MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
FEBRUARY 5, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Swisher Library Committee Member Laura Hoover: First Right of Refusal of Property Owned by the County and Currently Being Used As a Secondary Roads Maintenance Shed....................................................... 1
Ambulance Director Steve Spenler: Ambulance Services Strategic Plan..................................... 3
Public Health Director Douglas Beardsley: Changing Wastewater Alteration Permit Fee from Current $35/Hour to Flat Fee of $150 Per Permit........................................................................................................... 6
County Engineer Greg Parker: Federal Aid (STP) Agreement With the Iowa Department of Transportation for Project STP-S-C052(88)—5E-52, PCC Whitetopping On Oak Crest Hill Road................................ 8
County Engineer Greg Parker: Weight Embargo(S) on Secondary Roads for Calendar Year 2009 9
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors................................................................. 9
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:09 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, and Rod Sullivan; absent: Larry Meyers and Sally Stutsman.
Neuzil said this is a facility out in the community of Swisher and he knows R. Sullivan, Harney, and the others have seen it plenty of times. Secondary Roads uses that particular facility. Swisher Library Committee Member Laura Hoover said they are looking for services with the Jefferson and Monroe townships, the northwest corner of the County, and they are working with the City of Swisher since under Iowa law it is easier to put a library in a city than in a township. Hoover explained they are a group that has been working together five years, and two years ago they had a group of architects come in and do an analysis of Swisher. She said they were helping identify sites of what would work well for what they need in the area. Hoover said they need a library and meeting hall. She said they highly recommended that spot. Hoover said they did a site analysis. The site offers some really great things. She said if they aren’t familiar with the site, it currently sits right in the middle of Swisher, and is increasingly surrounded by residential. Hoover said it is a fairly large site, with the back dropping off to a ravine. She said that will give them the opportunity to build the library and community hall, and have room for expansion and park space. The ravine goes down into a flood plain and that wouldn’t be developable but it would leave them room for park space. Hoover said, having some discussions with Secondary Roads, she knows they aren’t content with the site and it is hard for their trucks to move in and out, and they are looking to move out. She said what they are asking for is a right of first refusal on that property to be given to the City of Swisher so they can go ahead and make plans, start their fundraising work towards acquiring that site to build what they as the community of Jefferson Monroe Township needs. Hoover said this would be without having to think that it is going to get yanked up from right underneath them. When they first started the project, people asked first where it would be and how much it is going to cost. She said they would like to answer the question of where it is going to be so then they can say how much it is going to cost.
R. Sullivan said he has had a chance to speak with Hoover about it on a couple occasions. He said people up there have been doing a fantastic job and they have done a lot of good work and identified that. Hoover said they worked with OPN. R. Sullivan said they looked at the whole town and decided that is the best spot. He said, as Hoover pointed out, if OPN was going to look for a spot from County Engineer Greg Parker they definitely wouldn’t pick that one, as the building is rotten and it is totally in a residential neighborhood and in town. R. Sullivan said for that reason it is less than ideal for them as well. Harney said a couple years ago they had the same conversation where they were replacing the Tiffin shed and possibly replacing that one next. He said with financial things the way they are now, it is probably not in the near future but it is out there. Harney said this summer, as they did with Tiffin, where they actually had an appraisal done on the facility and they asked for a right of first refusal at whatever price it was, and locked it down. He said when that transpired, they went through that process again and they had it reappraised and came to an agreement, and transferred it off to them. Harney said he sees the same type of thing happening here, if that is what they want to do. Hoover said that is where they are headed.
Neuzil said, as Harney pointed out, it isn’t unusual that when they have had buildings in the past, that a City government would have the first choice to look at it, and that is what happens when they build buildings in the fringe areas of communities, and the fringe of the County from 25-30 years ago is very different, as things grow around. Hoover said Swisher grows slow, but even they have grown. Neuzil said it will just continue to grow, as it is in the corridor and certainly in a very prime location. Hoover said it is a service they need desperately in that corner of the County. Harney said perhaps Parker can give them a timeline of what he is looking at for the future. R. Sullivan asked County Attorney Janet Lyness about what they did so with Tiffin, was there any type of public hearing that was necessary, as he thinks they did that at some point. Lyness said anytime they are disposing of any type of real property, they will need to follow all the steps and provisions including public hearings and notice, etc.
Parker said he thinks that is the magical question. He said they are currently seeking property for the relocation of the site they were discussing this morning, and it is something they are actively trying to find. With the budget activities they are going through now, it is probably not much of a high priority for them but they are still seeking if something does come across. Parker said his recommendation is to approve the first right of refusal with the City of Swisher. He said they have had a meeting and some conversations with them, and they do typically talk to the cities and at least take note of those properties for the Secondary Roads Department to move on. Parker said it is in the interest of the County to consider that.
Hoover said like everyone else, the budget has hit them as well, and they have just started their fundraising push so they don’t have a timeline and isn’t like they are saying they want to get somewhere. She said they are very flexible, and what they are looking for is for it not to disappear out from underneath them. Neuzil said in terms of the direction, he said he doesn’t blame the representatives for coming in and doing that, but as far as the issue of right of first refusal, he wanted to know if that is something to go through the whole entire process. He said, even if they aren’t going to sell it, even the intent would go through that process. Neuzil said he thinks it would be worthy to have the County Attorney’s Office start that process if there is direction from the Board. Harney asked if it would be the County Attorney’s Office or if it would be the City Attorney that would do that. Lyness said the County is the ones that are disposing of the property, and they would be doing this at that point. Neuzil said at least going through that process, the timelines are going to need to match up correctly, and he would suggest that the organization would keep a lookout for potential properties that the County could look at. R. Sullivan said they have talked about that before, that the sooner Parker can find a spot, the sooner they can go. He said if they have someone who is a contributer and they want to contribute some land. Harney said he thinks Parker was looking at a space between Solon and Swisher and combining the two. R. Sullivan said they have patrons out that way too.
Hoover said their service area actually goes all the way out to the Monroe Township County Line that is halfway between Swisher and Ely. She said it is closer to Ely than Shueyville. Hoover said that is a good way to cross, and they are pretty familiar with that whole Division Street all the way across. Neuzil said that by having them go through that process of having that public hearing, and getting some direction from policy in regards to the Board, he thought that would give them a little more comfort level of when, not a specific time, but when that would occur so they would at least have that choice and start making some designs. Hoover said particularly as they go out to potential donors, they can say yes they will be where they are headed. He asked if that is something the Board would like to direct the County Attorney to assist with. The Board said yes.
Neuzil said Ambulance Director Steve Spenler is here to discuss the Ambulance Services Strategic plan. He said it is a project they have been working on for awhile and he is excited about it. Spenler said the first page is an introduction, and they will be using it in a few ways. He said they will be using it as a management tool to direct the future of the Ambulance Service, but then also to use as a document in training and to put out to staff to let them know the direction they see the service heading, and to allow them to provide input into it. Spenler said he put together instructions, which includes a brief history of the Ambulance Service and also a description of the emergency and non-emergency services they provide. He said he also provided a summary of some of the challenges they see in the near future. The next page is the mission and division statement, which they have had in place for a couple years. Spenler said at the time they were putting it together, R. Sullivan was one of his liaisons and he assisted with that as well. Spenler said he thinks division summarizes all the points that go together in allowing them to provide quality Ambulance Services, which is what it is all about. He said, moving on to goals and objectives, it is something that has been on their plate for quite some time, and he is sure they are on strategic plan, is the new ambulance facility. Spenler said the current facility was built in 1988, and was built in large part by the Ambulance staff at that time. He said it is inadequate for a number of reasons, and certainly for the future growth of the Ambulance Service he would like to see a new facility. Spenler said once Facilities Director David Kempf has the Health and Human Services Building off his plate, he would like to work with him in getting a conceptual plan together, and then also figure out how they are going to fund the building and get a timeline for construction. He said they understand the current situation may delay that a little bit and there might be some other options, but they would like to start moving forward with that.
