MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
APRIL 8, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Key Issues Work Session...................................................................................................... 1
Presentation by Linn County Purchasing Director Britt Hutchins.............................. 1
Discussion of Social Services Block Grants Site Visits and Strategic Planning Process 5
Annual Johnson County NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Walk............ 7
Johnson County Council of Governments Assistant Transportation Planner Kristopher Ackerson: Johnson County Council of Governments Metro Bike Master Plan and Trails.................. 7
Johnson County Historical Society Executive Director Shaner Magalhaes: Geophysics Demonstration for Geoarchaeology Class at County Poor Farm..................................................... 12
Three-Tier Health Insurance Plan........................................................................... 13
Adopting Bridge Weight Limits by Resolution........................................................ 13
Speed Limit on Curtis Bridge Road, South of Shueyville........................................ 14
Health and Human Services Open House............................................................... 16
Project Updates....................................................................................................... 16
Council of Human Services Appointment.............................................................. 21
Johnson County Council of Governments Housing Task Force Update................. 22
Distribution of Information on Members of Boards and Commissions................... 23
Executive Assistant Orientation.............................................................................. 24
Future Meeting Agenda Items................................................................................. 25
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:03 a.m. Members present were: Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan; absent: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers
Linn County Purchasing Director Britt Hutchins said he began his career as Purchasing Director for Green Tree Financial and later became Senior Analyst for the Minneapolis Federal Reserve. For the last nine years, as the Linn County Purchasing Director, his responsibilities have included the mail room, interim fleet manager, and interim real estate manager. He said he is a member of the National Institute of Government Purchasing (NIGP) and recently became a charter member of the newly formed Iowa chapter which is called Iowa NIGP. Approximately nine years ago the Linn County Board of Supervisors recognized the need for a centralized Purchasing Department and created the position. His goal, after taking the position, was to standardize the purchasing process and establish policy. He worked to eliminate the good old boy purchasing process whereby items were purchased from friends rather than purchasing competitively. He created one point of contact for all purchases for the County that included departments and vendors. Without a centralized purchasing department, individuals where spending time looking for the items they needed to purchase instead of focusing on their jobs. He said the vendors appreciate the purchasing department because they only have to talk to one person to make their sale. This process takes elected officials and department heads out of the vendor loop which also saves them time.
Neuzil said in the past Johnson County has allowed individual elected officials to make those decisions independently. It sounds as though Linn County has received agreement from their elected officials that one department will make all the purchases for the County. He asked if this was something Linn County did right away or did the Supervisors say this is the way it is going to be done. Hutchins responded the Board bought into the idea and the other elected officials agreed to do it. He said he rewrote the policy to address that issue specifically and he would expand on it later in his presentation.
Hutchins said another goal was to realize cost savings by competitive purchasing. Many times purchasing departments have pre-established contracts and contacts for items that are needed. He gave an example of purchasing copiers. Rather than have each department purchase individual copiers, the Purchasing Department has established a bidding process that lasts for three years with established contracts. If a department needs a copier they come to the Purchasing Department for the options that are available through the contract. He standardized the language in the Request for Proposal (RFP) based on what he, with legal review, had written for the Federal Reserve in Minneapolis. The RFP protects the County and provides information to the vendor about the Purchasing Department’s criteria for purchasing. The RFP asks if the vendor will offer the same pricing and service to other governmental entities located within Linn County. The majority of vendors will agree to this provision which allows the department to work with other agencies when making large purchases, rather than starting the process from the beginning.
Hutchins said when he came to Linn County they had an office supply warehouse which had approximately $30,000 in office supplies inventory. Whenever a department needed something they would call to have items routed to their office. He said they had a large supply of typewriter ribbons but no longer had the typewriters. He was able to negotiate a refund of the office supplies inventory with Corporate Express, who held the State of Iowa contract, and created the Purchasing Department with support staff. In addition, the office supply company delivers to each department under the contract so Linn County no longer maintains the inventory. This freed up approximately 14,000 square feet which they turned into office space.
Stutsman asked if they have any warehousing onsite. Hutchins replied no. He said they do not carry any inventory because they can order it through the catalog and get the item the next day. In addition, the supply company bills the individual departments directly which promotes a system of checks and balances through the purchase order process. He works with the departments and reviews the purchase orders. The Finance Director reviews them as well. Stutsman asked if he is the one person who coordinates purchasing. Hutchins replied yes. He said when there is a variety of items that several departments want to order, he can bid those items for better pricing. He bids for the County vehicles if they are specialty vehicles or trades otherwise he follows the State contract. In the past, departments would buy from a dealership not realizing there is a huge savings between dealership pricing and the State contract.
Hutchins said another goal was to consolidate all mailing functions in the County because each department had their own postage machines. The machines are expensive, they require additional fees to rent the meters, and each department had a staff person to run the meters and stay updated on U.S. postal rules and regulations. Hutchins consolidated the postage functions into the Purchasing Department. They have a large postage machine and one and one-half staff to manage the mail. The interoffice mail service delivers and pickups mail at least once a day. They also utilize a presort house to save approximately two cents per envelope with an annual savings of approximately $20,000. Stutsman asked if they contract for the presort mail. Hutchins replied yes. They use PSI in Cedar Rapids. He said the City of Cedar Rapids has a courier service that delivers mail to the County and takes mail from the County back to the City. In addition, Linn County processes all of the mail for the City of Cedar Rapids which has allowed the City to eliminate 30 to 40 postage machines, service contracts, and staff. The first year they saved over $100,000. He said they do not charge the City but have an agreement if it becomes too much they will pay for another part time staff to process the mail. The County has 75 different departments and the City has 50. The meters have codes for each department which allows the County to send invoices that are broken out into specific codes.
Stutsman asked if they receive a quantity discount on their mail. Hutchins said they used to receive an additional 2% rebate every month from PSI but this has stopped. The City still receives two cents per envelope and they no longer buy stamps. The County no longer allows stamps; all mail is processed through the postage machines.
Hutchins said when he first came to Linn County he was the Chair of the Intergovernmental Purchasing Task Force which was a group of governmental entities and nonprofits located within the County. Through this group Mount Vernon was able to purchase seed at a better price through the consolidation of the other entity’s purchases. This cooperative effort fell apart however when they started buying vehicles. The group put a bid together based on the needs of the surrounding towns then some of the smaller towns would use this bid at their local dealership to negotiate a better price. When it came time to place the order for the winning bid, they were short 10 or 20 vehicles. They have adjusted the process to include the three largest entities: the City of Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids Public School, and Linn County, and the Purchasing Directors get together on a regular basis. When they write the RFP to extend the pricing to other governmental agencies, all towns can use these RFPs for their own purchases. Because the City purchases items that the County does not use and vice versa, they can purchase off of each other’s contracts to save money.
Sullivan asked what he does regarding technical purchases, such as computers or ammunition, that he may not have the same knowledge of as the department head. Hutchins said when the Linn County Health Department wanted to purchase an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer to test the amount of lead in blood, they provided the specifications and he worked with them to obtain the bid. Sullivan asked if there has been a situation where three or four vendors come in and demonstrate a computer component with the IT people present, do they write the specifications or does Hutchins. Hutchins said he works with the departments, but generally they write their own specifications. His process is to send out the bid, confirm the due dates, determine when the bids will be opened, and include any addendums that have been made to the specifications. There is a certain format to follow when alerting the vendors of issues during the bidding process and there is very limited direct communication between the vendors and the County.
Hutchins said he also wanted to implement a Procurement Card system. They work like credit cards and allow the department to specify where each card can purchase from based on the SKU number. This helped eliminate paying invoices from open accounts when the signature was not legible. He closed all house accounts for security reasons and issued individual Procurement Cards. In addition, the County earns discounts based on the amount that is purchased on the cards. The cards are not shared. The card holder signs for all of the purchases made on their individual card. Stutsman asked if they have department credit cards. Hutchins replied the cards look just like a credit card, however, they are issued to individuals rather than allowing an entire department to use one card. Stutsman asked if he manages all of the cards. Hutchins replied their Auditor’s Office helps to manage the process as his department is not adequately staffed to handle the oversight of the program. He added each vehicle has a gas card associated with it. When staff travels out of town they can use this card rather than pay out of pocket and be reimbursed later. The coding on the card is restricted to gas purchases only.
Hutchins said during the flood he was authorized by the Board of Supervisors to make purchases of up to $50,000 per purchase without question. Departments needed computers and other equipment and did not have time to go through the formal process. He established the protocol and FEMA was happy they had a policy in place prior to the flood. It is a benefit in an emergency situation to have a Purchasing Department with guidelines established. He reviews all claims before they are submitted to the Board of Supervisors. Departments that do not comply with the policy have to explain their rationale to the Board, especially if the Purchasing Department can demonstrate savings by using the policy.
Hutchins provided the Board with a summary of authorization levels for Linn County. He said in the beginning some elected officials did not want to be told where to purchase their items. It was established for department heads or individuals working for a department are authorized to purchase anything up to $1,000 using established contracts and policies. Purchases over $1,000 up to $5,000 require a purchase order with the department head, Purchasing Director, and Budget Director approvals. He said purchases over $5,000 require the department head, Purchasing Director, Budget Coordinator signatures, and then goes to the elected official in charge of the department. This made the elected officials more willing to work with the Purchasing Department knowing these purchases did not have to go in front of the Board of Supervisors.
Sullivan said he imagines that during budget time the Board of Supervisors has additional information to show the departments how they could have saved money by working with the Purchasing Department. Hutchins agreed and said before this policy was implemented he had a particular situation with a former Sheriff. Purchasing had approximately $12,000 in rebates to be used toward the purchase of a vehicle. The Sheriff refused to work with purchasing or use the rebates. The Board told the Sheriff if he did not utilize the rebates, this amount would be deducted from the Sheriff’s budget the following year.
Stutsman asked if Hutchins is the only one in his department. He replied there are three full-time employees and one part-time. Stutsman asked who oversees him. Hutchins replied he reports directly to the Linn County Board of Supervisors. Human Resources Office Assistant Geralyn Owen asked Hutchins if the Linn County employees are given a list of businesses where they can use the Procurement Card. Hutchins replied no and said there are codes associated with businesses. If the card is coded for the items that particular business sells, then the card can be used at that business. Owen asked if she could use it to buy office supplies at Staples. Hutchins said she could if the office supply number coordinates with the number on the card. He said some cards can be left completely open, like his or for example, Fleet Services cards only allow for gas purchases. Information Technology Director Jean Schultz asked, as a department head wanting to order office supplies, would she purchase through the company that was already set up online and would Procurement Card be billed. Hutchins said yes. He said he will be presenting this information to Black Hawk County because he is the only County Purchasing Director in Iowa at this time.
Sullivan said it sounds like a lot of the benefit that Linn County gets comes through working with the schools and the City. Hutchins agreed. Sullivan said Johnson County’s school and City representatives were invited but unable to attend. He said they need to have a conversation with them at some point. Schultz said she is a huge proponent of this proposal because she comes from an area where this was done. She asked if Hutchins has determined their average savings per year. Hutchins said he tracked that for the first two years and they were well into the millions. Schultz stated that it more than pays for the staff and the benefits. Hutchins said yes. Stutsman said the Board will be in touch.
Social Services Director Amy Correia said she provided the Board with a review of the Social Services Block Grant. She coordinated site visits for the Board to visit Block Grant agencies last year. The year before that, agencies were scheduled to give a presentation approximately once a month, during the Informal meeting of the Board. She asked the Board what they preferred for next year. Neuzil asked if they got to all the sites. Correia said yes. Neuzil said because only two supervisors went to those sites they could utilize two different supervisors to visit this year. He said he gets more out of going to the site rather than having the agencies give the Board a presentation. Sullivan said there are conversations they have onsite that might not occur during a meeting. One agency director told him she was worried about their ability to exist depending on the actions of the State. She probably would not say that in a meeting but it was important to know.
Neuzil said they could do site visits again. Stutsman said she would be interested in site visits too. Correia said she has the old list that shows which Supervisor went to which agency and she can provide that to the Board. Neuzil gave the following example in support of site visits. He said he and a couple of other individuals went to visit Johnson County Public Housing but did not know where they were located. Correia said last year there were only two supervisors per visit so it does not become a meeting. She tried to have a regular schedule on days that would not conflict with Board meetings. Neuzil said Wednesday afternoons and mornings on the second Thursday of the month are good. Sullivan asked Correia if she had an example of questions to ask the agencies during site visits, or if they could collectively come up with five basic questions that would be appropriate.
Stutsman said she thinks those who attend the site visits need to do a better job of reporting back to the rest of the Board. R. Sullivan said if they had five questions they had to answer that would help. Stutsman said one of the questions they should ask is about future trends or issues the Board should be aware of. Correia said she could prepare a one page information sheet for each visit that gives the funding amount and a brief description of the services the agency provides. She suggested that at the next liaison meeting they could come up with five questions. Sullivan said it does not necessarily have to be five questions but rather consistent questions to ask each agency. Correia said after the visit she could write up a summary to present to the Board. Neuzil said, in the past, they used to ask agencies how much of their budget is Johnson County related. This was an issue, particularly with tight budgets, and it was tough to have significant cuts when it was 40% of their budget. Sullivan said a standard question for the County to ask is what does the agency do outside of Iowa City and Coralville. Correia said she would start getting site visits set up with the agencies. She added that part of her goals this year include strategic planning with the Board regarding the Social Services Block Grants. She sent the Board an email with some of the questions she has and how to proceed with the process.
Stutsman complimented Correia’s handout and said it is exactly what the Board needs. She is interested in developing goals, objectives, and performance measures for these agencies. She thinks that is the trend. Sullivan agreed and said it needs to be a collaborative effort. Correia said, because all of the Board members are not present, she will send an email to get a sense if there is an agreement for purpose and mission of the grouping of the three funding areas. She asked if they want to look at identifying performance or outcome measures for each of those funding areas. Once there is an agreement on the process, she would like to have more feedback from the Board as to the results they want to see in the community. Then she would like to get the agencies together to share ideas. Sullivan asked if Correia meant the agencies in the same category. Correia replied yes. She sees it as a collaborative process that starts with the Board and filters to the agencies to get their feedback.
Stutsman said they should look at what other communities are doing and encourage people to come up with new programs. She asked Correia how they would introduce new programs into the process. Correia said that would require identifying what they want to achieve and could involve agencies retooling what they do or how they do it. Sullivan said as they compare best practices against what they are doing they might find gaps. Stutsman said she thinks they are going to continue to see a cut in funding sources so they need to be conscious of getting the most out of the funds they receive. Correia said this is the trend in social services funding both from private funding as well as government funding. She said their department has moved to reporting more on outcomes in their quarterly reports similarly to the United Way’s Community Impact Model.
Temporary Mobile Crisis Coordinator Jessica Peckover said in the past Sullivan was the team captain for the NAMI Walk and this year she is the captain. She sent out an email to Johnson County staff to see who would be interested in participating. It is scheduled for May 2, 2009 at lower City Park. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. and the walk begins at 10:00 a.m. Eight individuals have signed up to participate at this time. NAMI suggests ten people per team to reach their goal of having 750 people in the park. She is trying to get additional staff from MH/DS involved. Neuzil said the Board is comfortable having the County organize a team. Peckover said she will send another email indicating she has support from the Board, to see if anyone else is interested.
Johnson County Council of Governments Assistant Transportation Planner Kris Ackerson said his agency provides transportation planning services for the County, municipalities in the urbanized area, and the University of Iowa. In 2007 the City of Iowa City applied to become a bicycle friendly community through a national advocacy organization. Iowa City did not receive that designation for three primary reasons. The advocacy group felt there was a deficiency in educational programs, a lack of on street bicycle facilities, and the City did not have a bicycle master plan. Therefore, in 2008, the City of Iowa City asked JCCOG to develop a master plan and invited the other municipalities in the urbanized areas to participate to develop a metro or region-wide bicycle master plan. The Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee has been meeting to provide input throughout the planning process. They have been working on this issue since approximately September 2008. He said they would like the Board’s feedback on the initial draft. In June or July they will return with the final plan for adoption.
Johnson County Council of Governments Assistant Transportation Planner Kent Ralston said the idea behind the timeline is there are two opportunities to apply for the Bike Friendly Community designation. They will not make the spring deadline but hope to have the plan ready for the fall deadline. Ackerson said the Bicycle Friendly Community designation is a marketing tool for cities. Des Moines, Council Bluffs, and Cedar Rapids are currently working toward this goal as well. Another reason to pursue this designation is because many residents in the Iowa City community walk or bike to work and school. The AARP released a study last year where Iowa City ranked 9th in the country in terms of the number of people who bike and walk to work. He said making it accessible for people to walk and bike to their jobs safely is important. They also wanted to look at bicycle access in a comprehensive way. The provision for the project the Steering Committee helped formulate is cities in the urbanized area envision a convenient and efficient system where people can bike safely to all destinations. The first step in the process was conducting an inventory. They looked at trails, the availability of bike lanes, signage, bicycle parking, and education.
Ackerson said Iowa City and Coralville have three nationally licensed bicycle instructors that provide educational services. They also looked at encouragement programs and enforcement. He was surprised to learn that all cities with a police department have trained bike patrol officers. The committee also looked at evaluation and utilized the five Es of bicycle planning recommended by the advocacy group.
Stutsman said she is appalled that at the JCCOG meeting, Iowa City did not support the County in a bike trail they wanted to put in and now the City wants the County to support this project. She said the City would not support a $200,000 project and now they want to be a bike friendly community. She said she will support the project but wants the City to get the message. Neuzil said they will make sure the City hears about it often. Stutsman said she wishes they would have had this information before they talked about it at JCCOG. Neuzil said he hopes this reminds the City when everyone as a community signs off on being a bike friendly community and dollars are out there that Iowa City is willing to work cooperatively. Correia agreed. Ralston said he would encourage Stutsman to voice her opinion to the Regional Trails and Bicycle Committee as well.
Ackerson said the second step in the planning process was gathering public input. He provided an illustration showing results from their online survey. They received overwhelming feedback as well as a variety of opinions. He said their goal, when getting the public’s input, was to help prioritize the popular themes to apply resources accordingly. He presented a diagram of Burlington Street indicating a clustering of ideas along that street. The online survey was completed by 495 residents. Workshops were held in Coralville and Iowa City with approximately 75 to 80 people attending. The committee was happy with the amount of participation and feel confident results gathered represent the population as a whole. Ralston said they also encouraged County residents to attend the meetings and there were several present.
Ackerson said residents would like to see law enforcement do a better job of enforcing the requirement that residents have a bike light on their bicycle. Residents would also like to see more on street facilities like bike lanes and bike routes. He said the next step in the process was to identify recommendations. After the adoption it will be up to each municipality, the County, and the University to implement the recommendations as resources are available. None of the recommendations are requirements but are ideas they have put forward for the cities if they decide they want to become more bicycle friendly. The recommendations are system wide recommendations that all the cities and County can implement in a coordinated manner. The first is to implement some kind of on street bicycle accommodation. They are recommending bike lanes and sharrows. A sharrow is a shared lane arrow typically used on streets where there is not enough road width to have a separate bike lane. That is typically the case on most of the streets in the urbanized area so they are recommending shared lane arrows. They have not recommended these for the County because they require regular maintenance. They tried to place them on streets cyclists feel are in most need of an improvement. The next system-wide goal, in terms of encouragement, is to implement a series of bike routes and ways of finding signs throughout the community. The bike routes extend into the County which link Solon to North Liberty and Coralville then back south along Sugar Bottom back to Iowa City. There is a bike route to the Coralville Dam and some routes through Coralville and Iowa City. There is also a route along Rohret Road and one south on Sand Road. Input was provided from the County’s Trails Committee for the ideas on where to put routes in the rural areas.
Ralston said the County has done a good job with wide lanes and paved shoulders so this is something that would help augment what they have already done. Ackerson said the blue routes would have signs that show popular destinations and indicate turning directions. They would also tell the cyclist the distance and amount of time it would take to get there. If someone is new to cycling they do not always know how long it will take to ride 10 miles. In terms of enforcement, they recommend the law enforcement officers begin enforcing the bike light requirement. They also want them to enforce the rules of the road requiring bikers ride in single file, ride to the right, and obey traffic signs. These are recommendations that came directly from the cyclists.
Stutsman asked if they are working with the Sheriff’s Department. Ackerson said they have not met directly with the Sheriff’s Department but the University and the City Police Chiefs are going to discuss this at a meeting in the future. They are going to discuss these recommendations because efforts would need to be coordinated. Stutsman said they need to involve the Sheriff’s Department because it is scary to come up on a cyclist in the unincorporated area without a bike light. Ackerson said after working with the DOT Collision Database all the bike accidents that occurred in Johnson County in the last six years involved a biker without a light or a helmet. There is a huge opportunity for education to let people know that those things can prevent accidents and injury.
Ackerson said the education goal is to begin implementing more educational programs. When looking at the collisions they found that half of those involved a cyclist or driver under the age of 22. There is a demographic that educational programs can be focused on to help reduce the number of collisions and injuries that are happening locally. As the City applies and becomes designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community they will have to reapply every four years to maintain this designation. The national advocacy group will provide feedback. Assuming the City is constantly working to become more bicycle friendly they can work from bronze up to platinum. Based on the unique characteristics of each of the communities and the County they developed recommendations specific for each entity. The County recommendations include constructing paved shoulders on all new road construction and consider adopting a complete streets policy that would ensure new roads would accommodate vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. The areas contiguous with the urbanized area could have wide side walks installed as well. Other recommendations include promoting Bike to Work month by proclaiming May as Bike Month, signing and promoting rural bike routes, and installing bike parking at all new facilities in the urbanized area.
Ackerson said the last objective is to pursue the recommended infrastructure projects as well as the trails and wide sidewalks in the JCCOG Trails Plan. He provided a map identifying the infrastructure projects that include trail extensions and connections. They included these as a reference for the cities and the County when applying for grants. They are planning to present this to the other municipalities. They have met with the Coralville City Council. They will meet with University Heights and Iowa City later in April and the University of Iowa in May. They will return with the plan in June or July for the Board’s consideration. He said they do not have to have their input now but encourages them to share their ideas.
Neuzil said he encourages the committee to meet with North Liberty because the Iowa City to Cedar Rapids route needs to go through their community. It was helpful to have Ackerson and Ralston attend the meeting so the Board members could read through the verbiage because it updates and includes a route from Iowa City to Cedar Rapids. He said he wanted to discuss the loops because the concept is new. It does not necessarily mean Johnson County would invest in upgrading Sugar Bottom Road or others but would the County support designating these loops, particularly to get to the Sugar Bottom recreational area. A lot of people already use Newport Road to get to Sugar Bottom Road. Adding signs would also be a potential cost.
Ackerson said adding signs would probably be the only real cost. There would not be any improvements to the road for bike routes. The routes were based on feedback from the County Trails Committee and a group of local cyclists. These are popular routes people already use and installing the signs would help people navigate in unfamiliar areas. Sullivan said they will have to put signs off the right-of-way but there are also signs a couple of feet below where they could put the maps. Ralston agreed and said many cyclists already call it the Sugar Bottom Loop so it would be good public relations for the County to pursue this route. This is something they could put in the Johnson County Trails Map and also in the JCCOG Trails Map to facilitate biking. These ideas came up through outreach to County residents; however, the County will have to discuss whether or not to encourage more people on those roads. Neuzil said when talking to cyclists, they use Sand Road quite a bit. As Johnson County updates Oak Crest Hill Road and 500th Street he anticipates this becoming a popular loop, however, the County does not have a good system from the end of Oak Crest Hill Road to McAllister. He has biked it and it is pretty tough to ride without a paved shoulder. Sullivan said bicyclists have been killed in that area. Neuzil said he does not see anything on the map regarding this route and it might be something to consider.
Ackerson said for the last few years the City has applied for Transportation Enhancement Funds to create a trail that follows Riverside Drive to the south because there are residents who typically walk along that road and it is treacherous. It is on their radar and is something to mention when they present to the City Council. Neuzil said it was not listed and knows it will be used a lot because people try to ride their bikes to the Johnson County Fairgrounds for festivals. Ralston said if the Board would like to see that on the map they would be happy to update it. Stutsman said she travels that area everyday and it is where she sees the need for bike lights. Neuzil said Oak Crest Hill Road is going to look like Sand Road and 500th Street eventually with increased bike traffic.
Ralston said the portion from Iowa City south on old Highway 218 is in the JCCOG Long Range Trails Plan. If the Supervisors wanted to see an Oak Crest Hill and 500th Street loop it would help aid discussions between the Board and Iowa City to encourage a collaborative effort. Sullivan and Stutsman said there are people who live in Thatcher, Baculis, and Regency Mobile Home Parks who bike to work. Ralston said there is a type of cow path in the grass so they know it is used. Ackerson said with McAllister connecting to South Riverside Drive going all the way to Gilbert Street and having a wide side walk along McAllister there will be more interest to make that connection back to the City. Sullivan asked if the bridge provides both pedestrian and bike accommodations. Ralston said he believes it has a wide sidewalk. Sullivan said that a person could take the path that already exists to get that far and then would just have to get from McAllister south.
Stutsman said she applauds Ackerson and Ralston's efforts. This is the big picture and it helps the Board to see how the individual segments are pulled together. She restated that if the Board had this information prior to the last JCCOG meeting it would have been evident that this is all part of a big plan. Ralston said this is a comprehensive plan between all of the cities. If and when the Supervisors want to adopt something like this later, they do not want to have any surprises. They want the Board to have the opportunity to review the plan and agree to it which will help the adoption process.
Sullivan asked if at some point they want the Board to have this on a formal agenda where they adopt the master plan. Ackerson said the idea is that all of the cities would adopt the plan and having it on the record would help their applications. Neuzil said they will stamp the proposal and pass it around to the Board so everyone has a chance to read it, particularly the Johnson County sections. Stutsman said she is glad that Johnson County is included because for many years it was just the urban areas. She said that people want to bike outside of the urban areas. Ralston said the County is doing a lot of things that are good for bikers, for example paved shoulders. Earning this designation is a good way to show what the County is already doing and what can be done in the future. Neuzil said they might be able to do more if the sales tax passes. Ralston said if they want to see the Oak Crest Hill loop on the map they can put it on there.
Johnson County Historical Society Executive Director Shaner Magalhaes said they received a request from Geoarcheology Professors from The University of Iowa who want to conduct field tests at the suspected cemetery site at the Johnson County Poor Farm. The Johnson County Historical Society does not object to this request and, if approved by the Board, would have a staff member present during the tests. They are planning to conduct the tests on May 2, 2009. This is primarily an educational opportunity for the students to observe the equipment being used. The professors have been aware of the cemetery site and have wanted to conduct these tests for some time. There are two pieces of equipment that would be used, one is an electromagnetic profiler called GEM II that measures electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility of the ground. The other unit is a Ground Penetrating Radar which shows what is under the ground without disturbing it.
Magalhaes said the professor he has been speaking with said there will be no disturbance of the ground. They probably will not see anything because the equipment is not able to show bodies or bones. The best they could hope for is to see where the ground has been disturbed and then map it out to indicate whether it is approximately the size of a potential grave which would give some evidence that there are graves there. If they do get lucky enough to have those indications they could then pinpoint specifically where graves were located. The JCHS received a grant several years ago that allowed for a little bit of archeology in that area and identified 49 possible grave sites. This was not scientific but rather used the Dowsing Method. The professors would use a more scientific process to provide further evidence of potential graves in this area. If they do find any evidence that suggests where the graves are located, they will provide that information to the Historical Society and Board of Supervisors in the form of maps. As a representative of JCHS he thinks it would be an educational opportunity which will not cost the County anything.
Neuzil said usually Magalhaes does not communicate with the Board for tours and such but since this involved equipment he thought it was better to talk directly with the Board. Sullivan said it would be wonderful if they actually had some maps because right now it is a vague area. Magalhaes agreed. Stutsman said the graves may be located outside that space and the proposal sounds great. Neuzil said Magalhaes should work with Facilities Director David Kempf. Kempf said he needs an email from Magalhaes describing how many people and what they are going to be doing so he can communicate the information to Chatham Oaks Executive Director Vivian Davis and Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson.
Neuzil said the Board received an email from Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek. They will probably continue receiving correspondence from County employees as the Board solicits ideas on ways to save money. The email example questioning why he and his wife would be a part of a family plan when they do not have children, made sense, however it would only shift money from one group to another. Stutsman asked if there is a process to get back to the people who made this inquiry because the Board members received an email but did the person who made this suggestion receive a response. Neuzil said they did receive a response and in this particular case the individual was not necessarily looking to save the County money. The inquiry asked that now that her children are out of the house and have their own plan, should the husband and wife still be using the family plan. He said they have 30 or 40 recommendations he wants the Executive Assistant to organize as part of their strategic plan of pursuing ideas to save dollars.
Sullivan said he attended an Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) Supervisor Roundtable. A representative from Audubon County said they lost a lawsuit when a driver was hauling grain across a bridge that exceeded the posted weight limit for the bridge and the bridge collapsed. The County sued the driver but the driver won based on the argument that the weight limit was advisory and was not set in stone. The Audubon County representative shared this story to serve as a warning for other counties. He asked County Engineer Greg Parker if he was familiar with this situation. Parker responded the County has had structures that have dropped. The resolutions he would bring forward to the Board involve biannual structural inspections that are performed by a certified structural engineer. He is the only person in the office who is certified to perform bridge inspections. Because he oversees the department, he hires a consulting firm to do the inspections. Bridges are inspected on various time frames of 180 days, one year, one and one half years or two years based on the inspection results. Once the inspection is completed the person who submits the Structure Inventory Analysis determines if there is a need for that bridge to have a weight limit other than the standard load limit. If so, a resolution would be brought to the Board. He brought the most recent resolution with him from 2008.
Sullivan asked if they only have to worry about the weight limit if it is reduced from what the structure had when it was initially built. Parker responded that the resolutions are similar to resolutions for a speed limit change or for a new stop sign. Without having weight limit resolutions, someone could drive over a bridge knowing they were over the limit and the enforcement of destruction of County property would be more difficult because they would not have had a resolution approved by the Board showing that they were not supposed to be over a certain weight. Sullivan asked if the only times they have to adopt a resolution is when they build a new structure, replace an old structure, or if the structure is downgraded through inspections. Parker replied any new structure the County has would be designed to meet HS20 Interstate Load Design Capacity. If after many years of inspections the structure is found to have structural issues, he would come to the Board and request they reduce the load limit. Sullivan asked if they did this on a road by the quarry near the Linn County Johnson County line. Parker said he was not sure but they have a map showing all the load limited structures. Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak also reviews this map to approve truck routes. Stutsman said the bottom line is that what they have in place now is covered. Parker said they are covered and to his knowledge they have a resolution for every structure that has a limited load restriction. Sullivan said everything they have has been inspected since Parker has been with the County. Parker agreed and said they are going through their second full round of inspections this year.
Stutsman said a resident has been calling to reduce the speed limit on Curtis Bridge Road, south of Shueyville. In the past when they had a request like this they referred it to the Sheriff’s Office and the County Engineer, and then they would come back to the Board with a recommendation. She asked if they are still using that process and is it OK to continue to do so. Parker said they had a flourish of emails for the specific road area that runs south of Sandy Beach and down to the dead end portion of the old State highway that ends at the Reservoir. Stutsman replied yes and said she put this on the agenda so the Board is on the same page and not answering the same person’s email.
Parker said they do get phone calls from residents who think by reducing the speed limit on roads it will change things. Speed limits are set based on the 85th percentile of what the public is traveling. He said they always anticipate there will be both speeders and people driving less than the speed limit. They set the speed limits at the standard comfort level of what the average person is going to drive on that road. He believes the speed limit is set at 55 miles per hour and has not been changed since he has been with the County. There was a speed study done several years ago and since that time there have not been a lot of additional development so there has not been a need for changes. Sullivan said there can not be any additional development because it is far above the threshold. Parker said the study results showed that the speed limit set out there is appropriate. They can certainly lower the speed limit but then it becomes an issue for the Sheriff’s Department. He emailed them to let them know this item would be discussed but unfortunately they had another commitment.
Parker said he typically works directly with the Sheriff’s Department because it does become an enforcement issue. Stutsman said if they get it lowered residents want people enforcing it. She asked if there was interest in pursuing this further or do they want to do a new speed study. Parker said the Sheriff was not sure if they had placed a unit out there to check the speeds. Stutsman said they might want to consider an overall process. There is nothing more frustrating to people when they make a request and do not receive a response. The Board could have a process and send a formal letter to the person that states they looked into the issue and there was no need to change.
Sullivan said some people in the Fox Run area of North Liberty did this with Scales Bend Road. They conducted research and made a convincing argument so it was easy for the Sheriff and County Engineer to agree with them. This is one person complaining compared to an entire neighborhood of 250 people. Stutsman said that is why they should have a process. She wants to make sure they are following a process for all the instances that arise. Sullivan said these residents have been very persistent and he does not want to make Parker come in every month for this discussion. Parker said the Scales Bend Road group brought the City of North Liberty in with them and they were going to help enforce the speed limit. They are looking at that area as a part of North Liberty and they are going to patrol it as a rural city street. In most cases the County has a process set up. If there is a change on a road and Secondary Roads feels they need to do a speed study in that area they would do that as part of their operations. They adjust things as needed based on road construction, intersection changes, or new developments. In most cases they get calls from people wanting the speed limit lowered just because they want it lowered. They do not lower speed limits just because it is requested. They look at previous studies that were done and they look at what activities are changing that may give them a reason to do a speed study. He would bring his recommendations to the Board for discussion.
Parker said a majority of the Board has to give him direction to do a speed study because in the past if someone called to have a study done they would do it. On unposted roads it is 55 miles per hour during the day and 45 miles per hour at night. Residents think that lowering the limit will make a difference and in most instances it does not. Stutsman said she assumes the Board is not interested in pursuing this further and asked who would communicate with the residents. Neuzil said when he receives these requests he usually sends an email to Parker and asks him to respond. Parker said he thought the issue was addressed but the resident did not like the response. Stutsman said he is still emailing and the response should come from the Board’s Office.
Parker said he did not personally respond to this resident but he was a part of the emails. He thinks the Sheriff was the last one to respond and the response was there was no reason to change it based on the information. Stutsman asked if Parker could draft something and have Neuzil sign it. Parker said it is not that they are not listening to residents because they do care about what they have to say. In some instances, based on the information, it is a good thing to change the speed limit and in other instances it is not. Stutsman said they are only hearing from one resident and not the fifteen other people who are in favor of the current speed limit. Parker said the recommendation to the resident was that at the next homeowner's association meeting he should talk to the other neighbors. It is a dead end so anyone who drives there will be living there or visiting. He said he will draft something for Neuzil’s approval.
Recessed 10:54 a.m.; reconvened at 11:02 a.m.
Stutsman said the electronic postcard invitations have gone out and if they want to invite other people they can do that. Kempf said Representative Dave Loebsack is the only one who has responded so far. Stutsman said he is the only one who has confirmed and hopefully there will not be any schedule changes. She said she needs to meet with Neuzil about the program. Neuzil said he will just follow the agenda. Kempf said they want to keep it short. Stutsman said they will acknowledge the builders and make introductions. Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey does not need to speak but Loebsack will probably want to speak. Kempf said Loebsack wanted to say a few words. Neuzil asked Kempf if he will have cameras. Kempf said Information Technology Webmaster Gary Yoder is going to be in charge of taking pictures. Neuzil asked if there is anything from the camera on the Administration Building that could be used. Kempf said yes and he is hoping to assemble a slide show on a loop showing the construction progress and put it on a laptop in the refreshment room.
Neuzil asked how the building is going to look. Kempf said there are a lot of little things they are closing in on and he talks to the contractors daily. The trees are in and they are hoping to get sod done soon. They are scheduled to wash the exterior of the building starting with the brick and following up with the windows. He said they have started the installation of the railing system on the South side of the building and on the East end. They are finishing the striping of the parking ramp and they are following his check-list of what he wants done before the open house and he is confident they will get them done. The stairwells are 95% finished and there is some glass they need to put back in that was removed while they put in the railing systems. He said the plan is to have the skywalk open so people can go out on the skywalk, however, they will not be able to go into the Administration Building.
Neuzil said a couple of weeks ago there was still broken glass in the stairwell, open boards, and other materials that should be gone. Kempf responded that a lot of those concerns have been taken care of. There are still detail things they are addressing as well as working on the big visual things and working their way down the list. Sullivan said some people were complaining about how loud the air moving can be in the building. Kempf said they have the system balanced. There are a few things with the controls they are working out but as far as the air noise that is all taken care of. Neuzil said the Mental Health/Disability Services Director Kris Artley's room was even loud. Kempf said that is a different issue which is a component of the sound masking. Now that they have all of the balancing done the next phase will involve tuning the building. Sullivan asked about the signs. Kempf said the signs are complete and they have been ordered. He is hoping the signs will be in place prior to the open house, however, if that is not going to happen, they will need to have very nice temporary signage.
Sullivan said there have been complaints about the inadequacy of the Department of Human Services waiting room. Neuzil asked what they meant by inadequacy. Kempf and Stutsman replied that they feel it is too small. Sullivan said it was not staff complaining but rather the people who use DHS. Stutsman said the waiting room is very visible with no privacy. Kempf said for privacy they could put additional tinting on the window. No one has talked to him about the waiting room. There is space in the hallway outside of DHS for additional seating. Stutsman said they do not want to do that because it will look like people are loitering. Sullivan said it is frustrating that they basically duplicated their Eastdale waiting room and they did not think about that. Kempf said there is more seating than what they had. Sullivan said he talked to a woman who had to stand and then when she came to the counter, everyone was listening to their conversation. Stutsman said it is not the Board’s fault. DHS had an opportunity to have more space. She does not know if it was intentional but it is unfortunate.
Sullivan said it looks bad for the Board too. Kempf said his experience in working with DHS was that they had levels of hierarchy in the system and nobody was allowed to make a decision or give any input. It did not matter if the supervisor worked in the area or had experience with what the people were actually doing. He was told on a couple of occasions he should not talk to the staff but rather go through certain individuals. He talked to a couple people in an unofficial capacity and it was extremely frustrating for them. Kempf said they added close to a month in the planning phase because of their inability to do what they were asked to do. It took three different tries to get the number of offices they needed and even in the end they did not take into account space for over one dozen filing cabinets. Stutsman said Kempf was giving them feedback to be sure they had considered other needs. Kempf agreed and said after they had the floor plan done he met with Assistant Mental Health/Disability Services Director Jan Shaw who indicated that something was not right with DHS. He went back to DHS to verify the plan and they determined they needed an additional fourteen offices
Stutsman said it was a blown opportunity for DHS because the Board was more than accommodating to give them what they wanted or what they needed. Neuzil said the privacy issue could be addressed because it might be a distraction for staff. Putting in additional shading might help a little bit. Stutsman said it bothers her because it perpetuates the stereotype of people on welfare. She said she cannot believe that DHS allowed this to happen and if they allow them to sit in the hallway it will be worse. Kempf said he has been considering this issue and they might be able to reconfigure the front area because they are using cubical space. They have a filing room that is adjacent to the waiting room, a meeting room, and a visit room within their office space. If they were to give up one of those and use it as a file room with rolling files, then the support staff could be rotated into the file room, open up a window for the Reception area and push the counter back which would increase the size of the waiting room.
Sullivan said it is not their call but if they already have people who are standing, he can imagine that it will only get worse. Stutsman repeated that it reflects on the Board. Neuzil said maybe after a year they will inventory the growing pain issue and prioritize to budget towards that if the need rises to the top. Kempf said the building was designed to give them a level of flexibility and there are some other spaces that have adjacencies that could be reconfigured and reallocated. He thinks DHS needs to live with what they have for a while before they start trying to make adjustments. Neuzil said the Space Needs Committee can monitor that. Sullivan said an annual review would also make sense. Kempf said his intentions were that six months after they moved in they would meet with department heads to see what is working and what is not working. His goal was to make it better than what they had knowing that everyone was not going to get everything they wanted.
Neuzil asked if for the most part they will be ready for the Open House on April 18, 2009. Kempf said they will be ready. SEATS and Secondary Roads are still struggling with a few issues. They are sitting on their 10% retainer fee. He said he refuses to do the final punch list until some of the issues are taken care of. Sullivan asked if that includes the utility bills. Kempf said yes and he has to work with Mid American Energy because they have the bus barn and building on one meter. He needs to talk to them about getting those split and getting a separate meter. Sullivan said he thought there was a big bill from when they were testing the meter. Kempf said he will be getting some funds back for that issue. There was a time when they were running additional electric heat in the bus barn while they were trying to figure out the heat pump. Likewise, he has been talking with Novak Design and there were some additional expenses occurred as a direct result of the engineering firm closing their doors, part way through the project. Stutsman asked if they went out of business. Kempf said they retired and moved to Florida which made some things extremely difficult and cost the County additional dollars. Novak Design has assured him that they will reimburse the County for the additional costs because the engineering firm worked for Novak Design.
Kempf said as far as SEATS and Secondary Roads, the cabinet doors are in and the new ones look much better than the previous doors. Once the control issues are taken care of with the geothermal system he will start working on the final punch list and begin training on the systems that are out there. He has told both departments that until those things are done to his and Neumann Monson Architect's satisfaction they will not get any more money and the project will not be closed. He said the building is functioning well, people seem to be happy, and the systems seem to be operating now. Due to Johnson Control Inc.’s inability to finish up their control packages, it has been decided not to allow them to submit a bid on the Conservation Building. Once the bid process was started for the Conservation Building he worked with Fusion Architects Architect John Shaw, Assistant County Attorney Scott Finlayson, and Conservation Director Harry Graves on the bid process and what to include in the specifications to keep it as two separate projects. The bids for the building came in under estimates.
Kempf said there are two other projects to consider. He has talked with Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell regarding the disposal of the Camp Cardinal Road property. He asked if they need to put this on the Board’s agenda. They need to consider if they want to hire a real estate agent to sell the property and if so how do they go about selecting that agent. Neuzil said he knows someone who has interest in that property. In the past, the interested party communicated directly with Chappell. The concern has to do with the area and environmental issues. If the ravine and trees were cleared the property would be more valuable to them. Kempf said that would increase the value to anybody but does the County want to incur those costs. Neuzil said he did not know, just that there is someone who has interest in the property.
Sullivan said he liked the way Chappell handled property sales in the past and did not require a realtor because it was basically an auction. Stutsman said she would not be supportive of paying a realtor to sell the property. Kempf said having an auction for a piece of real estate like this one means they may be less likely to get the assessed value of the property because there are only going to be a few people who are interested but he is fine with doing that. Sullivan said they can set the minimum bid as the assessed value. If that fails then they could consider a realtor. Stutsman said she does not like what she is hearing from the Bravermans about having the County fix the property and then they will consider buying it for little or nothing. Neuzil said he does not think it is quite like that but rather more of a way of making an agreement to have the County clean some of it up. Part of it is government versus commercial as far as some of their concerns. Kempf said the Bravermans are probably thinking the County can just clean it up where they would have to go through all the environmental steps. That is not the case, the County has to comply with DNR permitting, storm water retention, and run off just like everyone else.
Sullivan said they are probably thinking the County can use the Secondary Roads equipment which they cannot do; they would have to hire a private business. Kempf said they would have to get a bid. He asked if they want to put this on the informal Board agenda for further discussion. Stutsman thought they already decided to get rid of the property. Kempf clarified the Board decided to sell the property but not how to go about it. He thinks it is reasonable to do a closed bid and set a minimum versus hiring a realtor. Neuzil asked if they used a realtor for the dilapidated houses that Chappell resold. Kempf said the house on 1145 E College Street was sold by auction using Sharpless Auction. The process involves people coming through the building on a specific day and then there is a live auction. Neuzil said it would be similar to Prairie du Chien. They can put it on the informal agenda and give direction to the County Attorney. He asked Kempf to send him additional information and then they will communicate with each other.
Sullivan said hopefully they can get it sold so they only have to mow it once. Neuzil said the sidewalk is the issue. Kempf said it will be good not to have to send staff out to clear the sidewalk anymore. Regarding the houses, he needs direction from the Board. He has had people approach him about possible uses for those properties in the interim. There was discussion to use them as an overflow shelter next winter. In his opinion, only one of the three houses should be considered for that use. One house would not work because the waterline broke. The second one is divided in such a way that would make it difficult to use for that purpose. The only house they might consider is located on Harrison Street. The Board needs to decide if they want to look at it that way because that will directly affect how the facility is maintained. Currently all of the utilities are shut off.
Stutsman said this discussion begs a bigger question. In response to the letter they received, the Board needs to sit down and seriously consider how involved they want to be in this proposal. They have the potential to take on a bigger role in the future of the Shelter House and need to proceed cautiously. Kempf said if they were to consider doing this, for liability reasons, they need to do a triple net lease and lease that house to the Shelter House for $1 a month. That would make the County property owners so they would have nothing to do with the oversight, management, or the up-keep. Neuzil asked if they are only talking two or three bedrooms. Kempf said there are potentially five bedrooms in that house and they are just looking for places to sleep. They could have a couple of beds in each bedroom and the living room could be used for sleeping quarters. Stutsman said she thought they wanted a big room so they could have easy oversight.
Kempf said this would be the only one of the three properties that would allow oversight with one or two people. Neuzil said the City of Iowa City owns 87 houses and that is down from 137. He agreed with Stutsman that this is a whole separate discussion and for now they should keep the utilities off. They are not putting any investment in those properties. Stutsman said another property that is being considered is the old Health Building but the main concern is that it is so chopped up. Kempf said that property would not work for temporary housing; however, if the Shelter House wanted to buy that property and remodel it, it would be a great building for them. It has a concrete roof there are only two load bearing walls so they could take out 95% of the walls in that building. Stutsman said they are having issues with the lawsuit. Neuzil said there is another buyer interested in the old Health Building. Harney is discussing that with the Space Needs Committee. There have been several emails regarding grants and stimulus funds. He added that Kempf has some interest in tearing down the two buildings if there are stimulus opportunities.
Kempf said the grant Sullivan sent him was one he had found earlier. He discussed it with Meyers and Harney and thinks there may be some money available to the County. He is getting formalized estimates and harder numbers to determine the costs involved in converting the Administration Building to geothermal. He has an estimate for roughly $1 million dollars but they need the exact amount, not an estimate. There is currently an engineering firm working on the project. Regarding the $236,000 they already have, he would suggest using it to replace the windows in the Administration Building and that would fit perfectly within the terms of what the money was given to cover. Neuzil said Deputy Auditor Casie Kadlec is working on a resolution so they can accept those dollars. The Board discussed putting the funds toward the building but they can be more specific if needed.
Kempf said they should not be too specific but if they wanted to look for an energy efficient item that will help the long term life of the building, windows would be a good option. Neuzil asked Kempf if he is thinking about attending one of the conferences. Kempf said yes, there is one in May 2009. Neuzil said he might be in Washington D.C. at the same time and perhaps they could go to the Hill. Part of the group he will be with wants to lobby for a specific grant.
Kempf said he has been in communication with the Mayor of a new city in South Korea who is trying to construct an entirely green city. The Mayor is also a member of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and it might be an interesting opportunity for them to have a sister city. Neuzil said that would be fantastic, particularly with the way the community is involved in international studies. Sullivan said Harney brought up the question as to why they would join an international group instead of a U.S. group. He said it is important to understand how far behind the U.S. is in relation to Europe, Japan, and others.
Stutsman said, regarding project updates, it was brought to her attention that some of the board members at Chatham Oaks are concerned about how the driveway is being torn up with the Communication Building construction. Kempf said he has not been out there yet but thinks that anything that is damaged will be repaired as part of the project. He does not know if they have a facility person overseeing this project other than Neumann Monson Architects and the contractors. He does not know if anyone from the City is doing anything other than building inspections. He thinks there should be a representative, either from the County or the City, outside of the architect and the contractor, overseeing the project. Neuzil said he assumes JECC has that coordinated. Stutsman said she thought that was going to be Joint Emergency Communication Center Director Mike Sullivan’s role. Kempf said he does not know if M. Sullivan is familiar enough with the construction process to know what to look for. Stutsman asked if Kempf has talked to Harney about this concern. Kempf said he has not. Sullivan said in an email back to Kempf from Neumann Monson Architects, he seemed to indicate they will take care of it. Stutsman said that is something they need to make very clear. Kempf said they need to have somebody to make sure it is taken care of. Stutsman said Kempf should talk to Harney about the issue.
Stutsman said she put this item on the agenda because she has been appointed by the Governor to the Council of Human Services. They meet monthly, the second Wednesday of each month which conflicts with the Board’s Key Issues meeting. She does not want to miss the Key Issues meetings and asked if the Board would entertain moving their meeting to Tuesday morning. Neuzil said he thinks Harney would have a conflict with a Tuesday morning meeting. Stutsman said the first meeting is May 13, 2009. Neuzil asked if they are just in the morning. Stutsman said they start at 8:30 a.m. and go until about 1:00 or 1:30 p.m. She asked if the Board would rather have one Key Issues meeting or should she listen to the tapes instead. Neuzil said they just need to figure out an alternate schedule. Sullivan said it probably is not worth having the Key Issues meeting with two members absent. Neuzil said the reason this agenda is so full is to accommodate for members who were going to be absent for the next meeting.
Sullivan said part of the problem is that they do experience conflicting meeting times depending on which committee is scheduled to meet but they cannot substitute one Supervisor’s judgment for another. Stutsman said they have Strategic Planning on the third Wednesday of the month and added an additional Key Issues meeting on the fourth Wednesday. The first Wednesday is evaluations. Sullivan said they have meetings on the first four Wednesday mornings of the month. Neuzil said another option would be to hold them on Thursday afternoons. They would have to switch the Finance Committee Meeting but this might be a more practical way of looking at the schedule and meet at 1:30 p.m. on Thursdays and have the Board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Stutsman agreed but suggested they rethink the Strategic Planning meeting and asked if it would take a full morning on Wednesday mornings. Neuzil said it is on the third and would create two meetings in a row. The idea was to have one every other week. Stutsman said her only hesitation with Thursday afternoon is that it might be a long day of meetings and sometimes the Board meetings run long.
Neuzil said they have not been as long recently as they have been in the past. Sullivan said it gets back to the bigger issue of when to put items on the agenda and when to try and accommodate the Supervisor's individual schedules. He has never felt comfortable with that process. Neuzil said he does not have a problem with Tuesdays but he knows Harney was trying to keep his Tuesdays open. Stutsman said they should wait until all five members are present to have this discussion and suggested maybe Friday mornings would work.
Sullivan said Correia's item, Peckover's item, and the speed limit discussion are issues that do not need to be televised. Stutsman agreed and said even this scheduling discussion does not need to be televised, but anytime they talk about spending tax dollars the community should be well informed. Neuzil asked if they want to move to look at either Tuesday mornings or Thursday afternoons. Sullivan said he does not know if Meyers or Harney have an ongoing commitment on those days. Neuzil said they can put it on the next Key Issues agenda for discussion.
Stutsman said JCCOG wanted the Board to get back to city councils and Board members about the next steps on the Housing Task Force. Sullivan said he served on that committee but there is nothing for the Board to do. Iowa City had a lot of things they wanted to do and Coralville said they were not interested so that is where it ended. Stutsman said JCCOG wanted them to talk to their boards about how involved they wanted to be and were they going to continue with another Task Force. Neuzil said Executive Assistant Andy Johnson should serve on that committee. The study the City had conducted was very good. Sullivan said he agreed but came out of the discussions a little frustrated. It was the same old process and nobody was interested in bending. As a Board they have had the discussion that affordable housing in the County does not make a lot of sense. The County has put a lot of money into the Free Medical Clinic that provides a similar service. It would be interesting to hear Johnson’s thoughts on the discussion.
Neuzil provided a form to the Board to discuss the privacy of email addresses. Stutsman said she is furious with Amazon for sharing her email address with other businesses which made her consider how she would feel if she was on the Planning and Zoning Commission and was bombarded with emails. Neuzil suggested on the form to add the word optional under email address. Sullivan said the Board received a lot of email regarding the Conditional Use Permit issue. Stutsman said she does not have a problem with that but does not want someone calling in to request emails in order to try and sell them something. Sullivan agreed and added that on the website, addresses are listed which is not very important because people do not generally sit down and write letters. He would rather have someone's email address because a lot of times people want to communicate with Planning and Zoning and it should be easier to do.
Neuzil agreed but said it may be a legal issue regarding providing an email address or phone number. Stutsman asked how responsible the Board is to make these people as accessible as possible. She does not know if that is their role. She wants to tell applicants that if someone calls for their email address or phone number the County is obligated to give it to them. Neuzil asked if they want to include that on the form or not. Sullivan said it is more of a question of informing people and giving them options. If they really do not want calls and are not going to give their email address, even though they may hold a high profile position, people may question why they cannot get a hold of these high level individuals. He suggested maybe the people who are appointed to these committees should receive a County email address for the term of their service.
Stutsman agreed and said she would be floored if she filled out an application and realized that her email address was given out to everyone who called. Sullivan said everyone would need to be trained to use the email system and instructed that if they are going to be on the Board of Health, for example, they will have a County email address and will be obligated to check it. Stutsman added they could have either the County email address or a personal email address. Neuzil said they will bring this up with Information Technology Director Jean Schultz to see if it is an option. Sullivan added that for individuals who are doing important public business, people should be able to get a hold of them.
Stutsman agreed with Sullivan but added she expects to get a lot of emails because she is an elected official and she signed up for that, but is not sure if that should be the case for those serving on boards and commissions. Sometimes emails can be borderline harassment. Neuzil said the Board of Adjustment makes decisions and serves as a public voice. Stutsman said she attended a meeting put on by Iowa State and does not think they should be lobbied. Sullivan said they are supposed to disclose it if they were. Stutsman said it might not be appropriate for them to be receiving emails or phone calls because they are a judicial group that should not be swayed by emotions. Neuzil said they will include Schultz in the discussion and consider the options.
Sullivan said he added this item to the agenda. There will be a new staff member starting and he asked what items the Board wants to go over. He said he sent an email to everyone in order to collect suggestions. It would be nice to have a general idea of what he will be doing the first few days. Neuzil said he and Johnson have emailed one another regarding the meeting schedule. When May starts he does not have anything scheduled and wants to figure out where he needs to be. Schultz is going to activate his County email as of the last week of April. The Board has been provided his personal address if there are issues or concerns, although he does not start until May 1, 2009. Sullivan said he envisions two people at a time taking Johnson out to do a quick meet with Parker and SEATS Director Tom Brase to see the bus barn. Neuzil said it could be done through the liaison process. Sullivan said maybe that would work however, it would not be the same two people in each building, so if he could be assigned an hour block of time that might be better.
Neuzil said it would not hurt if Johnson joined people at their liaison meetings beyond the site visit, then he would be able to get a feel for what is going on in each department. Stutsman said one of the things she added was for him to go through the files in the office and become acquainted with that process. Neuzil said there really is no official system set up. Stutsman said she hopes the new person checks with the Board before throwing things away. Neuzil said they can scan things too. Sullivan said the Auditor's Office is the clerk to the Board and they keep all the resolutions and other important items on file. The Board does not need to keep duplicate copies. Stutsman said she is concerned about the contracts and does not like the process of having someone from the outside tell them when the contract is due. She thinks the Board needs to have a list of the contracts so they know when they are up for review. Neuzil agreed and asked to have that item added to Johnson’s list. Stutsman said Sullivan did not have anything on the list about meeting with Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne to go over the budget. Sullivan said he did not add that because they will be in the same office and can schedule that on their own.
Neuzil said at some point Board members will meet with Johnson individually. He thinks Johnson is going to come to them with his own suggestions and ideas. Stutsman agreed and said they did not want the list to be so descriptive that Johnson could not provide his own thoughts and ideas. Neuzil said Johnson will determine his own expectations for Board Secretary Jo Hogarty and Claiborne. He asked if the liaisons for Johnson will be the same as before. Stutsman and Sullivan said they would be happy to continue in that capacity.
Neuzil said, for future meetings, he wrote down County Government Week and scheduling Key Issues meetings. Sullivan inquired about the Housing Fellowship Board and Neuzil replied he will find out what it is. He said they removed the item regarding the Office Manual. Stutsman said they should put that back on the agenda before Johnson starts. Neuzil asked if Claiborne is coordinating the Office Manual. Sullivan replied yes. Neuzil said he will put it back on the agenda. He added Kempf is going to add the Camp Cardinal issue to the Informal agenda.
Adjourned at 12:06 a.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Jessica Hulen, Recording Secretary