MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
FEBRUARY 17, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Health & Human Services Building Open House
Administration Building Renovation
Executive Assistant Hiring Process
Reports/Updates From Department Heads
Scheduling Date And Time Of Next Meeting
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building as a Department Head Meeting at 1:30 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Larry Meyers, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Department heads present were: Ambulance Director Steve Spenler, City Assessor Dennis Baldridge, Conservation Department Director Harry Graves, County Engineer Greg Parker, Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson, Facilities Manager David Kempf, Information Services Director Jean Schultz, Medical Examiner Administrator Michael Hensch, Mental Health/Disability Services Director Kris Artley, Public Health Director Douglas Beardsley, SEATS Director Tom Brase, Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia, and Veterans Affairs Commission Director Leo Baier. Also present were Deputy City Assessor Brad Comer, Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell, Human Resources Coordinator Vanessa Wierman, and Auditor’s Office Recording Secretary Nancy Tomkovicz.
Human Resources Coordinator Vanessa Wierman said the Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations and clarifications for the Family Medical Leave Act and that went into effect January 16, 2009. The two new amendments are the Military Caregiver Leave, otherwise known as Covered Service Member Leave, and the other one is a Qualified Exigency Leave. The Military Caregiver Leave allows eligible family members of the covered service member to take up to 26 weeks of FMLA in a single 12 month period to care for the member with a serious illness or injury that occurred in the line of duty. This is an addition to the other 12 weeks that this employee would receive. Potentially the employee could be gone for up to 38 weeks. This amendment also includes next of kin as a covered member. Normally FMLA covered family members would include spouses, children, or a parent. Now covered members extend to the next of kin. The qualifying exigency leave is intended to help families of members in the National Guard and Reserves, to manage their affairs while the member is on active duty or called to active duty. It allows for the normal 12 weeks of FMLA time to be used for seven different categories including: short-notice deployment, military events and related activities, childcare and school activities, financial and legal arrangements, counseling, rest and recuperation, and post-deployment activities. The DOL has said that other activities that do not encompass any of the above categories, but are agreed to by both the employee and employer, can also be used for this leave. In essence it is to help out employees, who have a family member go to active duty, to take care of any issues that may come up during that time.
Harney arrived at: 1:34 p.m.
R. Sullivan said he is assuming ‘next of kin’ is an actual legal designation. Wierman said that is correct. R. Sullivan clarified there is no guess work as to who that includes. Wierman said no. She said there are new forms that accompany these amendments, which ask for details such as the amount of leave that is needed and whether the leave will be continuous or intermittent. Certification from the military and/or health care provider for the qualifying exigency leave are necessary to make sure the orders from the military show that a member is on active duty and to check the dates of duty. Employees need to complete the form stating how long they think they will need the leave and if it will be intermittent or continuous. The DOL also provided clarifications on some regulations, including serious health conditions, definition of incapacity, and medical certification process. The DOL also revised the content of the medical certification process and how management can seek certification from health care providers, the employer notice obligation, and employee notice. This is a comprehensive revision, which had not been done since the law came out.
Wierman said a new all-in-one employment poster from Iowa Workforce will be received in a couple of weeks, and they will be distributed once they arrive. She said it is important that supervisors notify Human Resources as soon as possible after learning of a situation which may encompass FMLA. It is necessary so the appropriate forms can be completed, and to make sure employees are notified of rights and responsibilities. She said Human Resources will often find out afterwards, and it is a cumbersome process to go back and redesignate. FMLA paperwork is only completed for absences that are three weeks or more for people that have enough paid time to cover it. If there is a situation in which a leave might go beyond that, it is best to notify Human Resources.
Neuzil said the Board is in the process of having official suggestion cans spread throughout the buildings. He asked the department heads to encourage their employees to participate. He is going to keep a tally of different things for the Board to review, and those issues can be discussed in one of the key issues meetings. In addition, Information Services Director Jean Schultz is putting together a site for employees to submit suggestions electronically.
Stutsman said the suggestions are not only for budget ideas. She asked if they were for any kind of efficiency in County Government. Neuzil said yes. Stutsman said the State is focusing on budget ideas. Neuzil said it can be for anything, and people can remain anonymous.
Facilities Manager David Kempf asked what the Board would like to know about employee parking. Neuzil said he thinks that people are starting to ask questions about timing. Kempf clarified that Neuzil means timing in regards to charging. Neuzil said charging, the ramp second floor, City Carton, and the Armory. Kempf said the current projection for occupation of the second level of the parking ramp is March 1, 2009. He said the big hang-up has been the elevator contractors. He said they showed up to work this week, so that is a good thing. Once that is in place, the control arms will start being used. There will be a trial period to make sure the control arms are working, people’s key card access is working, and all information is being captured. A pass gate would potentially be put on the Armory parking lot this spring; once the County actually owns the parking lot. Kempf said the above mentioned things have to be worked out before it would be time to start charging employees for parking.
Kempf said there is a Parking Committee meeting February 26, 2009. R. Sullivan said that is right. Kempf said the committee will be talking about some timelines for when to start charging for parking. Kempf said he would expect charging to start in late spring 2009. He said the Parking Committee is looking at the possibility of capturing daily parking by people who use their key cards and charging for parking on a per day basis, not to exceed the $25 monthly fee set by the Board. Kempf said if the charge can be tied to the key card and captured once per day, it would allow people to avoid being charged for parking on days they are not working. He said that will work well for all County employees. However, State employees will most likely be charged a flat rate per month due to being unable to do payroll deductions for parking for them. He said the Parking Committee is working to try to minimize cost as much as possible and to encourage people to take the bus or bike to work.
Neuzil asked about the recycling center across the street. Kempf said the City Carton parking lot will be going away when the second level of the ramp is completed. He said he will have to give them a month’s notice before the ceasing of the lease. Kempf said his ideal hope is to notify City Carton on March 1, 2009. That way there would be no parking at City Carton after the end of March. R. Sullivan asked Kempf to remind everyone about what is happening with the Car Quest area.
Kempf said the Car Quest area is slowly starting to disappear from the contractors. He said it has gotten torn up a great deal through this construction process. One of the things that will need to take place this spring will be re-blacktopping at the contractor's expense, because it was their trucks and traffic that tore it up. He said that will have to take place after the contractors are done. The hope is to put some type of border around the property and also get access gates on the property.
Stutsman said this issue was discussed at the Communications Committee meeting on February 13, 2009. She said they tentatively talked about having the open house on Saturday April 25, 2009 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. She said a big part of the open house will be tours of the building. It will be impossible to do that if the building is open for business. Members of the committee also discussed the creation of a committee made up of department heads or representatives from each of the offices at Health and Human Services. Stutsman said Kempf will serve on the committee as well as some supervisors and other elected officials. The committee would get a number of things lined up, including invitations, a program, a brochure for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, press releases, parking, tour organization, and a budget for the day's activities. Stutsman said this day is going to be a big deal. The plan is to invite the Governor, Congressman Loebsack, and other dignitaries in the community.
Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia said that weekend might be Riverfest weekend for the University of Iowa. Kempf said it might help the open house, because people might be in town. He said one of the reasons April 25, 2009, was chosen is because the 22nd is Earth Day. That week is generally treated as Earth Week, and since the Health and Human Services Building is going to be LEED certified, it would be beneficial to take advantage of that as much as possible. Neuzil said he has a couple of concerns about that Saturday. His first concern is that he will be out of town. His biggest concern is about having employees there on a Saturday. He asked if the Communications Committee discussed that issue at all. Kempf said people are going to want to see the building, and that will involve traveling through the different departments to see how the building is laid out and how it works. It will be difficult to show the building if staff members are meeting with clients or if there is a clinic going on. He said it is beneficial to have it on a Saturday to avoid those issues, but the committee did not discuss staff members being there to lead tours.
Stutsman asked how the issue was handled during the County Week Event held in the parking lot. She said department heads attended, and other employees came at their own discretion. Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell said that is how it was handled at a Courthouse event. There were employees that volunteered to give tours. Harney said his suggestion is to have department heads work out their areas and get volunteers to show people around. Kempf said those would all be things the committee that needs to be formed could talk about. Stutsman said she is assuming she and Harney will be the Supervisors working on this, because they are on the Communications Committee. She asked if they are assuming that all of the department heads at Health and Human Services will be asked to attend a first meeting or to send a designee and go from there. Kempf said that is what he would like to see.
Stutsman asked if there are any volunteers to set up that meeting. She asked if Correia and Mental Health/Disability Services Director Kris Artley have time to work on it. She said Assistant Mental Health/Disability Services Director Jan Shaw is on the Communications Committee. She asked if it would be easier to work with Shaw. Artley said it does not matter. Kempf asked if Public Health Director Doug Beardsley would like to participate. Beardsley asked if this is for the committee to plan the event. He said sure; just let him know when people are meeting. Information Services Director Jean Schultz said she can help, too. Kempf said Department of Human Services employee Karen Evans also volunteered. He said he has yet to talk to someone from Juvenile Probation.
Neuzil said it is that time of year to start thinking about tornado safety. He asked Kempf to update the Board on the tornado/fire safety plan for the Health and Human Services building. Kempf said the plan is exactly the same for the other buildings within the County. Generic fire and tornado procedures were developed to give basic safety guidelines to people to follow. He said this plan is included in all of the employee handbooks and is discussed with staff during their employee orientation. He said there will be fire and tornado drills in all of the buildings. He said they will hold tests of the alarm systems at the Health and Human Services Building February 18, 2009 at 7:15 a.m.
Kempf said the building is fully sprinkled, but all of the sprinkler heads will not just go off when the fire alarm starts. He said those heads dump thirty gallons a minute, but the only way for one to be tripped is for heat to break the glass ball under that particular sprinkler. He said it is a localized system. Neuzil asked where to go if there is a tornado in that building. Kempf said the first floor interior of the building. He said it could be anywhere on the first floor without a window, including the bathrooms, reception area, or meeting rooms on the interior of the building. Correia asked if the doors on the first floor will unlock when an alarm goes off. She said those doors are usually locked. Kempf said yes. He said there is a speaking system in the building, which will say what type of alarm it is. He said if it is a severe weather alert, it will come over the intercom system and someone will state the nature of the emergency. There is also a place in the building where he can get on the PA and give an announcement. Sullivan asked if it will occur when the Iowa City siren goes off. Kempf said yes. He said there is a feature, that when a warning is issued, an announcement will be made in the building. He said a warning means people should be seeking shelter positions.
R. Sullivan said the current system now alerts the whole County if there is a tornado issue. Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson said that is a problem. He said when the Weather Service went to the polygon warning system, it was not county-wide. He said many of the tornado systems have not kept up. That is a problem with the present system. He said a goal of the JECC is to be able to do that more, but that will not be until sometime between July and December of 2009. He said it will curtail the warnings more appropriately, but right now it is all or nothing. Kempf said one of the advantages with the system at the new building is that he will be able to get on the PA system and make an announcement that it is in a certain area of the County. Stutsman asked what they should do for the Administration Building. Kempf said to seek shelter. Stutsman said she means how one even knows when there is bad weather. Kempf said people will hear the sirens going off and may be notified by someone. Unfortunately, the current system was made in 1982 and is not very sophisticated. Hopefully in the future, the systems in all of the County facilities can be upgraded to something a little more modern.
Kempf said the timeline is in the process of finalization. He said before the public notice is made and materials are given to Chappell, a sequence of events must be discussed to decide how the renovation will take place. He said the affected areas are the soon-to-be-former Information Technologies area, the Iowa City Assessor’s office and County Assessor’s Office, Planning and Zoning, the Board of Supervisor’s space, with modifications going to the County Treasurer, the addition of some offices for the Medical Examiner and also offices for the Treasurer’s Department. He said there will be a little bit of work for the Auditors Office, Human Resources, and the Recorder’s Office. He said the renovation will affect everyone in the building in small ways. He said they are looking at starting that project at the end of April 2009 or the first part of May 2009. The plans are being finalized.
Kempf said a couple of options are being looked at for the heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) system. One option is upgrading the current system in the building. They are also looking at long-term planning for the possible replacement of the building system with geothermal heating and using the soon-to-be-acquired Armory property. He said that will take a little bit of time to pull that together to get a cost analysis and to determine what the payback will be on that. He said that is going to determine how the HVAC upgrades will be approached. He thinks that can be done in a way that will not delay the start of the remodeling work in the building. Neuzil said the complete drawings are almost done. Kempf said yes, they just have to make a few changes on measurements and stuff. Neuzil said if anyone would like to see those, they can communicate with Kempf. Stutsman clarified that the remodeling will all be done in stages. Kempf said yes. He said some of the work will be done during the day, and some of it will have to be done after hours. He said it will take longer to do it this way, but it is what is required to be able to stay open for business.
Neuzil said Mike Sullivan has moved on to be the new Director of the Joint Emergency Communications Center. He said the Board is in the process of accepting applications for the Executive Assistant position. He said they will be having first round interviews March 12, 2009, and March 13, 2009. He said second round interviews will be held on March 23, 2009. He said they are hoping to make an offer of employment on March 23, 2009, and to have the chosen individual start around April 15, 2009. He said the deadline for applications is February 25, 2009.
SEATS Director Tom Brase said SEATS will be getting a new vehicle in a couple of weeks. He said that will help, because the County has some pretty old vehicles. Coralville has also requested an additional vehicle. He said they are short vehicles, because they only utilize two of the County vehicles, when there are really three or four vehicles which could be utilized just for Coralville. He said funding for the vehicle came through the stimulus package. He is hoping the cost will be completely covered, but he is guessing that it will be an 83/17% match for the County. He said Nicholas Weime was promoted to the position of Billing Supervisor in January.
County Engineer Greg Parker said they are patiently waiting for the next storm. He said staff is preparing for projects, as spring is right around the corner. He asked if there were specific questions on some of the projects. He related that Kempf said there will not be any flood this spring so that is good news. Neuzil said to keep on top of that stimulus money. Harney said he had a comment from the public today. He said the public said they were really pleased with Secondary Roads services, and that they have been able to get to work everyday. Parker said he will pass that on to his staff, because they always like to hear that.
Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson thanked the Board for approving money for the replacement of the County Rescue 52 vehicle. He said that is an important project. He said they have been busy with the weather this year, and they are hoping to avoid a repeat of the spring of last year. He said they have been busy with grant applications. A new EOC grant application was sent out for a million dollars. He said they expect to hear back on it within the next 45 days. The FEMA compliant mitigation plan for the County is moving along; the completion date for that is set for June 30th. He said they are on target to complete that. He said they will then be able to move forward with mitigation projects, which are very important and help with the buyouts, County weather siren replacement, and backup generation. He said the entire multi-hazard plan of 26 annexes was out-of-date. He said they are four annexes away from the completion of the entire annex being updated. He said that will be completed by May 1, 2009. The building for the JECC is moving along, and the target to move in there is still July 2009.
Harney asked about the date for the weather watchers training. Wilson said he does not remember the date for that. He said they have scheduled that date, and it is posted on the County website and on the Johnson County Emergency Management webpage. He said it will be held in the evening at the Public Library. Harney said he got a question from the State on the National Incident Management Systems training. He asked who is required to attend that. Wilson said NIMS training IS100 and IS700 are required for any elected official. He said if an official has had the training before, they do not need to do it again. Record keeping has been the responsibility of the department heads, and they would like to keep it that way. He said they will audit and ask if people have attended the trainings. Stutsman asked how one would prove that they received the training. Wilson said a certificate of completion is usually awarded or there is a sign-in sheet at the training. He said a person can also contact FEMA Emergency Management Institute and provide their social security number. He said the IS402 class for elected officials is a good refresher for those who have not had it. He said one of those classes will be held in March 2009. Kempf asked if it is only for elected officials. Wilson said department heads should also have it. Kempf said the 100 or 700. Wilson said yeah the 100 or 700. Wilson said there is no expiration on the training, if one had it in the past.
Beardsley said it is business as usual, except for the new building. He thanked Kempf for his outstanding job. He said they have a regional exercise coming up in March 2009. He said it will be a functional exercise for setting up medication distribution sites. He said the Sheriff and other agencies are participating in that, as well as the hospitals. He said they have been getting a lot of mileage out of last year’s floods. He said they have three presentations at various conferences, which are public health and emergency response related.
Correia said the free tax health clinics were started on February 1, 2009. She said between the first and the 12th there were five clinics offered, and they filed around 150 tax returns so far, totaling about a quarter of a million dollars in State and Federal refunds. She said they are seeing a lot of interest, and they have around 90 University of Iowa volunteers. She said she is working with some School of Social Work students this semester. She said she has a practicum student working two days a week. She said that student provides support to DECAT and the Juvenile Justice Youth Development Program and the Disproportionate Minority Contact Committee. She said that student is interested in child welfare. Correia said she met with a student group in the Organization and Community Practice class. She said those students work on needs assessment projects. She said the students will be doing some needs assessment of social service needs in the Coralville area. She said it was spearheaded through New Song Episcopal Church and the Village Project. Correia said she went to a meeting last week with Kelly Hayworth, Brian Loring, and Steve West. She said she is a member of the planning team for the Human Services Day for the Community Leadership Program. She said that will be hosted at the new building on March 13, 2009. She said there will be some offsite time, but they have reserved the three rooms on the second floor.
Schultz said her office area is moving on Friday. She said it should not affect the support anyone gets. The servers were moved at the beginning of last month.
Conservation Director Harry Graves said since 1996 they have conducted a controlled deer hunt at Kent Park. He said this year 28 antler-less deer were harvested by shotgun hunters. He said 31 were harvested by archers. That is a total of 59. He said that is down two from last year's harvest. The goal is to maintain a population level of 30-40 deer per square mile. He said that is a good harvest considering there are many opportunities to shoot deer in the State of Iowa. He said in order to do that, they can maintain the cultural carrying capacity of the park. The biological carrying capacity may be infinite, but cultural problems will start to hit when the deer start eating the shrubbery and trees. He said the Iowa Association of County Conservation Boards has started a state-wide website. He said there has been a County conservation website here for many years, but the IACCB now has a website called mycountyparks.com. He said all 99 counties have representation. Graves said he completed the two-day training session with ICS300. He said he has had 100, 200, and 300. He said his staff members have also completed S130 and 190 fire training refresher course, which is a prerequisite for controlled burnings. He said they do a lot of control burning at the prairies, woodlands, and parks. He said Vegetation Specialist David Wehde completed a training session conducted by the Armory Corps of Engineers to learn new reporting methods for the new mitigation rules for wetland delineation.
Graves said he submitted a grant application on January 31, 2009, for a new double vault latrine for Hills Access. He said he submitted that both to the Waters Recreation Access Grant Program and the Water Trails Grant Program. He said he is in the process of submitting a Land Water Conservation Fund grant application for an upgrade of the Kent Park Campground. He said they are working with Shoemaker & Haaland Professional Engineers of Coralville who are the consultants for that project. He said they hope to hold a hearing in early March and put the park buildings up for bid to start construction this summer. He said eight new concrete picnic tables have been poured. He said fire prescriptions are being formulated for control burning.
Artley said they are waiting for the outcomes of pending legislation. She said if the Governor’s proposed cuts happen, it could effect provider rates. She said she has asked staff to take a look at all of the individual clients, and she had the IT Department run queries to itemize individual clients that would be impacted by the move to the 150% poverty level guidelines. She said they will want to identify those clients to the individual providers and to the case managers to try to mitigate the negativity of cutting services. They started preliminary meetings for the strategic plan for FY10-FY12. They will be having another meeting on February 20, 2009, at 12:00 p.m. at their office. She said Chair of the Planning Council Dion Williams has indicated that he would like to have a Planning Council meeting on March 19, 2009, at 4:00 p.m. to discuss the strategic plan and make any needed adjustments.
Ambulance Director Steve Spenler said the annual EMS conference is on February 21, 2009.
Kempf said he has covered pretty much everything already. He thanked the occupants of the new Health and Human Services Building for the smooth transition. Neuzil asked about the key card access and the potential for pictures. Kempf said he should be receiving the hardware to create those in the next week or so. He said they have discussed what that County ID will look like. He said he will bring examples for the Board to approve. He said once that is done, people can send him pictures of themselves to put on the card. Spenler asked if that will be for all of the departments. Kempf said yes. R. Sullivan said there were a couple of departments had concerns about how to display those. Kempf said it will be up to those departments how to wear or display those. R. Sullivan said it will be up to the department head or elected official to decide. Medical Examiner Administrator Mike Hensch said he thinks it is important for staff who enter people's homes to have their names appear in large print on the cards so that people can see who is in their home. Graves said, conversely, that staff working in the field will probably need to carry the card in their pocket for safety. Beardsley said he thinks it is important for employees in the building to display it in order to distinguish employees from visitors. Neuzil said the Board will get that worked out.
Veteran Affairs Commission Director Leo Baier said FEMA 26 is now history. He said they used every approved penny, $2,375. He said they had the FEMA meeting in Iowa City. He said he asked for $2,900, and they have been approved for that. He said that amount is a 20% increase from last year. He said it has to be expended by the end of December 2009. He said Eric Shinseki, a retired Army General, is the new Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary. He said Shinseki is the seventh secretary and has great credentials. He said House File 2134 is a current project regarding the 40 hour work week for all VA offices over 60,000 population. He said their Association Spring School is the last three days of April 2009 and he plans to attend.
R. Sullivan said the Board is going to ask department heads to be at the budget hearing, which is scheduled for March 2, 2009, at 5:30 p.m. He said it will be a televised public hearing.
Harney said he was at the Iowa City Chamber meeting, and they gave a health report. He said the Board will have some discussion on the sales tax and how those funds will be designated. Neuzil said that will be on the agenda for February 18, 2009, and for February 19, 2009.
Neuzil said the next meeting will be scheduled for April 14, 2009 at 1:30 p.m.
Adjourned at 2:35 p.m.
_____________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2009
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on August 21, 2009.