Spenler said they developed this with their management team. He said they met a number of times throughout the fall. Spenler said the first thing they did was brainstorm and look at the things they thought they did pretty well and the accomplishments they have had over the last few years. He said it was pretty productive for them to get together and go through everything to figure out where they are at. Spenler said the next thing they identified areas they wanted to do better, as well as the challenges they would face. He said they then created goals to improve in those areas and meet those challenges, and then some action plans on how they would do that. He said they also set responsibilities for different supervisors, himself, the assistant director, and how they were going to accomplish these and set a time frame for completion. Spenler said the second point there is to develop a comprehensive quantity assurance program. He said they certainly have a quality insurance program in place, and this would enhance that. Spenler said it will tie their billing and reimbursement into it, and then also tie all of their education training quality insurance together and coordinated, and also the plan would speak to staff involvement and how the process would work. He said the third point, because of their increase in call volume, they find it more and more important that they have a supervisor who is on duty and isn’t tied into patient care. Spenler said currently they have a field supervisor on each shift, but often they are in the role of a paramedic and when it is extremely busy things get complicated and they are often in the role of a paramedic and aren’t able to manage the service. He said they have moved them during peak times from Friday to Sunday morning, and they are in an inside command role, they are off the trucks, and they have found that to be very helpful and beneficial. Spenler said they would like to expand that as time goes on and their call volume continues to increase.
Spenler said another area they identified they would like to do better at would be their public relations education. Spenler said they certainly want staff involvement with that, and they have formed a committee, and they have started to work to enhance the things they do provide as far as their public relations and education. Spenler said that committee is also committed to looking at grants to fund the public education and the PR things they do. He said they currently employ about ten EMT basics. They are involved in their mobile care and special event services they provide, and he wants to improve their capability to assist them in times of emergencies, disasters, etc. Spenler said they want to make sure they utilize them in a more efficient way. He said one of the biggest areas they see a challenge of meeting increased demand for services. Spenler said he wants them to be able to measure what they are doing, set bench marks that they will be looking at over time, and then some of the areas they can work on to meet that is to 1) work with staff to adjust the current work schedule, 2) staff a fourth ambulance during peak times. This can involve adding staff, taking units and looking at all their units, and maybe moving units around. He said they certainly see a need to add a fourth ambulance at certain times if their volume continues to increase work. Spenler said they are approximately 30% increase in call volume since Fiscal Year 2005, and they are at about 4% this year. He said they do run out of ambulances and they need to be able to look at the times that are more busy and add a fourth unit. Spenler said also a change in the work schedule would help them meet that demand. He said other things they want to do to meet that demand is work with the new director of the Joint Emergency Communication Center to develop some type of a triage system so that they are able to get their resources to areas that need it the most, and also maintain contingency agreements with other Ambulance Services that are adjacent to the County or are within the County to assist them with times when they are extremely busy.
Spenler said the last point they certainly want to maintain and promote a positive, professional, and healthy workplace. He said they would like to develop a fitness program. Spenler said they did apply for an assistant firefighter grant in 2008 which would provide them with workout equipment, and there has been discussion in having a fitness facility in the third floor of the Health and Human Services Building. He said they would like to be able to use the equipment and put it up there and create a fitness place, but then part of the grant would be a complete fitness program they would put together. Spenler said it would include diet and other fitness ideas in the program. He said they also want to improve their information exchange, not only for them to provide information but also provide a form for feedback.
Spenler said he wanted to make sure their management team is providing quality leadership, as they are going to send Assistant Ambulance Director Dave Dvorsky to an Ambulance Service Manager certification program down in Kansas City in the fall of 2009. He explained Dvorsky will spend a week in Kansas City and will then do a lot of online work, and then he spends another week in Kansas City near the end of the program. Spenler said they are interested to see how this program is, and what benefits it would be to the service. He said he has heard really good things about it, he is excited to see what benefit that brings to them, and then if they feel it is worthwhile they will try to send some of the other supervisors down there. He said they will also participate in the County Safety Committee and get more of their staff involvement and make sure they are looking at different things they do and doing them the safest way they can.
Neuzil asked when Spenler wants everything done. Spenler said a lot of it is ongoing, and they haven’t included the individuals that aren’t responsible for some of the timeframes. Spenler said they will meet monthly and they review where they are at with things, and then they will review it each fall and revise it. Neuzil said that is well done and it is a road map, and it is the kind of thing they encourage all of the department heads to consider doing. R. Sullivan said he was thinking the same thing, that he would like to have a similar document for every department in the County. He said he thinks it is a great idea to really give them an idea of what they are trying to do. Spenler said it has been a good process in that these are all things that they have had in their minds and they are things they have worked on, but they have never sat down in a group and said this is what they need to concentrate their efforts on.
R. Sullivan said he knows they didn’t give them all the information they have got in timeframes and people responsible. He said one thing that is encouraging is that when they look is that a lot of these things don’t cost any money, and some are just a small amount of money. R. Sullivan said a couple would be larger dollar, and it might be nice to lay out to the Board, of their strategic plan, here are the things they think if they are going to do it and do it right, here is what it would cost so they can start to think about it in terms of budgeting. He said they make such a good case for it. Spenler said he knows the building is obviously the big ticket item, and they will certainly be coming to them and talking about that more in the next year. R. Sullivan said some of their staffing things is one. Spenler agreed, and said that when he says they need to have a fourth truck, there may be alternative solutions rather than having staff, and may be there will be units that they don’t need at certain times that they can move to other times. He said that also goes with the scheduling, that it would be much easier to add staff, and that moving those things will be a little more painful for some, but that might be what they need to do.
Harney said it puts a lot of work in that, and keeping them informed, and it has been a good process in including all their employees, which will be nice. Spenler said it was a lot of work to get to this point, but it is just the beginning of the process. Neuzil said it also helps them, as far as policy makers, to see where each of their departments are and to have the Supervisors buy into where people want to go, and that is the kind of conversation they need to continue to have. Harney said, as a suggestion, that they may want to look at the Public Health Building, as it has been vacated, and to see if it can be something that can be remodeled into what they actually want. Neuzil said he thinks there will be a lot of different conversations. Spenler said once Kempf gets things tied up, as he has been so busy, they will start figuring out what their options are. He said that is what they purchased the Fisher Building for initially.
Public Health Director Doug Beardsley introduced Environmental Health Specialist Tamara Ewoldt, who is in their water program, and she is here to answer any technical questions they may have about the water program. Beardsley said he has attached a memo outlining this as he understands the process for changing fees goes through the Board of Health, and has actually been changed to the Board of Health rules. He said there is a public hearing and then it needs approval by the Board. Beardsley said all of those previously mentioned steps have been taken, and this is the final step to bring it to the Board. He said in the water program, if there is a private sewage disposal system at your home, there is something malfunctioning that you need to repair, you will need a permit so that the repairs are done properly. Beardsley said that permit fee has been structured for the last number years based on hourly fees. He said someone comes in and does the application, and then the clock starts ticking on how long it takes the inspector to travel out there, do the inspection, etc. Beardsley said this is problematic in some ways, as the homeowner comes in. He said reasonably they should expect to know what it is going to cost them, up front, and they don’t know until afterwards.
Beardsley said one of the other difficulties is if someone lives in the far reaches of the County they are charged higher because there is travel time included. He said he really doesn’t feel that is equitable in terms of administering it, tracking, creating a lot of administrative overhead. Beardsley said this is the first County he has experienced where there has been an hourly charge on something like that. He said usually it is blended, and he had staff look at what would be a good blended rate. Beardsley gave the highs, lows, and averages, and there has not been an increase in that for four years, so they came in at $150 flat fee they think would be more equitable and a lot easier administratively to conduct.
Harney asked if he is talking about the flat fee basically for residential. He asked if there is a commercial building or a larger facility, is there a different fee addressing that, or would it take more time. Ewoldt said they do have commercial facilities, as it is all considered domestic waste water. She said the system itself isn’t going to be any more complex than a system for a residential house. Ewoldt said it won’t take any more staff time. R. Sullivan said one of the questions he has is that he understands why they are suggesting this, but what is not clear to him is what it really costs. He said he knows what they were able to generate in terms of revenue with the system in the last year. R. Sullivan said what he doesn’t know is that he is assuming that was not enough and that is why they are suggesting the higher rate. He asked if that is fair to say. Beardsley said just to keep pace, it is hard to compare apples to apples. He said if they looked at what they would have collected, it is an increase just trying to keep pace. Beardsley said the real cost is the personnel time. R. Sullivan said one of the things they have tried to push over the last few years is making sure that the cost of a given service to a resident covers the whole cost of the County providing the service but that there isn’t a lot of extra. He said certainly there isn’t less because they don’t want to cover all the costs, that it isn’t also padding some other program.
Beardsley said this probably doesn’t cover the full cost, and one of their projects this year is having staff look at their services and fees. Beardsley said so when they need to change a fee, they know exactly they can site a paragraph rather than going back full resolution. He said second is making sure they are up to date with their time studies in terms of what the actual cost is, and then in the next budget that will be part of the budget proposals. Beardsley said what he would like to do is have those scheduled so they do look at the fees as part of the budget. R. Sullivan said if what they are proposing doesn’t cover the cost, maybe next year they bump it up ten dollars or something. Beardsley they may very well come in and ask for an adjustment on that.
Neuzil said the only thing he wants to add is a timeline for this, in terms of what their board has suggested for an implementation date. Beardsley said what ever is legally feasible. He said as soon as possible, as they would need to publish it and state it before the formal meeting, so they can get an exact date. He said whenever they can get it published and make it effective March 1, 2009 or some date. Neuzil said they can put a date whenever in terms of when they officially vote on it, it would just take effect. Beardsley said they would like to implement it as soon as possible. Harney said the only comment he will make is that it is not a huge increase. He thinks it will be within $20 what their average for overall compared in the last year. Beardsley said that is correct.
Neuzil asked, as far administratively, if they said March 1, 2009, if that is something that gives them time to forewarn people to get their permits in. He asked if that sounds reasonable. Beardsley said with some people it may be actually less than what they would have paid, and some may pay more because they are pulling it into that average. Neuzil asked if that sounds good and that they will get it on an agenda. He said he doesn’t think unless he hears something else, that they would have to come back in. Beardsley said if it is next week, he will make sure someone is here just in case he can’t make it.
County Engineer Greg Parker said they are excited to get the project rolling and that they may have mentioned the project is for the previous item Highway 965 from 120th Street South to Amana Road. He said the project is Oakcrest Hill Road. It is an identical agreement and they can receive up to 80% or the dollar amount that was allotted as part of the transportation improvement program through ECICOG. Parker said they have extended the project from a length standpoint. The project will be from the new bridge that was built just south of Hills north to the Iowa City limits. He said he thinks they all know they are all looking at utilizing stimulus dollars for the south section of this project, but this is again a standard DOT agreement, and to receive the funding and Federal dollars it would be the recommendation that they would put it on the formal for consideration for next week by the Board.
Parker said spring is coming right around the corner and that mother nature may be throwing them a couple curve balls, although they just don’t know at this point. He said they have had some hard frosts and the road embargo is a standard renewal annually to the Board. Parker said they are not planning on modifying last year’s embargo maps, so anyone that has an interest in looking at it can get it online as last year’s map is still available on the website. He said the recommendation would be to consider approval for an identical map, only modifying it for 2009 so they will have the option of embargoing ways to protect their surface for the upcoming year.
Harney said the procedure for publicizing always seems to run into the issue of garbage trucks and so forth, so this will be publicized well in advance that they are going to put that process in place. Parker said they will have it available through the website, and they can certainly send them those newspapers as needed, and provide those services so the residents are aware of the embargo. He said they can also be given notice if they can see the map on the web site and they can also define what current guidelines are in terms of limitations. R. Sullivan said he would like to see a full-fledged press release so everyone can get that information. Parker said they will take care of that. Neuzil asked if that is something they want forwarded on the formal agenda for the future. Parker said the recommendation is to put it on for next week for formal approval. He said it does need to be approved by the Board, which is why they had this conversation.
Harney attended the East Central Iowa Council of Governments Board of Directors and Policy Board meetings.
R. Sullivan attended the Chamber of Commerce trip to Washington D.C.
Neuzil attended the Chamber of Commerce trip to Washington D.C. Neuzil said today at 3:00 p.m. is the County Assessor’s Conference Board meeting. Neuzil said on February 6, 2009 there will be a meeting at 9:00 a.m. for the Budget. He said on February 9, 2009 there is a budget meeting at 1:00 p.m. that is still on the agenda. February 9, 2009 there will also be a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting along with the Board to have a work session at 4:30 p.m. to discuss some of the North Corridor projects. February 10, 2009 they would hold an evaluation meeting at 9:00 a.m., and then at 1:30 p.m. they will canvass the votes for the special election. February 11, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. the Board will have a Key Issues Work Session, and then the Board has a joint meeting with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee at 4:00 p.m. on February 11, 2009. There will also be a Board meeting on February 12, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.
Adjourned at 9:54 a.m.
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary