MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:

Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:00 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.

Key Issues

Review of Johnson County Secondary Roads Snow Policy

Stutsman asked why this item was put on the agenda. Neuzil said it was put on two weeks ago to get clarification on where they need to go with the snow policy. Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell said he assumes it is on because the Board has had conversations about the Chip Seal Policy and attendant to that he recommended, if the Board were going to adopt that policy or something like it, changes will probably need to be made to the Snow Policy. Harney said they also had some issues as far as call outs with the recent snow and ice. Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Hackathorn said from conversations with Chappell they need to adhere to the Snow Policy and it has been a long time since it has been updated. Stutsman thanked them for the explanation.

Neuzil said the change proposed in the Chip Seal Policy would allow residents to put chip seal in front of there home. He asked, if the Board changes that, would that have an effect on the Snow Policy and should the Board update the Snow Policy to accommodate that change? County Engineer Greg Parker said they currently have seal coat sections that have been grandfathered in after the Board made the policy change of no more new seal coats. They currently do not treat those any differently than if it were a gravel road surface. Parker said they don’t send trucks out; they don’t put an abrasive on the surface, or plow it just because it is a surface change.

Parker said for roads that are seal coated, where they have miles of seal coat like Sugar Bottom Road and Sandy Beach Road, they do treat those as it would be considered a paved route. He said those roads are designated on the map as a seal coat route that is treated according to the Snow Policy. Stutsman asked if he meant as if the roads were asphalt. Parker said yes or concrete. He said they prioritize routes based on highest need to lowest need with the highest being where they have the most traffic and the lowest are dead end gravel road. Parker said they do not plow or take care of level B roads as part of the Snow Ordinance. He said the current ordinance policy covers a lot of things and there is a copy posted on the website.

Neuzil asked Chappell if there are certain things that need updating. Chappell said Chapter 668 is Iowa's Comparative Fault Statute. If the County gets sued for negligence, the odds are that chapter will come into play. Section 668.10 includes an immunity provision for counties and other municipalities with respect to claims based on a failure to remove accumulations of snow and ice. Chappell said in order to enjoy that immunity the County has to have a Snow Policy and follow it. He said his only concern about the Snow Policy is that there seems to be a different category of road that is not addressed.

Chappell said they have paved and oil roads treated one way, and stone, rock and dirt roads treated a different way. His suggestion is to include some language in section 3B to indicate there is another category for roads they consider stone or rock roads that have some level of chip seal on them but aren’t considered oil roads. Chappell said the policy needs to specify how the County will deal with those roads, where they will be on the priority list, and will they be treated the same a rock roads. He said he doesn’t have an opinion as to how they should be treated, but he thinks they should update the policy to address those roads. That will help the County preserve that immunity if they ever have a problem.

Chappell said he does not get involved in the level of service but if they are going to adopt this policy, which could increase the number and length of the chip seal portions of rock roads, the different class of roads should be addressed in the policy. Hackathorn said he is concerned that the staff follows the snow policy, but currently they are operating outside the Snow Policy. He said that is why he wants to address what they are doing and determine what the policy should be and follow it. Chappell said he wouldn’t be concerned on a liability standpoint if they are doing more than what the snow policy requires. He would be concerned if they are doing less. Stutsman asked what Hackathorn means when he says more.

Hackathorn said, for example, the policy says the County will not plow hard surface roads until it accumulates two inches of snow. Stutsman asked, if by hard surface, he meant concrete. Hackathorn said yes and chip seal. Stutsman clarified a hard surface road is asphalt, concrete, or chip seal. Parker said yes and oil or seal coated. Parker said they have a map that designates the surface type, and if it falls under one of those three categories, that is how it will be treated. Hackathorn said another area they go beyond the policy is with hours of service. The current policy says they will not plow between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. He said they try to get the plows out by 4:00 a.m. on a normal snow to get the snow off before it packs on.

Hackathorn said once snow is packed down on roads like Herbert Hoover Highway and Dubuque Street it is much harder to remove it. R. Sullivan asked if there are any situations where Hackathorn feels they do less than what is in the snow policy or is every exception providing greater service. Hackathorn said they are doing more. Stutsman said she isn’t interested in changing the hours because she thinks it is great they get out there early. She said she doesn’t want to put 4:00 a.m. in the policy, so that at the height of a blizzard someone calls the County and expects a snow plow. Stutsman said they do have the flexibility to go earlier, but if it's written as policy, then they will be expected to be plowing at 4:00 a.m.

Hackathorn said he gets some requests from dispatchers in the middle of the night, and if they are emergencies, they do get called out. It has been a long time since they have updated it. Harney said that was one of the issues. He said, when dispatch did call when several cars were in ditches, there was no response. Harney said that if they felt it was an emergency according to this, they should have responded. Hackathorn said when he gets a call at 1:00 a.m. to say they are just letting Secondary Roads know there is an accident or car in a ditch, they say they will get to it in the morning.

Stutsman said that gets into the definition of emergency, is it a car in the ditch, someone who has to be at work, or a doctor that has to get some place to treat a patient. Hackathorn said with their hours of service, the same person who is called out at 11:30 or 12:00 p.m. is the same person that gets up again at 4:00 a.m. and possibly working until 6:00 p.m. because Secondary Roads doesn’t run shifts.

Parker said they don’t have the staff to run a 24 hour shift. Half of their staff will work from 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the day of a storm, but they need to have time off to get refreshed and get ready to go for the next day. Parker said this makes it difficult for them to be ready to go for another 14-16 hour shift. Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said this is a difficult thing they try to work together on. The way the deputies look at it, the definition of an emergency is difficult. An emergency could be when three or four cars slide off in one spot, or when the deputies travel an ice-covered road and if a driver isn’t paying attention they could slide off the road. When Hackathorn gets these calls, it is basically a Sheriff's Deputy trying to make Secondary Roads aware that this is a problem in their eyes, but they want to pass the burden to them or put the ball in their court. Pulkrabek said the sheriff's deputies are not trained in snow removal, they are Jacks of all trades but master's of none.

Pulkrabek said the deputies aren’t able to make the same determinations or evaluation of a road that Hackathorn can, because it is outside of their expertise. He said the Sheriff's try to do the best they can with each situation, but the bottom line is that the deputies will view something as more significant in their opinion than Secondary Roads might. It is a lot about perspective and perception and that is where they run into trouble. Pulkrabek said it is unfortunate that Hackathorn gets a lot of these calls at night, but the deputies worry about the liability being on them for not taking action on something they believe is a dangerous situation. He said everyone here works for the County and Chappell is going to represent them when these issues come up.

Pulkrabek said these are the types of calls the deputies have to make when they are out there. He said he doesn’t know what it would take to commit more resources in blizzard situations. Pulkrabek said he doesn't want to tell Parker how to run his department, but asked if there are an additional two people that could respond to necessary areas on bad nights. He said what happens is when they get a call that warrants a sand truck, one is out to Sand Road and Hills black top. Then, all of a sudden, they might have a deputy that says it is really bad on Morse Road, so they have to decide whether to send that truck all the way up there. They normally don’t tell the deputy no. They just don't work that way; the staff do not tell each other no.

Stutsman asked how other counties handle it. Parker said Linn County handles the activities in the same manner. He said, if the Sheriff Department calls and declares it an emergency, they send out a truck. Parker said, if it is just that the road is slick and the person is just calling to inform Secondary Roads, they won’t send the truck out.

R. Sullivan said they have a whole Secondary Road's system and if, for example, they have ice on Sand Road they probably have it on Highway 22 and Oak Crest Hill Road also. R. Sullivan asked at what point someone makes the call to KCRG and the newspapers to say that travel is not advised on secondary roads in Johnson County. He asked if anybody does that, and if so, who. Pulkrabek said they have done that this year.

R. Sullivan said if they have deputies all over the saying it is a sheet of ice and they can’t get anywhere, rather than calling Secondary Roads to treat the roads, it seems like they need to inform the public to not go anywhere. Pulkrabek said they do, but the problem is that people don't always listen and they still do go places. Then, when they get in trouble, they have to send help. He said the Sheriff's deputies get in a bind, too, because they feel it is an emergency, but Secondary Roads may not classify this as an emergency. Pulkrabek said it is a difficult thing and there isn’t a silver bullet to solve this.

Stutsman said they have limited resources and have to manage what they have. Pulkrabek said he assumes the Board gets calls from angry residents, too, and the County does the best it can with available resources. Stutsman said she worries that if they are going to hire two extra people that those two will be running all over the county treating slick spots everywhere, and before they know it, they will have an entire crew. Pulkrabek agreed and said he doesn’t know if that is the best solution either. He said, if that service is there it would be taken advantage of.

Stutsman said everyone makes a different personal call on what an emergency is. When local news agencies report that conditions are bad and residents should stay home, she said a lot of people don't. Pulkrabek said, as an example, a couple decided to drive into town because they were only four miles away and got stuck in white out conditions. Luckily they got help from some good Samaritans who came along and yanked them out of the truck. He said this was on a day that people were told not to drive. Pulkrabek said the reality is that people just aren’t going to stay home.

Harney said the way Chappell answered was probably best, that they can provide extra service, if they so desire in those circumstances, but there needs to be a set policy to follow for that. He said maybe there are instances where the plows need to be out before 6:00 a.m., but that should be at the direction of the Board. He said he doesn't want to make a decision that says the trucks go out every time there is freezing rain. Harney said he thinks those are decisions Secondary Roads has to make.

Hackathorn said many times the conversation between himself and the dispatcher is just a discussion that there is blowing and drifting snow everywhere, many roads are closed, and Hackathorn says his response is that the plows will be out in the morning. The other situation is where the dispatcher calls to say the road is slick and Hackathorn then asks if they are requesting a sander. If the dispatcher says no, they are just calling to inform him, Hackathorn replies that they will be out to take care of the road at 4:00 in the morning. R. Sullivan asked if Pulkrabek had any suggestions for changes to this policy. Pulkrabek said he would have to read it again. He said they might need to set up training with Secondary Roads. Stutsman said that is a good idea.

Pulkrabek said it might be helpful for the Sheriff's staff to get some additional training on what to look for on the roads. He said he understands the Snow Policy goes into effect when there is two inches of snow, but he said he wonders if there are specific directions for situations with six or eight inches of snow accumulation, such as earlier start times for the shoveling. Hackathorn said generally on the rock roads they try to not go out on them until it is done snowing because every time the gravel road is plowed rock is lost. He said it is not advantageous to keep plowing the gravel because it deteriorates too much and in the spring, there will be a lot of mud.

Hackathorn said, last year a road had drifted shut and there were a couple cars on it. He said the dispatcher requested road closed signs, so Secondary Roads sent them out. The person taking the call wasn't familiar with the policy that says the department does not put signs up. Hackathorn said a lot of these conversations happen in the middle of the night, so with unclear policy, it is hard to address, especially when people are tired. Pulkrabek asked Chappell if the County has a responsibility to notify the public (with a sign) that there is a ten foot drift ahead and the road is closed. R. Sullivan said the current snow policy says the County does not have a responsibility to notify the public. Chappell said it depends on what and when the County knew about the road conditions.

Neuzil said the Snow Policy started in 1985, so it probably needs revisions. Neuzil said he has identified the following three major things they need to look at: one is new seal coats in front of homes and how to classify that; two is to define "emergency"; and three is to determine which areas of the policy need updating or clarification. Neuzil wanted a policy that is implemented. He said, if they go beyond that, it is OK, but at a minimum, they need to meet the criteria they have set in a policy. Parker said his staff meets or exceeds the existing policy. R. Sullivan said the two issues are addressing what Chappell said in terms of individual chips seals and coordinating with the Sheriff on defining an emergency.

Neuzil said it seems like that is something the Secondary Roads staff could accomplish by working with the County Attorney and Sheriff. The Board can then address it at an informal Board of Supervisors meeting. Parker asked if this is an ordinance. Chappell said it is written like one, but he doesn’t know. Parker said, if it is an ordinance, there is a different notification process and they can work to get that accomplished. Harney said he feels the same way, because this policy is over 20 years old and the County has changed a lot. He said there are many more demands and there is a lot more going on, but at the same time they need to protect themselves. Harney said he would like Secondary Roads, Pulkrabek, and Chappell to get together and make changes they feel need to be made.

Hackathorn said he wants it to get more in line with what they do, so they know what is expected of them. R. Sullivan said they don’t really know the specifics of road maintenance like Secondary Roads does. At some point the Board has to have faith they are doing their jobs well, and he thinks they are. Stutsman said it goes into the discussion of level of service. Things have changed in the unincorporated area, but do they have the resources to change accordingly and provide a higher level of service? Stutsman said she lives on a hard surface road in the unincorporated area and her service has been wonderful. She said there has never been a time that she has not been able to get out. She said she hears compliments from people in other counties, who say they know immediately when they are in Johnson County because the level of road service changes remarkably. Stutsman said she thinks Secondary Roads is doing a great job. Hackathorn thanked Stutsman and said that their snow removal account is low. They can perform many services, but they have to have the money for it. If they go over on the snow, which he thinks they will, they will have to take money from another account.

Harney said the staff needs rest after long hours, otherwise they are gaining liability. It is something that is dealt with as it comes. Parker said he will work with Chappell on language changes and with the Pulkrabek on any training activities.

New State Rules Regarding the Hours of Operation for Veteran Affairs Office and Discussion of Board Options for Responding to the Change

Neuzil said there have been some changes in the Iowa law that will require the County to make some changes as well. Veteran Affairs Director Leo Baier handed out a letter to the Board describing the changes. Stutsman said, basically the County is in compliance by having an office staffed by Baier, who has met all of the certifications. Baier said yes, and that he hasn't missed a meeting yet. Stutsman said the issue is how to staff the office during the 20 hours when Baier is not in the office. She said she knows Baier is not interested in being full-time, and according to the rule, they can have an administrator who doesn’t have to be a veteran. Baier said he has discussed this with Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia; that he comes in at 10:00 a.m. and maybe someone could fill in the two hours from 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. He added that he would be willing to work an extra hour to meet the eight-hour daily requirement.

Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia said, since Veteran's Affairs and General Assistance are now in the same building, one option could be that when Baier is not in the office, there could be a sign on the door directing visitors to the GA office. She said someone at the GA office front desk would be trained to provide the person with information or set up an appointment. Correia said she isn’t sure if that complies with what the State wants.

Correia said the other option Baier discussed with her is that one of the General Assistance positions is not currently full-time. With the State providing funding of $10,000 to each County, this position could be made to full-time. Correia said the staff person would be in the office from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Stutsman asked if she could still do some other GA work. Correia said she would be in the building, so if there is no Veteran Affairs work to do or visitors to serve, she could do her other work. She said the only difference is that she wouldn’t make non-VA appointments during that time.

Stutsman said, because the county has a VA hospital, they already have pretty adequate coverage. Harney said at the ISAC meeting there was an extensive discussion on the oversight of that. He had asked the presenter at that time, if the VA office had to be open and staffed in the office all the time. He was told no, however, there must be a 40-hour work week assigned to staff because Johnson County's population is over 60,000 population. He said other counties with populations under 60,000 are permitted to share staff and are not required to be open full-time. Harney said he specifically asked the ISAC presenter if it would be acceptable for the County's office to leave word directing visitors to another office nearby that is open and he said the VA does not like that idea.

Harney said they wanted someone in the office or out working with the veterans, because the veterans in Johnson County deserve to have an office open 40 hours a week and that's what they State wants. He said he talked with the ISAC presenter about having someone in the Social Services office cover that. He said they told him that the person would have to be certified. Harney said, that as long as Baier is the director and is certified, that covers it. If Baier isn’t in the office, whoever is serving the veterans must be certified through the State. Baier said, if this person would be willing to work the couple hours before he comes to work in the morning, he would be willing to work the extra hour. He said the funds are available from the State.

Neuzil said that is a good option as long as the State funding comes through. Meyers said the grant is only available for one year. Stutsman said that it has to be approved each year. Harney said they also said don’t count on it. Meyers asked if the $10,000 would cover the extra hours. Baier said it should, the total extra time would 15 hours a week.

R. Sullivan said the benefit is that the State has prescribed this without asking about the need. He doesn’t think that there are veterans in Johnson County who feel they haven't been served by Baier. Baier said he agrees. He doesn’t see the need for that office here. He said he has discussed with Harney that the State office is trying to promote that they will be claims specialists, but their primary goal is to provide temporary financial assistance to veterans in needs. Baier said, if someone comes in and they are not working with any other power of attorney on the Veteran Service Officers, he works with them. He said with the VA Hospital right across the river, there is adequate full-time staffing every week.

R. Sullivan said he doesn’t want the message to be that they aren't able to serve the veterans here. He said he thinks the County is serving the veterans. Baier said they have a unique situation, because of the VA hospital. Harney said that was part of the discussion at the ISAC meeting and he was told the County still must staff the VA Office full-time. Baier said he is aware of five counties that have no offices and he wishes the State would address those counties. R. Sullivan said they will do what the State requires and he wants to stress they are doing a good job and will continue to do a good job.

Baier asked Neuzil if he would consider sending a letter to the legislative officials to ask for a possible waiver. Harney said he has talked to him about that and his response was that State Code must to be followed and the only way to change the Code is through the Legislature. Baier said, however, since that discussion there has been a lot of shortfall in the State budget. Stutsman said she doesn't think it would hurt to try. Baier said that whatever the Board decides, they will work together on this. Stutsman agreed with R. Sullivan that Johnson County is providing great service to Veterans. She understands why the bill was put in place and supports why it was put in place. Stutsman said, however, she thinks the County should be allowed more discretion, too with an unfunded mandate, because she doesn’t think the $10,000 is going to be enough.

R. Sullivan agreed, saying that this will probably be a one-time grant to get someone hired and then the State is going to pull back and the $10,000 burden will be on the County. Stutsman said she doesn’t think it would hurt to send that letter to the legislators saying this is the unintended consequences of something that was in everyone's best interest, but does it serve Johnson County well? R. Sullivan said he thinks that Marion County and Polk County feel the same way because they have VA hospitals also. Baier said Johnson County ranks eighth highest in the state for veteran population, but they don't have many in need or indigent veterans here, because of the employment situation.

Neuzil said he will draft a letter for the Board to sign and Baier to review. For now they need to comply with the state-wide standards starting July 1, 2009, so they should start the planning process. He said, if Baier is transitioned into 30 hours and they increase Correia's staff person by ten hours per week, they need clarification on if that individual needs training. Stutsman added they need to find out if Correia possibly needs more money in her budget. Correia said she will ask Human Resources for the dollar amount for increasing the hours. Neuzil said the other issue is deciding if they should budget for this now or wait and amend the budget with the State funding. Baier and Correia indicated amending the budget would be better. Harney said the State law goes into effect on July 1, 2009, so the County should be prepared.

Sales Tax Discussion

R. Sullivan said there was a meeting with Senator Joe Bolkcom and other local officials about the sales tax legislation. He said the State is doing some fast tracking on some sales tax legislation and is driven by needs in Cedar Rapids. He thinks the Board has received emails from Senator Bolkcom. R. Sullivan said some of the changes the Legislature is proposing are: First, to speed up the time frames for a special election. Secondly, under the current law regarding a local option sales tax vote, the largest city in the county and all the contiguous cites must vote as a single block. He said for example, if there is a sales tax vote in Polk County, then Urbandale, West Des Moines, Clive, Des Moines, and Altoona vote as one block and the tax measure either passes or fails in that block as a whole. R. Sullivan said, if it passes in Urbandale but fails in Des Moines, then it fails overall.

Johnson County Auditor Tom Slockett said it is the popular vote of the whole contiguous unit. He said, if the tax measure narrowly fails in Des Moines but passes by a wide margin in other cities, it will be approved for the whole block. R. Sullivan said this legislation will change that, so if an individual city passes the tax, they will be able to impose the tax. He said there are a few other issues involving updating the formula for sales tax, because it hasn’t been updated since 1989. R. Sullivan said Cedar Rapids is trying to fast track this and they want to do it quickly. He said the reason for the meeting is because Coralville has decided to pursue this as well and Iowa City might. R. Sullivan said the Board must decide if it wants to participate, and if so, how.

Harney said he talked to Bolkcom, who told him the only entity that could put this on the ballot is Iowa City, because the entity has to be over 50% of the population. He said that means that Johnson County couldn't do it, even if they included every other city, because Iowa City has over 50% of the County's population. Slockett confirmed that in Johnson County, Iowa City is the only entity that can put it on the ballot, because it is more than half the population. He said units that equal half the population are required to put it on the ballot. Slockett said the County has had two of these elections in the past.

R. Sullivan said Coralville and Iowa City are both aware of that. Harney said he doesn’t know how they would break down the funding. R. Sullivan and Stutsman said there is a formula for that. R. Sullivan said the formula is based on population and actual sales tax and that is why Coralville badly wants to update it is, because it is based partially on population and partially on where sales occur. He said Coralville will benefit tremendously in both cases from an update.

Stutsman asked Slockett, if the Board has to make a decision if they want to be included or is it automatically on the ballot. Slockett said no, Johnson County will be on the ballot. This is Senate File 44 and it is greased legislation, because Cedar Rapids desperately needs the money. Slockett said they are going to override a lot of the normal notice requirements for elections. He said the bill currently has the possibility of having a ballot issue on March 3, 2009, or May 5, 2009. The notice for the election has to come to the Auditor on February 3, 2009, for a March 3, 2009, election. Slockett said notice requirements, the absentee ballot window, and the period to inform the voters are truncated and has been sped up for the emergency. He said this would only affect the counties that have been declared disaster areas. R. Sullivan added it would be counties declared disaster areas by the President and the State.

Slockett said yes, and this will include Johnson and Linn County. He said 87 counties have been declared disaster areas. The remaining 12 counties can still have the election but are bound by the normal 90 days notice period. Slockett said in Johnson County it is up to the City of Iowa City. He said, if the City puts it on the ballot, everyone will vote on it. Slockett said in the past it was twice defeated overwhelmingly in all contiguous areas. He said the contiguous areas include Hills, Iowa City, Coralville, Tiffin, University Heights, and North Liberty. Slockett said Johnson County counts as a separate entity, which includes all the rural areas of the county. The measure goes up and down for Johnson County based on how the rural voters vote.

Slockett said one of the problems in the past has been that the smaller cities felt, if it was going to pass in Coralville, Iowa City and the contiguous area, where the retail areas are and where the citizens of all the cities are spending their money, they want it to pass in their cities, too, because they want the money if the citizens are being taxed anyway. One thing that happens is that if it passed in a small city because of that reason, and then they were faced with people not shopping in Tiffin, for example, where it passed and shopping at the Coralville Mall where they can avoid the sales tax. That is the negative of the way this is set up.

Slockett said the way this works now is if it passes and a city doesn't want it, it will last for one year, but then can be removed by a vote of the City Council. It does not require another election. He said he will be really surprised if Iowa City does not pass it because of the revenue situation. Slockett said sales tax are still more regressive than property taxes and the public can learn more about this on the Iowa Policy Board website. He said there are only so many revenue sources available to local government, so that is a consideration. Stutsman asked if the revenues have to be earmarked for flood relief. Slockett said the entities have to publish how they will use the revenue. He said he doesn’t know what the new legislation will be. Harney said that when he spoke with Bolkcom about this, Bolkcom said the revenue will not be stipulated and cities will be able to use it for anything they choose.

Stutsman said places like Tiffin didn’t have any flood damage. R. Sullivan said Cedar Rapids is in such a financial hole and there are things, like snow plows, they can’t directly relate back to the flood. Neuzil said this piece of legislation is on the fast track, because of the situation in Cedar Rapids. He summarized that if in May 2009, Iowa City decides to want to put on the ballot a sales tax increase measure of $.01. He said he knows Iowa City has a couple of major projects they have identified in their flood-related efforts that equals about $84 million. Neuzil said the two major projects are the raising of Dubuque Street and Park Street Bridge and a north side sewer project. Neuzil asked for some clarification on the process. Slockett said this will be a county-wide vote. Neuzil asked if it has to pass county-wide. Slockett said no, it can pass in the rural areas or in any city. Neuzil asked if 54% of Iowa City voters vote yes, what happens. Slockett said then just Iowa City businesses have the sales tax if that is the only place it passes. Stutsman said if it doesn’t pass in North Liberty, then North Liberty doesn’t get any revenues. Slockett said correct, they don't get revenues and they don't collect the tax. Neuzil asked how it works with the unincorporated businesses. Slockett said it is the same deal. Neuzil clarified that unincorporated counts as all one area. Slockett said yes.

Stutsman said since there aren’t many businesses in the unincorporated area, they won’t be generating a lot of tax revenues, but they will probably get more back. Neuzil asked if it does pass in the unincorporated areas, how is it determined how much money. He asked if Iowa City forces this vote, does Johnson County have to have plans for how to use the money. Slockett said Johnson County will get some money and so, yes. He said there is an election in Clear Creek right now to change the use of the sales tax revenues Clear Creek receives from their school tax. They have truncated the publication process in the proposed bill. Slockett said that in the past each entity had to publish what their uses were going to be.

Neuzil said it sounds like unincorporated Johnson County will not receive much money. R. Sullivan said there is a formula to determine that. Stutsman said with the old formula the County did very well. R. Sullivan said this is a discussion with Palo, Iowa, which has few businesses and was devastated. The way the sales tax works is that the formula is based partly on sales and partly population, so Johnson County would do well on the population side.

Slockett said they can figure that out and there is recognition that rural areas don’t have the retail outlets. Neuzil said but Johnson County is the second largest populated area. Slockett said the formula takes that into account. Neuzil said he want to have an understanding of this because it is moving fast through the Senate. Stutsman said the Board doesn’t have any decision to make. This is for their information only and for constituents. Slockett said the Board’s decision is whether they want to encourage voters to vote for or against it. R. Sullivan asked if the County will be required to fill out a statement of purpose. Stutsman said it should probably be put towards tax relief.

Slockett said he thought someone just said that that Senator Bolkcom said that is not going to be required. Harney said he doesn’t know if the County is required to specify, but it doesn’t have to be used just for flood control. Slockett said if the election will be on March 3, 2009, the entities don’t have much time to figure out how they want to spend the revenues and meeting publication deadlines. Harney said, unless things have changed, he was told the only three counties that qualify to do this are Linn, Johnson, and Polk. Slockett said his information is that it will be for any of the 86 counties, but this is changing daily. Stutsman asked if there is already a local option sales tax, the entity can’t add another tax on top of that. Slockett said yes. And maybe that is why there are only three counties, because those might be the counties where the tax hasn’t passed. R. Sullivan said Des Moines County already has that tax. Stutsman asked if this bill has passed yet. Slockett said no, not yet but every indication is that it will.

Stutsman thinks the Organization for Taxpayers Relief is going to ask for some transparency and expect entities to say what they are going to spend the money on. Neuzil said they have been complaining and he doesn’t think their complaints have been heard, because the Senate passed it. He said the task before the Board is to decide how the County should spend its revenues. Slockett said he can look into how much Johnson County would receive. Neuzil said it would be good to get an estimate.

Stutsman said just because an entity puts it on the ballot it doesn’t mean they are for or against it, the voters will decide. She said this is what happened with the Conservation Bond. The voters assumed it was a done deal, because the Board of Supervisors put it on the ballot. R. Sullivan said it was the voters to decide. R. Sullivan said the school option sales tax was the same thing. Neuzil said that Iowa City has to decide this for all of them. Slockett clarified that Iowa City decides whether county residents vote on it. Neuzil said if the unincorporated residents vote no, Johnson County government will not receive money. Slockett said they would still have to pay the tax wherever it passes. Stutsman said she thinks they need to contact the Farm Bureau.

R. Sullivan said the City of Coralville has a formal letter of request to the City of Iowa City asking the City to put it on the ballot. Stutsman said they should wait until Iowa City takes formal action and go from there. She said in the meantime they can research how much money the County would receive. Slockett said he will start looking into that now.

Issues for the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce Washington, DC Trip

Neuzil said R. Sullivan and himself are going to be representing the County in Washington DC, on February 2, 3, and 4, 2009. They received the Federal Issues from the Chamber of Commerce and the one issue they want to focus on is the Dubuque Street Trail. Neuzil said he and R. Sullivan want to let the Board know that is one issue they plan to present in front of the US Senators and Congressman Loebsack's staff during the transportation meeting. Harney asked if County Engineer Greg Parker was planning to put the Dubuque Street Trail under the Stimulus Package. Neuzil said yes, it is under both Federal and State grant. He said they are hoping for something similar to what Linn County has received in the past, which is a specific earmark for this project. Neuzil said Linn County received an earmark that is assisting them in the connection from Ely to the Johnson County border. He said Linn County was successful with that system and he is hoping that Johnson County will be as well. Neuzil said he knows that most of the issues for the North Corridor will be flood-related.

Tax Suspensions

Stutsman said that when tax suspensions are presented to the Board, she prefers to have only a number listed on the application and not the person's name. She said that in the past the process was always anonymous. Stutsman said for confidentially reasons, she likes it better this way. Harney said the names of people requesting and receiving tax suspensions are public information. Stutsman said that is correct and clarified that what she is asking is that suspension requests be presented to the Board anonymously.

R. Sullivan said there is probably some benefit to the public knowing the address of the property, yet on the other hand, he understands why the Board doesn’t necessarily have to state the name. Stutsman said the community as a whole doesn’t always understand the reasoning behind tax suspensions, so to protect individual privacy she prefers to use a number system. Stutsman said she thinks people would be paying taxes if there weren’t extenuating circumstances. Neuzil asked if Stutsman wanted to talk to County Treasurer Tom Kriz to see if this is an option.

Harney asked Chappell for his input. Chappell said he suspects they could have an application process whereby Kriz presents the applicant as "Application Number 123" for example, and the Board can approve Application Number 123. Chappell said if anyone wants to know who Application 123 belongs to, they are entitled to the name of the person, because this is public information. He said the individual's name does not have to appear on the agenda. Harney asked if the name would have to be shown in the minutes.

Chappell said he thinks the minutes could refer to the application number as long as there is always a way to figure out who the application belongs to. He said if someone inquires whether someone has paid their taxes, there has to be some indication whether taxes have been paid or not. Chappell said there is some benefit to the public knowing where taxes are suspended, because it has an effect when the property sells. The property can’t be sold without taxes paid. He said ideally abstractors will be picking that up when they sell the properties. Chappell said he doesn’t know of any reason the Board couldn’t change the process of putting suspension requests on the agenda with just an application number.

Johnson County Ambient Air Quality

Stutsman said she put this item on the agenda in response to an email from the Trails Advisory Committee Chairperson Janelle Rettig talking about a report given by the Joint Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Commission about the State Air Plan and Non-Attainment. Stutsman said Rettig suggested Johnson County take a lead in this and schedule a brief presentation from this group. Stutsman wonders if the Board is interested in this. R. Sullivan said he is interested in finding out if there is anything the County can or should do to affect air quality.

Stutsman researched the DNR website and found there is an air quality measuring instrument at Hoover School. She said, according to the email, it sounds like Iowa City isn’t doing very well in the area of air quality. Stutsman asked if they should invite the presenter. Chappell said the Board of Health has paid considerable attention to this issue and is of particular interest to the Chair of the Board of Health, Paul Deaton. Chappell said that at the last Board of Health meeting, they were talking about scheduling a joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors. He said this might be a great issue to discuss with them. Chappell said Deaton has information on the Hoover School site and thinks it provides a real questionable reading, given that it is only slightly lower than some major industrial sites and no one seems to understand why.

M. Sullivan said he will call Public Health Director Doug Beardsley to inquire further. R. Sullivan said he would like to schedule a joint meeting around when the presenter can come. Stutsman said the January 15, 2009, email did not include the Board of Health and she asked M. Sullivan to forward it to Beardsley. Harney said there should be some information because not long ago there was controversy about what was happening with the smoke stack burn from the University.

Board Office Operational Manual

Neuzil asked if the Board is comfortable with what has been proposed for the Board Office Operational Manual. R. Sullivan said he has sent ten or fifteen recommendations for changes, but he hasn’t seen a new draft. Stutsman said she has not seen an updated draft either. M. Sullivan handed the Board a draft copy and said he is tracking the changes as he gets them. He said the document reflects the changes he has received to date. Stutsman said she is going to send some more changes. She has a draft for a video security camera policy that she passed around to the Board years ago. She said the request for this policy came from Information Services, asking that the Board pass a policy concerning the security cameras in the Auditor’s Office, so everyone would know when they are turned on and off and who has access to the information. She is going to forward that to M. Sullivan to be included in the Operational Manual.

Stutsman also found a policy concerning the Johnson County Logo use. They drafted a policy saying “logo is intended to use by departments or functions under the immediate direction of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors and/or other Johnson County elected officials." She asked if they wanted to include this in the manual also. Stutsman said she also found something R. Sullivan sent around about posting these policies on the web. R. Sullivan said Information Services Director Jean Schultz has said no to this a lot more than she has said yes.

Harney asked if the manual will be updated continually as the names of reporters and others change. M. Sullivan said they will have to update because organization’s web sites change. There are two reporters listed that requested to have their email addresses listed because they work on the move constantly. R. Sullivan asked why some of the reporters do not have an email address listed. M. Sullivan said some of them don’t have web pages set up. Harney said for example, the contact for the Lone Tree Reporter newspaper actually goes through the Kalona News. M. Sullivan will email the draft to the Board with the track change mode, so they can see the changes. Neuzil said they should submit changes to M. Sullivan, who will edit the draft and send it back to the Board by February 6, 2009.

Letter to the Compensation Board

Neuzil said the Board requested of him to write a letter to the Compensation Board. He said he wrote that the Board will be requesting a 3% raise and they want to remain as a part-time status. Neuzil said he also included information about the Board's accomplishments and challenges throughout the year. Board members said the letter looks good as is and thanked Neuzil for taking care of that.

Project Updates

Facilities Manager David Kempf said construction projects for SEATS and Secondary Roads still have some issues and Kempf has not eased up on the liquidated damages that they are assessing them. They have Larew, Johnson Controls, and A&J Associates working today to fix the geothermal issues. He said they have removed most of the cupboard doors and are remaking them, because they weren’t acceptable. Kempf said staff has moved into the building across the street and the move went well. He said it was -34 degrees when the moving trucks showed up. Kempf said the move went surprisingly well and no one complained. He said the overall impression from the people in the building is that they are happy with their surroundings. The only people left to move in are Information Services and Veteran Affairs.

Kempf said the big items left are the delivery of the conference room tables which is scheduled for January 30th, 2009. He said the conference room scheduling system is up and running on Outlook Express. Kempf said it will be helpful to name the meeting rooms because people aren’t familiar with the room numbers. He said it is much easier to reserve a room by name than by number. Neuzil asked if that is something for the Communications Committee. Harney said he thought the Board had decided not to name rooms. Neuzil clarified that the names don't have to be people's names, but rather townships, rivers, creeks, or anything.

Kempf said he has talked to the Board member’s regarding remodeling the Supervisor’s office area. They have met with an engineer who is pricing the upgrades to the Heating Ventilation and Air Condition system. Kempf said he has asked them to explore geothermal for this building. He said since the County now has the armory property they should take a look at it. He is hoping to have plans and cost estimates in the next couple weeks, so they can start the bid process. They won’t be able to use the skywalk until the remodeling is complete.

Harney asked if they have ordered anything to indicate where parking is for the Health and Human Services Building. Kempf said they are working on an overall signage plan. He is hoping to get that drawn up and out to bid in the next week. That will include all the signage within the building and directional signage for the ramps. Harney said there are a large number of people coming into the Administration Building wondering how to get to the Health and Human Services Building.

Employee Parking

Kempf said the first level of the ramp is currently available. They don’t have occupancy for the second level yet, because they still need the elevator in the stair tower. Kempf thinks they need to keep the City Carton lot until the second floor of the ramp is ready. Right now, with the first level of the ramp and the parking between the buildings, there is adequate parking for the employees and customers.

Kempf said they need to reconvene the Parking Committee. R. Sullivan suggested a time in late February, 2009. Kempf said it will still be at least a few more months before key cards will be available. He said they will be working with Information Services and the Auditor's Office to work out the kinks before they start using the key cards. Kempf said staff members are currently using temporary key cards for the Health and Human Services Building. He should be getting the software and hardware they need to make the ID badges soon. He is working with Web Master Gary Yoder in IS and they will come up with a template for the badges and present that to the Board for approval.

R. Sullivan left at 10:33 a.m.

Pulkrabek asked Kempf when they are going to break ground on the Kent Park Project. Kempf said he is not involved with that. He said he talked to Assistant County Attorney Scott Finlayson and Conservation Department Director Harry Graves about it. Finlayson wanted an example of a timeline for putting the project out to bid and Kempf got that for him. He said he still needs to pull out the spec book for the SEATS and Secondary Roads project and get it to Finlayson. Kempf said there are instructions on how the accounting process should take place, because they are doing a two building project at Kent Park. The specs indicated that whoever got the bid needed to account for the projects separately.

Stutsman said the Board gave direction to have Kempf involved, but Conservation has chosen not to have him involved. Neuzil said they want Kempf to focus on SEATS, HHS, and the renovation of the Administration Building. Kempf said they wanted him to be available to answer questions for Conservation, if needed. He hasn’t had any requests from the Conservation Board, except the requests he's gotten from Finlayson.

R. Sullivan Returned at 10:35 a.m.

Harney said he has some concerns about the transfer of funds from one of the park projects to geothermal. He isn't sure if they can do that, so it’s a legal question he wanted to ask Chappell about. Kempf said March 1, 2009, can be a target date for an Open House in the new building. R. Sullivan said they will need to have the second floor of the ramp available before they invite people in. Kempf agreed.

Chappell said at some point the Board is going to have to discuss what it wants to do with the National Guard Armory property. Chappell said he has a signed deed that still needs to be recorded, but he also still needs the abstract updated and some other insurances. He said the County will very soon own that property. Chappell said part of the Armory parking lot, the area adjacent to the fence on the west side of the building, is owned by the City of Iowa City and there is an agreement with the City of Iowa City for the use of that land. He has made contacts with the City of Iowa City's Attorney's office telling them that the County doesn't have a plan for the property and whether they even want it, so maybe it is time for the City to decide if it wants that part of the property back for use as right-of-way.

Chappell said as it is written now the County has to maintain the parking and the fencing. He said he has never heard Kempf mention any long-term plans to keep the fencing in place. Neuzil said, as soon as Chappell needs direction from the Board, they will put it on an informal agenda.

Chappell said they own the parking against the building but not the parking against the fence. Kempf said he has been in the Armory and it does look like they removed the asbestos. He said he believes that Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan has a letter stating that. Kempf said the building is full of mold and they will have to think about whether they want to do anything other than tearing the building down.

Job Description and Hiring Process for the Executive Assistant Position

Stutsman asked Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek if she received the letter from M. Sullivan that he is leaving February 6th, 2009. Shramek said yes. She handed the Board a copy of the job description. Stutsman asked if the job description has changed from what Shramek mailed out. Shramek said there were two small changes. The draft for the Executive Assistant to the Board includes changes from Human Resources as well as from M. Sullivan. She added "manage Board Office" to the definition and duties section because that was in the specific duties and she felt it was significant. She also added "represent Johnson County" and attend work-related meetings.

Shramek said there was interest from Board members about making this position a different level such as administrative assistant to the Board. Stutsman said she thinks it is fine. Neuzil said it includes everything he was concerned about. R. Sullivan said he has looked through the position description a few times and it looks good. Shramek asked if they are looking to fill the position as it exists today. Stutsman asked if the Board is interested in making reorganization changes. Every time they have an opportunity like this, she thinks it is a good idea to reevaluate.

R. Sullivan said some people may wish to upgrade the position and others wish to down grade. He said M. Sullivan is the only one who has done the job, so there isn’t much to go on, except for one person's experience. He said with the time frame he doesn’t think they can mess with it and they just need to hire. Neuzil said he is concerned that the job description requirements don't discourage people without a master's degree from applying. He said it is important but not an absolute. Neuzil said government experience is an absolute must and it would be great to find some one with a master' degrees.

Shramek said right now it is worded "government experience and master's degree preferred", which means it is not in the minimum requirements. Shramek said the minimum requirement is a bachelor's degree. She said she can remove the words "master's degree preferred." Neuzil said it would be nice, but he isn’t sure if this position requires a master's degree. Harney said he doesn't mind leaving it in as "preferred", because they don’t have to have it, if there is someone who is qualified. Neuzil said he wants to have a good pool of people and doesn’t want to turn people off because of that. Stutsman said with the economy the way it is she has a feeling there will be a terrific pool of applicants to choose from.

Shramek said she thinks they are going to be inundated with resumes and she has already received calls regarding the position. Harney said that sometime ago, the League of Women Voters pushed for a County Manager instead, and Harney said, if there is any interest in making the position a County Manager, he wants to be up front about it right away. R. Sullivan said no. Stutsman said she thinks that requires a public vote. R. Sullivan said no, it doesn't. Neuzil said, if they are talking about changing the form of government, it might be something they would put in front of voters.

R. Sullivan said they have nine days before this position is empty. R. Sullivan said he is not interested in a process that will take nine months to adjust. Shramek said she doesn’t think the Board should make a quick decision. R. Sullivan said he is against it anyway and time is of the essence. Neuzil said he doesn’t think that the County Manager system is the direction the County should go. His biggest concern with M. Sullivan's job is that M. Sullivan gets pulled in so many directions because of the responsibilities of the job. He asked M. Sullivan if the job description in front of them is realistic.

M. Sullivan said he thinks so. He gave Shramek his input more specifically. His comments and recommendations are in there. Stutsman said that Johnson County is ranked high on the State of Iowa Department Head Salary Rankings for the Executive Assistant. She asked Shramek if they should keep it the same or change it. Shramek said it is important to see how that comes out. They may have overstated the salary, but it may be just fine. Stutsman asked if she was suggesting leaving the salary where it is. Shramek said she could reevaluate it, but chances are it will come out the same.

Neuzil said he thinks it is a realistic number as compared to the Treasurer, Recorder, and Auditor. Stutsman said she is surprised that others don’t pay more. Shramek said one thing to keep in mind is that M. Sullivan has been in this position for seven years. The starting range would be $68,266 to $72,316. Neuzil said he accepts that salary range, and if some one questioned him, he would show what other people getting. He said it is reasonable to pay an executive assistant for the Board at that level.

Shramek said they have made good progress to date and so she thinks recruiting can begin on January 29, 2009. Shramek said for a position of this level, they should have a recruitment time period of at least three weeks. She recommended recruiting through February 27, 2009. Neuzil said he might be able to agree with that schedule, because he knows what the Board Office is like without an Executive Assistant. R. Sullivan urged for a shorter recruitment time frame since Shramek feels that they are going to have a good number of strong applicants. Harney said he thinks February 20, 2009, is reasonable. R. Sullivan said he would like to shoot for a shorter time period and they can always extend it if needed.

Shramek said she would post the ad on the website the next day and the newspapers over the weekend. Neuzil said he thinks 21 days from the advertisement date would be reasonable. Shramek said applications will be accepted from January 29, 2009, through February 20, 2009. She asked if Human Resources should pre-screen and sort the applications by minimum qualifications. Neuzil said yes. Shramek said this time they are going to make one additional notebook of just the yeses, because that way one person isn’t monopolizing the book at one time.

R. Sullivan said he thinks this is urgent and asked if they could schedule a meeting on February 23, 2009. Harney asked if Shramek will have time to put the recommendations together by then. R. Sullivan said he assumes the applications are screened as they come in. Shramek said the Board can start looking at them on February 23, 2009. Stutsman said they have until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 20, 2009 and that means Shramek will be working all weekend to review.

Shramek asked if they want to make it 5:00 p.m. on February 20, or will they accept a post mark and generally she accepts a post mark as timely submitted. R. Sullivan said he doesn't care about the date but he wants the earliest date they can meet to discuss this. The Board discussed possible meeting dates. Shramek said the Board doesn't need to meet, because they will vote individually and then as they have done in the past, they will interview the top candidates.

Neuzil said Shramek needs to start thinking about dates for interviews. R. Sullivan asked if they could set a deadline for the Board to give their responses to Shramek. Shramek asked if a February 25, 2009, deadline would give Board members enough time to submit their top choices to her. Shramek said on February 25, 2009, she can contact candidates to schedule interviews. She asked when the Board wanted to conduct first round interviews. The Board discussed their schedule and concluded that first round interviews could begin on March 12, 2009.

R. Sullivan asked if they are better off to make the process quicker and interview the last week of February. Stutsman said they shouldn't move too fast. Shramek said based on that they can recruit until February 25, 2009 and review applications on March 2 through 4, 2009. Neuzil said March 4, 2009 is the deadline for Board members to give Shramek their selections.

R. Sullivan asked if they are blocking out March 12 and 13, 2009, all day, since there is an evening Board meeting on March 12, 2009. Stutsman asked how many candidates they will interview. Shramek said usually five or six. Stutsman asked Shramek how many candidates the Board should interview. Shramek said she is think five or six for the first round, but it depends on the applications. Neuzil said the Board should block off 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on March 12 and 13, 2009, until they have an interview schedule. Shramek asked the Board to submit interview questions to her by March 11, 2009.

Stutsman suggested March 10, 2009, so Shramek can have time to get the questions to the Board before they start. Shramek said that is up to the Board. Stutsman said this was an issue last time, because some applicants might have seen the questions ahead of time. The Board agreed not to receive the questions ahead of the scheduled interviews.

Shramek said on March 13, 2009, the Board will narrow the candidate pool and second round interviews could be on March 23, 2009, in the afternoon. R. Sullivan said they should see what kind of schedule works for the applicant and maybe they would request a morning interview time. The Board agreed to hold interviews from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Stutsman asked if written exercises will be part of the second round interviews. Shramek said yes. Stutsman agreed. Neuzil said, if everything goes well, they would potentially have a decision on March 23, 2009.

Shramek said they would have to check references and do a background investigation on March 23 and 24, 2009, but they could offer the job on March 25, 2009. Shramek said they can accept the offer by March 30, 2009, and they could most likely start as soon as April 13, 2009. Shramek said she wants to extend Human Resources Coordinator Vanessa Wierman's services to the Board for a few hours everyday.

R. Sullivan recommended advertising with the Iowa League of Cities and he said he thinks they advertise for free. Shramek said she will look into that. She said it is expensive to advertise in the Des Moines Register. Another option would be the Quad City Times. Stutsman asked about the Corridor Careers website. Shramek said it is associated with the Gazette. Neuzil said to consider advertising with the Chamber of Commerce, ICAD, and other associations they are members of. He said he thinks it is important to advertise in the Des Moines Register, because he thinks there are some advantages to that, even though it is expensive.

Stutsman said she would like to see the ad in the Des Moines Register, also, and the Quad City Times. R. Sullivan said he doesn’t think people look for jobs that way anymore, because they go online. Neuzil said he thinks people look at the Register and that is why it is expensive. Shramek said advertising costs in 2001 were a little over $500 and now for a Sunday publication it is a minimum of $1,000 and they would have to cut the ad considerably.

Harney asked if there is an insert that goes along with the Register for professionals. Shramek asked if he is talking about Smart Career Moves and said that has been incorporated with the Iowa Work Force. Stutsman said they have two months of M. Sullivan's salary that they won’t be using and they could put that towards advertising. Neuzil asked if three Board members were okay with advertising in the Des Moines Register. The Board agreed. Neuzil said this is the most important position for the Board of Supervisors, so they need to make an investment. Shramek asked if the Board was okay with the draft of the ad. The Board agreed. Neuzil asked if Shramek needed any more direction from the Board. Shramek said she will type the timeline and send it to the Board.

Benefits for Joint Emergency Communications Center Employees

Neuzil asked how they will transition M. Sullivan to the Joint Emergency Communications Center (JECC) position. Shramek said the concept of benefits with the JECC is not new and originally came up two years ago. JCCOG Executive Director Jeff Davidson sent all the entities an email about that, so they have had a lot of time to think about it, but not all of the details have been worked out. Shramek said the bottom line is the County could provide benefits for the JECC. They would have to be structured in a certain manner.

Stutsman asked if Shramek was talking about one person or all JECC employees. Shramek said right now they are talking about only the Executive Director, but this could mean that the answer for one person could turn into the answer for all employees. Harney said the JECC would actually pay for all the bills, the pension system and all the services provided. Shramek said there is some value in looking at their other benefit arrangements. The County's plans are named Johnson County and Associated Companies. Chatham Oaks participates in the County health care program and they were once Johnson County employees. She said, when Chatham Oaks privatized, the employees were allowed to stay on health care coverage.

Shramek said Chatham Oaks can't go out for a bid on its own or they would automatically be removed from the County group. They reimburse the County for their benefits. The Ag Extension also reimburses the County for their benefits, because that is required by Iowa Code. The County Assessor, City Assessor, the Board of Health, Emergency Management Association, and the Conservation Board, for whom the County provides benefits, Shramek said, technically are not County employees but are considered County employees. The County does not have 28E agreements with them. The County and City Assessors follow County policies with few exceptions.

Shramek said the Board of Health and Emergency Management Association both adopted County policies. The Conservation Board copied the County's policies but have their own handbook. The County has a few 28E agreements with the State of Iowa. One is for County employees performing work for DHS, however those employees are paid for by the County and are considered County employees. Johnson County also has a 28E agreement with employees of the Child Support Recovery unit in Linn County. There isn’t a current agreement on file in the Auditor's Office, but she believes there is one intact. Those employees are considered County employees and it appears the State reimburses the County. Shramek asked Chappell for confirmation of this. Chappell assumes there is a current 28E Agreement but doesn't know if they reimburse at 100%.

Pulkrabek said it helps the County pool numbers, too, because if they didn't do that, they would have the nine or ten dispatchers now dropping out of the pool as opposed to keeping them or adding a few more. Shramek said theoretically they want to spread out their risks. She said the more people there are the better it will be. She said two years ago they had just over 500 employee enrolled, which is important with Wellmark because reduced rates kick in once there are more than 500.

R. Sullivan said the JECC hasn’t formally asked the County to do this other than with M. Sullivan's position. He said while it is important to be thinking about this for the future, M. Sullivan needs a decision on his situation quickly. Shramek said it is the same for one or for all. Neuzil asked if there was a request from the JECC for the Board manage this.

Chappell said he doesn’t know if there is a formal request. He has had some conversations with Davidson and some of the Board members, and his understanding is that there hasn’t been a formal request. M. Sullivan would like to know if the County is interested, and if not, they will look elsewhere. There is an expediency to it obviously and if the interest is not there, to let the JECC know as soon as possible. Chappell said Davidson thinks it can be worked out with the County or the City of Iowa City without major issues either way. Neuzil said it depends upon whether the City of Iowa City is going to charge the JECC for services. He said he is looking at the union negotiations, which gets technical and expensive. Pulkrabek said the Iowa City Police Department has their own information technology person, but if they need to bring the City Information Technology people the City charges the Police Department. Pulkrabek said that within the County, departments work with each other. R. Sullivan said for example County Assessor Bill Greazal puts money into Information Technology and gives Shramek a stipend, so there is some precedent for this. Shramek said Greazel is the only one who does this.

Harney said the Policy Board had not sent out a formal request early on when this was being considered. The understanding when this started was that the City of Iowa City or Johnson County would take responsibility or provide the services. The Policy Board would reimburse JECC whatever expenses the County incurred, because they would have to pay the City, the County, or someone privately to do that. Harney said he feels it is an advantage to the County to do it, because the money flows into Johnson County and it is easier to roll it out through the Auditor's Office. Neuzil is concerned about the extra time Shramek will spend on this and union negotiations, the extra time for the County Attorney, and a request from the Auditor's Office for another part-time employee, if another 10 or 20 employees are added to the payroll.

Pulkrabek said the County can take care of payroll and benefits, and human resources would go through Iowa City or Coralville, or whoever. He said that way everyone shares the responsibility. Harney said for union negotiations they could hire someone to do that. Neuzil asked if the Board is expecting to take General Fund money and put additional General Fund money into this. Harney said no, it is already set by a 28E agreement.

Stutsman said she is concerned about precedents. Healthcare is the big issue. She said she understands that and said Shramek made a good argument about why they include so many people in the County pool. Stutsman said she has not yet heard a good argument for including the JECC, unless they make a commitment to do it. She is thinking about the person that comes in and says the Board did it for a certain entity that didn't have a formal relationship with the County and so why not for others.

Shramek said Stutsman is right because they aren't considered County employees. She looked at Johnson County's 28E Agreement and it differs from the one in Black Hawk County and Scott County. In Black Hawk County they are considered County employees because they already had a collective bargaining agreement in place and they added to it. She said that here they are talking about something completely different, but as long as this is funneled through the County, they can still have an agreement with Wellmark. Harney said an argument that Shramek did make was that there is a break in cost for 500 or more employees.

Shramek said they are still safe. Harney agreed and said if something happens where they lose employees somewhere else they will go under that. Neuzil thinks the Union is a large part of it. He said considering what Iowa City's benefits for their Union employees and what the County has, he thinks people will decide to go with Iowa City's plan. Neuzil said he wants a situation where that matches up with HR. If they are negotiating, comparisons start to happen and all of a sudden the JECC unit is going to have many more things in it. Harney said he thinks Johnson County's benefits are better than Iowa City's. Pulkrabek and R. Sullivan said the City's pay is higher. Shramek said the City of Iowa City's pay is higher and the County benefits may be better.

Pulkrabek said Johnson County could do the payroll and say the County doesn't want to take care of labor negotiation and HR. Chappell said his understanding of what is being proposed is strictly ministerial, running it through the County system. The JCSA already has its own legal counsel and he expects they would have their own negotiator through legal counsel or something else. He said that doesn't mean that there couldn’t later be an agreement to pay the County for Shramek's time or pay the City for it’s time. Chappell said he doesn’t dispute anything Shramek said but just wants to be clear about what his understand is that right now they are only talking about is this one position.

Chappell agreed with Shramek that the answer for the County could be the same, that if they do it for one, they could do it for everyone else. He said he doesn't think they need to make that decision right now. Chappell said the Board can decide on this one position and his understanding is that they are requesting it for six months while they get things up and running. He said in that time period there is time to see how it goes and find answers to their questions. Chappell told the Board that they have no obligation to do it and it doesn't mean they should do it. He said that while all their concerns are valid, the Board should not feel like it needs to make a decision based on those concerns right now. Shramek said another solution, though she is not proposing it, is to COBRA M. Sullivan out and the JECC could pay the COBRA rates for six months. She doesn’t think this is the arrangement they are looking for.

Neuzil said he wants to set a precedent of what the Board has done in the past. Shramek said they haven’t had something like this. R. Sullivan said this is a unique situation. Stutsman asked if that is what COBRA is for, to carry insurance for people transitioning to new employment. Harney said it is, but if the Board wishes not to provide any of the services, then the Board needs to tell JECC and they will go to Iowa City to do it. Stutsman said she didn’t want to make that decision today, because she needs more information. She is talking about the situation presented to the Board about one employee leaving Johnson County employment and is asking to stay on Johnson County employment for insurance purposes. Stutsman said she thinks COBRA is set up to handle this. Harney said this shouldn't be confused by the fact that he was a County employee, because JECC could have hired someone from outside and they would have presented the same situation.

Sullivan doesn’t think JECC would be asking the Board, if it had been someone from outside. R. Sullivan asked if a person was hired from the Iowa City Police Department, would they be asking the County to provide insurance? Pulkrabek said it is possible, because they need to find someone who is willing to do it. He said the JECC hasn't had a director and Davidson has been acting as the interim director. They need a way to pay the new director when he is on board. Stutsman said she thought the County was asked to pay for only the health insurance and now she is asking if JECC is asking the County to pay the salary also. Pulkrabek said he believes so. Harney said they want to run the payroll through the County, but it will be paid by JECC.

Stutsman said she didn’t know they were agreeing to that. Pulkrabek said the payroll will be done like the rest of the bills when Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson is paying them. Right now all the other bills are being paid through the Auditor's Office. Stutsman said it sounds like the decision is made. Pulkrabek agrees with the Board, that it is important to make the decision on this one. Pulkrabek is here since he is on the JECC Board and he wants to take guidance from the Supervisors. Stutsman said this whole process is backwards and now the Board is expected to make a decision today. She said this has been an unfortunate process. Pulkrabek said he doesn’t disagree with Stutsman.

Neuzil asked if there is anything the JECC has asked the Board to do for the new executive director position. Chappell said there is still no official request. He said the JECC would like to know whether the Board is willingly to consider this and if not, they will try and work it out with Iowa City. Pulkrabek said the JECC Board hasn’t even discussed this. Neuzil said it is strange that the JECC Board has hired someone who will start their job in two weeks and they haven’t figured out how to pay him. Pulkrabek said they inquired about this six months ago and there was no decision.

Stutsman said they didn’t have enough information at that time. Harney said neither did the Policy Board. He said this is being newly formed and he talked to Shramek about it two years ago and the Board never did anything about it. Harney said now they are at the point where they are hiring a director and either Johnson County needs to plan on doing this or Iowa City needs to put something in their budget to do it. Chappell said, if there is a consensus of the Board that they aren't interested, to by all means speak up and that message will be conveyed to Davidson. If there is a consensus that it is a good idea, as long as their questions are answered and Shramek's concerns are addressed, then that will be conveyed. Chappell said this is a work session, so no formal vote need be taken.

Harney said the new director is going to have a challenge putting this together. Pulkrabek said the new director's job is to get this done. R. Sullivan said he thought they had a joint meeting with the Policy Board and it didn't happen. He said there continues to be a lot that goes on that he would like to talk about with the Policy Board. Neuzil said he wants the JECC to give the Board a request of what they want. Stutsman said she thinks Chappell is asking if the Board is willing to consider it. R. Sullivan said they should keep M. Sullivan on until said time the Board is ready to make a decision.

Neuzil said the question is who is going to pay for the health insurance and his guess is that it will be paid for with the JECC budget and not the County. R. Sullivan said they should do it and deal with the rest later. Stutsman and Harney agreed. Neuzil said the Board's direction is that they will be assisting temporarily with the position until it is determined. Harney said the Board needs to make a decision about allowing the Director to have a temporary office at Secondary Roads or at the new building. Neuzil said that will be on a future agenda. Stutsman said, if there is room, they should decide now.

Shramek asked the Board to keep in mind that benefits go with payroll deductions. She looks at the deal as the whole ball of wax for six months, because they are all linked together. Shramek said benefits can't be paid without payroll. Neuzil asked if there is direction from the Board to have the County have oversight of this, as they would handle any other County employee. R. Sullivan said he would like to do it, just for M. Sullivan until they can figure out how to handle it with all the employees. Chappell said the Board of Supervisors will have to work with the Policy Board to put together the details.

Pulkrabek said he is willing to set up a meeting between the Board and JECC, but he thinks what might come out of that will be that the JECC will have to meet with the North Liberty City Council, the Iowa City City Council, and the Coralville City Council. Neuzil said there is direction for M. Sullivan to work with HR to get this sorted out temporarily with Davidson. Stutsman asked who pays for mileage. Neuzil said JECC will pay for everything. Chappell said the bottom line is that the cost for everything can come from JECC. There may be incidental things that go through the Auditor's Office and Treasurer Office and they may have to decide if they want to assess a value to that incremental piece of work for the new employee and get a reimbursement from JECC for the interim period.

Shramek said in Scott County her understanding is that nobody else in the County receives any additional compensation. Neuzil said there is direction for M. Sullivan to work with HR and Davidson to make sure everything is handled through Johnson County. He said the Board will need to have further discussion with JECC. Stutsman asked when that building is going to be done. Pulkrabek said it is supposed to be operational in January of 2010. R. Sullivan said he does not want to inconvenience any JECC members with an additional meeting. Neuzil said he wants JECC to forward the Board information about how to deal with employees. Stutsman said they need to make a decision about what they are going to do about the HR and union, issues so they have their information together. Neuzil said he thinks the JECC has been waiting for an Executive Director to manage that and he thinks they will have structure in place in the next month or so.

Internal Processes, Expectations, and Other Operational Issues of the Board of Supervisors Office

Neuzil said that the week of February 9 through 13, 2009, M. Sullivan will be officially gone and Board Secretary Jo Hogarty will be on vacation. Shramek says M. Sullivan asked her if Human Resources Office Assistant Geralyn Owen could assist in the Board Office during that time. Stutsman asked M. Sullivan if he starts with the JECC on February 9, 2009. M. Sullivan said he starts closer to the end of the month. Neuzil clarified that M. Sullivan's last day of work is February 6, 2009 and M. Sullivan confirmed. Shramek said there are details that need to be answered, such as whether his employment is termed out and do they do a position change.

Neuzil said as of February 9, 2009, they need coverage in the Board Office from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. until they hire someone else. R. Sullivan said it might be possible for Planning and Zoning Clerk Nancy Rockensies to help out for a day. M. Sullivan said he sent an email to Dvorak asking if Rockensies could help.

Stutsman left 11:42 a.m.

The Board discussed scheduling needs for the week of February 9, 2009. Neuzil asked M. Sullivan to work with Hogarty and Budget Coordinator Richard Claiborne to coordinate a schedule. He added that Board members will have to pitch in answering phones. M. Sullivan said Claiborne will need uninterrupted time to complete the State budget.

Meeting Agenda Items

Neuzil said he will write a letter for the Veteran's Affairs Office and the Board can review that in a couple weeks. They will put final touches on the Board Office Operational Manual and then make it official. Neuzil said project updates will remain on the agenda, but parking will be removed. He said Joint Emergency Communications Center and National Guard Property will be on the Key Issues agenda for the next meeting. Neuzil suggested keeping the Key Issues agenda lighter for awhile because M. Sullivan won’t be part of Key Issues meetings any longer.

Other

Meyers said someone from the Corridor Business Journal contacted him to ask if the Board wanted to be part of the display ad for the Iowa City Chamber of Commerce in the upcoming Corridor Business Journal 2009 Membership Directory. He said it would cost the Board money and asked if this was something the Board has done in the past. Neuzil said the Board can't discuss this, because it is not on the agenda. R. Sullivan said this is an internal process, so they can discuss it. Meyers said he just is just asking if it is something the Board has done in the past. Neuzil asked Chappell for a decision about whether the Board can discuss this item. Chappell said they can’t take any action on it, but they can talk about it. M. Sullivan said he doesn’t think the Board has taken part in the 2009 Membership Directory in the past and Neuzil agreed.

Adjourned at 11:49 a.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary

Sent to the Board of Supervisors on July 30, 2009 at 12:00 p.m.