MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Facilities Manager David Kempf: Discussion with architect Jim Novak about Justice Center Cost Comparison Study....................................................................................................................................... 1
Executive Assistant Andy Johnson: Appointments to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee 9
Reports and Inquiries from Executive Assistant Andy Johnson.......................................... 13
Board of Supervisors: NACo Health Care Resolution......................................................... 14
Board of Supervisors: Appointment to the Historic Preservation Commission for a Term Ending December 31, 2010............................................................................................................................. 14
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors......................................................... 14
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Health and Human Services Building at 6:25 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan; absent: Larry Meyers.
Facilities Manager David Kempf said he gave the Board a list of some questions he thought needed to be answered in the event they move forward with the cost comparison study. The cost comparison would look at the difference between a downtown justice center, a split center with an annex at the current Courthouse location and a jail at the Press-Citizen location, and thirdly, putting a full justice center at the Press-Citizen location. Kempf wanted the Board to have the opportunity to ask questions of Novak Design Group Architect Jim Novak. Kempf summarized for the Board that Novak would like to do a cost comparison of a downtown justice center including a 250 bed jail, court space, and a remodel of the existing Courthouse. The second option is a cost comparison of a justice center at the Press-Citizen property that would include a 250 bed jail, court space equal to the downtown court space, and a remodel of the existing Courthouse. The last option to consider is a 250 bed jail at the Press-Citizen site and a Courthouse annex downtown which would include equal court space and a remodel of the existing Courthouse.
Kempf said information in the study should be presented in an easy to understand matrix showing an apples to apples comparison. One of the questions that will need to be answered will be the difference between operating costs. They won’t need to know the operating cost for the jail component because the Jail will be operating at any of the sites. They do need to know the difference between operating the facility at one location versus a split location, and for that study, they will need information from County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek.
Neuzil asked how today's news of the potential sale of the Press-Citizen property will affect the County's progress. Kempf said his understanding from reading today's newspaper is that there is an offer, pending or accepted, by a developer to purchase the Press-Citizen property. It also sounds like the developer would be willing to work with the County in developing that site. The appeal of the Press-Citizen property was the potential savings in purchasing that property. If somebody else purchases it, Kempf believes that some of that savings will be lost. Kempf said this new development over the last four or five hours, warrants a discussion about how to proceed. He asked if the Board wants to move forward with this right away, if they want to wait, or go back to the CJCC to see if the CJCC wants to modify its recommendations.
Stutsman said she would like to proceed with this. There are considerations with the Press-Citizen changes, but she is still curious to know the cost difference between the scenarios. She would like answers to many unanswered questions. Harney said he would also like to proceed with the study. He said he talked with the purchaser over the last three or four days and reported that the buyer said the only thing that has changed is that they are now dealing with a different individual. Harney said the buyer said they are still willing to work with the County if they want that facility for a jail or justice center. He thinks it is still a good option and it is in the County's best interest to consider it. Neuzil said there is direction from the majority of the Board to proceed with the study. However, he thinks there are some questions that need to be answered because of today's news. This is enough information to hold off on spending $10,000 or $15,000 taxpayer dollars on a cost analysis. He believes that it would be worthy of hearing from the potential new owner on what their vision is for that building.
Architect Jim Novak agreed with Neuzil because a big part of this study would be plugging in a number for what the value of the building is. Sullivan said today's newspaper reported that the possible buyer is committed to keeping the Press-Citizen there and the Press-Citizen is committed to staying there. That still leaves part of the building available. However, Sullivan thinks this is no longer an option, but he doesn’t know that for a fact because he hasn’t spoken to the buyer.
Stutsman said she thinks they need to know what the cost of the downtown justice center will be. Kempf said they are not going to do a full cost analysis but they will be comparing the cost difference between the different locations. He said they will provide much better estimates than what is currently available. They will know the difference in the cost because they are comparing blocks of space in different locations. Sullivan added that they will be comparing a block of space that they potentially can’t have. Kempf agreed. Stutsman said they should hold off on this discussion until they have more facts next week. Kempf said since there is still the possibility of moving forward with some type of evaluation, he asked the Board for questions they would like answered if they decide to move forward with Novak Design Group. He said he was getting the impression that the Board wants someone to contact the potential new owners and have a conversation with them.
Neuzil said given this particular news, that they would have the Facilities Subcommittee of the CJCC set up a meeting and answer some of the floating questions. They might want to present that to the CJCC so the Board can make an informed vote whether to spend money on a study. Novak said they should go to the developer to ask if he purchases it when it would be available, and what the sale price would be. Harney said the developer is willing to talk with the Board about it. Sullivan said the last time they discussed a comparison they took it from the Facilities Subcommittee to the CJCC to the Board. He wanted to know if they would follow the same process again. Kempf said his understanding is that all the CJCC meetings are held jointly with the Board so when the Facilities Subcommittee brings the information they will be together. He said Facilities will do the fact finding and then present it at a Joint meeting with the CJCC and the Board.
Neuzil said they have a meeting October 7, 2009. Kempf asked Harney if they could schedule a meeting with the Facilities Subcommittee before the Joint meeting. Harney thought they could. Neuzil said if they can't, then they should have the Facilities Subcommittee come to the Joint meeting with the Board and CJCC. Harney said one question he would like an answer to is the cost difference between a wrap around the existing Courthouse versus the Government Service Area parking lot. Kempf said if they come up with any questions they can send them to him. Neuzil said it would be helpful to send an email to the committee asking them for additional questions to be addressed. He assumes when they talk about the potential of a justice center downtown, they are talking about utilizing the existing Courthouse and the existing Jail. Kempf said if they do anything downtown they would be reusing the existing Courthouse. Novak said reusing the Courthouse has to be the focus of the project. Anything else has to be subservient to the Courthouse.
Stutsman asked if this would include using the current Jail or if they would sell the Jail property. Kempf said that over the years the University of Iowa has said that if the County is going to sell the Jail, they would like to buy it, and he thinks the County would receive revenue they could allocate towards a new facility. Stutsman said if the County doesn't sell the Jail, it should include retrofitting the current Jail in this study. Neuzil said while they are doing a study downtown they should look at the possibility of expanding the existing Jail. Kempf said they would be looking at that, in addition to doing a Courthouse annex and tying them together. Kempf said they have time before moving forward with an evaluation.
Pulkrabek said he was initially attracted to the Press-Citizen site because there was a significant difference between the asking price and the potential purchase price. However, since the CJCC began this public process, everyone knew the County was looking into the property. Now, the way he understands it, a purchase agreement has been signed. Pulkrabek said he has now lost interest in the property because it has been sold, though he understands the developer is willing to work with them. He is comfortable going back to the subcommittee and if the majority still wants to pay for the study, so be it. He said he has definitely lost a lot of his interest in the Press-Citizen because of the sale of the property. Kempf said he will schedule a subcommittee meeting and then come back to the CJCC with a recommendation. Neuzil said additional questions or issues in regards to the study can be forwarded to Kempf.
Executive Assistant Andy Johnson said this is something the Board talked about at the August 2009 Key Issues meeting and the September 2009 Joint meeting with the CJCC. The CJCC was appointed in 2003 and there has been no formal action since then. In an effort to bring the committee up to date, he said the consensus of the Board is to keep the name Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, and then to appoint the five members of the Board of Supervisors in addition to the County Attorney and County Sheriff. Also to be included is a representative from Iowa City, who in this case would be Iowa City City Council Member Connie Champion. Johnson said Jerri Allen is the representative from the Department of Correctional Services, Steven Estes from MECCA, and the representative from the Bar Association would be Jim McCarraghar, from the Public Defenders Office would be John Robertson, and then citizens John Stratton and Kara Logsden. He said the Board would be able to add members.
Neuzil asked if they got any clarification from Dorothy Whiston. Johnson said he hasn't heard back from her yet. Neuzil asked if there is still interest in including a police chief on the committee, and asked people to think about whether the representative from Iowa City would be a police chief and not a city councilor. Stutsman said it brings up the question of what is the charge of the committee; however, she doesn’t know how they could have such a committee without representation from the police department. She said that the police are an integral part of the justice system, and other law enforcement constituents are represented on the committee.
Neuzil said they could appoint this particular group of citizens and elected officials before the Board today, and later add a police chief and another citizen. Johnson said the Board could appoint anyone else whenever they want. Sullivan said he has some concerns with the mechanics of this. He asked when the Board appoints the committee is a quorum required to hold a meeting or to take action. Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell said a quorum of the committee members must be present to conduct a meeting. Sullivan said that is his concern about appointing a large committee - a quorum must show up in order for the group to meet. Chappell said they can't meet as a committee without a quorum, but they can all sit around and talk all they want, but by definition, it wouldn’t be a meeting. Neuzil asked what if all the Board members where present at that time. Chappell said that creates a different problem. Stutsman asked if they could define the quorum as the majority of the people present and not of the whole committee.
Sullivan said he thinks since this is such an important issue, that all the Supervisors should be involved at all meetings. He asked how important is official designation of committee members versus just having people attend meetings. Chappell said it depends on who Sullivan is talking about. Sullivan said he means anyone other than the Board of Supervisors. Chappell said if two Supervisors are appointed to the committee and in attendance, and, if as many as one more Supervisor shows up at the meeting, that will be a problem. Sullivan asked if these meetings should be Board of Supervisors meetings where they try to get as many as possible other interested participants to attend. Neuzil said this decision boils down to the purpose of the committee.
Harney said he agrees with Sullivan that most decisions now rest with the Board. It is important to continue to receive input from the CJCC members. He said that a decision needs to be made regarding the voting status of committee members, but until the Board is ready to take formal action, a collaborative effort is necessary.
Neuzil said committee membership is valuable and critical to the success of selling the final decision to the voters. Neuzil agreed with Stutsman's desire to define the mission and charge of the CJCC. He suggested that having more than 15 people on a committee can impede progress. Johnson said he has contacted Dorothy Whiston as a potential third citizen member and is awaiting a reply. Neuzil said they could also appoint the police chiefs. He said he agrees with Stutsman that police department representation is pivotal. Harney asked how someone would decide which of the four police chiefs should be invited to join the committee. Stutsman said they could have rotating appointments. Neuzil said maybe they could just invite someone from the police department rather than the chief of police.
Johnson said there are several subcommittees that include additional people including the Iowa City Chief of Police. Neuzil said the Board needs to give direction to Johnson in regards to committee membership and he thinks they need to shore up this list before the next meeting. He said he is comfortable with adding a police chief and Stutsman, Sullivan, and Harney agreed. Neuzil suggested the Board finalize this committee before their Joint meeting with the CJCC on October 7, 2009. Harney said that since the Board could add a citizen and police chief spot later, he doesn't see a problem with finalizing the committee now. Sullivan said they could just approve the current list and if they want to add people later they could.
Chappell agreed that the committee should include an odd number of people for voting purposes. He added if the Board wants to leave an open space and add in an undesignated citizen at a later time, he thinks that is the best way to get an odd number of members. Chappell then suggested the Board give some thought to whether they want a police chief or the University of Iowa's equivalent position, since Pulkrabek, already serving on the CJCC, is an elected official who answers to the voters of Johnson County. He said that if the Board appoints the Iowa City Police Department Chief to the CJCC, then effectively that will garner two votes for Iowa City, and he wanted the Board to be aware of that. The Sheriff is in a unique law enforcement position as caretaker of the Jail and as an elected official.
Neuzil said he isn't certain the city representative has to be from Iowa City and suggested it could be valuable to rotate the appointment between Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty. Stutsman agreed. Neuzil asked if term appointments were necessary. Sullivan said that after something is built in the next five years or so, the Supervisors would come off the committee.
Neuzil said they have 14 people listed and if they add a police chief, that will make 15, and potentially two citizens. A lot of it will depend if Whiston will serve and whether she will represent the citizens or the Consultation of Religious Communities. Johnson said Whiston would probably be representing the Consultation of Religious Communities and she was an advocate for having that representation. Stutsman said the only ones that could have term limits would be the citizens. Term limits would not be placed on the Sheriff or the Attorney. Neuzil agreed and added a term limit might be placed on the Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty position.
Stutsman said she has witnessed a tremendous commitment from the people who have previously committed their time and service to the CJCC. From this point forward, she is interested in expanding the committee's base so that when they do go to the voters they have broad community support and representation. Neuzil said that means the subcommittees are going to have to reach out to more individuals. Sullivan said he would like this item on the next Formal meeting agenda.
Johnson said on September 11, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. there is a meeting on the canvass of votes from the School Board Election. The Supervisors will be meeting with the Township Trustees on September 14, 2009. On September 16, 2009 the Board is scheduled for a Strategic Planning meeting at 9:00 a.m., a Joint Cities meeting at 4:00 p.m., and a Joint meeting with the Conservation Board at 6:00 p.m. The next regular Board meeting is on September 17, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.
Johnson said they discussed this at the Key Issues meeting and he thinks there was a general consensus for approval. Neuzil said to put this on the Board's next Formal agenda.
Johnson said they may defer this until the next meeting. As a result of the action they took earlier there is a vacancy on the Historic Preservation Commission. When they discussed this last week the Board asked him to pull the applications they received earlier in the year. He said there were only two applications, but only one that was still viable as a result of the other applicant moving out of the area.
Sullivan attended a couple of Decategorization meetings, a meeting of the Livable Community for Successful Aging Committee, and substituting for Supervisor Larry Meyers, he attended a JCCOG meeting. He went with Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia on site visits to the Domestic Violence Intervention Program and the Visiting Nurses Association.
Stutsman attended the Tri State Local Food Conference, an Ag Committee meeting, a meeting with the Women's Club for Union Township, the JCCOG meeting, and the Farm Bureau dinner. Stutsman went on a site visit to the Domestic Violence Intervention Program, attended a Space Needs Committee meeting, and a Finance Committee meeting.
Harney attended a recruitment committee meeting, the Farm Bureau meeting, the Chamber Local Government meeting, and the Space Needs Committee meeting. Harney said, filling in for Stutsman, he attended a Transportation Technical Advisory Committee meeting.
Neuzil congratulated all those who voted in the School Board Elections as well as those who won, and those who ran for office. He said that this election had one of the best voter turnouts for School Board Elections though it is unfortunate that 6% is a good turnout. Neuzil said he had a meeting with the local Sutliff Bridge group, and State and FEMA representatives. Neuzil attended meetings in Des Moines this week for the Iowa Access Technology wing of State Government and he attended the Farm Bureau meeting. Neuzil said he has a Listening Post scheduled on September 11, 2009 at Bruegger's Bagels in Coralville at 7:30 a.m. and on September 18, 2009 at Iguana's Grill in North Liberty at 12:00 p.m.
Neuzil acknowledged that there are a lot of students present in the audience. The students said they were journalism students. Neuzil told them that Board members will be available for students' questions immediately after today's meeting.
Adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary