MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
MAY 7, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia: Brief Review of “You Earned It. Now Claim It!” Successes
Board of Supervisors: Intent for Sutliff Bridge.
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:17 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan; absent: Larry Meyers.
University of Iowa Director of Hydroscience and Engineering Larry Weber said the Iowa Legislature recently passed legislation that is awaiting approval by Governor Chet Culver for development of the Iowa Flood Center. He said the Flood Center will be housed at the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research Hydroscience and Engineering. He said the old hydraulics lab has about 90 years of history in river hydraulics and mechanics on the bank of the Iowa River. He said the University of Iowa has been working through a variety of funded research projects to better understand what happened in 2008. He handed out data on the snow cover from the 2007-2008 regarding the equivalent cover, depth of the snow cover, the water equivalency, and the air temperature throughout the basin. Weber said there was heavy snow during the 2008-2009 winter as well and people have questioned whether it will cause flooding this spring. He said in the spring and summer of 2008 there was an increase in the river flow as the temperature increased. He said there was a snow melt runoff, but then the river went back to normal in Cedar Rapids. In April 2008 the spring rains came and there were high river stages late in the month and into early May 2008. The river returned to normal levels until late May and early June 2008, when Iowa experienced intense rainfall throughout the Iowa and Cedar River Basins which resulted in the historic flooding peaking around June 15, 2008.
Weber said the difference between the Cedar River and the Iowa River is the Coralville Reservoir that stands between the Marengo gauge and Iowa City. He said the reservoir impacted the Iowa River. He referred to a map which helps clarify what happened in the Basin. He said it has been helpful to many people, because it delineates the areas by time of travel for the water. He said the average precipitation in 1993 compared to 2008 is about the same. Weber asked why Cedar Rapids had twice the river flow at a stage 12 feet higher in 2008. He asked why Iowa City had a 50% increase in river flow and a four foot stage increase between 1993 and 2008. He said the answer to those questions is timing. Weber said eight days before the peak there was widespread rainfall throughout the Basin that continued for two days. He said five days in advance of the peak there was intense rainfall in the upper part of the Basin. That rainfall caused local hydrograph flooding in the upper part of the Basin. He said as the floodways came out of the Basin two and three days later there was widespread rainfall as well as targeted rainfall on top of the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids communities. That rainfall resulted in the floodways that came through Cedar Rapids.
Weber said numerical modeling of the Basin allows him to separate individual rainfall events. He said if Cedar Rapids would have not had four to five inches of rainfall on Thursday, June 12, and Friday, June 13, 2008 there would have been a reduction of 40,000 CFS. The ability to make rainfall models is an asset. He said he can forecast the river hydrograph and the river stages at the gauge locations and anywhere in the region with the type of modeling being used. Another advance in research currently being completed is trying to estimate return intervals. He said the data from the gauges that are used to statistically estimate the 1% probability flood and the 2% probability flood are developed on a short period of record, and under the assumption that the data is statistically stationary. Weber said at the Iowa City gauge there may be 100 years of record, there may be changes due to land use and climate that the assumption of statistically stationary does not make sense. If that assumption is removed and instead land use and climate changes data are used, the estimated return interval decreases from a one in 500 year event is more like a one in 80 year event. He said it is important to understand those changes in order to discuss occupation of the flood plain.
Weber said shortly after the flood a LiDAR Survey was done of the Iowa River from Coralville down to the confluence of the Cedar River. He said the survey was completed to capture the inundation area of the flood as well as the elevation of the flood waters everywhere to calibrate hydraulic models. He said the Hydraulic Lab is developing models now. He said Harney and Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak have been very helpful with the model development process. Weber said multi-beam sonar with a 120 degree cone and 512 individual beams measure the bottom of the river and is tied to GPS which gives a 3-D image. He said it is impressive mapping technology. He said single beam sonar is also used to track areas around a bridge.
Weber said the Iowa River has been mapped out from the southern corporate limits of Iowa City to the Coralville Dam. He said there is updated imagery the County may be interested in using for river crossing projects or other interests. He said the HEC-RAS model developed by Ayers Associates, the consultant hired to support the University of Iowa's flood mitigation project, shows the cross-sections of the Iowa River in Iowa City as well as the bridge structures. Weber said the detailed model used for the 100 and 500 year delineations for the FEMA study only included the Burlington Street Dam and three of the bridges in the community. He said HEC-RAS includes the Iowa River and Power Dam, the Burlington Street Dam, plus 19 other bridges. He said it is a much more detailed map that includes updated aerial photography from December 2008 to get one foot contours in the flood plain.
Weber said inundation mapping was done which show typical flows of the river 5,000, 25,000, and last year's event was at 41,800. He said 55,000 was the peak discharge into the Coralville reservoir. He said this data will be made available to the public. A cooperative agreement is being created with the University of Iowa, Iowa Flood Center and the National Weather Service to be able to post inundation maps on the internet through the National Weather Service. He said this information would be available to everyone in the community and it would be a great benefit. He said last year decisions were being made based on gauge forecast elevations of 29 or 30 feet and it is hard for individuals to associate gauge elevation with individual property. Weber said the inundation maps are available from the Coralville Reservoir through the corporate city limits of Iowa City and the modeling effort is planned to extend further down the Iowa River with the initiation of the Iowa Flood Center in 2009. He said the Hydraulics Lab will be doing the same inundation mapping on the Cedar, Des Moines, and Raccoon Rivers this year.
Weber said the Lab has been working cooperatively with the Corps of Engineers and the City of Coralville to do simulations and assessment of the Coralville Reservoir operation which shows the elevation levels during last years flood. Weber referred to a slide projected on the video screen and showed the Reservoir inflow and outflow. He said the Corps has provided a model used to manage the Coralville Reservoir and make forecasts and predictions for releases of the Reservoir. He said the most recent survey data shows that over time, about 70,000 acre feet has been lost in the Reservoir due to sedimentation. There have been questions about the impact of sedimentation on the flood crest in Iowa City and this information can be used to reassess what the impact would have been if there was no sediment in the Reservoir.
Weber said presently the empty reservoir below the crest can store 420,000 acre feet of water. He said 1.3 million acres of feet of water passed through the Reservoir in June 2008 alone. He said probably an equivalent amount of water passed through in May 2008 also. He said there were probably 2.5 million acre feet that passed through in May and June of 2008. He said 2.5 million acre feet relative to the storage available (420,000 acre feet) gives a sense of the magnitude of the flood.
Weber said if the 2008 storage level is compared to the level of 1958, when there was no sedimentation in the reservoir, there would have been an impact in terms of elevation in the spring, but as the intense rainfall continued through the summer there was no impact of the sedimentation on the elevation the Reservoir reached nor in terms of the discharge from the Reservoir. Weber said the impact on the south end of the reservoir probably had less than an inch or quarter of an inch of impact in terms of stage in Iowa City.
Webber said the assessment of operations has not been fully completed. He said the Reservoir operates under a policy that includes managing the elevations and minimize flooding down stream. He said there were trigger points in the Coralville Reservoir last year, which occurred in March of 2008, that caused the Reservoir to rise. He said there was a forecasted flooding event and when it passed into the lower part of the system, the gates were opened back up to 10,000 CFS. He said the reopening of the gates allowed for the Reservoir to go back down until another water level control event occurred in April of 2008 in Lone Tree and Burlington. This event caused the Reservoir to rise, because it was closed at discharge. He said by the time the outflow was ready to be re-opened to 10,000 acre feet the Reservoir was around 7,006 acre feet and the rains came making it impossible to accommodate any more water.
Neuzil asked why water was being held before the rains came. He clarified water was being held back because of a project in Lone Tree. Weber said the difficulty with the Reservoir is there is the time lag for travel through the floodway. He said Burlington is a few days of water travel down the Iowa River. If the Burlington gauge is forecasted to be above flood stage the flow out of the Coralville Reservoir is reduced. Weber said that happened in March of 2008 because there was a forecasted flood down river so the flow was reduced to 1,000 CFS which, in addition to the local precipitation, caused the reservoir to rise. He said after the Coralville Reservoir went back to 10,000 CFS, there was an occurrence of a gauge in flood stage down river for a day, but it worked exactly as it was supposed to, because the level went back down. He said people down river did not realize what was happening in the Reservoir. He said the water level target of 679 was almost reached until more local rainfall and precipitation occurred which caused another flood stage event downriver that precipitated for a longer period of time causing the Reservoir to rise. Weber said by the time the Reservoir was able to go to higher flow rates the Reservoir was already in major flood stage level and the Corps of Engineers was calling Johnson County, Iowa City, and the City of Coralville warning officials to increase the outflow to above 10,000. He said governments requested a few additional days to complete sandbagging, but the rains kept coming.
Weber said the purpose at the flood center is to develop physically based models for frequency estimation and real-time forecasting, community based programs, and to provide resources and expertise to develop a workforce in the area. He said they look forward to working closely with Johnson County. Harney asked what effect it would have upstream if Coralville would build flood walls and Iowa City would make some changes. Weber said he is Co-Chair of the University of Iowa's Flood Mitigation Task force and the UI recognized that with the damages to the campus, they would need a model to assess flood mitigation for the future. Iowa City, Coralville and Johnson County will all use the same model for assessment. If the UI considers elevated sidewalks, or protecting Art campus buildings, those protections will be included in the model, the model will be rerun, and the impact of anything up or downstream will be determined from the model. Weber said that as long as a project happens outside the flood plain, the impact should be negligible. The Arts campus is an example. If City Park was protected out to the river's edge, that would change things up and downstream because there is a lot of overland flow across City Park.
Neuzil asked how the current research findings can help with planning for future flooding. He asked if specific plans are underway to address future flooding. Weber said they are not ready to provide quantitative definitive answers, but he can address generalities. The fact that the 2008 flood water levels rose three and a half to four feet higher in Iowa City and 12 feet higher in Cedar Rapids than the flood of 1993 has raised awareness of the event. We must be mindful that the floodplain has existed over a long geologic time. There were flows of 70,000 CFS in the late 1800s. There have been historic floods and they will continue, so the public should be mindful of developments in the flood plain. Weber said he does not believe dredging the reservoir will be the solution, but raising the crest elevation will have tremendous impacts up river in the Amana Society and elsewhere. There are benefits to reevaluating the reservoir operations to determine how important the downstream controls are relative to marginalized agriculture compared to the billions of dollars of loss with this flood.
Sullivan asked if there is a concerted effort to make sure the gauges are in working condition, if a future event of this magnitude occurs. He said last summer there were conflicting reports on water levels because the gauges were reportedly not working. Weber said yes, the gauges are part of a cooperative gauge network and some are owned and operated by the Corps, others by the GS, and others by local entities. Another aspect of the 2008 flood was that it was uncharted territory. The USGS goes out repeatedly to conduct velocity measurements at the gauge location and they integrate that data to get a discharge. They were losing gauges because the gauges were not set high enough. The gauges they had were outside of the calibrated window of operation.
The third thing Weber focused on is the Iowa Flood Center's effort in developing physically based models. The National Weather Service River Forecast Center provides the forecast for the gauges and has ways to forecast as water goes from gauge to gauge. They can use historical information now, but because this was beyond historical record in 2008, they were continuously underestimating the gauge levels. For example, in Cedar Rapids, on Monday they forecasted the gauge to reach 22 feet, on Tuesday it was raised to 24 feet, Wednesday to 28, and by Thursday, they forecasted the gauge to reach 32 feet. The next nearest upstream gauge was in Cedar Falls. Historically, the timing was good but they had no idea what the crest was going to be. That in addition to local rainfall had a stair stepping effect, which is very difficult to manage.
Stutsman complimented Weber on his knowledge of the situation. She said that with all this valuable information and modeling, will the Flood Center have the authority to prohibit building in flood plain areas. Weber said no. The DNR has the flood plain management responsibility. He said communities are charged with responsible development. The Flood Center hopes to have an impact on the community engagement aspect. He said the statistics show that over a 30 year mortgage, there is a 26% chance of seeing a flood event, so a one in four chance over the life of the mortgage of seeing that one in 100-year event.
Neuzil asked if Board members can do more than look for ways to prevent further damage from occurring. He asked if there is going to be a redefinition of the flood plain further than what has been seen in the past. Weber said one element of the HEC-RAS modeling and the University's flood mitigation has been to use this model to remap the 100-year and one in 500-year return interval. There is a hydrologic study underway by the US Army Corps of Engineers to determine the one in 100 year discharge and one in 500 year discharge, which would then be put into the model to get the inundation and the map created. The hydrologic study is expected to be completed sometime in June 2009. Weber said the public process of re-delineating the one in 100-year and one in 500-year maps will begin. Neuzil said the sooner the better. There is nothing anyone can do to stop a flood, but plans can be made to not allow growth in certain areas. Neuzil said there are new buildings going up now right by the river. He asked when are people going to learn to avoid the flood plain areas? Weber said this is an underlying theme they are trying to address: the concept of living with floods. If a person wants to accept the risk of living next to a river, they need to be ready to be flood tolerant. One concept with the boat house is that it is flood tolerant on the first level, so it could be back in operation quickly after a flood.
Stutsman asked if the information Weber just presented is available to the public on a website. Weber said the public can go to rivergauges.com, or in the near future, the USGS Water Watch site, and the inundation maps will be available. Neuzil asked if Weber is available to the public or if he plans to give other public presentations to local organizations or service groups. Weber said yes, continuously, and that he is scheduled to speak at the Rotary Club today at noon.
Neuzil said a majority of the Board wanted Johnson County to mirror Iowa City and Coralville with respect to issuing Class B Journeyman Electrician licenses. Senior Building Inspector Ruben Arsate said originally Johnson County was not restricting the Class B licensing either for the Master's or the Journeyman's Electrician. The new language restricts the licenses. Arsate read the licensing requirement for Master Electrician directly from the proposed Ordinance to adopt by reference the 2008 National Electrical Code: "No person shall plan for, lay out, or supervise electrical work, with or without compensation, unless the person holds a master electrician's Class A license issued by the State of Iowa or a Class B license issued by the State of Iowa and have performed permitted electrical work in Johnson County after December 1, 2000." Arsate told the Board that the language which had changed was the part that says "…and have performed permitted electrical work in Johnson County after December 1, 2000." He said this language now regulates the Class B license both for the Master's and the Journeyman's Electrician. The County will verify an applicant's license from a surrounding jurisdiction, and if the license is valid, the County will accept it.
Sullivan asked if December 1, 2000, has some significance. Arsate said that is when he started enforcing the building codes in Johnson County. Neuzil asked Arsate to take the Ordinance back to the Board of Appeals for approval.
Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia said the County is currently ending the first year of a two year contract with Linn County. She said the County currently pre-pays for six beds, whether they are used or not. She said at the end of each quarter the Linn County Detention Center calculates the average daily use and charges Johnson County for any usage over six beds per day. Correia said the trend over the last year has shown a decrease in juvenile detention usage for Johnson County and for Linn County. During the second quarter, Johnson County used five and a half beds per day and in the third quarter, three and a half beds per day. Correia said, based on her conversations with Assistant County Attorney Pat Weir and with Juvenile Court Supervisor Chris Wyatt, she recommends that Johnson County modify its guaranteed beds per day contract for the next year by reducing the number of guaranteed beds from six to five. She said she believes it would be more responsible to pay for charges if the County exceeds the five beds. Harney said that County Attorney Janet Lyness told the Board on January 6, 2009, that the reason the numbers are going down is because the young offenders are learning more from people who are in detention. He said Lyness cautioned giving up too many beds too soon. Correia said that is why they are recommending giving up only one bed. Sullivan said he takes a different approach. He said it seems like the Juvenile Court staff feels comfortable with their program. Sullivan said he just did a quick calculation and figured that the cost of one bed per day is about $80,000. Correia said it is $86,000. Sullivan said the idea of paying for even one unused bed per day is troubling. He would like to reduce the contract number to four beds. Sullivan said that even if Johnson County needs nine beds on a given day, there will be room available.
Correia said three years ago, the County contracted for three beds per day. There were times then when Linn County was at capacity and Johnson County was not able to access additional beds and had to find space in other detention centers in the area. Correia said the closest one is in Black Hawk County. She said because the Linn County census is decreasing, she feels there isn't a risk that Johnson County wouldn't be able to get additional beds when needed. In addition, Linn County is developing a detention alternative program which provides community based supervision for kids that would otherwise be in detention. Harney said he would like to save money for the County also, but he recalls two years ago the Board was discussing building a wing onto the Linn County Detention Center to accommodate Johnson County juveniles. He said he does not think they should reduce the number of guaranteed beds below five.
Sullivan said he can't understand why not to reduce the number of guaranteed beds further and if the County needs to transport juveniles, they can always revisit the contract. He said he would rather err on the side of saving $86,000. Neuzil summarized that Correia is recommending a contract for five beds. He said it is important to consider how reducing the contract too much will impact Johnson County's future relationship with Linn County. Neuzil said the Board will vote on this at the formal meeting on May 14, 2009.
Correia said the Central Iowa Detention Center located in Eldora, has been actively recruiting Johnson County to join their association. Correia said she, Stutsman, and recently retired Johnson County Juvenile Court Supervisor Lloyd Smith, went to Eldora in 2008 and at that time, they requested Johnson County join the 28E agreement. After that visit, Correia forwarded the agreement and the bylaws to Lyness for review. There were a few issues of concern. One problem was that if the Central Iowa Detention Center accumulates debt, the 28E agreement participants can not exit the agreement. Another concern is that as a member of the 28E agreement, the County would be liable for whatever might happen in the Central Iowa Detention Center. Correia said for those reasons, she recommends not entering into this agreement.
Correia said she received a letter from Central Iowa Detention Center Executive Director Tony Reed requesting Johnson County enter into a contract with the Central Iowa Detention Center similar to the Linn County contract. This means it wouldn't be a 28E agreement, but Johnson County would contract to use Eldora as Johnson County's detention center. They are offering a rate of $100 per day and transportation. Correia said after discussions with Lyness, Stutsman, and Wyatt, they recommend declining the offer from Central Iowa Detention Center, and retaining Linn County Detention Center as the primary service provider. She said the distance between Johnson County and Eldora is about 135 miles one way. This would create a hardship on parents, family members, and legal counsel wishing to visit. Linn County Detention Center is just over the County line and it takes about 25 minutes to get there.
Correia said traveling to Eldora would also present a hardship for Juvenile Court Officers who are required make weekly visits to any youth who are in detention. A trip to Eldora would take the officer out of Johnson County for a minimum of five hours, which means they would not be available to respond to any local issues during that time. A third reason Correia presented to not contract with the Central Iowa Detention Center is because they have locked single and shared rooms. If a child does not feel safe with their roommate in a locked room they can call for help on an intercom. Some youth who are harassed and feel intimidated do not call for help and so the staff may never learn that a child does not feel safe with their roommate. She said Linn County does not have shared sleeping quarters. For all these reasons, Correia recommends Johnson County communicates directly with the Central Iowa Detention Center thanking them for their offer and stating that Johnson County has confirmed its contract with Linn County.
Stutsman agreed with Correia and said this situation needs constant monitoring. She noted a savings of $300,000 and though money isn't everything, the Board must assess every option on the table. Correia said for the future, there are other things to consider when making decisions about which detention centers to contract with, such as the annual licensing review the Board can look at to assess quality. They can also access complaint reports to learn if people have complaints with the detention center. Sullivan said he agrees with Correia's recommendation, but the Board is in a position to negotiate with Linn County and the fact of the matter is the market place has changed and Johnson County is in the buyers market. Correia said Linn County charges only for the overnight stay and Central Iowa charges for the day. Also, Linn County Detention Center employees are in a union, so that increases the cost. Neuzil summarized that the Board is not interested in entering into the contract with Central Iowa Detention Center at this time. Correia asked if she should compose a letter for the Board could sign.
Correia said the Decat Coordination is Correia's time used to coordinate the Decategorization program governing board as well as oversee and administer all of the contracting and monitoring of contracts. The Decat Board voted to decrease the contract from $16,000 to $8,000, because the State has cut Decat by 50%. At this point this is a real cut, because there is no significant carryover as they have had in the past. This will result in a significant decrease in the number of contracts from 18 to five. Neuzil asked if this is reflected in the current budget. Correia said no, this cut was not expected. Neuzil asked if Board approval is necessary and Correia said yes. She said she will have the paperwork ready for the Board to approve the amendment on May 14, 2009.
Correia said these are the State mental health dollars that Linn County was required by the State to share. The original contract was for $12,500, to be expended by June 30, 2009. Linn County is working with the State on two items, one to release additional dollars to five counties. She said this would mean an additional $5,000 to Johnson County for the purpose of the fund, as well as to negotiate a contract extension to September 30, 2009. Once Linn County receives State approval, then Johnson County will need to amend its contract with Linn County to add dollars and extend the contract. Correia said she just wanted to inform the Board that this is a possibility and it might happen quickly, so she wanted to address any questions now.
Correia said on May 14, 2009, there will be a small group of University of Iowa representatives from the "You Earned It Now Claim It" tax preparation program, which was a huge success. The University of Iowa's College of Business and the Beta Alpha Psi Accounting Fraternity put in a lot of time. There were approximately 93 student volunteers who filed 954 returns, a 50% increase over last year. The federal refunds totaled $1.2 million, which is 100% over 2008. Correia commended UI Faculty Dr. Joyce Berg and student coordinator Evan Malcolm for their commitment to this program.
Correia said the Department 20 Site Visit is up and running for scheduling. She said that if Board members have any particular questions or content they wish to have at those visits, they should tell her, so she can communicate that to the program participants. Sullivan said each entity receives funding and he asked how the money will be used. He also asked what the future holds and what requests might be made of the public or the County. Neuzil said the Board should forward any other questions to Correia.
Correia said she discussed the NACo Prescription Drug Card with County Attorney Janet Lyness and concluded that they have a joint interest to move it to Johnson County Social Services. Neuzil said Correia should put that on the Board's future agenda for policy direction.
Assistant Mental Health/Disability Services Director Jan Shaw said they just approved the Word Processor III job description update. They have a current opening. She said they have two Word Processor III positions and would like to change one of those classifications to a Clerk I. A Clerk I position is already a job classification under the MH/DS bargaining unit. Shaw said they revised the Clerk I job description so it fits their departmental needs. She said making the change from Word Processor III to Clerk I would result in a cost savings because the Clerk I position is a lower pay grade. Neuzil asked if the Board needs to approve the classification change. Shaw said yes. Neuzil said they will put this on the formal agenda for May 14, 2009.
Neuzil said Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak, County Engineer Greg Parker, Conservation Board Director Harry Graves, and Meyers met to begin planning what steps to take in regards to the Sutliff Bridge. He said the first step is to write a letter to FEMA asking for an extension of the deadline. The second step is making sure they are completing the necessary paperwork before May 15, 2009, and Meyers is working on that. The third step is an evaluation of the bridge and Parker is working to coordinate a superstructure and a substructure evaluation of the bridge. Number four is to evaluate the costs associated with the inspection. Neuzil said in particular, they would like to know if the County would be able to get money from the Sutliff Bridge Authority to pay for the inspection. In addition, they need to determine if there are additional dollars needed to be spent and a conservative estimate from Parker was well over $10,000 for the bridge evaluation. Neuzil said they need to determine where that money would come from, the Rural Fund or the General Fund. That is something they need to get feedback from Budget Coordinator Richard Claiborne. He said he noticed from the email from Sullivan, that inspection costs could be reimbursed if the Board decides to repair the bridge. Sullivan agreed and said, if the Board decides to demolish the bridge, FEMA will not fund divers. If the County is going to have divers, the divers’ evaluation indicates it can't be rebuilt, and the Board decides not to rebuild, then the County will not be reimbursed. He said Secondary Roads had divers look at what Sullivan called the new Sutliff Bridge, the one currently used for vehicle traffic across the Cedar River. The group who did that is a diving group from Mechanicsville and they would be willing to come back for an official inspection of the old bridge.
Harney said he thinks they need a good evaluation before deciding how to proceed with the bridge. He asked about sonar they did on some of these bridges and wondered if that was a possibility. Neuzil said that all FEMA wants to know is if the damage occurred due to the flood or not. Stutsman clarified that FEMA will only repair what was damaged by the 2008 flood, so if there is just wear and tear on the bridge, FEMA will not take care of that. Neuzil said yes, it really comes down to what is not going to be covered by FEMA and then where the County would come up with the money. He added that if it's too expensive, the Board will have to make a decision whether to salvage the bridge and it can't make that decision until after the inspection. He said Conservation also would like similar answers before taking on the responsibility of the bridge. He said there are also future costs to consider including maintenance.
Sullivan asked if Parker understands the time constraints with the May 15, 200,9 deadline to apply for an extension. Neuzil said Parker was well briefed that this requires immediate attention. Sullivan said, if the extension is denied, the Board will have to make a decision without the information. Stutsman asked if the County could back out at any time. No one seemed to know the answer. Neuzil said Meyers set a meeting for May 15, 2009. Sullivan said that is a day too late. Neuzil said he will fax the letter to Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division Representative Dennis Harper and follow up to see if it has been accepted. Stutsman asked how many Board members have gone to Sutliff Bridge to look at the damage. All Board members said they have and Harney said he was surprised at how deteriorated the pilings and supports are on the West end. Neuzil said the whole issue is that if the Homeland Security Fund will pay for the repair, then why wouldn't the Board get it fixed. If they are not going to cover those major expenses the Board has a difficult decision to make.
Stutsman said that is why she wants as much information as possible before making this decision. Sullivan said he thought FEMA said they would rebuild it to the condition it was the day before the flood. Harney said the question is was the damage due to the 1993 or the 2008 flood. Sullivan said they replaced the planks in 1993, but that was all. Neuzil said the Board's main focus now is to get the extension filed and get the inspection. Sullivan said they should put something on the formal agenda for May 14, 2009, in case the Board needs to act on something. Stutsman said, before she makes her decision, she wants clarification from FEMA whether the Board can back out.
Neuzil said a couple of individuals have shown interest in appointment to the Commission of Veteran’s Affairs and he asked Board members to forward their vote to Board Secretary Jo Hogarty. He said R.J. Moore and Nick Weime have applied. Final approval of the appointment will be scheduled for May 14, 2009.
Sullivan said Linn County Purchasing works cooperatively with the Linn County School District. Linn County Purchasing Director Britt Hutchins came to Johnson County to explain the process to Iowa City Acting City Manager Dale Helling, Coralville City Manager Kelly Hayworth, and Iowa City School District Superintendent Lane Plugge. He said perhaps this is something Johnson County will consider in the future. Sullivan attended Law Day at the Johnson County Courthouse, the May Day celebration in downtown Iowa City, the Open House for the new home of the Iowa Policy Project, the Crisis Center annual Pancake Breakfast, the walk for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the annual event at the Mayor's Youth Empowerment Program. He attended the Board work session on the Land Use Policy.
Stutsman attended the ECICOG meeting and a Communication Committee meeting. She said Facilities Manager David Kempf is going to count how many rooms need to be named in the new Health and Human Services Building so the Board can decide how to address this need. She attended a meeting of the evaluation committee and reported that individual evaluations will be electronically calculated on the new Excel spreadsheet. She had a liaison meeting with Parker, attended the 20th Anniversary of the Community Leadership Program, she was selected as a team member for the TEAM Johnson County to attend a transportation institute scheduled in Washington, D.C. in July 2009. Stutsman attended the first meeting of the Volunteer Center Advisory Committee.
Harney said the equipment has arrived to produce name tags and parking ramp passes. He had a liaison meeting with Ambulance Director Steve Spenler. He said Spenler was recognized as the Johnson County Mutual Aid Association (JCMAA) Member of the Year for making significant contributions to improvements in the JCMAA. Harney attended Law Day at the Johnson County Courthouse, the May Day celebration in downtown Iowa City, the Open House for the new home of the Iowa Policy Project, the Crisis Center annual Pancake Breakfast, the walk for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the annual event at the Mayor's Youth Empowerment Program. Harney attended the Board work session on the Land Use Policy. He met with several County residents about road and zoning issues. He attended site visits at the Public Health Department and the County Attorney's Office.
Neuzil said he wrote an editorial to promote Johnson County and he sent it to the local news media and the Iowa State Association of Counties to include in a future issue of the Iowa County Magazine. Neuzil said he will have a Listening Post on May 15, 2009, at 11:00 a.m. at Mekong Restaurant on Riverside Drive. Neuzil said Happy Mother's Day to his mother Arlene Neuzil, and his mother-in-law Judy Crier.
Adjourned at 10:48 a.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2009
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on August 13, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.