Property Assessment Appeal Board is scheduled for September 22, 2008. Baldridge said the City Attorney’s Office is handling that for them and they are grateful for that. Baldridge said another problem they are working on is what to do with the valuation of the flooded properties. He said they can tell what the damage is, but it will require some very intense work to determine the real loss of property value. Baldridge said overall sales so far this year and last year look pretty flat with the 2007 values. He said, based on this, there won’t be any big increases for 2009 in valuations.
Deputy County Assessor Gary Bilyeu said that during the peak day of the flood, they took some aerial photography. The public can go to the Assessor’s website if anyone wants to see the flood impact in Iowa City, Coralville, and surrounding areas. Bilyeu said the public can also go to the newsletter where there is a hotlink where viewers can look up any property. He said the flight took place on June 15, 2008 just a few hours after the flood crested. Bilyeu said he will make sure everyone knows it is available online.
Bilyeu said County real estate values have gone down about 2%, which from a budget and an assessment standpoint is not really significant and they will not do anything with the 2009 year. Bilyeu said most of the residential flooding was in the City of Iowa City and they will let the City Assessor handle those properties. He said the Coralville strip, with so many commercial properties, is more of the County's concern. Bilyeu said either the businesses were cleaned up and reopened right away, before the first home football game, or they didn’t reopen and hence probably never will. He said they will probably sell the property and have it torn down, and the sale price will most likely exceed the total assessment. Bilyeu said the biggest change in values will happen next year, especially agriculturally. He said no one is talking about it much now but come next summer it will become a hot issue. He said they will see significant increases in agricultural value like they have never seen before.
Public Health Director Doug Beardsley said he has a few things. He said they did team up with Iowa State University and Vista volunteers to conduct mosquito surveillance after the flood. Beardsley said it just confirmed that there were more mosquitoes after the flood. He said the thing they are looking at is the types of species, some carry disease and others don't. He said those ratios were normal. Beardsley said Johnson County Public Health was recognized with the Iowa Department of Public Health for emergency response coordination during the floods. He said on September 30, 2008, they are having their Pandemic Influenza Multi-Disciplinary Planning meeting.
County Auditor Tom Slockett said, believe it or not, next Thursday, September 25, 2008, is the first day voters can vote in person in the Presidential Election. He said individuals can vote at the counter or at the Early Bird satellite location, traditional for presidential elections, at the Iowa City Public Library. Slockett said there will be people coming to the Administrative Building to vote, so they will be taking up parking spaces. He said he thinks that Kempf said employees can park in the National Guard Armory lot and asked if that will be open to the public. Kempf said yes. He said the property still belongs to the National Guard, but they have given permission for others to park there. Neuzil said it would be helpful if the County vehicles parked in the public spots could be moved. He said he knows the Assessor uses some of those spots. Kemps said he will try to move those.
Slockett said he would give up his reserved spot if he thought it would go to the public. Neuzil asked that people visiting the Administration Building on County business should park in the Armory lot to free up space in the Administration Building lot. Slockett said four years ago parking was a big problem because people couldn’t find a place to park. He said as you know, parking spots in the area are hard to find. Kempf said he doesn’t think they can advertise the Armory lot as public parking. Slockett asked if people park in the lot, will they be allowed to stay. Kempf said he will not police the lot, because he already has enough to do.
Slockett encouraged everyone who routinely parks in the Administration Building lot to park in other areas. Kempf said, another idea is, if a member of the public is parked in their space, they can let the public know there is a space at the Armory lot for them. He said everyone will just have to work through everything the best they can. Slockett said four years ago voters would park in the reserved spots thinking they would only be here for ten minutes but they didn’t think that once they pulled out the next person would think exactly the same thing. He said it got to be a big problem and there were a lot of complaints from employees and voters who couldn’t find places to park.
Slockett said as the election draws near there is going to be a lot of traffic. He said there are a lot of records predicted for this election, including a record high voter registration. He said he thinks there will also be an all-time record voter turnout. He said the Auditor’s Office is not seeing an increase in requests for early voting. Slockett said they are down by about 2,700 or 2,800 requests compared to the same period before the election four years ago. He said that may mean those people will try to vote on Election Day, which means the office could even be busier. Slockett asked employees to let his department know if there are problems with parking and if their places are taken. He said his department doesn’t have time to police the parking lot either, but maybe they can make the "reserve" signs more obvious. Slockett said parking was a big problem four years ago and the Auditor's Office felt bad about it, but there was virtually nothing they could do about it.
Kempf said he has a list of what needs to happen across the street before Thanksgiving. He said he has another list just like it for what needs to be done at SEATS and Secondary Roads. He said it is amazing, not yet overwhelming, and he is fairly confident they will meet the new completion date at the end of November 2008 and start moving people into the building in December. Kempf said everyone is working very hard and he understands that every day they go past the end of October 2008 are days that they didn't have in their contract, so they actually start to loose money and are focused on getting things done as quickly as possible.
Kempf said SEATS and Secondary Roads is going along very well. He said the exterior brick is done, the windows are in and 75% of the sheet rock is up. Kempf said there have been some minor issues with duct work and heat pump units. He said the interior insulation and trimming is being installed in the garage and garage doors will follow shortly. He said he met with Tom Brase and a representative for the bus wash. Kempf said there is the possibility to get a bus lift for one of the wash units. He said S and G Construction has been very proactive about dealing with the weather and trying to make up ground whenever possible.
Kempf said in spite of the winter, spring, rain, and the floods, the projects are still coming along well. Kempf said he hates to admit this, but he has ordered his first few pallets of ice melt already. He said LEED certification on the MH/DS building across the street seems to be on track and they haven’t run into any huge obstacles yet. He said Maintenance Supervisor Shari Butler has done a great job stepping in for him in a leadership role to take some of the day to day pressure off. Beardsley asked if Kent Park has broke ground on any of the buildings. Kempf said he doesn’t know and he hasn't seen any plans for it. Meyers said he does not think so. Lyness said she thinks there will be a meeting on September 17, 2008, to work on getting a contract for LEED certifications. Neuzil said they will be getting final review on October 15, 2008, when the Board meets with Conservation. He said he thinks there will be a spring 2009 letting and the project will begin in the summer of 2009.
Juvenile Court Administrator Lloyd Smith said in relationship to the building, he said they will probably hear from their IT people. Kempf added Smith will probably be hearing from him after the meeting. Smith said Stutsman, Correia, and he visited the Central Iowa Detention Center and attended one of their Board meetings. He said they have a very nice detention center and it costs less than the County’s. There are some things to consider, but Smith doesn't anticipate any changes in how the County uses detention anytime soon. Smith said one of the issues they need to take into consideration is that to become a member, they have to participate in a 28E Agreement. Smith said the County will have to examine how it impacts them in terms of debt liability and civil liability.
Smith said they can actually be a party to two agreements at one time. He said they can still maintain their contract at Linn County and also have a contract with Central Iowa. Smith said they are beginning to do cost analysis for the future. Smith said the overall numbers of kids remain the same; however, the percentage of kids in different age brackets change. Smith said they have spent approximately a little under half a million dollars on detention and about $200,000 for shelter. Those costs are significant and something the County must constantly examine. The County also pays for a Disproportionate Minority Contact Coordinator (DMC). The DMC position will roll over into the position that Correia is getting ready to hire. He said the County has a distinct interest in that position, because hopefully in the future that committee will be making recommendations as to how to reduce the number of kids in detention, which will ultimately impact the cost to the County.
Veterans Affairs Commission Director Leo Baier said County received $10,000 from the County Grant Warrant from the State. The grant will be used for rental assistance and must be expended by June 30, 2009. Baier said their last half of FEMA has not been received to-date. He said he understands there has been some turmoil at FEMA headquarters. Baier said Shelter House Executive Director Crissy Canganelli informed them at their quarterly meeting that hopefully the FEMA funds will be available at the end of the month. He said they have $1,187.50 left and anything over $5.00 they will have to return. Baier said POWMI is on September 19, 2008. He said the National Guard Armory was the past site for the event, but has since been moved to the Solon High School. Baier said the observance will begin at 10:00 a.m. Baier said Volunteer Coordinator Gary Strank said 30 veterans have been invited. Baier said the Veteran's Affairs Association Fall School is scheduled for October 14-16, 2008, at the Holiday Inn on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines. Baier said he has attended all the schools to-date and will attend this one also. He said it isn't necessarily entertaining, but it is informative and educational.
Ambulance Director Steve Spenler said they did take possession of their new ambulance, an M25. This is an addition to their fleet and Ambulance Service now has six trucks. The M25 was put in service over the weekend. Spenler said he re-bid on the contract with the University to provide services to their ground ambulances. He said he hasn't heard back from them yet. Spenler said Lyness said they did need extra ambulances last weekend and they were extremely busy. He said it ran 68 calls over the weekend and they should see an increase in revenue from the Ames area.
County Attorney Janet Lyness said she thinks the County Attorney's Office had 48 new indictable charges over the weekend. She said that doesn't include the public intoxications, PAULAs, and others. Lyness said they are changing some things with the juvenile court. They have always had an Attorney who does the Child in Need of Assistance termination of parental rights and another Attorney who does the delinquencies and now they are going to combine the two, so both can do both and each will have a backup. She said this may also help address burnout.
She said she is in the process of hiring an assistant County Attorney. Lyness said they started a Drunk Driving Suspension Court about a year ago for people who have their driver license suspended for non-payment of fines. She said if offenders come in and either pay off their fines or set up a payment plan and they pay off all their fines, the County will drop the charge of driving under suspension to something less or even dismiss it. It has been successful in getting quite a few people back licensed and Lyness reported that their office received a letter from a probation officer who was writing on behalf of her probationer. The probationer said it was like he was just so far in the hole for so long when he came into the drunk driving suspension court program. He felt that someone actually cared whether he got his license back, so he got his old fines paid off and he is legally driving now. He had been suspended just for non-payment of fines.
Pulkrabek said Iowa State University came to town and the County Jail had 83 or 84 visitors Sunday morning, September 14, 2008. Pulkrabek said when Ohio State came to town the Jail had 106, so they are 22 arrests below that.
Shramek said she has completed the 509A Compliance From Health Care Fund. She said she is happy to announce they continue to be actuarially settled. Shramek said Collective Bargaining starts officially on September 18, 2008, and there are three contracts opening. Shramek said Human Resources Coordinator Dana Winkowitsch helped Shramek complete an EEOC complaint and is currently at the Public Risk Management Association Safety Conference. Shramek said that Winkowitsch will be reporting the outcome of the RFP for flexible spending to the Board of Supervisors on September 18, 2008. She said Human Resources Coordinator Vanessa Wierman has been very busy with recruiting and is also working with an RFP review committee for the non-bargaining classification compensation study.
Stutsman said she has attended the Financial Wellness meeting last week put on by Hills Bank and there were several employees there. She said it was excellent and she encourages employees to take advantage of that, if it is offered in the future. Stutsman said employees get three hours paid work time to attend a Financial Wellness meeting. She said there is another meeting on IPERS at the end of the month. She said they had another meeting on BidBridge and maybe they would bring it to department heads at some time to see, if there is any interest in it. Stutsman said it is a reverse bidding process and something they might explore on the County level.
R. Sullivan and Kempf agreed that parking should be discussed at the next Department Heads meeting. R. Sullivan said parking issues will need to be addressed as soon as the ramp goes into effect sometime in November, 2008. He said Kempf needs a little more time to address the parking issues and they won't be able to have everything ready to begin on day one of ramp operations. R. Sullivan said December is typically when the Board meets with the State Legislative representatives to discuss State issues of interest to the County.
R. Sullivan asked department heads to consider what statewide issues their departments might want to address and to bring those issues to the November 2008 Department Heads meeting. He said that would give the Board time to compile the information and have things ready for the State Legislatures meeting. He said similarly, if there are any issues on the Federal level that department heads would like to address, the Board will be arranging meetings with Federal Representatives.
Neuzil said the first of the Jail meetings will begin on Wednesday, September 17, 2008, with a presentation by the Durant Group, Inc. He said Durant will present at three public meetings in regards to the Jail and Courthouse, now known as the Justice Center. Neuzil said he thinks there will soon be some concrete drawings from Kempf showing the upgrades planned for the Administration Building.
Meyers said he had many things to report, but the other Board members got to them before he did. Meyers said in light of what the two Assessors were saying, they have budget hearings scheduled at the end of the fall. He cautioned department heads they might want to temper their wishes.
Budget Coordinator Richard Claiborne he will be sending out requests for the fall amendment in about a week or two. He said the budget worksheets will go out in October 2008.
The Board discussed dates and agreed that the next Department Heads meeting will be scheduled for Tuesday, November 18, 2008.
Adjourned at 3:09 p.m.
_____________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2008
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on July 9, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.