MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:

JANUARY 6, 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Discussion re: FY 2012 County Budget 1

      Chairperson Harney called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 1:30 p.m.  Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Janelle Rettig, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.

Discussion re: FY 2012 County Budget

      Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne presented the Board with a document showing an overview of the County budget.  Claiborne said the Board talked about Health Department and General Basic Block Grants Department at the last Budget Meeting, and those are not included in the current document.  The Board will be working on the document entitled Decisions Pending which lists assumptions that are already in the budget and other decisions to be made.  This document relates to the different tax increase scenarios the Board has been discussing.  Claiborne asked how the Board would like to proceed.

      Referencing the document, Claiborne said that each scenario would be inserted in the beginning amount.  He added that any decision would be subtracted from the amount available.  Claiborne said the Board usually works on the General Basic Fund first, taking care of the amounts for Capital Projects.  At a later meeting, the Board would focus on the Secondary Roads transfer and the Rural Basic Fund.

      Claiborne said in FY11 the Board decided to transfer between the General Basic Fund and Rural Basic Fund, which gave Secondary Roads an extra $405,000 for road improvements.  The assumption for FY12 is based on the FY11 transfers, but everything is subject to change.  If in FY12 the Board does the same thing as in FY11, Secondary Roads would receive roughly $473,000 extra.  Claiborne recommended that the Board handle the Rural Basic Fund after making the decisions relating to the General Basic Fund.

      Rettig said Secondary Roads would get an extra $473,000 in FY12, only $68,000 more than in FY11.  Claiborne said that is correct, and noted that the Board can change that.  Claiborne said that currently the County has no new bonding for FY12.  The bonding listed in the document is existing bonding the County is still paying off.

      Sullivan said regardless of how much money is available, there are some items in the document that he is not interested in funding.  He said that the Board should make a few decisions first.  Stutsman asked if Sullivan wants to do an informal vote.  Sullivan said he would like to do this for some of the items.  Neuzil said this will show if three or four of the Supervisors want to say no to a given item.

      Claiborne will keep track of the informal vote results, and make a note if the Board wants to discuss a topic at a later point.  Neuzil said it is good the vote is informal because the Supervisors will have the opportunity to go back through the list of items if they need to.  The vote will give an initial indication of some of the items the Board can simply remove from the list.  The Board may go back through the list later if the County has enough funding for other items.

      Harney said the first item is the proposed Education/Training Supervisor position for Ambulance.  The Board agreed to remove this item from consideration.  The Board agreed to adopt the inventory/schedule system for Ambulance.  Johnson said voting no could indicate that the Supervisors are not interested in revisiting this topic and voting yes could indicate that they are interested in leaving this topic open for consideration.  Neuzil and Rettig agreed.

      Stutsman asked about the $130,000 vehicle replacement for Ambulance.  Rettig asked if Claiborne already included that in the budget.  Claiborne said that is correct; and noted the vehicle replacement is a yearly item for Ambulance.  Stutsman said the Board should still look at and vote on those items that have been assumed into the budget.  Sullivan and Rettig agreed.  Stutsman said the Board may put off all vehicle replacements for another year.  Harney asked if the dollars for vehicle replacement are not all new.  Claiborne said they are not all new dollars; it is in the budget.  Harney said Ambulance saved for most of the cost.  Rettig said Ambulance Director Steve Spenler does not save for vehicles.  Sullivan said there is one per year, and then they turn over.  Rettig said there are some years where there is no vehicle replacement, but the money for this vehicle replacement was in the budget in FY11.  The Board agreed to leave vehicle replacement and cardiac monitors for Ambulance open for consideration.

      The Board agreed to keep the Assistant County Attorney position in consideration.  Harney said he would like to leave the request in the budget, but revisit it if needed.  A computer is also required for this position.

      The Board agreed to keep the Account Clerk II position in consideration for the Auditor’s Office.  Neuzil said the request is for a part-time position.  Rettig asked if Claiborne will be able to take the Board’s decision to keep an item alive and put it into the budget to create new budget assumption.  Sullivan said whatever is left will be the Capital Projects.  Claiborne said he and Johnson also wondered about Rettig’s procedural question.  He said if the Supervisors want to come to an agreement on which scenario they would like, he will insert it into the document.  As Supervisors say yes or no, the adopted amount starts to add to or subtract from the amount available.  He asked if the Board would like to proceed in this way.  Claiborne said the maximum scenario for the General Supplemental Fund is a 3.5% tax increase.  Rettig said an easier way to proceed would be to take a number and add the total cost of the items the Board agrees to consider.  Executive Assistant Andy Johnson said if the Board does not want to choose a scenario, their decisions about each individual item will subtract from the amount available, and this will create a negative number.

      Claiborne said the document requires the Assistant County Attorney position to be listed according to the net cost.  Claiborne noted that County Attorney Janet Lyness estimated the position would produce approximately $50,000 of revenue.  Claiborne asked the Supervisors if they want him to list this in the document as $50,996 or $80,996.  Rettig said she would prefer for Claiborne to put in the full cost, as the Board does not know if the revenue will follow.  Claiborne can make a notation about this in the document.  Harney said he would like to list what the position will actually cost the County.

      Claiborne said he could italicize the title of Assistant County Attorney in the document to remind the Board that there might be a different net cost, and the adopted amount he enters will add up into the amount available.  Sullivan said the process may be easier if the Board chooses one of the scenarios to work from.  Claiborne said the Board can also take the approach of entering items directly into the document to see the overall amount.

      Rettig said something changed dramatically between this document and the last copy received by the Board.  She said the tax increases for other cities look fairly dramatic, while in the previous copy the cities were shown having a large tax reduction.  For the 0.2% scenario, rural residential tax increases $2.80, Iowa City residential tax increases $0.73, and the tax in other cities increases $9.98.  Claiborne said the numbers are based on the assessor’s re-evaluation of a 4.58% increase.  Rettig said this scenario increases Iowa City taxes by 0.2%, but taxes in Coralville go up by 3.1%.  Retting asked Claiborne to look into this.  Claiborne said yes.

      Claiborne said the Account Clerk II position in the Auditor’s Office would require an additional computer.  The Board agreed to keep this item under consideration.  Sullivan said he is not interested in either minutes software option #1 or option #2.  Rettig said more research is needed.  Stutsman said she would like to keep these items on the document for consideration.  Rettig said she wants to look at the whole picture and is curious what is happening with the Government Channel and internet streaming;.  Neuzil said the County is getting closer, but that is a big item.  Johnson said it would be helpful for some people to research this; there would be some overlap with the Auditor’s Office.  The Government Channel is often geared for cities, and these do not have the same divisions as County government has.

      Stutsman asked if the Board wants to take the minutes software option #1 and #2 out of the budget, and consider it at another time.  Rettig agreed and said the Board can figure out the broader picture of communication by having County Auditor Tom Slockett, Video Center Videographer Andy Small, and the Government Channel discuss this.  The Board agreed to remove the minutes software options #1 and #2 from consideration.

      The Board agreed to keep $10,000 for a fleet study under consideration.  Neuzil asked if this comes out of the Board of Supervisors’ budget or if it is a Central Services expenditure.  Claiborne said this can be done however the Board wants to do it.  Neuzil said he does not see this as a Board of Supervisors Department expenditure.  Rettig and Johnson agreed.  Johnson said the request was placed into the Board of Supervisors Department based on suggestions from the Board. 

      Rettig said she does not know why the Board would want to study grants; they either want to hire a position for grants or not.  Stutsman asked if the grants study item refers to the grants person the Board was going to hire.  Rettig said the item description could have been better worded.  f the Board wants to hire a person for grants, $5,000 is not nearly enough money.  Sullivan said he had thought the grants study item was to solicit proposals from people who do grants to see if there is any interest.  If the County had to hire for the position, it would obviously require more money.

      Rettig said she would like the County to go to centralized purchasing, centralized leasing, and a centralized fleet.  It will save money or bring in new money, and it would be worth every penny spent on it by the County.  Rettig said she is in favor of including the assumption to hire a person for the fleet and grants in the next fiscal year.  Neuzil asked if Rettig is talking about the fleet.  Rettig said she is talking about the fleet and grants.  Claiborne asked if the Supervisors want him to list these items as fleet position and grant position.  Stutsman said the fleet study would remain a study unless the Board is talking about purchasing.

      Sullivan said the Board had hoped a current County employee could potentially take on the fleet study.  Neuzil agreed; the County would not necessarily hire for this.  Rettig said the Board could reassign a job description.  Both the fleet position and the grants position would pay for themselves.  The Board needs to figure out how to be more efficient and how to find new dollars.  Rettig said she is willing to hire two new part-time positions, hire one full-time position that does both grants and fleet, or reassign a current County employee in order to do this.  Stutsman said she is not ready to hire two new positions.  Neuzil agreed; if the Board were to do this, the budget would need to increase by another $140,000.

      Sullivan said even if a position for fleet would pay for itself, the Board will not be able to pursue it until some research has been done.  Rettig said that is probably true.  Sullivan said he thinks the cost currently listed in the budget is a good placeholder.  Stutsman agreed, and noted that the Board needs to study this first.  Other large counties are not doing this, but are all interested.

      Rettig said if the Board is not willing to create a position or hire a consultant for grants, the Supervisors should not be asking different departments if they have applied for grants.  Department heads do not have any extra time or training to search for grants.  Rettig said consulting would ultimately cost the County more than hiring a position.  Stutsman said Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia finds grants on her own.  Rettig said it took Correia many hours to apply for the grant that brought the County $30,000.  The County is paying Correia more than the Board would pay a grant writer, and it is costing the County more dollars.  Neuzil said it is not necessarily costing more money since the County did not pay any more for Correia to complete the grant application.  Rettig said it is costing the County more per hour.  Neuzil said all Correia’s regular work duties still got completed.  Sullivan said if Correia did not get the grant application done, then he would see the need for a grant writer.

      Stutsman said even if the County hires someone and pays them, there is no guarantee that the County will get the grants.  Rettig agreed and said the Supervisors cannot say they want more grants if they are not willing to put dollars into this.  Neuzil agreed.  He said the County has worked with a consultant in the past.  Sullivan said he thinks it is fair to say the Board does not know what they are doing, but they could budget half a year’s salary for a grants position.  If the Board does not hire somebody, that money is simply not spent, and is available for a budget amendment.

      Stutsman said she would like the Supervisors to decide what kind of grants the Board would like to pursue prior to hiring somebody.  Rettig said this is why the grant position should work for the Board of Supervisor’s as opposed to a different office.  Sullivan agreed.  Stutsman said the Board does not know what kind of grants they want, and there are many grants available.  Stutsman said she is not interested in grants that fund something for four to five years, and then the County would be responsible for paying.  The Board has not had this discussion.  Rettig asked when will the Board start this discussion.  Stutsman said the Board could maybe start discussing this in FY12.  Rettig said the Board should not ask whether department heads have applied for grants until the Supervisors have discussed the grants situation.  Stutsman said the Supervisors already decided to not question department heads in regard to grant applications.

      Rettig said a single grant would pay for the grants position, and the Board should further pursue this and add the item to the budget.  She said there was a boiler grant the County could have gotten for Chatham Oaks, but there was no one to write it.  The National Association of Counties sent the grant to the County, and it was an ideal grant, but the County did not have anyone to write the grant.  Neuzil said this is something the Board has identified in strategic planning.  Sullivan said this was under revenue in the Strategic Plan. 

      Neuzil asked Rettig how much the grants writer position would cost.  Rettig said Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek priced it, and emailed the information to the Board.  Neuzil said he does not remember that email.  Sullivan said that $35,000 should easily cover the cost.  Harney said he fully supports grants if the County can get them without many strings attached.  The Board had money in the budget for grant writing, and no departments asked for anybody to write their grants.  Stutsman said the Board did this for a couple of years.  Sullivan asked if the money was set aside for a department to go out and get a consultant to help write a grant.  Harney agreed.  Stutsman said the money was there for any departments that identified a grant to pursue.

      Claiborne asked the Supervisors if he should change the item from grants study to grants position and put in an estimated cost of $35,000.  Neuzil said he would be interested in keeping this item as a placeholder.  Rettig said she thinks the cost would be lower than $35,000, and she can look at the email containing the information.  Neuzil said the Board should get the email and figure it out.  Rettig said the cost would be lower than $35,000 if the Board hires a half-time position.  Neuzil said he does not see why the fleet study would cost $10,000.  The Board agreed to keep the grants position and fleet study open for consideration.  Rettig said she does not think the fleet study costs $10,000.  Neuzil said the $10,000 may be a cost of readjusting a person’s job description, as this could potentially increase the person’s salary.  The $10,000 could also go toward some programming costs from Information Technology.

      Harney said the proposed justice center design is estimated at $20,000.  Stutsman asked if that estimate will cover the true cost.  Rettig said there are some good arguments that it would cost the County more money to get more schematics done before choosing the engineer for the project.  Rettig said she would want more information before making that decision, but that argument made sense to her.

      Neuzil said he had written down the architects, consulting, and communications under the proposed justice center.  These are action steps that will likely be necessary in 2011, and they are taken from the Board’s Informal Meeting with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) on January 5, 2011.  Sullivan said Claiborne should change the document to say proposed justice center expenses instead of justice center design.  Neuzil said this request relates to the development expenses of the proposed justice center.  Stutsman asked if Neuzil thinks $20,000 is enough for this.  Neuzil said no.

      Based on discussion at the Board’s Informal Meeting with the CJCC, Rettig said the Board is not entirely convinced that the money budgeted for FY11 is enough to acquire the four houses on Capitol Street.  Neuzil agreed.  Rettig asked if the Board needs to put a placeholder in the FY12 budget in case the money does not suffice for the purchase of the houses.  Neuzil said the placeholder could be included under potential bonding.  He said the Board cut back in one bond, and could increase it back for this purpose.  Neuzil said the placeholder needs to be in the FY12 budget, but is unsure whether to title it proposed justice center expenses or not.  Harney said the placeholder would not be under the Board of Supervisors’ proposed justice center expenses, because the expenses under the Board are for planning and design.  Rettig said most of the items currently listed on the document under the Board of Supervisors would not actually fall under the Board.  Stutsman said the Supervisors still need to decide whether to include this item for consideration in the budget; they can decide where to place it later.

      Neuzil said Novak Design Group Architect Jim Novak had said a holistic bigger step would cost between $70,000 and $80,000.  Rettig said that is correct.  Neuzil said that amount would pay for some schematic architectural things.  Stutsman said the Board could budget $100,000 for everything. Harney agreed.  Neuzil said the County may have to put some investment into consulting communications.  Rettig asked what the Board needs to budget for the acquisition of the four houses.  Neuzil said the Board should budget $100,000 for proposed justice center expenses, but the houses should be a separate line item.  Rettig said the purchase of houses could be a separate item called land acquisition.

      Neuzil said the Board had identified around $900,000.  He said Facilities Manager David Kempf and Lyness were going to talk about the moving expenses and the contingency beyond the assessed value of the properties.  Neuzil explained that if the houses are assessed at $850,000, the Board still needs to factor in the other expenses.  Sullivan said the houses were assessed at $888,000.  Neuzil said realistically, the Board probably needs to add enough money to be 10% or 15% over the assessed value.

      Claiborne said the acquisition of the four houses for the proposed justice center is included in the document under Capital Projects.  Rettig asked if the title can be changed to land acquisition.  Neuzil said there are 2 pieces of property that are owned by separate landowners and do not have a house on the land.  Claiborne asked if the Board wants to budget for a total of $925,000 for the land acquisition.  Rettig said the Board already put up to $1 million in the budget, and asked if the Board bonded for $1.2 million in FY11.  Neuzil said he does not think so.

      Claiborne said the Board bonded for $1 million, but had an additional $147,000 of working capital, for a total of $1.1 million.  Rettig said the amount was $1,028,000.  Sullivan said this amount may be enough for the purchase of the houses, but the Board needs to budget a little extra in case it is not enough.  Rettig asked how much extra to budget.  Neuzil said the Board should budget 15% above $888,000.  Sullivan said the amount currently set aside is fairly close to the 15% above $888,000 proposed by Neuzil.  Neuzil said the Board will not need to budget very much extra.

      Stutsman said the Board needs to put a deadline on when the acquisition process should start.  If the process is not initiated, then the Board needs to hire somebody else to do this.  Rettig said County Treasurer Tom Kriz volunteered to help.  Rettig said Lyness has been busy.  Stutsman agreed, and she said the Board ran into the same problem with Former County Attorney Pat White.  During that time, the cost of properties continued to go higher.  Rettig said she will follow up with Kriz.

      Sullivan said 15% above the assessed value of the properties is approximately $1 million, and the County has $1 million budgeted.  However, if the cost is ultimately $1,020,000, the Board would not want to be $20,000 short of money.  Rettig said the Board bonded for just over $1 million for Ambulance development, schematics, and purchasing of properties.  However, if the Board chooses to do renovations of the Ambulance building, they may have to amend the budget or find the money elsewhere.  Neuzil said whether to save for the Ambulance building is another issue on the list, so it might be separate.  Rettig said she does not think there will be $900,000 left, and the Board will be short on purchasing amount.

      Sullivan suggested that the Board put $100,000 into the budget as a placeholder for land acquisition; it will probably not cost that much.  Neuzil said that the landowner has the right to receive payment for assessed value of the property; if the landowner does not agree with the value, the issue can be taken to the District Court or the Johnson County Compensation Board, so the Board may have to pay more than expected.  Harney said the County needs to spend the money bonded for the purpose the Board bonded for.  Neuzil agreed.  Harney said he thinks part of the money that was bonded was to raze the houses the County presently owns.  Neuzil said that is another question.  Claiborne said he entered land for the proposed justice center into the document with a placeholder amount of $100,000.

      Rettig said Harney made a good point, and she is not sure if $100,000 will be sufficient for the proposed justice center land.  Neuzil said the Board does not necessarily need to raze those buildings yet.  Rettig agreed and said that the Board should insert a placeholder number that is realistic, and she is not sure if $100,000 will cover the real cost.  Stutsman asked if Rettig thinks $500,000 is a more realistic amount.  Rettig said the amount needed is in the $200,000 to $300,000 range.  Neuzil said Claiborne should enter $250,000 as the placeholder amount, and the Board can follow up on this with Kempf.   The Board agreed to keep $250,000 for proposed justice center land open for consideration.

      Rettig said Planning and Zoning Assistant Planner Josh Busard told her that Local Governments for Sustainability has a lead on AmeriCorps volunteers.  The County would get a volunteer for a full year.  It would cost $17,000, but the person, an AmeriCorps volunteer who is trained and educated in the field, would work full- time for the County and could advance the County a long way.  This volunteer would be a placeholder for a year long intern.  Stutsman asked if the County has enough work for a year long full-time worker.  Rettig said Busard thinks the County would have enough work.  She said something needs to change if the County wants to start meeting its sustainability goals.  The Board needs to put something in the budget toward the green initiatives to advance the Strategic Plan.  Stutsman asked if the Board wants to put $20,000 into the green initiatives item.  Sullivan said the Board could put $17,000 under this item, and come back and review this document later.  The Board agreed to keep the green initiatives open for consideration.

      Sullivan said Neuzil had pointed out that there are other potential justice center expenses.  Rettig asked if Neuzil suggested putting $100,000 into the budget for other expenses.  Johnson said that is right.  Neuzil said the other expenses relate to the Novak Design Group follow-up and some potential investment in general consulting communications.

      Rettig asked for clarification on the Health and Human Services (HHS) bank note budget item under the Board of Supervisors Department.  She said $1,065,000 is the total remaining.  Harney said the HHS bank note is the payoff for HHS Building.  Rettig said the Board budgeted to pay off half of the bank note in FY11 and $1,065,000 is the balance remaining.  Harney concurred.  Neuzil said $1,065,000 is the balance remaining after June 30, 2011.  Retting said the Board decided to only pay half of the bank note in FY11 unless they had extra cash.  Rettig said there should be a minimum of $500,000 to pay on the bank note in FY11, unless the County’s financial position would improve enough to pay off the entire bank note.  Rettig said it appears that the County’s financial position has improved.  Rettig said even if the Board is paying what they previously agreed to, the payoff remaining for FY12 should be $565,000.  In the worst case scenario the balance should only be $565,000 on July 1, 2011.  Neuzil asked Claiborne to make sure that $565,000 is the anticipated balance based on what the FY11 budget.

      Harney said $1,065,000 was the total payoff, and the County could set that amount aside.  Rettig said she wants to pay off the HHS bank note in FY11 if the County has enough cash.  She said Claiborne and Kriz noted that the County might be able to pay the HHS bank note in FY11, but wanted to wait until halfway through the fiscal year to be sure.  Claiborne agreed.  Rettig said if the County cannot pay off the HHS bank note in FY11, the Board should finish paying it in FY12.  Harney said he wants the bank note to be gone by the end of FY11 if possible.  He said the Board has already pushed back the payoff a couple of years.  The Board agreed to preliminarily adopt the $565,000 into the budget for the HHS bank note payoff.

      Claiborne said the Board may be able to talk about fund balances later on.  He said at one of the last meetings when the Board discussed fund balances, the Board wanted to build up the cash fund in the General Basic Fund.  The Board created an additional General Basic Fund balance of $1.2 million.  Claiborne said the additional $1.2 addition is already assumed in the scenario the Board has, and they can add or subtract anything to that.  Sullivan said the Board could leave this additional fund balance open for consideration.  Rettig said the Board should add to the fund balance.  Neuzil said the fund balance is determined by what is left after the Board subtracts from the scenario decided on.  The Board agreed to leave the additional General Basic Fund balance open for consideration.

      Rettig said she is not clear about the Wellness Committee item under Public Health.  She said the Wellness Committee already has a budget, and asked if the $1,500 is new money.  Johnson said the $1,500 is for maintenance of the equipment on the third floor of the HHS building.  He said the maintenance is not included under any specific department and Kempf has been paying for equipment maintenance out of the Physical Plant budget.  Claiborne said it is new money and Public Health Director Doug Beardsley and Deputy Public Health Director Tricia Kitzmann would like to include the maintenance cost in the Public Health budget.

      Rettig said that including the maintenance cost in the Public Health budget makes sense.  Neuzil said the County needs to put in some investment in order to maintain an exercise facility for the employees to use.  Stutsman said she thinks the $1,500 is just for maintenance.  Claiborne agreed.  Rettig said she does not think $1,500 will go very far.  Johnson said the Supervisors can add money to purchase more equipment, but the current $1,500 is due to a concern about maintenance and safety.  Johnson said he does not think the maintenance will require the full $1,500.  Neuzil said there is no maintenance on the equipment right now.

      Rettig said she thinks the Board should put some money into equipment maintenance.  She said the County is self-insured, so people working out, exercising, biking, or walking to work helps the County.  If the Board wants County employees to work out in the exercise room, there must be something for people to do there.  Rettig said she is not opposed to putting money into the exercise room, but $1,500 will not buy even one piece of equipment.  Stutsman said the $1500 is strictly for maintenance.  Claiborne said Beardsley said the money is for belts and oil for the equipment.

      Sullivan said the County has a Wellness Committee, and if a piece of equipment is desired, the Committee will make a recommendation.  The Wellness Committee’s current recommendation seems to be to maintain the equipment already in place.  Sullivan said he does not want to create new purchases that the Wellness Committee has not asked for.  Neuzil asked if the Board wants to have another piece of equipment by July 1, 2013.  Stutsman said she would prefer to leave the amount at $1,500 right now, and if the Wellness Committee wants another $3,000 for a piece of equipment, the Board can amend the budget.  Sullivan said the Board will be amending parking revenue into the budget.

      Harney said he has some concerns about the exercise area; he does not think the equipment is being sanitized or taken care of properly.  He said he does not know who is supposed to be doing the maintenance.  Stutsman said the Wellness Committee needs to develop some policies and procedures for maintenance.  Harney said there must be some kind of guidelines, because it is getting terrible.  Stutsman said the lack of maintenance may be a better argument not to add anything to the exercise area until the County can take care of the current equipment.

      Rettig said when the Board can make the decision to make some employee investments when the parking revenue is amended into the budget.  Johnson said he is on the Wellness Committee, and he does not think they have done any planning for new equipment in the exercise area.  When the exercise equipment was moved up to the third floor of the HHS Building, the Supervisors somewhat sent the message that the Wellness Committee should not make new equipment recommendations to the Board for the exercise area.  Johnson said it would be good if the Board is open to having a plan for one new piece of equipment per year.  Sullivan asked if there is any important piece missing from the exercise area.  Stutsman said she does not know if there is a plan that would say what equipment is needed for a good circuit.  She said she wants to make sure any money given to the Wellness Committee is well spent based on a plan.  Sullivan agreed.

      Rettig said she would entertain a proposal from the Wellness Committee about the exercise area.  Stutsman said the proposal should include maintenance.  Sullivan agreed that the proposal should address Harney’s concerns about who is maintaining and sanitizing the equipment.  Harney said maintenance and sanitation of equipment has to be someone’s responsibility.  The Board agreed to keep the $1,500 to the Wellness Committee open for consideration.

      Claiborne said the money for Public Health vehicle replacement is already in the budget.  Harney said the $25,000 for a clerical position is already in the budget.  Rettig said the vehicle Public Health wants to replace is the 1999 vehicle with low mileage.  The Board needs to determine which departments have cars, where the cars are located, and who else can borrow them.  Stutsman said that is something the fleet study will hopefully accomplish in the end.  Neuzil said he thinks people need to have a sense of the vehicle being a County vehicle and not a personal vehicle.  The Board needs to stop people from thinking that County vehicles belong to certain departments.

      Rettig said Medical Examiner Administrator Mike Hensch needs a vehicle, and is currently using his personal car.  However, the County has a whole parking lot full of vehicles.  Hensch typically needs a vehicle on nights and weekends, and there is an entire parking lot of vehicles not being used during that time.  Sullivan said that is why the County needs to do the fleet study.  Stutsman said the Board should maybe put a hold on all new vehicles.  The State Republicans are proposing a hold on new vehicles in this fiscal year.  Stutsman said she knows the car is from 1999, but it has low mileage and still runs well.

      Rettig said she does not want to say there will be no new vehicles when it relates to Ambulance; Ambulance has a rotation schedule necessary to ensure that vehicles do not break down on the road.  Sullivan said he does not think each department is equal in terms of vehicle replacement.  He said it is important to replace the ambulance now, as Spenler has proposed, but he does not think the Public Health vehicle replacement is as important.

      Harney asked if the Public Health vehicle is the one used just in town.  Rettig said the vehicle does not leave town, so the worst case scenario involves the vehicle breaking down and the driver calling a cab to get a ride back.  Sullivan said the driver could borrow one of the other vehicles.  Rettig said it is different when an ambulance breaks down.  The Board agreed to remove the Public Health vehicle replacement from consideration.

      Claiborne said he knows the clerical position for Public Health is a controversy.  He said the position is in the Public Health budget.  Rettig said she wants this position to be removed, and Neuzil agreed.  Stutsman said she wants the position left in.  She said she was reading some materials presented by Beardsley, and the proposed position would deal a lot with billing.  The department will not get any revenue if it does not have billing under control.  Stutsman said she thinks $25,000 is money well spent for a position that can bring in additional dollars through keeping up with billing.  Harney said he does not have a problem leaving this item open for consideration, and Sullivan agreed.  Sullivan said he is not completely sold on the idea.  The Board agreed to keep the clerical position open for consideration.

      Claiborne said the vehicle replacement had been budgeted for $14,000, so removing it reduced the budget by $14,000.  Harney asked if that money is already available.  Claiborne said the money is already in the budget.  Harney asked for confirmation that these were not saved dollars.  Claiborne said these are new dollars.  Johnson said the amount would be added to current savings.  Claiborne agreed; he said the money is added under Capital Expenditures.

      Rettig asked what the personnel programming software item under Information Technology is.  Claiborne said he will have Information Technology Director Jean Schultz come in later to cover Information Technology requests.  Neuzil asked if the personnel programming software is the iPads.  Rettig asked if the iPads are for the Board.  Stutsman said no.  Claiborne said the iPads are for Information Technology programmers, but he does not know enough to talk about it.  Rettig said she is sure Schultz told the Board what the personnel programming software is, but she cannot remember what it is.  Stutsman said it is the Information Technology budget.

      Claiborne said Schultz will be coming to one of the Board’s upcoming meetings.  Sullivan said $6,000 is not a huge amount of money, so the Board should just put this in the budget and move forward.  Harney said Claiborne can make a note to talk about that item when Schultz comes to a Board meeting.  The Board agreed to keep the personnel programming software open for consideration.

      The Board agreed to keep savings for fiber optic under Information Technology Department open for consideration.  Rettig said she would like to keep permitting software open for consideration.  Stutsman said she would vote weakly yes for this, and Neuzil voted no.  Sullivan said the departments using this software have not made a compelling argument for it to be purchased.  Neuzil said this should potentially be studied more.   He said FY12 may be a good opportunity for departments to show the Board what the cost of the software is, how many people will use it, and how much employee time the software will save.

      Rettig said part of the reason departments have not made a compelling case is because they were told to keep a flat budget.  These departments do not want to be asking the Board for more money, so they have tempered their desire to have this software.  Rettig said she thinks the County needs this software eventually, as society is moving in that direction.  She said she does not know if they need it in the next 18 months.  Harney said he does not see a real demand for the software at this point.  He said there is sometimes an advantage for a person to come in and personally get a permit and get a better understanding for what is going on.  Stutsman said she will vote no for the permitting software.

      Sullivan said the departments have all said it would be neat to use the software if available, but does not want to approve the purchase unless all of the department heads are telling the Board that the departments need the software to be more efficient.  Harney said the software costs $140,000.  Neuzil agreed that $140,000 is a lot of money.  Stutsman asked if the County will get that money back.

      Sullivan said the software may be added in the FY13 budget if the department heads prove necessity.  Neuzil said he saw similar proposals while serving on the IOWAccess Advisory Council.  There were some great things, but only around 400 people used them statewide.  It cost $300,000 or $400,000 for 400 people.  Stutsman said the GEMS software is a similar example.  There is a fleet management module on Government & Education Management Software, but nobody uses it.  The Board agreed to remove the permitting software from consideration.

      Rettig said when the Sheriff’s Office came before the Board, she did not agree with the $500,000 for increased inmate housing expenses.  She said she asked Sheriff’s Major Steve Dolezal to take a closer look at this.  The inmate population is currently down.  She said she understands that there will need to be more money for inmate housing expenses, but is not sure the additional expenses will amount to $500,000.  Rettig said the highest amount she could determine was about $380,000, and she had hoped Dolezal would look at those numbers more carefully.

      Rettig said that in the past, the Board had told Dolezal to estimate high to avoid the need for a budget amendment.  The Board may want departments to exactly hit the targeted budget in FY12.  She said she is not sure the increased inmate housing expenses will cost $500,000, but she knows the amount needs to be more than the current budget.  Rettig said the highest amount she could determine for a worst case scenario is $380,000.  Claiborne said he just did the document for the half year budget report and the Sheriff’s Office is right on target.  Stutsman said the Sheriff’s Office almost turned back $800,000 in FY10, and the County taxed for that amount of money.  She said she is not opposed to a budget amendment for something like this, because this is what budget amendments are for.  Sullivan said budget amendments are for things that cannot be avoided.  Rettig said she thinks the expenses will be higher than is currently budgeted, but she thinks they will only be $200,000 to $400,000 higher.

      Harney asked if budgeting $300,000 for the expenses would be enough.  Rettig said they could list $300,000 and talk to Dolezal more carefully.  Neuzil said he is fine with budgeting half of the Sheriff’s Office’s request.  If the Board budgets $250,000 and later needs to do a budget amendment, they will at least have budgeted some rather than nothing.  Sullivan said he does not think it would be wise to zero out the item for increases in inmate housing expenses.  Neuzil said he does not blame County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek and Dolezal for putting the increase inmate housing expense item in the budget.  The Board agreed to keep $250,000 for increased inmate housing expenses open for consideration.

      Stutsman said she is supportive of one patrol deputy for the Sheriff’s Office, but she does not think the County can afford two patrol deputies.  Neuzil said he thinks only one patrol deputy is listed.  Sullivan said there are two patrol deputies listed in the document.  Claiborne said the two patrol deputies are listed as two separate positions on the document.  Neuzil said he is comfortable with one patrol deputy.  Stutsman asked if the Board approved two new patrol deputies in FY10.  Neuzil said yes.  Sullivan said he thinks it is a good message for the County to add one patrol deputy per year until it reaches the goal.  This gives the Board a little flexibility if spending for FY13 is tight.

      Rettig said she does not support even one patrol deputy.  The Board gave the Sheriff’s Office two new patrol deputies in FY10.  The Board agreed to keep one patrol deputy open for consideration.  Sullivan said the new position automatically requires other items like an additional vehicle.  Stutsman agreed.  The Board agreed to remove the second patrol deputy from consideration.

      Rettig said she could be alright with adding one new patrol deputy. Rettig noted that last time Pulkrabek requested patrol deputies, he wanted to add the positions in pairs because due to defining the hours; one new patrol deputy did not provide much gain.  Rettig asked if that is still the case.  Neuzil said he thinks one new patrol deputy can make a difference; Pulkrabek has some people doing administrative tasks and management.  Rettig asked if one patrol deputy could get the County more hours.  Neuzil said the Board needs to know this.  Rettig said in FY10, Pulkrabek was clear that the patrol deputies needed to be in pairs.  Stutsman said if the Board were to approve one patrol deputy or none at all, Pulkrabek would accept the one patrol deputy.  Neuzil agreed.  Sullivan agreed and said Pulkrabek may get another patrol deputy in FY13.  Stutsman agreed.

      Harney said additional vehicle replacement for the two patrol deputies is listed as $21,000 each.  He asked if the Sheriff’s Office would get one of those vehicle replacements and if the Sheriff’s Office even needs that.  Stutsman said that is a question the Board needs to ask.  Sullivan said Dolezal previously talked to the Board about how the car distribution works.  Each patrol person is assigned a car.  If a new person is added to the staff, a new car would also need to be added.  Rettig said if one patrol deputy will make a difference in patrol hours for the County, then she would be in support of setting aside $21,000 for additional vehicle replacement, but she had heard that new patrol deputies need to be hired in pairs.  She said she may have missed something.  Neuzil said that is what Pulkrabek said in FY10, but he agreed with Stutsman.  The Board agreed to keep one patrol deputy position open for consideration.  Rettig said the Board can come back to this if it is determined that one position does not make a difference in patrol hours.  Neuzil said the Board’s current vote is very informal and not for the official record.  Stutsman agreed that the votes are subject to change.

      Harney asked if the other vehicle replacement under the Sheriff’s Office is for existing vehicles.  Claiborne confirmed, and said Pulkrabek lists vehicle replacement on the budget every year.  Rettig asked if this is the normal schedule.  Claiborne said the vehicle replacement could change depending on whether the new patrol deputies are approved.  He said the Sheriff’s Office is saving for four years for a shooting range, and FY12 is the third year.

      Rettig said she thinks the social worker position under the Medical Examiner’s Office is misnamed, as the proposal is for a full-time investigator to do more of the social work.  She said it is not completely accurate to call the position only a social worker.  Stutsman said Hensch is having a hard time filling the current investigator positions.  Rettig said this is because those positions are part-time.  Sullivan said programs through Iowa City Hospice and other places are available for people to go and receive the support they need, and this is part of the reason why he does not want a social worker position.  He said he is not sure the County needs to duplicate these programs by paying to start a new program.  Stutsman agreed.  Sullivan said the document does not indicate that this position is an investigator that will help with the current overtime hours.  Rettig said Hensch’s request specified this, and she thinks the social worker position is misnamed.

      Rettig said she is willing to talk about the investigator position, which would involve the Medical Examiner’s Office going from one or two part-time investigators to a full-time position.  She said she is not interested in the social work side of the position.  Stutsman said she thinks the Board needs to have a serious discussion about the Medical Examiner’s Office department and where it is going.  She said the department has changed from what it used to be.  Stutsman said if the proposed position is an investigator, the County would be hiring a third full-time position in the Medical Examiner’s Office.  She said she is not implying the work does not exist, but the change in the department seems to be endless.  Neuzil agreed.  He asked if a message can be relayed to Hensch saying that the Board is potentially interested in an additional full-time investigator position, and they would potentially phase out the costs associated with the social work aspect. 

      Rettig said Hensch’s budget request did not list the social worker.  Neuzil said the cost of the position currently listed on the document seems low.  Stutsman agreed.  Neuzil said the position may be three-fourths time position.  Rettig said the position may also be part time with benefits; it could be a 20 hours per week position with benefits.  Neuzil said Spenler has a lot of part-time employees who would likely be interested in being a part-time Medical Examiner’s Office employee.  Neuzil said he mentioned this idea to Hensch.  Rettig said she would approve some sort of investigator position, but would not support a social worker position for the Medical Examiner’s Office.

      Neuzil said there may be some way for a part-time Ambulance worker to also be a part-time worker for the Medical Examiner’s Office.  Claiborne said he will talk to Hensch.  The Board agreed to remove the social worker position from consideration.  Neuzil said there should be a line that indicates potential support for dollars for another employee.

      Harney said he is fine with approving a cot for the Medical Examiner’s Office, and Sullivan agreed.  Rettig said she does not want the employees to hurt their backs.  The Board agreed to keep the purchase of a cot open for consideration.  Sullivan said he does not support the purchase of a copier and printer for the Medical Examiner’s Office.  Neuzil agreed.  Sullivan said he hopes the Medical Examiner’s Office will move into a building with two other departments that share a copier.  Neuzil said this could potentially happen.  Harney said he does not know if the Medical Examiner’s Office needs a specialized printer, but he thinks they could share with the Treasurer’s Office.  Neuzil agreed, and he said someone had talked about programming the computers and having a code to print.  He said that seems very reasonable in this situation.

      Sullivan said Hensch has legitimate concerns about security and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations.  He said when he worked at the Department of Human Services (DHS), people had to enter a code into the printer before their material would print.  The material could not be picked up by someone else.  Rettig said Schultz says the Board’s printers could do that.  If the Treasurer’s Office printer does not have that capability, Rettig said they should put in a printer that does.  Sullivan said the Board will accommodate Hensch’s request for a printer somehow without providing a new printer.  Harney said the Board can check with Kriz to see if there is a cost to upgrading the printer in the Treasurer’s Office.

      Stutsman said the cost of lighting for the Medical Examiner’s Office is not very high.  Rettig said she understood why Hensch was requesting this; the employees must have more light than the light provided by a normal house light or ambulance light.  She said the new lighting is not that much money.  Stutsman said the only concern is duplication; everybody has this high powered lighting at the scene.  Sullivan said Hensch’s argument was that the police take the light with them when they leave a scene.  Neuzil said he is fine with leaving this in the budget.  Sullivan said it is a small cost.  Harney said it is a duplication of cost, but it is worthwhile if it makes the department more efficient.

      Rettig said the vehicle replacement listed under the Medical Examiner’s Office is actually the purchase of a new vehicle.  Claiborne said Hensch has been saving for a couple of years, so the vehicle replacement is included in the budget.  Rettig said the County has two pickup trucks for Ambulance.  Stutsman said she did not know that.  Sullivan said he thought there was only one truck.  Rettig asked what the red vehicle is.  Neuzil said Ambulance has a Chevrolet Suburban (Suburban).  Stutsman asked if one of the vehicles is a command vehicle.  Sullivan said the vehicle Stutsman is referring to is the Suburban that Spenler drives around town.

      Rettig asked why Spenler has the Suburban if he is driving a large, white pickup that looks like an ambulance.  Sullivan said he does not know what Rettig is talking about.  Stutsman and Harney agreed.  Neuzil said Spenler has a pickup and a Suburban.  Rettig asked what Spenler is using the Suburban for.  She said she wants to know if there is a vehicle that can be recycled for Hensch to use.  Rettig said she understood the Medical Examiner’s position on carrying tissues and fluids in his family car.  Sullivan said he does not know what Rettig is talking about, so the Board would have to follow up on this item.  Harney said he thinks one of the two vehicles was for a person or supervisor on call for Ambulance.  Rettig said the on call person drives the large pickup.  Stutsman asked if it has the Johnson County logo on it.  Rettig said yes; she said the pickup looks like an ambulance.  Neuzil said he knows what Rettig is referring to.

      Rettig said there is also a red vehicle in the parking lot, and she asked what that is for.  Neuzil said that is the vehicle Spenler currently drives, and he does not know what the other truck is.  Stutsman said this is a good example of why the County needs a fleet manager; the Board does not know what vehicles the County has.  Sullivan agreed.  Neuzil said he would not support the vehicle replacement for the Medical Examiner’s Office until the Board gets more information about the possibility of vehicle sharing.  Sullivan said the Board may come back to this topic.  Rettig said this request does not involve new money; Hensch has been budgeting for this.  Claiborne said that is correct.  Rettig said the Medical Examiner’s Office budget will not increase if the Board approves the vehicle replacement.  Harney said he would like to hear the reasons for this request.  Rettig said she would possibly support this request, and Sullivan agreed.

      Harney said the expanded driver hours and wages for SEATS amount to $60,000.  Stutsman said SEATS’ numbers have increased a lot, and if the Board does not approve this, they will need to say SEATS will not provide rural service.  Rettig said the County gets some revenue to balance some of the costs.  This revenue will not completely balance the costs, but the new non-emergency transport service will make a difference.  Sullivan said Johnson County is growing quickly.

      Neuzil said he does not support the expanded hours and wages, and he thinks the Board needs to reevaluate SEATS and the scope of the service.  The County is spending $16.00 or $17.00 per trip and only getting back about $1.50 per trip.  Stutsman said the County has contracts with the Cities.  Sullivan said if the Board does not approve the expanded driver hours and wages, the hours will need to be cut from rural service.

      Neuzil said some residents have up to six missed rides, and the SEATS still must take the driver to that residence; this is a cost for the County.  Stutsman said the Board could maybe put a policy in place where a resident who misses a certain number of rides will not be served by SEATS for a certain amount of time.  She said rural service is dwindling, and not many people use it.  Neuzil said the County could have rural service pick up at a certain place on a certain day of the week.  Harney asked if SEATS Director Tom Brase had said he was required to do that for funding.  Stutsman said no.  SEATS does not have a fixed route service; it is just a service the County has provided.

      Neuzil said the Board could reevaluate SEATS so a certain quadrant of the County is served on only one day.  Stutsman asked if SEATS already does this.  Neuzil said rural service is provided on at least three or four days a week.  Stutsman said Brase has wanted to expand the service to five days per week throughout the County, but she thinks the service is currently provided in zones.  Rettig said she does not know if Brase has looked for any other options to be more efficient in the SEATS routing.  Rettig said she has never been the Board liaison to SEATS, so she does not have a high enough level of knowledge to know if this is a legitimate request.

      Sullivan said he was previously the Board liaison to SEATS, and it is a very sophisticated service.  He said he does not know how much more efficient the service could be in the metro area; the operation is completely computerized.  Stutsman asked if the Supervisors want to continue expanding this service or if they want to pull back.  Sullivan said this is a bigger question.  Neuzil said this does not mean the Board is ending the SEATS operation.

      Sullivan said with these expanded driver hours, SEATS is not hiring any full-time employees.  These employees are casual drivers and already work on call.  A person would not become a County employee and later be laid off.  Harney asked if this request is to replace some of the other part-time drivers.  Stutsman said it is just adding hours.  Johnson said it is increasing the hours of the casual drivers.  Sullivan said some casual drivers who have worked for a long time have retired or reduced their number of hours.

      Harney said it seems like the SEATS is always getting vehicles from someone else; Brase buys many vehicles for $5,000 or $10,000 and the County then needs to replace them.  Rettig said the City of Iowa City and the City of Coralville keep getting grants.  Stutsman said the only way the County gets any vehicles from East Central Iowa Council of Governments is by having rural service.  Neuzil said he is not talking about getting rid of rural service, but he thinks the Board should rethink the size and scope of what SEATS is providing because it is expensive.

      Sullivan said some of the County’s strategic planning goals are customer service and levels of service.  He said the Board probably needs to have a work session with Brase to determine SEATS’ level of service, and look at what other counties do.  Harney said he would vote maybe on this request, and he would like Brase to provide the Board with the reasoning for this request.  Rettig said she is fine with that.  She asked if expanding driver hours is the only option or if there are other options the Board has not discussed.  Stutsman said SEATS provided 2,000 more rides in FY10 than in FY09, and will likely provide even more in FY11.  Rettig said Brase was able to turn back money in FY10.  Sullivan said it will be interesting in FY11 because the price of fuel is increasing.  Rettig said Brase might have a budget amendment.

      Stutsman said she would like to leave the expanded driver hours open for consideration, and Sullivan agreed.  Rettig agreed and said the Board does not have time to have a large work session before adopting the FY12 budget.  Sullivan said even if the Board makes changes, the riding public would need six months to know SEATS was changing service.  Stutsman said the County has contracts with the cities, and the Supervisors need to work with the cities if they are going to make changes.  Sullivan said he is open to discussion, but he thinks Brase needs this additional money for SEATS to continue doing what it is doing.  Rettig said she would like to keep the request open for consideration, but she wants the Board to put it on a work plan and address it again later.  Sullivan said the Board will ask Brase to justify the level of service.  The Board agreed to keep expanded driver hours and wages for SEATS open for consideration.

      Rettig said the $10,000 vehicle replacement for SEATS is under the normal replacement schedule.  Claiborne agreed.  Rettig asked if Brase drives a County vehicle.  She said she sees claims from Brase for mileage reimbursement from driving around town.  Rettig said the County has around 47 vehicles.  Harney said Brase does not drive a County vehicle.  Sullivan said SEATS has smaller vans, but Brase does not drive them to work.  Rettig said she is referring to when Brase is driving to a meeting; he has claims for mileage reimbursement every week.  Sullivan said that is a good question.

      Stutsman asked if Brase should be using Secondary Roads vehicles to drive around.  Rettig asked if the Board liaisons to SEATS can figure out why Brase gets reimbursed for mileage every week.  Harney said this is because Brase does not technically have a car; he only has the SEATS bus.  Rettig said Brase has access to smaller vans.  Stutsman said she did not know many people were turning in claims for mileage reimbursement for short drives.  Rettig said the Board should figure out how much mileage reimbursement the County is paying on a daily basis.  Harney said the Board liaisons will have to visit with Brase at their next meeting.  Stutsman said she and Harney have a meeting with Brase scheduled for the following week, so they can discuss this topic.  The Board agreed to keep vehicle replacement for SEATS open for consideration.

      Rettig said she does not support the part-time administrative assistant for Physical Plant, and Sullivan agreed.  Sullivan said he thinks the Board needs to provide help for Kempf, but he does not want to do it in this way.  Stutsman said the Public Health clerk could potentially help with Physical Plant.  Rettig said Kempf has had three offers for help, and he has not followed up on any of these offers.  Neuzil said he votes no for the part-time administrative assistant for Physical Plant.  Harney asked if the Board is planning on having a different part-time worker share time to work in Physical Plant.  He said if this person is going to work several hours per week in Physical Plant, then Kempf will need some money in the budget to pay these wages.

      Rettig said the three options were asking Secretary II Jo Hogarty, Human Resources Office Assistant Susan McAreavy, or Social Services Clerk I Jessica Beck to help in Physical Plant.  Kempf has been provided with these three options, and has not followed up on any of them, so Rettig said she does not see why this is such a large crisis.  She said if the County gets a joint building for the Medical Examiner’s Office, Physical Plant, and Ambulance, she hopes the three departments can share support staff trained to serve all three departments.  She does not see why the County would need a personnel increase as the joint building would have three full-time staff members for clerical work and billing.

      Harney said the formation of that joint building may not be for some time, and the Board needs to look at the current need.  He said he does not have a problem with current County staff helping out with this, as that would not require any extra funding.  Rettig said Correia, Shramek, and the Board of Supervisors all said they could share office staff with Kempf, and Kempf did not take any of those options.  Sullivan said he also wanted Kempf to choose one of those options.  Harney asked if Hogarty, McAreavy, and Beck are willing to go work at Physical Plant or if they expect Kempf to bring the work to their current offices.  Stutsman asked how hard it can be to pay claims.  Stutsman said it can be helpful for staff to work in the same office in case of questions, but these employees could email or call Kempf on his cell phone if there are any questions.

      Sullivan said he thinks Kempf is overworked and the Board has not helped him be as efficient as possible.  He said the Board needs to help Kempf with his efficiency before adding more staff.  The Board agreed to remove the part-time administrative assistant for Physical Plant from consideration.

      Rettig said Kempf is planning on budgeting for four years for the Administration Building geothermal system, scheduled to line up with the time the current air conditioner would start causing problems.  She said the field outside the Administration Building could handle switching to a geothermal system, and only one sidewalk would need to be removed.  The boilers were purchased in such a way that they can be removed from the Administration Building and put in the Courthouse.  The boilers in the Courthouse would be aged at that point.  Rettig said if the County wants to get a geothermal system in the Administration Building, she would like to pay for it gradually, but understands the argument for bonding for the system.

      Stutsman said the County should hire a person to find and write a grant for the geothermal system.  Neuzil said he thinks there needs to be some further investigation on the costs and benefits of a geothermal system in the Administration Building.  He said he is not convinced that retrofitting the building will be beneficial.  Neuzil said the geothermal system could be bonded for if the Board decides to pursue this option.  Stutsman said that makes sense.  Sullivan said the Tax Increment Financing areas could then pay.

      Rettig said Kempf thinks the Board should begin thinking about this issue when the air conditioner has approximately three or four years left in its lifespan.  At that point, it will cost around $400,000 or $500,000 to replace the air conditioner, so the Board might as well think seriously about whether to switch to a geothermal system.  Neuzil said he is wondering what savings the geothermal system actually creates.  Rettig said the savings are in the gas bill.  Stutsman said they are long term savings.  Harney said the savings are not in the electric bill.  Neuzil said the electric bill for the geothermal system is three times more.  Stutsman said the electric bill is high due to running the pumps.  Neuzil said somebody needs to do a better job of explaining the savings.

      Stutsman said she would like to remove the Administration Building geothermal savings from consideration until further study has been done on the system and options for funding it.  Rettig said the Board would prefer to bond for the system.  Sullivan and Stutsman agreed.  Neuzil said it is nice to know that the geothermal system must be on the list identifying future expenses for upgrading buildings.  Harney said the Board can remove this item from consideration, but the County will have to do something for the Administration Building soon.  There have been problems with fluctuations in the temperature in both summer and winter, which is only somewhat problematic.

      Stutsman said she has a geothermal system in her house, and the temperature is even in every area.  However, she does not know how much the Board wants to spend just to keep the temperature constant in the building.  Harney asked how efficient employees are if the temperature is uncomfortable.  Rettig said the Supervisors will need to spend money on the heating and cooling system in three to four years no matter which system they choose.  She said the current question relates to whether the Board wants to save for the system or bond for it.  The Board agreed to remove geothermal savings for the Administration Building from consideration.

      Sullivan said before the system is replaced, the County may acquire a grant writer.  There are grants for geothermal heating and cooling, and the County could potentially get one-third of the cost paid for by a grant.  Stutsman said she thinks there are options other than taxing for the cost right now, and she would like to see a thorough analysis of the different options.  Harney said he wants the Board to revisit this topic at some point.  Rettig asked if the Board keeps a chart regarding upcoming bonding; she knows three bonds roll off in FY12.  Sullivan said Claiborne has a spreadsheet.  Claiborne agreed.

      Rettig said she would like to put a placeholder in the document to show the Board wants to bond in FY15 or FY16 for the Administration Building’s heating and cooling system.  Neuzil said strategic planning has created a charge to look at each of the County’s building and identify any potential need.  The heating and cooling for the Administration Building will be identified and prioritized, and will hopefully be a part of the next budget.  Rettig said she is fine with bonding for the system.  Stutsman said the County should not tax for it in FY12.

      Harney said he wants to see the tuckpointing done for the Courthouse, but he asked if it would be better for the County to bond for that with something else.  Neuzil said the County will tax for tuckpointing, but Kriz and Claiborne need to determine what is advantageous for bonding.  He said it sounds like the tuckpointing is a necessity.  Sullivan said the project is half done.  Rettig said she thinks the County should finish this project, and it does not matter if it is bonded.  She said Claiborne and Kriz can come up with some ideas.  Harney agreed.  Sullivan said Kriz has previously come to the Board and told them that certain things are budgeted for but should instead be bonded.  The Board agreed to keep the Courthouse tuckpointing open for consideration.

      Rettig said she does not remember what the grounds equipment was for, but she said it makes sense.  Stutsman agreed, and said she thinks the ground equipment refers to lawn mowers and other similar equipment.  Sullivan said this request also relates to snow removal.  The Board agreed to keep grounds equipment budget item for Physical Plant open for consideration.

      Rettig asked if the savings for the copier under Planning and Zoning is part of a four year savings.  Johnson said FY12 is the first year of savings for the printer.  Harney said he is fine with this.  Rettig agreed.  Rettig said Planning and Zoning uses very large copiers.  Sullivan asked how the copier fits into the study and who else might be using it.  Stutsman said the copier is large and sophisticated.  Rettig said the Board is not authorizing Dvorak to pay for the copier, but is telling him to start saving for it.

      Neuzil said he does not really know what Planning and Zoning uses the copier for, and asked if the County really needs to purchase the printer to print 35 to 50 maps per year.  Harney said Planning and Zoning print a lot of diagrams.  Stutsman said there is a big copier at Secondary Roads that does essentially the same thing.  Neuzil said Planning and Zoning could email material and print from the Secondary Roads copier.  Stutsman said this capability has not always been available.  She said she is willing to leave this open for consideration, but she wants to discuss efficiencies before the copier is purchased.  Sullivan agreed.  The Board agreed to start saving for a copier for Planning and Zoning.

      Rettig said she does not understand what the sustainability intern position is for under Planning and Zoning; the County increased the budget for Green Team.  Sullivan asked what the $10,000 for the Green Team was for.  Sullivan said he thought the $10,000 for the Green Team was for suggestions from the Supervisors.  Johnson said the Board increased green initiatives to $17,000 for the AmeriCorps volunteer.  Rettig said the position under Planning and Zoning is called a sustainability intern.  Rettig said the sustainability budget is for the van pool.

      Rettig said $14,454 was supposed to be in the SEATS budget.  Claiborne said it is there.  Rettig said the Board did not talk about it.  Stutsman said the van was purchased this year.  Rettig said there is a decision package that lists $14,454 in the SEATS budget.  There was also a $3,800 decision package for Planning and Zoning for sustainability training.  This is for schools, Leadership and Energy in Environmental Design (LEED) standards, and so on.  Rettig said there was $1,125 for Green Team dues and memberships.  There was also discussion about each department purchasing green products.  Rettig said she is confused where the $10,000 for the Green Team and $5,200 for a sustainability intern came from.  Stutsman said it is likely duplication, and the Board needs to check into this.

      Rettig said the $5,200 is clearly for an intern for ten hours per week during the academic year.  Stutsman said she thought Rettig was discussing hiring an AmeriCorps volunteer.  Rettig said the $5,200 could go toward the AmeriCorps volunteer, but she asked what the $10,000 is for.  She asked if that amount is the total of everything added together, and she asked how Claiborne got the number.  Claiborne asked where Rettig is looking.  Sullivan said when different committees and teams were asked to send in budgets, he inserted a random number for the Green Team.  Rettig said Sullivan might have put in the $10,000 amount.  Sullivan agreed and said he inserted the $10,000 to ensure the Green Team was covered.

      Stutsman said the Board may need to reevaluate the $10,000.  Sullivan said the Board should do whatever is more accurate.  Rettig said the SEATS decision package is not in the decisions pending document at all.  Claiborne said the decision package was already built into the SEATS budget.  He said if the Board does not want to approve the employee van pool, the Board can remove it.  Rettig asked if the $14,454 was built into the overall SEATS budget increase of $60,000.  Sullivan said no; the $60,000 increase is for an increase in casual drivers.  Claiborne said the $60,000 is the decision package that calls for additional employees.  The van pool is already built in the SEATS operating budget.  Sullivan said Brase already put it in the budget.

      Claiborne said the Supervisors wanted the van pool as part of their strategic planning, and he thought there was consensus about this when Brase met with the Board.  Rettig said this is part of the LEED agreement the Board is accepting today.  Sullivan said the van pool should have been indicated under SEATS on the decisions pending document so the Board knew it was budgeted.  Harney said the Board has run into this problem before when approving things like the van pool; department heads do not know whether the project has been approved if the Board does not list it somewhere.

      Rettig said there was a request for $3,800 for education and $1,125 for dues and memberships.  She said the $1,125 would not be an increase.  Sullivan said it would be an increase because the Board did not have it in the budget.  Rettig said that is right; this had never appeared in a budget.  Rettig said Planning and Zoning requested a sustainability intern and a grant writing intern, and this duplicates a previously discussed position.  Rettig said the Board has requested the recycling program, and this is one of Kempf’s yearly goals.  Sullivan asked how much the recycling program costs.  Rettig said the Board is just beginning the investigation.  She said the strategic planning goal is not due until July 1.  Harney said if the program does not begin for another 18 months, the money would come from the FY13 budget.

      Rettig said the goal for green purchasing also falls within the next 18 months.  Rettig said she does not know how the Board will handle the budgeting if the strategic planning occurs at the same time.  Stutsman said the Board could designate $10,000 as available to work with.  Sullivan said the people working toward these goals would then prioritize within that amount.

      Rettig said the van pool is already in the SEATS budget.  There is a $17,000 line item above it, a $5,000 line under Planning and Zoning, and an item for the sustainability intern.  Stutsman said that needs to be taken out.  Rettig said she thinks the Board has blended this into the wrong location.  She said the Board needs to decide what they are willing to put toward this in one year, and they will then tell Busard to make this amount work.  Sullivan said Rettig named the training item, which he thinks the County needs to do.  Rettig said she also listed the dues.  Sullivan said this amount is very close to the $5,200 listed for the sustainability intern, but he asked if the Board can change the name of this item to green dues and training.  He said he thought the intern was already listed.  Stutsman agreed.

      Rettig said the Supervisors need to decide the total dollar amount they are interested in putting toward the Green Team and specify what they expect out of this amount.  For example, the Board may want training and dues to come out of this amount.  Sullivan said the Board has gone far enough down the path of sustainability and cannot back out; otherwise they do not have the accreditation.  Rettig asked if the Board wants an intern or an AmeriCorps volunteer and how much the Board is willing to pay for this.  Sullivan said the Board set aside $17,000 that is listed previously in the decisions pending document.

      Claiborne asked if he should change the name of the green initiatives budget item to AmeriCorps in the Board of Supervisors Department, and.  Stutsman said yes.  Rettig said Americorps budget item needs to be moved to the Planning and Zoning budget, because the Board decided to keep all green initiatives under Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak’ supervision .  Claiborne said he will make the changes and send the Board the updated document.  Sullivan said Claiborne can also change the name of the sustainability intern item to dues and training.  Claiborne asked if he should say these are dues and training for sustainability.  Sullivan said yes, and it should be for the amount of $5,200.

      Rettig said the van pool item, sustainability intern, sustainability training, $1,500 for Green Team activities, memberships, green purchasing, and supporting a grants intern were not in a decision package.  Rettig said if the Board is willing to pay $17,000 for an AmeriCorps volunteer and $4,000 for dues and training, they could insert the $1,500 for activities and asked if the Board is willing to talk about this.  Sullivan asked if Rettig means that the dues and training item should be changed to $6,000.  He said the dues and training added up to about $4,900; if the Board changed the number to $6,000, there would also be some money for activities.

      Rettig said the Board is considering putting a total of $23,000 for green initiatives and sustainability into the budget.  Stutsman and Neuzil agreed.  Neuzil, Rettig, and Sullivan said they are all in favor of this.  Harney asked if the items are defined correctly after the Board has moved them around.  Stutsman said she thinks items are now defined correctly, but they were not defined correctly before.

      Rettig said even if the opportunity to get an AmeriCorps intern has already passed by, Planning and Zoning only requested $5,200 for a sustainability intern.  Sullivan and Rettig agreed that the cost could be significantly less.  Harney said Planning and Zoning is also requesting a grant writing intern, and he asked if this is something an AmeriCorps volunteer could do.  Rettig said Busard thought the AmeriCorps volunteer could write green initiatives for the year.  Stutsman said the Board should take the grant writing intern out of consideration.

      Rettig said the role of the grant writing intern would already be covered by the grants position listed under the Board of Supervisors Department.  Sullivan said the Board listed a grants position for $35,000.  Rettig agreed, and said the grants writing intern request from Planning and Zoning is duplication.  Sullivan said the Supervisors should vote no to the grants writing intern, because they already put a grants position into the budget.  The Board agreed to take the grants writing intern out of consideration.

      Claiborne asked if the Board wants to keep the Planning and Zoning vehicle replacement schedule.  Stutsman said yes.  Sullivan said this is the same frustration the Board has discussed.  Rettig asked if Dvorak has a car in Planning and Zoning that Hensch could use.  She said she is trying to find a vehicle that is currently sitting and not being used.

      Rettig asked if the item requesting $10,000 to be moved to the Rural Basic Fund for rural radios refers to emergency radios.  Claiborne agreed.  He said none of the General Basic block grants decisions affect the working money.  Stutsman asked if the $10,000 was for the weather radios.  Rettig said the Board had not budgeted this; Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson asked the Board for $10,000, and Emergency Management would match $10,000 from their reserves.  She asked if that is new money.  Neuzil said no; the money was identified in the existing Emergency Management budget, but the question was whether the Board wants it to be a rural expenditure of Emergency Management.  Sullivan asked if this money is also for the siren.  Neuzil said yes.  Rettig said that is new money.

      Neuzil said the budget provided by Emergency Management was a neutral budget; the question was whether the Board can reduce the Emergency Management budget by $10,000 and take $10,000 out of the Rural Basic Fund.  Sullivan said Emergency Management had an expenditure in FY10 that was almost the same amount.  Rettig said the current request is not for a $10,000 increase in the budget.  Sullivan and Neuzil said no.  Neuzil said if the Supervisors moved the $10,000 for rural radios, they would reduce $10,000 from the Emergency Management budget.  Rettig said she wants a minimum of $10,000 budgeted for Emergency Management sirens.  Neuzil said this would be a new line in the Rural Basic Fund under Emergency Management.  Stutsman said it should be in the Rural Basic Fund, but she is not interested in backfilling Emergency Management.  Neuzil said that is not what Wilson is requesting, and Sullivan agreed.  Neuzil and Sullivan said they would support doing this.

      Harney asked where the money for the other sirens comes from and if the cities pay for that.  Neuzil said this is paid through a grant.  Rettig said Wilson has a disaster reserve.  Neuzil said the disaster reserve is from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  Rettig said it is a reimbursement from FEMA for disasters.  Harney asked why the County cannot use grants to pay for sirens.  Stutsman said Wilson does use grants.  Neuzil said Wilson will use half of the grant.  The purchase of sirens is eligible for the grant, but Wilson wants to try to leverage more money.  Rettig said Wilson said Emergency Management had a lot of money they could move out of the grant, but he was only asking for $10,000 at a time. 

      Sullivan said this suggestion is nice because it kept Emergency Management with a flat budget, cut slightly into the Emergency Management reserve, and still left Emergency Management with some reserve.  Harney asked if the $10,000 is not an added tax for the rural side.  Rettig said yes.  Neuzil said it is an added tax, and Sullivan said it is added if the Board funds the sirens in this way.  Stutsman said the Board is just shifting from the General Basic Fund to the Rural Basic Fund.  Sullivan said this is done with the idea that the sirens and radios are mostly for the rural part of the county.  Harney said he was asking if the Board was going to put this in the Rural Basic Fund if the cities are still picking up their side.  The Board agreed to move the $10,000 to the Rural Basic Fund.

      Claiborne said the Social Services block grants from Correia are listed in the decisions pending document.  The initiatives are already in the budget, but the Supervisors can say whether they want to proceed with this.  Rettig said she understands the County is not getting its money’s worth out of the DHS position.  She said she is supportive of no longer funding the position, but she is not necessarily supportive of putting all of that money in the Social Services budget.

      Neuzil said the DHS position and the Social Services block grants are associated with each other.  Rettig said she is interested in creating a competitive grant cycle in Social Services and in economic development, however, the Board has not articulated this, discussed this, or created any parameters.  Rettig said she thinks the Board is one year premature in changing the budget.  She said the Board needs to do this in the summer of 2011, and grant applications will then occur simultaneously with the FY13 budget process.  Rettig said she does not like changing the budget very quickly without understanding the County’s priorities, and she does not like taking money from budgets and setting it aside for uses yet to be determined.  She said she is not opposed to changing the budget in the future, but the Board is moving one year too soon in consideration of how much research they have done.

      Neuzil said if the Board does not budget for something, they will not be able to start anything until July 1, 2013.  Rettig said the Board can start doing something July 1, 2012.  Stutsman said the Board cannot wait another budget cycle.  Rettig said the FY12 budget will end in June of 2012.  She said the Supervisors could discuss during the summer or the fall of 2011 and determine exactly how to proceed with the competitive grants.  Rettig added that department heads would know about the Board’s plans before they made their budget requests.  When the department heads receive notice to have budget requests and block grants in by a certain date, they will already know how the Board decided to handle competitive grants.  A social services agency, economic development group, or a quality of life agency would know the Board had already figured out how to score applications and how much money are expected to be available.

      Sullivan said the $60,000 listed for an innovation fund for youth development under General Basic block grants is taken from four or five different agencies.  He asked if the Board should take the $60,000 and put it back into the budgets of the agencies that would have been giving it up in order to make the grant competitive.  He said he does not disagree with Rettig, but if the Supervisors proceed with Rettig’s suggestion, they should also restore that $60,000.  Rettig agreed.

      Rettig said when agencies, such as the Agricultural Association and the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic, were asked to apply for block grants, they did not know the Board was considering trimming money from some of them.  She said the Board does not know if the money is the share of some larger grant.  If an agency must give up $10,000 or $5,000 from the County, they may be losing matching funds and may therefore lose a $50,000 grant.  She would prefer to figure out the competitive grant cycle in the budgeting after the Supervisors have done more homework on it.  Neuzil said that is fine, but in that case, it will be 18 months before the Board can move forward with competitive grants.  Stutsman agreed.  Neuzil said if the Supervisors want to wait 18 more months to start this, they will handle grants in FY12 the same way they always have.  He said does not really support this.

      Stutsman said she thinks the County is closer to moving forward with a competitive grants process than the Supervisors think; she does not think the County is 18 months away from moving forward with this process.  Neuzil said they are 18 months away from starting if they do not budget for it.  Stutsman agreed.  Rettig said the Board just put this into Correia’s goals on January 5th.  Stutsman said she thinks Correia has thought about this for a long time, as have the rest of the Supervisors.  She said the Economic Development Committee has also thought about this.  Stutsman said she is supportive of what Correia has set forth with $60,000 for an innovation fund and $15,000 for the sexual assault nurse examiner program.

      Stutsman said she thinks Correia has always told block grant agencies not to count on the same money every year; the Board reevaluates the money every year, and there are no guarantees for consistent funding.  Stutsman said that is the environment block grant agencies work in, and are well aware of this.  She said if the County tells a block grant agency that their funding is cut, the agency will determine how to reallocate dollars to fund other things.

      Neuzil asked if the Supervisors want to meet somewhere in between these two perspectives.  He said there is a middle ground; the Board could approve $30,000, funding for an innovation fund for youth development, so there would be less impact on organizations like United Action for Youth (UAY) that would currently be taking a significant reduction.  Neuzil asked if the Board wants to say they are interested in an innovation fund but that $60,000 is currently too high of an amount for it.  He asked if the Supervisors want to say they understand the perspective of reducing the DHS position and investing the money into an innovation fund.  Neuzil said compromise is possible if the Supervisors choose that route.

      Stutsman asked what Neuzil laid out in terms of the economic development funds the Board talked about.  Neuzil said that involved taking what the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD) was getting and reinvesting that money.  He said the Board could designate the dollars saved from the DHS position as the beginning of an innovation fund.  Rettig said the DHS position is not on the decisions pending document.  Rettig said the position is in the document under Social Services.

      Neuzil asked if the Board wants to create a $30,000 innovation fund, put the additional $30,000  back into agencies that had some funding cuts, and ask Correia to come back to the Board with a block grant.  Rettig said the document shows Correia eliminating the DHS position to save $75,000 and increasing General Assistance by $35,200.  Rettig asked where the $40,000 difference is.  Neuzil said the difference goes back to reallocations during the block grants.  Rettig said the $40,000 is not listed in the document.  Johnson said that is right.  Stutsman said Correia is essentially taking the money and putting it back into the Social Services budget.  Sullivan said Correia zeroed everything out.  Johnson said Correia reduced some of the grants to the agencies.  Stutsman said Correia reallocated funds.

      Rettig said she does not want to eliminate a position and assume the County can continue spending that amount of money on something else.  Stutsman said Correia came up with an innovative way to fund some programs that she has identified as having needs, like the Board has asked all department heads to do.  Stutsman said the Supervisors have asked Correia to do this, and now they are essentially going to penalize her for it.  Rettig said Correia has not done this; there is no grant application, scoring, or priorities.  Stutsman said she thinks Correia has a plan.  Sullivan said he thinks Correia will have these things by the time the process begins.  Rettig said it is currently January.  Stutsman said she is sure Correia will have a plan.

      Neuzil said part of this decision relates to investing some dollars toward what the United Way of Johnson County (United Way) has identified in its Community Needs Assessment.  Neuzil said the results of this assessment for the priorities of income, health, and education will not be available until March or April of 2011.  Sullivan said if the Board wants to proceed with an innovation fund, Correia will need to get to work and he has faith in Correia’s ability to do that.

      Neuzil said he would be comfortable with asking Correia to create a $30,000 innovation fund for youth development, and reinvest $30,000 back into those agencies losing funding.  Rettig said the Board would have to look at the Social Services budget, because $40,000 is missing from eliminating the DHS position.  If the position is eliminated and $35,000 is put into General Assistance, there is $40,000 remaining, and and asked where this money is.  She said if the remaining dollars were rolled into an innovation fund, it would not cut anyone’s budget and asked if that is correct.  Neuzil said some budgets are still cut.  Stutsman agreed.  Rettig asked what is the amount of budget cuts.  Sullivan said the Supervisors have that information.

      Neuzil said the UAY budget was cut $15,000 or $20,000.  Rettig said Social Services budget does not add up.  Neuzil said some agencies had increases in their budgets.  Stutsman agreed.  Harney said he also struggles with the fact that the County is eliminating a position and spending that money somewhere else.  He said if the Board wants to add services, then that is fine.  Neuzil said that is what the County is doing.  Harney said he does not want to eliminate a position just to have money for something else. 

      Stutsman said if she was a department head and heard about this discussion, she would not offer any ideas about how to eliminate positions, because she would be afraid of having that money taken out of her budget.  Rettig said she does not think that is the issue.  Rettig said the issue is that the Board is making a financial decision without seeing a plan.  The Board is making the financial decision to cut agencies’ block grants that they have normally been getting without having a plan for how to reallocate that money.  Neuzil said that is correct.  Rettig said she would prefer to do this in the reverse order; she would like to make the plan and then make the financial decision.  Neuzil said the problem with that relates to the timing of the County’s Strategic Plan and the United Way Community Needs Assessment.  He said he does not know if the Board wants to wait 18 months to move forward with this.

      Stutsman said Correia made the argument that some of the programs whose funding would be cut were also being funded through other sources.  For example, some programs were being funded through the Juvenile Justice Youth Development Program grant or the Decat grant.  Stutsman said the Board goes through this process every year to discuss the reallocation of block grants; it is never a guarantee that funding will remain consistent.

      Neuzil said he was addressing a more fundamental question of whether the Board wants to increase the block grants.  The Board is increasing General Basic block grants by taking dollars from the DHS position and putting them into the grants.  He asked if the Board is comfortable with increasing something that is not mandated.  Harney said that is basically what he was saying.

      Sullivan said the $15,000 for the sexual assault nurse examiner program is basically allocated from that.  The $60,000 comes from a reorganization of the block grants that already exists.  Stutsman agreed.  Sullivan said the $15,000 is a brand new block grant request.  Stutsman asked if the Supervisors want to leave the sexual assault nurse examiner program in the budget.  Rettig said she does not understand how Social Services would make an amount of $15,000 work for this program.  Neuzil said Lyness said this amount would work better than nothing, and they may hire a quarter-time position.  Stutsman said Social Services had funding from the University of Iowa for this program as well, and is excited the University of Iowa was willing to do this.  Harney said his concern was that this program would duplicate services, but Lyness said it would not.  Harney said he does not have a problem with leaving this in the budget.

      Sullivan said the $35,000 increase in General Assistance and the $15,000 for the sexual assault nurse examiner program are both new money, and Correia paid for this by eliminating the DHS position.  The block grant for an innovation fund just involves shuffling block grant money.  Rettig asked where the other $25,000 went.  Rettig said the document lists the elimination of the DHS position as a savings of $75,000.  Sullivan said he is not sure where the rest of the money is.  Stutsman asked if Correia added additional dollars to some of the other programs.  Sullivan said he could not tell by looking at the document.  Johnson said he does not think Correia uses the whole $75,000.  Sullivan agreed, and said the overall Social Services budget decreased a couple of thousand dollars.

      Sullivan said the $60,000 listed for an innovation fund is money that is already available.  Neuzil said it is a matter of whether the Board wants to take this money from an employee’s position.  Sullivan said he does not think the money is from the employee’s position; it is money that is already there.  He asked if the Supervisors want to make this money competitive or if they want to give it to the agencies they have already been giving to.  Neuzil said he does not think it works this way.  Sullivan said the Board would be cutting funding from agencies if they do not do this.  Neuzil said the Board is cutting funding from agencies.  Sullivan said he does not see this as a large cut, because those agencies can then compete for the $60,000.

      Stutsman said the Supervisors have said they want agencies to show results of the County’s funding.  This ensures that the Board’s funding is competitive as the Supervisors want.  She said the Board previously gave block grants to every agency, and the Supervisors had no idea what the agencies were using this funding for.  At one time, the Board was funding a planned parent program at Lutheran Social Services, and the Board discovered that this service had not been provided in years.

      Stutsman said the Board has progressed a long way from the previous system for allocating block grants.  She said Correia continues to refine that system so that the County’s dollars are targeted and meeting a specific need.  Stutsman said she does not want to fund an agency just because the Board has always done this, but wants to make a difference when dollars are going into the community.

      Sullivan said he would like to move forward with the $60,000 for an innovation fund.  He said it is difficult to decide on the sexual assault nurse examiner program.  He said Lyness’ description did not convince him that the program can move forward with only $15,000.  Sullivan said if the sexual assault nurse examiner program is funded but does not occur, there needs to be a way for the Board to reclaim that money.  Stutsman said the Board is replacing State moneys with this program.

      Stutsman said Correia said the program is supported in the amount of $140,000 through direct and indirect support from the University of Iowa, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC), and Mercy Hospital.  Stutsman said that is a great collaboration.  Neuzil said he is fine with keeping the sexual assault nurse examiner program in the budget, and Stutsman agreed.

      Rettig said she is against cutting the UAY, Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, and Mid-Eastern Council on Chemical Abuse (MECCA) budgets before there is actually a program in place.  She said she thinks the Board should wait and establish an innovation fund in FY13 after the Supervisors have done more homework on the topic.  Rettig said she relies on Lyness in the discussion of the sexual assault nurse examiner program.  She said it is Lyness’ job to tell the Board about programs like this, but if the Board cuts the funding from $30,000 to $15,000, Rettig does not know if the program can occur.  Rettig asked if the initial request was for $30,000 for the program.  Sullivan said the program would fall under Social Services.  Stutsman said Lyness requested $15,000.  Johnson said Lyness asked Correia for $30,000, and Correia put $15,000 into the budget.  Neuzil agreed.

      Sullivan said Lyness said there was previously a one page contract that block grant agencies signed.  Sullivan asked if the Board has a one page contract of some sort now for the Economic Development and Quality of Life Committee.  Johnson said there is no contract yet, but one will be drafted.  Sullivan said the Board will have this contract by the time it is needed.  Johnson agreed.  Sullivan asked if this contract will also be for the agencies Correia works with.  Stutsman said Correia already has a contract.  Sullivan said he thought Correia did not have a contract, and asked if the Board liaisons to Social Services know about this.

      Stutsman said Correia always had a contract signed with Decat, and asked if that is correct.  Stutsman said she thought this was just an extension, and Correia would use the same kind of template as she uses for Decat.  Sullivan said Correia does have a contract with Decat.  He said he was under the impression that the Board did not have the right kind of documentation to stop payments if a large malfeasance occurs in an agency the Board funds.  Rettig said she does not know the answer to that.  Sullivan said he thinks the Board needs to look into this.  Rettig said she is no longer a Board liaison to Social Services.

      Sullivan said the Board could provide $15,000 to the sexual assault nurse examiner program, but it is possible that the program will not be able to find anybody to do the work.  Rettig said the program requested $30,000, but Correia cut this amount to $15,000.  She said Lyness was not sure the program could do the work with only $15,000, but $15,000 would be better than nothing.

      Rettig asked if the Supervisors believe the sexual assault nurse examiner program is important and if the Board should follow Lyness’ recommendation to invest $30,000.  She said Correia was trying to create a flat budget, but Lyness' program did not ask for $15,000; this is the amount Correia cut it to.  Sullivan said this places Lyness’ recommendation against Correia’s recommendation.  He said Lyness is not considering what effect this will have on UAY and other agencies.  Harney said if that is the issue, the Board should move $10,000, so that there is $50,000 for an innovation fund and $25,000 for the sexual assault nurse examiner program.

      Stutsman said she would support $15,000 for the sexual assault nurse examiner program.  Sullivan said he wants to make sure the Board has a way to reclaim the funding in case something happens.  Stutsman agreed, and said she thought there was something in place for this.  Sullivan said the Board liaisons to Social Services can check into this.  Rettig said she would maybe support this.  The Board agreed to keep $15,000 for the sexual assault nurse examiner program open for consideration.

      Sullivan said Neuzil was suggesting a type of economic development innovation fund, and this would be the same as an innovation fund for youth development.  Rettig said this would cut $20,000 from what ICAD is getting in FY11, and it would also take $3,000 from the County budget.  Rettig asked if the other $5,000 came from a pledge to something that did not get funded.  Neuzil said there was a cut to the Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center (the Senior Center). 

      Johnson said the Economic Development and Quality of Life Committee recommended reducing funding to the Senior Center from $75,000 to $70,000.  Rettig said the $3,000 was already in the budget.  Neuzil said there was $3,000 in the rural side of the budget.  Rettig said she met with ICAD Group President Joe Raso, understands ICAD’s plan, and is willing to invest another $20,000 in it.  Stutsman said Raso sent a long email to the Supervisors.  Neuzil said he also talked with Raso.  ICAD originally laid out a comprehensive plan, and the County made an investment in that.  That investment ended, and the Board needs to decide what to do with ICAD’s request for another investment.

      Sullivan said he would like the Board to move forward with an innovation fund, and they can consider Raso’s letter as the first application for that money.  Stutsman said she is fine with that.  Sullivan said the Board will require agencies to fill out a form and ask for funding each year.  He said ICAD has a good application, and they may get the same amount of funding they have been receiving.  Rettig said she does not support this because the Supervisors have not done homework and they do not have a plan for this.  The Board asked agencies to apply for funding, and the agencies have applied, but now the Supervisors are changing their plan in the middle of this process.  Rettig said she thinks the Board should research this during the year and have an innovation fund in FY13.

      Stutsman asked where the other money came from.  Rettig said that money came from cutting $5,000 from the Senior Center, cutting $20,000 from ICAD, and using $3,000 from the budget.  She said she is against using these three sources of money.  Sullivan said this would not cut from ICAD; it would eliminate the ICAD Capital Fund, which was a separate line item that had expired.  Claiborne said that is correct.  Stutsman said she is fine with this.  Sullivan said the Board should encourage agencies to apply for this money.  Stutsman said she thinks it is up to the Economic Development and Quality of Life Committee to get things moving.

      Neuzil said the Board has identified quality of life as a major topic of strategic planning, and he thinks some of the discussion falls under quality of life.  He said understands Rettig’ concern, but he asked if the Board wants to be aggressive in moving forward before July 1, 2012.  Sullivan said if the Board decides to move forward there will be expectations to get some things done.  Stutsman agreed; she thinks the Board can do this.  Neuzil said there will possibly be expectations for the Board to start building a fund to hold those dollars.  Rettig said she does not support this.

      Harney said he wants to keep the block grant to the Economic Development and Quality of Life Committee.  Claiborne said Harney does not support what the document currently has laid out.  Neuzil asked if Harney wants to give the money to ICAD.  Harney said yes.  The Board agreed to keep the Economic Development and Quality of Life Committee block grant changes open for consideration.  Neuzil said this does not necessarily mean that ICAD will not get the funding.  Sullivan said ICAD could get $8,000 more in funding.

      Neuzil said there was some commitment from the Johnson County Historical Society (Historical Society) Capital Campaign to do some things with the County Farm, but has not heard any updates.  Stutsman said she thinks the Board needs to have a discussion with the Historical Society Board.  Neuzil said the Board needs to have a discussion before too many years of this investment pass by.  Rettig asked how much the pledge was for.  Neuzil said it was a pledge for $100,000.  Sullivan said the pledge was for five years.  Rettig said the pledge was for five years of $20,000, and she asked what year of the pledge the County is in.  Neuzil said he thinks the pledge goes until 2014.  Sullivan said they are in the third year of the pledge.

      Neuzil said this may be the third year of the pledge, but someone needs to let the Historical Society know about the Board’s expectations.  Sullivan said the Historical Society needs to start showing some results.  Stutsman said this is an instance where the Board needed to have a contract.  Sullivan said he thinks that is a great suggestion, and this should go on the list of things for Johnson to do.  Johnson asked what the Board wants him to do.  Sullivan said Johnson should get in touch with the Historical Society; this is not a budget issue.

      Rettig said she wants to pay the $175,000 for trails funding.  She said the County is making tremendous progress, but she does not have a driving ambition to pay for any of this funding out of the Rural Basic Fund.  Rettig said the decision had been made to pay for this out of the General Basic Fund, and she thinks that is fine.  Neuzil agreed.  Sullivan said he does not think the trails funding goes toward projects specifically for rural residents; he thinks this is for everybody.  Rettig said the Board had previously paid for $100,000 out of the General Basic Fund and $100,000 out of the Rural Basic Fund.  She said she does not have a problem with always paying for trails funding out of the General Basic Fund.  Johnson said the Supervisors are in agreement to fund $175,000 from the General Basic Fund.

      Rettig said a certain amount of the $175,000 needs to go to Conservation for maintenance of trails.  Sullivan said trails snow removal is listed under Conservation on the decisions pending document.  Rettig said if the Board votes not to fund trails from the Rural Basic Fund, they do not need to address the question of whether to move snow removal funding to Conservation.  Sullivan agreed.  Neuzil said this money should be added to the Conservation budget and removed from what the Board had normally given to trails.  Rettig and Sullivan agreed.  Stutsman said she does not have a problem with leaving $4,500 in the Conservation budget for trails snow removal.

      Stutsman said it bothers her that the County is taking over what is currently a good community project on the Dubuque Street Trail.  She said the trail is currently clear because the neighbors are doing it.  The County is taking over this responsibility and assuming all of the liability, and the Board does not know what the cost will be.  Stutsman said the trail is getting cleared, so she thought the Board should continue to let community residents take care of it.

      Harney said he has not been out on the trail to see if people are keeping the Dubuque Street Trail clean.  Stutsman said Assistant County Attorney Susie Nehring called her and said the trail was clean.  Sullivan said the trail has traditionally been cleared.  Rettig said it has not always been cleared, and that is why the Board has been receiving complaints in the last three years.  Neuzil said the trail does not normally get cleared.  Rettig said in years with more snow, people called and complained to her on the Trails Advisory Committee.  Sullivan said he knows there are people who have always taken care of the portion of the trail that is in front of their house.  Rettig said some people do this.

      Harney said he considers the fact that the Dubuque Street Trail is a trail and not a sidewalk for the residences.  Rettig said she does not think the residents see it this way.  Harney said he understands that.  Stutsman said residents will not see it that way.  Sullivan said the Board made a decision that if the County received certain grants, they would clear the trail for a certain number of years.  Harney said the Board did not specify how many times per year the trail would be cleared.  Sullivan agreed, but the Board did say they would clear the trail, so they have this responsibility.

      Rettig said she supports $175,000 for trails development, with $5,000 going toward maintenance of trails.  Neuzil said all of this funding is taken from the General Basic Fund.  Sullivan said he is fine with that.  Rettig said there is no net increase in the budget, but the Board is dividing the funds into $170,000 for new trail development and $5,000 for maintenance.  She said she does not know if all of the Supervisors agreed to this.  Harney said those are hopefully matching funds.  Rettig said the Board previously spoke about saving this money, so they would still be able to pay for a new trail if they never got a grant.  However, the County has been getting grants for this, although the grants are coming in three years later.

      The Supervisors agreed to fund trails out of Capital Expenditures in the General Basic Fund, and they also agreed to the snow removal funding for trails.  Rettig said none of the funding comes from the Rural Basic Fund.

      Harney introduced the topic of vehicle savings from the General Supplemental Fund under Elections.  Rettig said there is no dollar amount with this item.  Sullivan said the dollar amount is listed, but the Supervisors need to determine where to take this money from if they agree to it.  He said this is an option under the General Supplemental Fund.  Rettig said this request is to begin saving money to replace the van.

      Claiborne said Elections falls under the General Supplemental Fund and not the General Basic Fund.  The County saves for all of its cars out of the General Basic Fund transfer to Capital Expenditures.  Claiborne said he thought this was a technicality, and he asked if the Board would prefer to fund Elections out of the fund it actually operates in.  Stutsman, Sullivan and Harney agreed.  Sullivan said he supports both the vehicle savings and software maintenance savings for Elections, but he thinks both items should be in the General Supplemental Fund.  Stutsman and Rettig agreed.

      Neuzil asked if the van under discussion is for all County departments or if it is only for Elections.  Rettig said the van is available for everyone and anyone is welcome to use it, but nobody wants to drive it because it is unreliable.  She said this would be different with a new vehicle.  Neuzil said this is a County vehicle.  Stutsman said the vehicle will be off limits for people during election time.

      Rettig said Neuzil’s question is whether people who are not Elections employees can use the vehicle if it is paid for out of the General Supplemental Fund.  Neuzil agreed.  Rettig said she would want everyone to be able to use the vehicle.  Neuzil said he does not want to hear the excuse that the vehicle can only be used by Elections employees since it was paid for out of the Elections budget.  Rettig said if funding the vehicle out of the General Basic Fund is necessary to ensure that all departments can use it, she would prefer to do that.  Stutsman asked Johnson to check on this.  Sullivan said as long as the vehicle is being used for a general County purpose, it would not be an issue.  Neuzil said the Board needs to make sure the vehicle is automatically available for any County purpose.

      Rettig said if the County begins to use a fleet system where the vehicles are pooled, she wants this vehicle to be a part of that pool when it is not being used during election time.  Claiborne asked the Board if they want to fund the vehicle out of the General Supplemental Fund.  Sullivan said yes.  Harney said he would like to do this for now.  Stutsman said the Supervisors should make sure the vehicle can be used for other departments.  Neuzil said he is sure this will be fine as long as the vehicle is automatically available for Elections.

      Claiborne said he has read articles in government magazines about similar situations, and one article said a County could not use a Secondary Roads bulldozer to build for a different department.  Claiborne said using the Elections vehicle for other purposes could potentially be an issue.  Rettig said the Board should look into this to make sure.  She said she does not want a vehicle to sit idle for eight months out of the year and be ineligible for other people to use.  Stutsman said she thinks all the Supervisors agree on this.

      Sullivan said if the Supervisors want people to be able to use the vehicle, they should say General Supplemental Fund must rent the vehicle for four months and pay back the General Basic Fund.  Rettig said that is one way to do this.  Rettig said she just estimated the time period for elections to be four months.  Sullivan said he is not sure what the actual length would be.

      Sullivan said he is fine with funding software maintenance for Elections, but he thinks this should be from the General Supplemental Fund.  Rettig said Claiborne listed the Board as voting yes on funding through the General Supplemental Fund and not the General Basic Fund.  Rettig, Stutsman, and Sullivan agreed.

      Neuzil and Sullivan said they would support eliminating the position from Social Services; the Board agreed to keep this open for consideration.  Sullivan said he would support the General Assistance increases; he thinks Correia has determined this as the County’s greatest need.  Neuzil said he would support keeping this open for consideration.  Rettig said she is not clear where the other $40,000 is from eliminating the position in Social Services.  She said the money is not in the block grants and it is not listed under Social Services in the document.  She asked where the other $40,000 is.

      Sullivan said $15,000 of the $40,000 is set aside for the sexual assault nurse examiner program, and some of the rest is accounted for by the Social Services budget decreasing $6,000 or $7,000.  Rettig said that still does not add up to $40,000.  Stutsman asked Claiborne to clarify this for the Board.  Johnson said part of the $40,000 is also set aside for an innovation fund.  Rettig said Correia is proposing cutting $30,000 from MECCA.  Sullivan said the proposed innovation fund was paid for by the cuts to the other block grant agencies.  Harney suggested leaving this item open for consideration, and Correia can clarify where the money is going.  The Supervisors can change their decisions later.  Stutsman asked Claiborne to have Correia specify where this money came from.

      Sullivan said he thought Secondary Roads had a convincing argument for the expenditures for the County shed and radios.  He said the Board must fund the radios.  Rettig agreed.  She said she wants the County to consolidate its sheds, so this proposal would be a good place to start.  She said the Board can then see which shed can be consolidated next.

      Harney said County Engineer Greg Parker is asking for $99,000 for the radios, but he would like Parker to double check this number with the new Joint Emergency Communications Center Director.  Stutsman said the Board should leave this open for consideration for the time being.  Sullivan said it would be great if the radios could be purchased for less money.  Stutsman agreed.

      Neuzil said if any Supervisors have additional ideas, they can give them to Claiborne for the next budgetary conversation.  Claiborne asked if the Board would like Schultz to come to the Informal Meeting scheduled for January 10, 2011. to discuss Information Technology or if they would like Correia to come.  Neuzil said the Supervisors just need the questions they have asked to be followed up on.  Sullivan agreed.  Stutsman said she does not know if Correia needs to come in, but the Board needs to know how she came up with those totals.  Sullivan said he thinks it would be easier if Correia came to the meeting to discuss this.  Harney agreed.

      Neuzil said additional items on the decisions pending document can be discussed at the January 10, 2011, Informal Meeting, and the Board can go through the list again.  Claiborne said he forgot to ask the Board about cardiac monitors.  Rettig said the Board agreed to that item, and Harney agreed.  Rettig asked if the Board wants anyone besides Schultz to come to the January 10, 2011, Informal Meeting.  Neuzil said other people would only need to come to the meeting if the Board’s questions are not followed up on.  He said Johnson and Claiborne can work on that.  Neuzil said the next Informal Meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on January 10, 2011.

      Adjourned at 3:51 p.m.

Attest:  Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary