MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
JANUARY 6, 2011
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
County Engineer Greg Parker: Review of Bids Received for Project #STP-E-CO52(101)—8V-52, Dubuque Street Trail Phase II, from 275th Street NE North to the North Liberty South Corporate Limits............... 1
Reports and Inquiries from Executive Assistant Andy Johnson.................................................. 3
Board of Supervisors: Review and Response Regarding Application by the City of Solon for $442,716.54 of Federal Surface Transportation Program Funds for Reconstruction of Main Street............................ 3
Board of Supervisors: Communication with Small Cities and Other Counties Regarding Supervisor Liaisons 8
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors................................................................. 9
Chairperson Harney called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:14 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Janelle Rettig, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
County Engineer Greg Parker reported the County received favorable bids for the project. Bid openings were held at the Department of Transportation on Tuesday, December 21, 2010. There were eight bidders. Stutsman asked if the County has ever had that many bidders. Parker said there were quite a few bidders and it was a surprise to see so many. Parker said it was good to have several bidders but as they reached the end of the bids, the prices were increasing. Parker said there were some bids from contractors he has never worked with and who are not from the area.
Parker said the low responsible bidder that is recommended by Johnson County Secondary Roads Department (Secondary Roads) has worked with the County before, Peterson Contractors, Inc. located in Reinbeck, Iowa. Their bid was $366,283.54. Parker asked the Board if they would like to hear all of the bids. Harney asked to hear the second bid and the high bid to see the differences. Parker said the next lowest bid is $381,785.41 from Absolute Concrete Construction, Inc. located in Slater, Iowa. The highest bid was $540,859.82 from Tschiggfrie Excavating located in Dubuque, Iowa. Parker said higher mobilization fees are a consideration the farther away the bidder is from Johnson County, and so the bids will be higher.
Parker said the engineer’s estimate, which included the 10% contingency fee, was $468,638.60. The low responsible bidder is approximately 22% under the engineer’s estimate. The recommendation from Secondary Roads is for the Board to approve Peterson Contractors, Inc. at next week's Formal Meeting.
Neuzil asked Parker to review the funding for this project so the public knows where the dollars are coming from. Parker said this is a federally-funded project and is funded through the Johnson County Council of Governments (JCCOG) who is the local Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Johnson County will receive 80% funding for this project. At this point, the anticipated amount of dollars to be received based on the bids is higher than expected, and according to the federal contract, the County will receive up to the maximum dollar amount, around $342,000 or 80%, whichever is less. Parker said in this case, based on the bid amounts the full federal amount will not be used. There is a 20% local match and that is planned to come from the Trails Fund account. The construction activities will be handled by in-house staff. Neuzil said it is good to see the consistency the County has had with this portion of the budget. Certain dollars have been set aside for this and it is great to see Peterson Contractors is well within the budget.
Stutsman asked who built the first segment of the trail. Parker said Vieth Construction and they were bidder number seven at $471,039.45. He said they still have a punch list to complete. Parker said they either had a lot of projects on their plate or had no interest in doing the project. Stutsman said she was not aware Peterson Contractors, Inc. did trails; she thought they primarily did roads and larger projects. Parker said in this case the paving will presumably be done by a subcontractor.
Harney asked who is doing all of the design for this project. Parker said the design was completed as part of the full package for Phase I and Phase II handled by Anderson Bogert Engineers & Surveyors, Inc. located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Sullivan said his question may muddy the water and may not be considered because it is a federally-funded project. He said the Board talks about buying locally and hiring local businesses. Streb Construction Co, Inc. is a local company and is only $23,000 under, around 6% of the total. Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell said the Buy Local Policy would not apply to this project because the County is required by State law to award the contract to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. Chappell said it is something the County can consider in other projects, like the engineering project or the architects work, but not for the actual construction. The County must use the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. Sullivan asked if this is because the project cost is over $100,000. Chappell said yes. Rettig asked if all local funds were used would there be more flexibility. Chappell said the funding stream does not make a difference; it is the cost of the project. He said there are other requirements when accepting the federal funds but the County’s obligation to accept the lowest responsive, responsible bidder comes from State law and is regardless of funding as long as the County is paying for the project in some way, shape, or form.
Harney asked if there is consensus to add this to the formal agenda next week. Rettig said with pleasure. Stutsman said Peterson Contractors, Inc. does have a presence here with their equipment and it is not as though they are totally out of the County. Parker said Peterson Contractors Inc. has done two projects for the County in the past year, the Black Diamond Bridge and Highway 965/120th Street Project which was completed last summer. The paving subcontractor was local. He anticipates the same thing to happen for this project.
Executive Assistant Andy Johnson said the Board has a Budget Meeting scheduled for this afternoon, January 6, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. and also on January 10, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. A Work Session on the Property Maintenance Ordinance is scheduled for January 11, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 203 of the Health and Human Services Building. It is a Work Session with staff to address revisions to the ordinance. The next Board Meeting is scheduled for January 13, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.
Johnson said the Board has a memo in their packet from the East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) with information about this application and a form asking the Board to review the application and indicate whether the project should be funded. Neuzil said the Board also received an email from Parker about this. Neuzil said he is not sure what the order is and asked for an explanation of the process the Board has used in the past. Parker said he is unsure how this works.
Stutsman asked Parker how much money is available to Johnson County for Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds. Parker said a little over $1,264,000 is available through 2015 as part of the ECICOG federal funding source. Stutsman asked if the money is just for Johnson County or the region. Parker said the ECICOG dollars are set up so each county receives a set portion of the total federal funding as it comes into ECICOG. For the 2011 to 2015 funding source, $1,264,718 is available to be expended for Johnson County. Parker said there are other entities in Johnson County: Solon, Oxford, Hills, Lone Tree, etcetera and those entities can apply for these dollars. The monies allotted to Johnson County do encompass the other entities not part of the MPO but in the ECICOG region for Johnson County. Historically the Board has utilized those funds for Johnson County projects which have been funded through Secondary Roads. He believes in the past the Board has expressed that this is a benefit for all of the residents of Johnson County. He said this is something the Board makes a decision on when the applications are received.
Parker said from the Secondary Roads standpoint, an application was not put in for those funds because the department was not planning on expending the funds this year; however, an application was going to be put in next year. Secondary Roads was planning on using those funds as the 80% match for the 520th Street section of Wapsi Avenue to Utah Avenue. Parker said if the Board does decide to award a portion or all of what they are asking for Solon, those funds would not be available for the 520th Street section project and Secondary Roads would have to revamp how it is funded. Harney asked if the match would be for federal funds to do the project. Parker said the plan is to use the funds as the match.
Sullivan asked if Parker has had any conversations with his peers because every county engineer must have a similar situation where the money is being designated. Sullivan asked if any counties make the funds available to cities or is it always used for county projects. Parker said he has not queried the other counties, but in the past he has seen there have been smaller funding sources that have gone to the cities. The buses sometimes get funding from it. The County allots enhancement monies for trail functions; every city in the ECICOG area can apply for those funds. Sullivan said specifically for this funding, once the money has gone to the County no smaller cities have been given any of the money and the County has used it all the time. Parker said not for this funds source, but other cities in the ECICOG area have applied for and received enhancement funds. Sullivan said cities have not received money from this funding source. Parker said for the STP funding source being discussed currently, in the past the Board has allotted those funds towards Secondary Roads projects and has appreciated the applications received, but preferred to see the money spent with Secondary Roads.
Harney asked if this is the same fund Lone Tree applied for a few years ago. Stutsman and Parker said yes. Stutsman said Lone Tree applied twice; they asked the Board to allocate dollars for a project through the main street. Rettig said along the lines of Sullivan’s questioning, there are six counties in the ECICOG and she asked if any of those counties divvy up any percentage of their STP funding to any city with a population of below 5,000 because they are not eligible for direct appropriation and are eligible to apply for this. She asked specifically if Linn County or any of the others in this planning organization have done this. Parker said he did not do any research on the other counties and he could contact the other counties if the Board is interested. Rettig said it is a curiosity. Sullivan asked if the representatives from Solon had any idea about this. Solon City Administrator Cassandra Lippincott and Solon Mayor Rick Jedicka said they do not know.
Stutsman asked Jedicka if this is a new project just starting. Jedicka said they have the engineer’s estimate and they are proceeding forward with some ideas on what they are going to do. He said there is a plan in place and he said Solon is aware of what they are up against. He said they do not know how the process works and the Board may not know either, which makes him feel better. Jedicka said when they were informed by ECICOG of the opportunity to apply, they did the paperwork in order to see what they could come up with. He said they had no idea what the total allotment available was and did not know where to begin on the request, so they asked for about half. Anything would be appreciated. Sometimes $20,000 goes a long way. He said he knows they are against history if Lone Tree has applied and has not received the funding, but he wanted to present their case. Stutsman said it never hurts to ask. Jedicka agreed.
Stutsman asked Jedicka how the project will be funded if the money is not available. Lippincott said it would be a combination of local option sales tax and tax increment financing (TIF).
Neuzil said it would be helpful to have a little bit of information in regards to this so the Board can understand what other counties are doing, particularly in the ECICOG community. He said the question is whether the Board wants to start the process of allowing other communities to start to access these dollars. He said it is a given what benefits Solon benefits Johnson County. Also, there are limited resources and Johnson County has not done this in the past. Opening the door would leave it open for other communities, which means less dollars for rural road projects as well. Neuzil said these are some things to factor in when the Board makes these kinds of decisions.
Sullivan said is it interesting this is the arrangement and would assume ECICOG would have Johnson County compete with the others, rather then just give the money to Johnson County and tell the cities they are eligible. Stutsman agreed and said a portion of the money could be set aside for small communities. Jedicka said it positions the city against the County and the County is the one giving the money.
Sullivan said he served on the Board for four years before any city even asked. When Lone Tree asked there was a scramble because the Board was not aware Lone Tree even could ask. He thinks it was an assumption the money came to the County. He said he is sympathetic to the situation because Solon should have a right to apply, but this is a whole different ball game for the Board and they have never really considered anything. If the Board is going to grant the fund, they would have to think about the fairest way to move forward.
Jedicka said Solon is very limited on what they have available to them. He said on behalf of all the little communities in the County he would ask that going forward for the Board to consider at least taking a small portion of the funds and letting the communities apply for those funds. He said he understands what the Board is up against because they have major maintenance projects with county roads needing funding. However, Solon’s hands are somewhat tied with where they can go for funding.
Rettig said she doesn’t blame Solon for trying, since she would try too. However, with the goal of tying all the cities together with roads that are crumbling, there are not enough grant dollars to pick and choose between one city and another. The Board can not say no to Lone Tree and yes to Solon. She said this is why she asked what everyone else does. Rettig said if there is some formula where a specific percentage of the dollars are set aside, she thinks it would be a better system. The percentages are captured and available even if the County must approve it. She said to say the money will not be given to Lone Tree, but to tell Solon their application is more worthy is a problem. She realizes their hands are tied on non-entitlement cities. This is an entitlement of a different amount as opposed to what Iowa City gets directly, but because Solon has a population of less than 5,000 Solon is not an entitlement center for this money. Rettig said she would like to have a larger discussion rather than just pick a winner here, but it does not really help Solon for this year.
Stutsman said she is willing to entertain the consideration of some of these dollars, certainly not the full amount. She agreed $20,000 can go a long way. The County does not have additional revenue sources. The County does not do the local option sales tax and does not have any TIF areas. The County is limited in what their ability is to get additional resources for road projects. Stutsman said to her knowledge Lone Tree has not done their project. Jedicka said he does not think so. Stutsman said if the Board does go down this path she would like to contact Lone Tree and let them know the plans have changed and Lone Tree should reapply. Harney said in the future he would like to make available a percentage of the funds available for smaller communities and let them vie for the money independently.
Sullivan asked what is being considered for the time frame this year. Parker said he thinks the next Trails Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting is scheduled for January 15, 2011. Rettig said ECICOG Transportation Director Mary Rump said it must be returned by Wednesday, January 12, 2011. Rettig said the Board has to decide now. Sullivan said with Parker having a project budgeted and this being due January 11, 2011, this should be something considered for next year. Jedicka said it sounds like the Board has to. Sullivan said he agrees with Stutsman and now that the Board knows how this works, he is open to considering sharing money between the communities. Stutsman told Parker she would be interested in knowing how the other ECICOG counties handle this. Parker said he will contact Rump and the counties and put a report together for the Board to let them know how they are handling it.
Rettig said the Board realizes this puts Parker in an uncomfortable position because his job is to build roads for the County tying all the cities together and the Board is asking Parker to research how to give some of it away. She said the Board represents everyone, whether they are in Lone Tree or Solon, and if this is their way to access at least a small chunk to leverage, she said she is willing to think about it.
Parker said to Jedicka the County has always tried to expend as many federal dollars towards a project as they can because when federal funds are used, Davis-Bacon wages become a factor. To have a small percentage of federal funds and a large percentage of local funds makes it more difficult to justify the smaller expense of federal funds for a larger local match and is why the County tries to save those dollars until they can get an 80% match on the larger projects. Rettig asked if it could drive up the cost of the whole project because if 5% is paid federally, it must be followed across the board.
Parker said correct. He said the higher percent of the project has to follow federal funding guidelines and does have a tendency to increase the project cost. It is a justification if the County wants to have a 20% federal match and spend 80% local and still have to follow all of the federal guidelines and requirements, reporting guidelines, and Davis-Bacon wages, which does increase the project cost. Sullivan said this is a good thing for the city engineers for all of these cities to be considering before they apply.
Stutsman asked Lippincott how much money the city of Solon gets from local option sales tax per year. Lippincott said about $130,000.
Rettig said she is saying no for this year, but is willing to look in to what the County will do in the future. Sullivan said out of fairness the Board has to say no this year because they did not let other governments know the money is available. The Board had a previous request they said no to that should be allowed to come back. He said he is certainly willing to consider doing this differently in the future. Jedicka said he appreciates the Board considers the fact they have turned someone down earlier. He said to answer Sullivan’s question, everyone was informed; ECICOG sent a notification so all of the other communities had the opportunity. Jedicka agreed it is fair, and though they are disappointed, they knew the likely result before coming to this meeting. Stutsman said the Board appreciates them being here today. Rettig said Jedicka and Lippincott's presence at this meeting has made a difference because she has done her homework on a Joint Meeting with Solon and some dates have been proposed in April and May 2011, which she will discuss at the end. Jedicka said a Joint Meeting has not been held in eight or ten years and is past due. He said they are happy if the Board is willing to come north and they are looking forward to a Joint Meeting.
Johnson asked if he has direction to return the form indicating no. The Board said yes. Sullivan asked if Parker will be doing the follow-up with other counties in terms of how they handle this and report back. Parker said yes. Stutsman asked if this should be on the agenda for the Formal Meeting scheduled for January 13, 2011. Parker said the way the document reads is Rump needs a decision from the Board whether it will be funded. Rettig said it can be on the agenda, but the form will have already been sent. Neuzil said it can be indicated informally there was no interest in 2011. Johnson said it is just a form and an X, there is not a signature. He said he can fill out the form as long as it will not cause an issue.
Parker said they could go back and look at what happened at the last Board Meeting when Lone Tree came in and follow the same process because it has not changed. Sullivan said when Lone Tree came in the first time the Board did not understand what they were talking about and it was almost blown off. The second time Lone Tree came in and showed they were technically eligible. It was sort of the same thing and blew the Board’s mind. The Board did not understand it, said it was news to them, and it was too late to do anything. He said maybe they should have had the bigger conversation then but they did not.
Parker said from a Secondary Roads standpoint, historically, those funds have been used on the secondary road construction projects. Sullivan said another thing to consider as they discuss this further would be, for example, to have North Liberty and Solon say there are roads between their two communities they feel need work and would like to focus the work there, or Hills and Lone Tree would say they are concerned about roads between there two communities and focus the work there. He said maybe there could be a way of getting more small-town input into the 5 Year Road Plan. Parker said North Liberty could have the conversation with Solon, but they are in the MPO and do not have access to those funds. Neuzil said this should be put on a Work Session agenda with Secondary Roads to have further conversation. Stutsman agreed and said there is one coming up.
Johnson said at the Board’s organizational meeting on January 3, 2011 the supervisors were assigned to various boards and commissions, and appointed as liaisons to communities and counties. He said Secretary II Jo Hogarty had prepared a packet of letters and after going through the ones sent to the communities he wants clarifications. In the past, the Board requested agendas and minutes be sent to the Board of Supervisors’ Office. He asked if the Board would like them and if they do, more specificity is needed.
Sullivan said he does not want them. He said he thinks Solon had been in before and asked if the Board really needs the agendas and minutes and what the parameters are. He said the Board recognizes the agendas and minutes are online and it seemed silly to ask them to send things to the Board. Rettig said there is no need for the agendas and minutes to be mailed. She asked for both of the cities she is liaison for to email them to her. She said she scans over them and keeps informed on what they are doing. She does not mind saying if available to have the minutes and agendas sent by email to the liaisons if the liaison would like to receive them.
Stutsman said she receives them from Coralville and appreciates the agendas, not the minutes. If there is some particular item of interest she will investigate it herself. She said the agenda is helpful to be aware of what they are talking about and what is happening. Johnson asked if the agendas and minutes should just go to the city’s liaison or to the whole Board. The letter currently says the whole Board wants them from every community. Rettig said it should be asked to be sent by email. Stutsman and Sullivan agreed. Johnson said his question is if the Board wants the agendas and minutes from every community or only the communities they are liaison to. Stutsman said just the liaisons.
Rettig said if someone would like them they can email and ask to be added to the list. Stutsman said as liaison, if there is something on the agenda that the rest of the Board needs to know it is part of their role as liaisons to inform the Board.
Johnson asked about the liaisons to other counties. Rettig said she has not done her homework on the other county. Stutsman said she gets the Washington news. Neuzil said he is not sure this is necessary, but the idea is if the other communities or other counties anticipate potentially needing some assistance from the County, the liaison is the person they can communicate with first. He said this is what the letter should say. He does now know how it should be written, but that is the intent. Liaisons will not be going to their meetings all the time, but if they want a point person, this is who the point person should be. Rettig said the counties should still receive a letter saying who has been assigned to them, but they will not request their agendas be emailed to the contact person. Harney said they should be notified that they have liaisons available. He said he does not want them to think the Board is getting involved in their business. Stutsman agreed. She said liaisons are available if they have any issues.
Rettig said she does not need to have their minutes or agendas. She asked Johnson if this letter has been used before. Johnson said he thinks so. Rettig asked if it can be changed to “Janelle” can be reached. Johnson said he gave it as a sample. Rettig said her preference is to not use formal style there.
Stutsman asked if it is agreed the liaisons will be asked to get agendas of the meetings electronically and nothing for the other counties, just notifying them of the liaisons. Harney said most of the communities have the minutes available on their website if they have them. Rettig said they are sent in a packet; she thinks she receives what the community sends to their board members. The minutes and the agenda from the last meeting come in a packet and it should be up to them if they want to send anything else. Stutsman agreed.
Johnson said the packets had included North Liberty, Coralville, and Iowa City on the Fringe Area Liaisons and asked if the Board would like those letters as well. Sullivan said he thinks that will confuse things. Stutsman agreed. Sullivan said they are going to talk to Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak and the Board can assign people if they need policy makers at those kinds of meetings. Harney agreed and said there is a procedure in place if they are doing any updates or annexing any property into their city or communities. Rettig asked if some business cards of whosever letter it is could be included. Neuzil agreed. Johnson asked if Rettig meant the card of whoever the liaison is. Rettig said yes.
Stutsman said she attended the AARP legislative forum on January 3, 2011.
Neuzil congratulated Harney on becoming Chairperson. He said he attended the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce meeting. The next Listening Post is scheduled for January 7, 2011 at 7:30 a.m. at Bruegger’s on Riverside Drive. There is a Board Meeting scheduled for January 11, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the Property Maintenance Ordinance.
Rettig said the Johnson County Council of Governments Nominating Committee met this week. She attended the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD). A Joint Meeting with Solon and the Board has been proposed for either April 20 or May 18, 2011. She thanked Hybrid Publications, Inc. Editor Lori Lindner and Hybrid Publications, Inc. Publisher Doug Lindner for bringing back a small town newspaper feel with the North Liberty Leader and Solon Economist.
Sullivan said the Board attended the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) Meeting on January 5, 2011. He thanked former University of Iowa Facilities Director Larry Wilson for his efforts as well as all of the volunteers who serve on the CJCC. Sullivan said he and Stutsman serve on the Parking Committee and notes from the Parking Committee meeting have been given to the Board. Two students from the Workplace Learning Connection are scheduled to job shadow on January 7, 2011. He offered congratulations to Assistant County Attorney David Tiffany who will be retiring from a long career with the County Attorney’s Office.
Harney said the elected officials were sworn in last week. Congratulations to Stutsman, County Treasurer Tom Kriz, County Recorder Kim Painter, and Supervisor Janelle Rettig. He attended the Coralville Chamber of Commerce Roundtable and the CJCC meeting.
Adjourned at 10:00 a.m.
/s/Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary