MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
OCTOBER 30, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Human Resources Coordinator Vanessa Wierman: Presentation from the Request for Proposal Finalist to Conduct the Classification/Compensation Study for Non-Bargaining Positions in Johnson County.............. 1
Mental Health/Disability Services Director Kris Artley: Finalization of the FY09 Rates Contract with the Community Mental Health Center....................................................................................................... 4
Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia: Update on the Livable Community for Successful Aging Policy Board and its Efforts............................................................................................................................. 6
Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia: Appointment of Members to the Juvenile Justice Youth Development Policy Board.............................................................................................................................. 9
Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia: Decat Contract with Johnson County for Youth Employment and Substance Abuse Contracts (Department 54)..................................................................................... 9
County Engineer Greg Parker: Progress Report...................................................................... 10
Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne: Budget Update................................................................ 16
Reports and Inquiries from Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan.................................................. 17
Executive Session: Evaluation of Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan......................................... 17
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:11 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Human Resources Coordinator Vanessa Wierman said she is present to discuss a recommendation from the RFP Review Workgroup regarding the selection of the Austin Peters Group as Johnson County’s consultant for the classification compensation study for non-bargaining positions. Johnson County has approximately 169 non-bargaining employees. The last comprehensive study conducted by Johnson County occurred in 1997 with Jack A. Lipovac and Associates. At that time, the Board was concerned that pay for management and professional positions was falling behind the market. Also there was no methodology for pay increases. The reason for the current study is to ensure that the current non-bargaining pay plan and structure remains competitive within the market, especially with the growth the County has experienced within the last ten years. The Human Resources Department sent out an RFP on June 20, 2008 for 116 non-bargaining positions and they asked that responses be returned by July 21, 2008. They received nine proposals. Their target implementation date for study recommendations is July 1, 2009.
Wierman said Human Resources staff reviewed the proposals and narrowed them down to five. Then the following group of volunteer members reviewed the top proposals: Building Inspector Neil Bombei, GIS Specialist Jay Geisen, Meyers, Mental Health/Disability Services Assistant Director Jan Shaw, Ambulance Director Steve Spenler, Assistant Office Manager Rhonda Yoder, and Wierman. Wierman said the RFP Review Workgroup evaluated each company on the overall quality of the RFP response, the scope and cost of the services, and experience with public sector entities. She said the field was then narrowed down to the top two candidates who were invited for interviews and they also conducted reference checks on both candidates. The recommendation is unanimous. They recommend the Austin Peters Group. She said they are the finalists because of their background in human resources and public administration, their approachability, flexibility, and experience with public entities in the Midwest.
Wierman said the Austin Peters Group recently conducted similar studies with Iowa City and North Liberty. They received feedback from Iowa City Personnel Administrator Karen Jennings, former City of Iowa City Personnel Administrator Sylvia Mejia, and also former North Liberty Acting City Administrator Tracy Mulcahey. The cost of the study is reasonable for the scope of services offered. The services includes employee education regarding process, customized meetings, and interviews with elected officials, department heads, and managers. They will also conduct position evaluation questionnaires, interviews, and meetings with every employee that wishes to talk to them. That was a strong selling point with the County. They can conduct customized market survey and analysis and training for designated employees to maintain the new plan. With trained employees, the County will not have to hire another consultant in two years. They also offer assistance after implementation at no additional cost.
Wierman said the cost for comprehensive evaluation for the non-bargaining positions and implementation of the plan will not exceed $38,734. The duration of the project is expected to be around four months. A break down of the cost is attached to the executive summary, and the booklet from Austin Peters. The Board has already allocated $200,000 for this study which includes the cost of the consultant and recommended salary adjustments. She said they are asking the Board to approve the RFP Workgroup’s recommendation of the Austin Peters Group as the County's consultant for the non-bargaining classification and compensation study.
Wierman introduced Austin Peters Group, Inc. Founder and President Becky Crowder who will be the project manager for this study and Co-Project Manager Beth Sarco. Crowder handed out brochures and business cards. She said they have been working on a project with Iowa City. Crowder said she has a master's degree in public administration, and others on their staff have degrees in urban planning or human resources. She said 95% of their business is referrals and word of mouth advertising. She thinks that is because they are flexible and they customize their services and focus on the employees. Because they have worked with more than 40 counties they have a lot of knowledge of County systems. They want to maximize the County’s resources and expenditures to remain competitive in the market. They know that Johnson County has quality people in the workforce and they want to help retain them and motivate the existing workforce.
Crowder said in terms of outcomes the things they consider are: employee turnover, using a uniform method for internal equity (looking at all of the positions in a point factor system), and using a uniform method to reduce legal issues and legal litigation going forward. They use a uniform method and a method that employees can understand. She said over the years they have found that one has to be able to explain the methodology to employees because it is important that employees buy-in and know how things are done. She said as a result they have improved morale, increased output, and maximized resources in terms of cost efficiencies.
Crowder said in a classification compensation study there are two steps. The first is to look at internal equity, looking at each position and scoring them against internal factors. The factors they use for internal equity are decision making and supervisory knowledge and experience, budget, and customer contact. She said other factors include physical and working conditions. She said they rank the conditions from highest to lowest which will probably result in some minimal adjustments. She said there are probably some people who are out of alignment there. Then they look at the market and the external equity and market survey, which would be ten to twenty comparables. Then they combine the two and determine pay range minimums and maximums, and whether there will be a step system. When they are done they will train the staff so Johnson County to be able to take over the process.
Crowder said their company has a strong track record of intense communication with employees, department heads, and elected officials. Everyone has to feel fairly treated by the process. In the beginning of the process they have kick-off meetings with the staff, they do job position reviews, and they interview anyone who wishes to meet with them. Usually that results in about a 98% interview rate with all of the employees. They also do site visits so they can visualize what the employees are working on.
Crowder said the strengths of the Austin Peters Group are tailored products, a lot of attention to communication, and that their recommendations are going to be pragmatic, realistic, and in line with what the County wants in terms of budget and future plans. She said they also align their recommendations with the County’s needs and culture. The Austin Peters Group gives a holistic approach; they are going to look at the whole picture not just wages. She said they will examine wages, benefits, hours, starting rates, overtime, longevity, and others. Lastly, they have extensive experience in county and city government and human resources. She passed out a list of prior clients. They have over 100 clients every year that includes: Bonner Springs, Kansas; Marshalltown, Iowa; North Liberty, Iowa; Spring Hill, Kansas; Lee Summit, Kansas; Ottawa, Kansas; and LaVista, Nebraska. She said the counties in Kansas that still retain their services include Johnson County, Cedric County, Reno County, and Butler County. Private sector clients include: the engineering firms of Bartlet & West and HOK, H & TB Engineering and Architects, and Sprint. She said they look forward to working with Johnson County.
R. Sullivan said assuming that the Board goes ahead with formal approval next week, when would the Austin Peters Group start. Crowder said she thought Human Resources would probably give them direction. Wireman said for an implementation date of July 1, 2009, they would want to get started as soon as possible, but she and Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek have not discussed details yet. They are updating job descriptions and making sure everything is ready for Crowder and Sarco. R. Sullivan asked Crowder if she is prepared to start right away. Crowder said they are. Stutsman asked if deputies are included in the study. Wierman said they did ask to include deputies but just because they asked for it does not mean that they are necessarily going to go forward with that. She said they wanted to be all encompassing and they can pare down as necessary. Crowder said they are open to the Board's direction. Neuzil asked if Stutsman meant administrative deputies or sheriff deputies. Stutsman responded she meant administrative deputies. Crowder said if the Board decides to reduce that they will reduce their price accordingly. R. Sullivan said this is something they have been looking for. Harney said it has been an issue for a long time.
R. Sullivan asked if the Board members had any more questions. Stutsman said she wanted to comment that they have come a long way since she first started with the Board and it is good because they are to the point where this needs to be revisited and she thinks that they are going to get a good product for the cost. R. Sullivan added that it is encouraging to hear that they are going to get something they can continue to use as opposed to going out in five years and hiring another consultant. Crowder said she thinks it is because they have worked with local government and they know that governments spend resources wisely and that has always been their philosophy. Stutsman asked if they dealt with the merit system at all. Crowder responded yes, it is included in this system under policies and those sorts of items. She said they are very flexible. They would like to perform an employee survey to determine what the employee’s priorities are, but as a governing body, the Board probably has a list of things and they would like to address. Stutsman asked if the Austin Peters Group will make recommendations about that. Crowder said they will make recommendations in conjunction with the Board, and it will be something that the Board can customize. Neuzil said that given the nature of the economy, he cautioned everyone to be realistic about an implementation schedule. Crowder agreed and said she attempts to convey that caution as well.
Mental Health/Disability Services Director Kris Artley said they are in the process of finalizing the contracted rates for Fiscal Year 2009. She said the Board previously approved the other rates and the one that is left is the administrative block grant. The problem was that there was not enough information early on to come up with a finite dollar amount. At this juncture they are recommending approval of an administrative block grant of $164,450 for Fiscal Year 2009. She said these dollars will be utilized to offset the expenses that occur by folks accessing services at the Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) who are not entirely covered by Medicaid.
Artley said in FY08 they did contract for $249,763.50 but there were some timeliness issues of payment from the previous year. If the Board recalls on June 30, 2008, they made an adjustment to offset some increase in cost due to the population expansion over time. Unfortunately, in July, 2008, for the first time ever without any foreknowledge, the CMHC received an exceedingly large reconciliation payment for FY07. Rather than cash the check, they decided to sit back and look at the State's methodology and why they determined to give them this amount. They discovered the State's calculation was not correct and so the CMHC is going to have to return some of that money. She said after they redid the financial and statistical and cost reports to get a finite amount for the cost of the budget this year, they learned there is a deficit of $164,450. Artley's recommendation is to support the CMHC for these extra costs for this fiscal year.
Stutsman said that on her paper it say block grant paid monthly and she asked if this is a monthly payment. Kris responded that they are supposed to pay 1/12th of that total amount monthly. She said they would like to get this finalized as quickly as possible because they are in a rut already for FY09. R. Sullivan said he thought it was worth pointing out that the CMHC is faced with a difficulty. He said they are in Fiscal Year 2009, they’re planning for FY10, and they get a large check for Fiscal Year 2007. That is not an easy environment in which to do business. Artley agreed and said it is very difficult to plan a budget when expected revenues are unknown. She finds it interesting that rather than look at the costs of individual services from the CMHC, the State has created a one unit reimbursement rate. She said she does believe the legislature’s intent was to start supporting mental health centers more and this was their first attempt. Unfortunately the check they sent was incorrect.
Harney asked if that check affected their balance as far as the funds they have on hand. Artley said she is cautiously optimistic that the measures they have taken with the medication formulary will keep them afloat, but it is too early to see how all that will take effect. She said during the transition of trying to get people in the patient assistance program for pharmaceuticals, they are subsidizing them at whatever their brand name drug is for a limited amount of time. Once that hump is over they should see their costs significantly decrease. She said the next county to go on the State's waiting list is Cerro Gordo, so she thinks that brings the total to eight or nine counties that are creating waiting lists for services. This has never happened before. She said the last six to eight months is the first time since 1996 that counties have had waiting lists like that. Stutsman said that it is amazing to her that they are making waiting lists so early in the fiscal year. Artley said what is happening is that they are projecting out, they have no control over some expenses such as the waivers. She said when the folks in Des Moines do the calculating they mandate the rate and the County has to pay the non-Federal share. She said that is mandated, and they get those all the time at any given junction during the year. That can severely impact the budget, especially if there are a lot of people in the waiver system. She said it is really hard to project out because they don’t know what Des Moines is going to approve. Harney asked if they are seeing much of an effect with the floods and the economic conditions as far as mental health. Artley said not yet but with the onset of winter they may start to see some negativity.
Community Mental Health Center Director Stephen Trefz said that the CMHC has joined in Project Recovery Iowa where they have hired two flood outreach workers. The flood outreach workers go into the community to meet with people where they are. They saw some increase of people coming into the CMHC but the flood outreach workers are actually working with the people in their areas so they do not have to come into the center to access services. As winter approaches and the reality of the buyouts of mortgages comes they may see an increase. He said in 1993 it wasn’t until six months after the floods that they had an increase of people seeking CMHC services. He said in regards to the formulary and the medication fund, as that is transitioning and more folks are being moved to pharmaceutical assistance programs or patient assistance programs, a lot of that work is coming over to the CMHC and their doctors and nurses are absorbing some of that work. As they are serving patients he continually asks what they need to put in place so that the patient and assistance programs work efficiently. R. Sullivan said their flood relief worker came to the last Planning Council meeting, and he believed he said he was going to go door to door in the Izaak Walton League neighborhood.
Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia said Aging Specialist Diana Preschel is present with her. She said the vision of the Livable Community for Successful Aging Policy Board is that Johnson County is a livable community where everyone can grow up and grow old with maximum independence, safety, and well being. She said their mission is to identify, collect, organize and assure that resources are available so that Johnson County is a livable community where everyone can age successfully. Preschel said she was hired in late May, 2008 to assume the position of Aging Specialist. The initiative is broken down into five action teams to carry out different projects in different areas.
Preschel said the first team is the Community Partners and Engagement action team, which focuses on building local partnerships with organizations in the community and engaging them. Two large accomplishments are that they have paired with the University of Iowa Center on Aging in September, 2008, to hold a Mature Workforce Conference for local employers. They brought in Jerry Sedlar who is the author of the book Don’t Retire, Rewire. Sedlar is the lead right now in educating employers throughout the country on how they should be catering to the aging workforce to retain quality workers. They sponsored another event in October, 2008, partnering with the University of Iowa College of Nursing and Mercy, Iowa City to bring a spirituality seminar which focused on aging as a spiritual journey. They are considering bringing that speaker back to perform similar seminars.
Preschel said their Health and Supportive Services Action Team has put together a program called Eat Better Move More. The first phase was funded by the United Way of Johnson County. They started the program in the Tiffin, Oxford area which was chosen for being a rural community in Johnson County without a lot of physical activity and nutrition programs. Thirteen participants continued throughout the program and at the end 100% of them reported they were making better choices with their eating habits and they were getting more physical activity. She said they were also funded through St. Luke’s to provide phase two, which started on September 2, 2008. She said they retained 100% of their participants and added five more. This was a great success and they are looking to move the program out to Solon.
Correia said the Housing Action Team started Homes for Life. She said this is an effort that began at the September, 2007, Community Forum with the goal of increasing access to universal design housing. They brought together a team to create a voluntarily certification program. They are launching this program in October, 2008. She said they collaborated with the Iowa City Area Homebuilders Association. Joe Tiemeyer has been part of the group developing the plans and action items, and then they took it to the Homebuilders Association Board to get support. She said that Board voted to support this certification program along with the Livable Communities Initiative and it involves collaborations with all the building departments in the County. This is a voluntary certification program designed to promote new homes and remodeling of homes that include elements for visitability and livability. The building departments will be modifying their building permit applications so information about the program will be available to all the building departments. They will check a box if they are interested in receiving certification classification when they are building or remodeling a home. The building department will then certify whether it has achieved a level one or two certification. Correia said they will keep a database of that information and they will receive a plaque and certificate to go with the home’s records. They will use that in promotion through the Livable Communities website, the Homebuilders Association and they are working on getting in contact with the Realtors Association to promote the idea. She said there will be a press conference on November 13, 2008, to launch the program and it will also be announced at the Homebuilders Association annual meeting that evening.
Correia said throughout the last year there have been more articles in the press on universal design. The Iowa City Press-Citizen included universal design in one of their special booklets on senior living. The Parade of Homes included a universal design home as part of the parade and in their marketing materials. In collaboration with the Cedar Rapids Gazette, there was an article on this subject as well. In 2009, there will be another universal design home in the Parade of Homes. There will also be collaboration between for-profit, non-profit, and governmental bodies, who will be building a home with green design as well as full universal design. This includes collaboration with the University of Iowa College of Law for an analysis of the cost.
Preschel said the Transportation Action Team put together a brochure detailing all of the available transportation services for seniors in Johnson County, as well as eligibility and if there is a cost provided. She said also included in this brochure is information from the AARP on how to know when it is time to stop driving. She said they printed 400 and they have been dispersed throughout the County. She said they have been very successful. They are actually looking to print more because they were so well received. She said there was a press release in some of the local papers, and they have been getting calls about seniors that are interested in having this brochure sent to them. She said another project the Transportation Action Team worked on is a volunteer program that will help seniors get to non-emergency medical visits. She said the details are worked out, and they are now seeking to fund the program.
Preschel said the last action team is the website team. She said the website has been by far the greatest project in the past few months. They just signed a contract with Knowledge Meridian, a company owned by Michael Schmitz, a local website designer, and Mary Blackwood. She said they will design the database and graphics. The web address will be www.livablecomunity.org, and it will have four portals of information. The first portal will be what makes Johnson County a livable community. This link will have information about different features unique to the County. The second portal will have current successful aging programs in Johnson County. This will include information about the initiative, the history, the Policy Board, current projects and events in the area, and ways for seniors to get involved. The third and fourth portals will be linked to a service directory to answer question about services available in Johnson County to help seniors stay in their home as long as possible. Another question it will answer is what options are available to seniors when it is no longer possible for them to stay in their homes. This service directory is going to be unique to anything currently available. She said this site will be a one stop shop for information, and it is scheduled to be live by January 1, 2009.
Correia said she also wanted to make the Board aware of the other services and initiatives in the area. She said in the last year Elder Services received a pilot grant of about $75,000 from the State Department of Elder Affairs to establish an aging disability resource center. The writing of that application involved collaboration with the Livable Community for Successful Aging Policy Board. She said the last report from Elder Services was that their Elders Councilor has spoken with over 100 Johnson County residents about their options for staying in their homes. She said Bob Welsh had encouraged the City of Iowa City to apply for the EPA’s Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging National Recognition Award. Correia said she just received word yesterday that they have been selected to receive that award which brings state and national recognition to Johnson County. R. Sullivan said he appreciates seeing all the initiatives neatly laid out in Correia's presentation.
Correia said she has provided a list of the current members whose terms are ending on the Juvenile Justice Youth Development Policy Board and who are interested in renewing their appointment, as well as three new applicants, Ann Zebrowski, Corey Watt, and Mary Abboud. There are enough spaces for all the applicants. R. Sullivan said that it looks like there are three new applications, and there are enough open spots to appoint them all. Correia agreed.
Correia presented the contract with Johnson County for youth employment and substance abuse contracts with the Iowa Department of Human Services using Decategorization funds. After the spring RFP process, and after the Decat Board received notice of carry over amounts there were unallocated funds. Some of those funds will expire by June 30, 2008, and the Decat Board wanted to allocate those funds into projects so the County would not lose those funds. She said the Decat Board considered three requests, two of which would go into this contract for youth employment and substance abuse councilors at MECCA. The Consortium for Youth Employment administered through Johnson County Social Services receives partial funding from the County through Department 54 from the City of Iowa City. There is also an application into the Community Foundation that was initiated originally with Decat funds in Fiscal Year 2007. This would add $6,000.
R. Sullivan asked if the City of North Liberty had money in this also. She said they did in Fiscal Year 2008 but not for 2009. She is currently working with North Liberty for a specific project, along with North Central Junior High School. Those funds were diverted to that youth employment. The remainder of the $17,884 for MECCA substance abuse councilors is helping to close the gap on funding for 2008 when the State changed their block granting process through the CJJP. She said previously they received the funds through Department 54 Block Grant matched with money through Department 54 Juvenile Justice Youth Development Grant Program. Correia said they currently have a subcontract agreement with MECCA for less than their status quo funding from Fiscal Year 2008, due to the States changing. R. Sullivan asked if Correia would have the contracts ready next week if the Board decided to go ahead with this. She said yes they would have them.
Correia updated the Board on a recommendation from the Juvenile Justice Work Group and Policy Board to create a competitive grant program with the Juvenile Justice Youth Development Funds. A grant development committee has convened to develop the RFP and there is a draft ready for review. The plan is that the grant review committee would meet to review the draft RFP November 7, 2008 and they would then bring a proposal to the Board the following week. R. Sullivan wanted to remind everyone that this is existing money. Correia said this existing money has been funded to seven agencies at about the same rate for ten years. She said a decision was made to make this a competitive process for Fiscal Year 2010.
Recessed at 10:10 a.m.; reconvened at 10:17 a.m.
County Engineer Greg Parker said he is going to discuss budget review activities for Fiscal Year 2008, but will also discuss how that has affected FY09. He said he will review department accomplishments and construction project updates and activities. Parker said when he was hired in January of 2005, half of the 2005 fiscal year budget was expended. The actual revenues the Board approved for FY05 was $7.5 million. At the end of that fiscal year, due mainly to the fact there was limited construction at that time, the actual expenditures were $1.5 million dollars less than the approved revenues for the Secondary Roads Department. The revenues for the department have been relatively flat. Costs are not going down.
Parker said the Board is probably recalling that they allotted additional monies to the Secondary Roads Department, but effectively, the additional money is not going towards operations. The money has gone to cost of living increases for salaries, benefits increases for health insurance, and all of the other activities that would be included as part of the employment package for the County. Four years ago, the revenues received were $7.5 million, and the past budget just approved June 30, 2008, the revenues were $7.5 million. This lack of increase has impacted their system. He said he is going to have to sit down with staff and come up with recommendations on where they can effectively cut levels of service. He said for the next two years they are looking at a flat budget which means no increases, which means the cost to maintain the level of service is not staying flat, it is continually increasing.
Stutsman asked Parker what percentage of Secondary Roads budget is related to staff. Parker said it’s a little over 50% of their budget. Of the revenues the department receives, about $4 million to $5 million goes to salaries, and that includes everybody in the Secondary Roads Department. Neuzil asked if the numbers have been impacted by State and Federal reductions, requests, and things of that nature. Parker said in 2005 they received all the transferred jurisdiction roads. Neuzil said that in 2004 the Iowa Legislature decided to pass on their problem roads to Johnson County and the County has been fixing the State’s problems ever since. He said he was curious about the small amount of dollars the State of Iowa gave the County in comparison to the cost Johnson County taxpayers have paid for upgrades to what were the State’s roads. Neuzil said it doesn’t seem like coincidence that things have flattened out particularly because of the decision made by the Iowa Legislature. Parker said the money received from the transferred jurisdiction roads amounts to about $250,000. He said if that amount is taken right off the top of the revenues, and then look at the budget picture they are not actually even keeping up with that. He said that money is only good for ten years, and they are in year four of ten years and that amounts to about $2.5 million. He said this is something the Board is going to have to consider. Those monies have been used for maintenance on the roads, and it is going to cost the County millions of dollars to repair these projects and get them back to the condition they should have been when they received them from the State.
Parker showed the Board pictures of the projects they have been working on. He said the past winter was one of the worst winters they have on record for this department. He said Secondary Roads has done a fantastic job. He said from the time the first storm hit at the end of November, 2007, and the last storm ended the end of February, 2008, there was only one day they did not have staff working to take care of snow and ice control or plowing and that was Christmas Day. As a result from the winter there were a lot of issues with 700 miles of gravel roads throughout the County. There were a lot of issues that affected their operational activities due to the conditions of the gravel roads. More damage would be done to the road surface by putting new gravel on top than by letting the general traffic drive through. Heavy equipment causes more damage to the gravel roads and there are a lot of challenges and decisions of why they may not take gravel out to a road in conditions like this.
Parker said the County jumped directly from the worst winter on record to the worst spring on record with the floods of 2008. During the flood activity bridges were closed down. They kept structures closed because they did not know if there was damage to them until the water levels lowered enough so they could inspect the integrity of the bridge. Some bridges did have damage and they spent a lot of money repairing them. He showed a slide of Mehaffey Bridge, which is on an annual inspection schedule and is due for replacement. Parker said there is a lot of space between the beams on the bridge and the water level at the reservoir. Parker said when they drive the vehicles through high water levels they have to pull the bearings out and re-grease them. They have to do the differential oils and this equipment requires a lot of maintenance to prevent against future damage and protect their investments. The water started receding at the end of June, 2008. The amount of debris on the roads where the water levels were above the roadway was mind blowing.
Parker said looking back at how they managed their budget, they were approved for $7.5 million in revenues and they expended $7.6 million in expenditures. Many things they could not get to were cut from the budget. The salt budget averages $90,000 to $175,000. They spend almost $202,000 in purchasing salt activities for the past winter. Secondary Roads staff put in a phenomenal amount of overtime. This past year they spent $289,000 in overtime just to do the efforts they handled regarding the winter, the spring, and the flood. Stutsman asked if any salt is left over. Parker said they have a minimal amount left, maybe 500 tons. During the flood, salt was a premium and they had to utilize that for bagging, and they used a 50/50 salt/sand mix.
Parker said Secondary Roads budgeted $331,000 in FY08 for fuel and they expended $631,000, almost a 50% increase. The expenditures are not being covered by revenues. Road maintenance activities are gravel roads. The rock budget for 2008 was $775,000 and they expended over a million dollars. That amount includes the repairs of July and August, 2008, to get the roads back in shape after the flood. They have already expended $255,000.00 of the FY09 rock budget before beginning FY09 because they didn’t get the bills for fixing those roads until July, 2008. Parker said they are already at their budget of $775,000 or $800,000 for the current fiscal year, and they already utilized almost 30% of their budget. He asked where he is going to get the rock and the dollars based on the flat revenues that they are looking at for the upcoming year.
Parker said they have had three presidential declarations in about a year. FEMA reimbursed the County $306,000 for the 2008 winter storm. Stutsman asked if that is all the FEMA money they are going to receive for the ice storms. Parker said yes. He said they have yet to receive the funds for the June 2008 flood. They may have received one check that didn't amount to much, maybe $30,000, but they are waiting for those funds to come in. That money will help but FEMA will not cover everything. They have to remember that the flood took place from June 2 to June 15, 2008 so they are talking about 14 days of actual flood activity, and then there is clean up. During that period of time they used 30% of their 2009 rock budget, they have already used 75% of their current fuel budget, the in-house equipment repairs and maintenance has already used up 30% of the current budget, and the outside equipment repairs which was budgeted at $20,000, has already cost $114,000.
Parker said there was a lot of damage to seal coats because of the soft roads. They typically get by with about $95,000 in blade patching activity but as of this year they have expended $220,000, doubling the expenditure they normally go through. During the 14 days of the flood his staff put in 645 overtime hours in addition to the standard eight-hour days. Staff was working 14 to 18 hours a day seven days a week. Workers would go home, sleep a few hours, and come right back to do it again. The department did a phenomenal job for the County, the residents, and anybody who endured the flood. During that time the trucks drove over 35,000 miles delivering about 12,000 tons of sand for the flood victims and flood activities. Sand was delivered to Iowa City flood activities, University of Iowa, Coralville, Hills, Oxford, Sutliff, power substations, and the residents as well. The list is endless. R. Sullivan said after some point Johnson County ran out of sand and Secondary Roads was forced to go to Marengo and elsewhere to get it. Parker said that is probably why the mileage is up.
Parker said they also endured clean up and repairs of all the road and bridge closures throughout the County. There were several washouts, which lead erosion control which is another problem. They typically budget about $55,000 for erosion control and they expended $235,000 to protect all the erosion that took place on the roadways. He said they were very fortunate not to lose a lot of pavement, but all of the material that supports that pavement, the ditches, the forced loops off the edge of the pavement were all gone. They had to repair all of those to support the pavement.
Parker said they have used 30% of their ditch cleaning budget already in Fiscal Year 2009 due to the repairs that took place because of the flood. They have used 43% of their sign budget because of the damage to the signs. Overall the flood has caused them to spend over $1 million of their FY09 budget before they even started using any of the monies for anything else. These were things that took place in June, 2008. He said he wanted the Board to understand the full extent of the budget impact. They already expended 53% of the yearly budget just three months into a 12 month cycle. Stutsman asked if they are getting any of that money back from FEMA. Parker said about $300,000. The president just signed for additional funds for Federal highways and they are waiting for about $170,000 of that to come through. He said that money certainly helps but will not cover their flood expenditures. It will cover probably about 20 to 30% of it.
Harney asked if the last Presidential bill covered the Hills Bridge. Parker said FEMA and the Federal Highway Association (FHA) have totally different rules on what they will reimburse for. One of the functions they will not be reimbursed on the Federal highway system is all the bridge inspections. Secondary Roads had to hire a private consultant to assist prior to, during, and after the flood to do inspections which amounts to over $50,000 that Federal highways will not pick up because they think this is just a standard staff thing. There was no way he could have handled that with in-house staff. He is the only bridge inspector in the office and he was at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) the whole time. There was no way he could have been out on the bridges looking at them to determine if they needed to be closed, and be at the EOC. They had all their engineering staff and maintenance staff out there taking care of flood activities.
Parker said their seal coat costs have jumped almost 300% and their operational budget has been staying flat. He said that means they are doing less with less. Salt costs have risen 29% from last year and the projections are that cost is going to continue to increase. Rock costs have also risen. On average their rock costs have increased a little over 4% annually. R. Sullivan asked if that is per year and said if so, it's up 13%. Parker responded, correct but their operational budget has not increased to cover those costs. He said because of this they have been putting less rock on the gravel roads and this was reflected last spring. Construction costs have been increasing 20 to 30% annually over the past four to five years. An example is the replacement of Mehaffey Bridge. Last year the estimate was about $3.5 million to replace the bridge. He said they have escrowed dollars in an account to expend toward this but it is about a little bit less than that. He said if they were to rebuild Mehaffey Bridge in 2010, the cost would be $4.6 million, an increase of 24% in one year. He said again their budget is not increasing, his construction budget has stayed consistent since he started and it is not keeping up with what they need to have to continue the aggressive construction schedule they have planned. Equipment repair costs are also rising, and continuing to go above their budget activities. Everyone is aware that oil changes, break pads and filters are costing more, everything they have to repair their vehicles is increasing and their budget has not been compensating.
Parker said now that they have discussed all of the negatives that have happened over the past year, he wanted to mention all of the major accomplishments the department has had over the past year. 500th Street reconstruction is complete west of Frytown to the County line. The SEATS/Secondary Roads building will be completed next month. His staff has been actively involved surveying all of the activities out there, and assisting the contractor. Safety improvements to Highway 22 and Wapsi Avenue have been completed. He said they completed those last year. With the assistance of many people, they procured $1.5 million in Federal funds for the Oakdale Boulevard project. His staff has been fiscally responsible with the flat line revenues over the past four years. They have maintained the revenues the Board has allocated to them. Parker said as far as he knows they have not received any union grievances over the past year. When he joined the County the Board asked him to make sure they were following the contract. There were some grievances, but those were due to the fact that people do not like new processes. He said the department is working well together. He said they have been diligent and successful at maximizing FEMA reimbursement activities with the three presidential declarations over the past year.
Parker said they have a pre-construction meeting for the Cottage Reserve Road project that was added this year with the Board's approval. He said they received grant monies for that project, and they are meeting with the contractor on November 7, 2008. Once that pre-construction meeting is completed the contractor will be moving in. He said he understood that the water levels are to the point now where they can get a contractor in there to complete that project. 500th Street and Calkins Avenue are completed. The Oxford Shed is complete. The SEATS and Secondary Roads building will be complete in two weeks. Construction is in progress now on the Curtis Bridge Road and they are putting in the subdrains now. Their projects are always static based on the weather. The rural Highway 6 design is in progress and they are hoping for a spring letting.
Parker said design is complete at the 540th Street and Cheese Factory intersection, and they are in the process of right-of-way acquisition. They will need to get appraisals for those properties and start negotiations. He said they are hoping for a spring letting. He said he is aware that these projects were in the FY09 budget, but with all the things that took place, all his staff did during the spring and the flood activities were diligently working trying to take care of thing which pulled them away from completing these projects. Black Diamond Road Bridge is on the far west of the County on the County line. They are waiting for environmental clearance from the DNR. It takes months to get clearance and they are backlogged. The DNR is not just dealing with the County's projects, but all the other counties that have projects waiting due to the flood which basically halted all construction. They are also waiting for environmental clearance for Oakdale Boulevard. The environmental assessment report will not be completed until March, 2009 and if everything goes smoothly they are looking at a June, 2009 letting. If they do a June, 2009 letting they are looking at approach and bridge building next winter, with paving coming the following spring. Parker said these are all things that can change.
Stutsman said this is assuming that everything goes well with the environmental project, but if there is an issue that could push that back even more. Parker said correct. Stutsman asked if he knew how that was going. Parker said he does not know because the report is being worked on right now and it will not be completed until March, 2009. He will be giving the Board monthly progress reports so if anything changes he will let the Board know immediately. Design is in progress on Highway 965 and 120th Street and they are planning for a late spring letting. They are hoping that will be reconstructed next year. After 965 is complete, Oak Crest Hill Road North will be designed. He said the Hills Bridge, which is south of Hills, has to be redone before the south section of that roadway can be constructed and that is next to be designed as well.
Stutsman said the Board had directed Parker to finish the Cosgrove Bridge, and she thought that it would be completed this year. She asked where they were on that project. Parker said that bridge is in the 5 Year Road Plan, however he thought it was pertinent for them to find out what was going to come out of the lawsuit. He said his recommendation to the Board was to wait for the outcome of that lawsuit and then he would come back with a recommendation on how they should proceed. Unfortunately this has taken over a year. He said it is in the 5 Year Road Plan but based on all of the current activities nobody has done anything with that project.
Stutsman asked when they can expect Oak Crest Hill Road to be started. Parker responded that it depends on how much time it takes to get the 965 project into the system. He said realistically at the earliest construction would begin in the fall. R. Sullivan asked where they are with the 965 project. Parker responded that 965 is in design right now, and they are hoping for a spring letting. They still need to negotiate a 28E Agreement with the City of Cedar Rapids. He said they have a totally different view than Johnson County on what they want to do with that roadway and added he doesn't think they want to go with the wide shoulders Parker recommended. This is the first phase of a multiple phase presentation he will give the Board. They just do not have the funds to maintain their aggressive construction schedule so they are going to have to make decisions about what they can to do. He knows the Board said they wanted to see wide shoulders on that roadway, but that is a cost. If they continue to do wide shoulders that means they are going to do fewer projects because a lot of money will be spent on a single project to accomplish that. He said it is a trade off.
Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne said there could be some solutions. He said the Board has three tools they can use. For the capital improvement that is budgeted out of Rural Basic, for FY08 and FY09, they set aside $500,000 each year, $100,000 could have gone for trails per year, but that is $1 million right there that can be used to help make up for these disasters. They also have two transfers that they always do the minimum per Iowa Code. The Code spells out a minimum and maximum transfer they can do from General Basic Fund and Rural Basic Funds. To protect the General Basic Fund, they always do the minimum there and the Board could increase that amount. They also take the minimum from the Rural Basic Fund to keep taxes down, but they could up that amount also.
R. Sullivan said those capital improvement projects are something he has wanted to see for a long time but the Board is going to have to weigh those against the other projects. Neuzil said that is part of the budget process that they will get into, particularly when they discuss the 5 Year Road Plan. Parker said there are going to be some tough decisions. He said some things are taking place that might affect the future state of things, road use taxes are decreasing, people are driving less, and if the gas prices increase again people are going to be driving less and that means less construction dollars. Based on what they have endured over the past four years they have done their best to keep expenditures down as best they can. They are at a point now where they can't keep doing this. He said it is at a point where it is starting to affect their whole system.
Stutsman said this information has been so valuable. They get calls from the public all the time and this presentation has helped clarify for her why the County has been unable to complete some projects. She asked if Parker would condense his remarks and put them in Roadways, the Secondary Roads newsletter, so that people understand what the County is up against, and how much was spent over the last year. Parker said he will. R. Sullivan said he thinks it needs to be said that the County had several natural disasters and through it all the County has done what is needed to keep folks safe. He said that given everything that has happened it's amazing that nobody has died. This is a real tribute to the response the County had. He said that now, of course, they are talking about the price tag, but the work the Secondary Roads Department did was very important. Neuzil said there is a lot of doom and gloom but it is a matter of policy and priority. The Board is going to have to define its priorities. He thinks that roads will rise to the top of the priority list. Harney thanked Parker and said they did a fantastic job working through these circumstances. He said he thinks they can work through this by prioritizing and readjusting budgets.
Recesses at 11:03 a.m.; reconvened at 11:09 a.m.
Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne said at this point in the fiscal year, the ideal situation is to have more than 75% left for expenditures and less than 75% left for revenue. He showed a graph that showed 21 of the 25 departments are at or better than the target of 75% per expenditures. Secondary Roads Department is in the lowest budget expense. Court Services and Juvenile Crime Prevention are the highest remaining budgets. Revenues are a little behind, 16 of the 25 departments are at or below the 75% target. Information Services, Physical Plant, and Elections are significantly off year to date. This is due to the timing of reimbursement of Elections. Information Services has collected very little. Schultz normally bills both Assessors a usage fee in the spring.
Claiborne said the Board's next action is to set a hearing for the budget amendment. R. Sullivan said they have received some funds from FEMA and he wondered if they will be amended in during the fall amendment. Claiborne said he thinks most of those will be in the spring. Harney said they will have to address how to transfer dollars back to areas that really need it. Claiborne said that balances are very healthy. The General Basic Fund has $7.7 million and General Supplemental has $5.3 million. The Board will see in the amendment summary that the capitol projects are going to use up a lot of this money.
Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan said November 5, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. will be a Work Session for the Board and November 10, 2008 will be a regular Board meeting. Today is the deadline for receiving RFPs for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Coordinator and he has received three. After the deadline, he will make copies for the Board to review. M. Sullivan said he thinks the Board could just review the RFP's. M. Sullivan said he completed the Conservation Board Public Assistance Application. The Conservation work is beginning now, since M. Sullivan signed the project worksheet in the amount of $3,899.66 for just one area covering the labor and his administrative costs to assemble the reports for FEMA. M. Sullivan said there is a pilot project in place prior to the flood in the County which allows employees to do recovery work during their regular work hours. FEMA reimburses for that as part of the pilot project. He filled out this application for the County in July, 2008. Stutsman asked if there will be any problems getting this information to ISAC. M. Sullivan said no, he can do the survey today.
Recessed at 11:24 a.m.; reconvened at 11:35 a.m.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Stutsman, to enter into Executive Session at 11:35 a.m. for an annual evaluation of Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, “to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation and that individual requests a closed session.” Roll call: aye: Harney, Stutsman, Sullivan, Neuzil, Meyers.
Harney left at 12:08 p.m.
Motion by Stutsman, second by Neuzil, to leave Executive Session at 12:09 p.m. Roll call: aye: Stutsman, Sullivan, Neuzil, Meyers; absent: Harney.
Adjourned at 12:09 p.m.
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary