For this fiscal year, Assistant Planner Dan Swartzendruber said, Planning and Zoning is requesting an increase of $26,800. Most of it would be primarily for staff training and development, and $8,000 to facilitate training for the Building Department to become certified for the Uniform Building Code requirements, and hopefully migrate towards the International Building Code requirements. This would allow each inspector to become certified in one key area; later, they might cross-train, and certify in additional areas. If so, Swartzendruber said, some additional monies might be needed in coming years. $3,000 would pay for GIS training and the associated travel and lodging costs, integrating the Planning and Zoning database into the County’s GIS system. This would allow Planning and Zoning to do a lot of this work in-house instead of contracting the work out to a 3rd-part vendor. Planning and Zoning asked for an additional $4,800 in software and hardware upgrades; this would include both purchase and upgrade of software, and the purchase of an additional computer for the front desk. Neuzil asked if this computer would be accessible to the public, and Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak answered yes.

In Capital Expenditures, Swartzendruber said, they are asking for an additional $11,000, $10,000 for a new vehicle for the upcoming year, and $1,000 as savings towards a new copy machine. Swartzendruber showed the Board a mileage table for Planning and Zoning’s current vehicles and said they have been fortunate that they haven’t had any major breakdowns on any of the vehicles. He said Planning and Zoning’s philosophy is to buy 2- or 3-year old vehicles to keep the cost of the vehicles down. However, he said, the vehicles are being heavily used, especially with the new Building Code Department, and a new vehicle is needed. He said $10,000 could be used to replace any one of the 3 Planning and Zoning vehicles, as they all have similar mileage. Dvorak emphasized the $10,000 would not be used to buy an additional vehicle, but to replace a vehicle in the next 18 months, as needed. Lehman and Stutsman asked if they have any money saved for vehicle replacement, and Planning and Zoning staff answered no.

Thompson said that Planning and Zoning had a substantial increase in their budget last year to accommodate the new Building Inspection, but they hadn’t spent all of that money; a number of line items that have been considerably under-spent. She noted that they had not lowered these line items in their re-estimations for this year, and asked why they need additional money for the training, instead of using some of the under-spent money? Dvorak said the training period starts now, in the winter, so they haven’t gone to any classes in this fiscal year. Thompson asked if they went to any classes this year, and Dvorak said they went to very few, because they didn’t have the staff at this time last year. There was some discussion about some of the line items that were under-spent during the last fiscal year; the Supervisors wondered if Planning and Zoning was on target to again under-spend, and then the difference could be used for something like the GIS training. Dvorak said he couldn’t answer these questions right now, but said he would revisit these items. He said that Planning and Zoning knows it’s a tough budget year, and they respect that.

Neuzil asked about the line item called "Comp Plan," and Dvorak said these are monies they have set aside for contracting out work, and gave the example of the Land Use Plan. Dvorak said they have been discussing the possibility of rewriting the Zoning Ordinance, and a consultant would be hired if this occurs. Neuzil asked about the $10,500 in this year’s FY 02 budget, and asked if he anticipated spending this again in 03, $21,000 in 2 years? Neuzil noted this was the difference between a 2.3% increase and a 0% increase. Dvorak said they haven’t used much of these funds in the last couple of years; the item hasn’t been removed because it hasn’t been spent. He said it’s also used for some grant applications and matching funds; they have no monies for that. Dvorak said that if they would rewrite the Land Use Plan, it would be expensive; Linn County spent close to $300,000 for their Land Use Plan, unlike Johnson County, which did it in-house. Thompson asked if they would spend that in a year? Dvorak said the meeting between the Board of Supervisors and Planning and Zoning in January would answer this question. He said if they revisit the North Corridor Plan, it would be expensive if they went to an outside vendor for assistance.

The group also discussed the Zoning Ordinance, a 40-year old document that Planning and Zoning believes needs to be updated. Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore noted that this would be a major chore, and would be an expensive project. Stutsman said she agreed with Neuzil, that, in general, if they weren’t planning on using the money, it shouldn’t be in the budget; if they were planning on spending it, then fine, leave it in there. Dvorak said the Supervisors have a good point, and said past Boards have chosen to leave that item in the budget. Instead, he said, they could delete it, and if the Board of Supervisors told Planning and Zoning to do a project that needed assistance from an outside source, Planning and Zoning could come back to the Board for a budget amendment. Neuzil said Planning and Zoning is unique because it has added such a large section, Building Inspection. Thompson agreed, and noted that the Planning and Zoning budget has doubled in 2 years.

Dvorak showed the Board some statistics about the tax askings from his department, and Planning and Zoning staff noted that the department is becoming more efficient all the time. Previously, 70% of their budget was from tax askings, where now it is approaching only 50%. Neuzil asked about revenues. Swartzendruber said that in his early preparation for this presentation, things had looked bleak, but as of December 12, it appears that they are going to make their $200,000 projected figure. Swartzendruber said they had banner months in November and December, because of low interest rates and mild weather. He said they have permits worth almost $10,000 in their office right now, waiting to be issued. Neuzil asked if the $180,000 figure should be revised upward, then, if they thought they were going to make the estimate? Dvorak said they will revise that number, to $200,000. Thompson said if they look at budget years rather than calendar years, 2001 would have included 6 months of the old building fee, and 6 months of the new building fee. Dvorak said this is why it made it hard to estimate, and Swartzendruber said they are on track to get to the $200,000 estimate, and are on track with the number of permit applications as well.

Swartzendruber said revenues for platting and zoning application fees are down, primarily because the Board’s land use policies are working; the Road Performance Standards also play a part. He said people know not to spend their money on the application when it probably won’t be approved. Thompson asked, then, why the combined zoning and platting fees went up, from $36,000 in 2000 to $54,000 in 2001? Swartzendruber said that they budgeted $12,000 for zoning petition fees, and they’re only at $1,400; they budgeted $17,000 for plat filing fees, and they’re at $5,300. Thompson asked how they got $46,000 last year; what happened? Swartzendruber said there were some large plats, which generate more income; Dvorak agreed, and said some subdivisions generate $25,000 fees, where now all they have is Farmstead Splits. Moore said they would often do 100 plats a year; this year, they only have done 46 plats, and of those, 27 were one-lot Farmstead Splits. Moore noted that Planning and Zoning is paid per lot on a plat, in addition to a base application fee, so Farmstead Splits do not generate much revenue.

Dvorak said Planning and Zoning has sent out inquiries to the larger 10 counties in Iowa and asking for their fee schedule, so they can do a comparison. If Johnson County is lower than most, Dvorak said they will be back to the Board to amend their policy, and raise fees. Planning and Zoning staff thought that Johnson County fees are low. Swartzendruber noted that as they enact more ordinances, more staff time is involved. Stutsman thought that Planning and Zoning should also do an analysis of what are the County’s costs for certain items, and assess fees accordingly. She thought Planning and Zoning should charge whatever their cost was to process and evaluate a platting application, and said that Linn County’s costs were not as relevant. Swartzendruber said they could do a time study; Dvorak said the only problem is that they don’t have a lot of applications to look at now. He said the Farmstead Splits are pretty easy, but the large subdivisions take much longer. Stutsman wondered about charging by the hour; Dvorak said a base fee plus hours wasn’t a bad idea. Swartzendruber asked when the fee schedule was last revised; Moore said it has been more than 6 1/2 years. Harney asked how the County compares to Iowa City, and Dvorak replied they are way low. Neuzil asked how a change would take place; Dvorak replied they would present it to the Board, and then go through the hearing process, and then back to the Board again for final approval, and then amend the ordinance. Dvorak estimated it would take 4-6 months to accomplish this. Thompson thought the fee schedule should approximate what it costs the County to do the work. Swartzendruber thought they could arrive at a fair estimation of their costs; Lehman said it would be important to have justification if they were going to raise fees. Dvorak said that, to his knowledge, they have had very, very few complaints about the fee schedule for zonings and plattings. Thus, he said, he didn’t anticipate a large number of complaints if they did raise fees. Dvorak didn’t think they would ever recoup all of their costs. Thompson said if the plan was to double the fees, they should probably stagger it over several years, gradually.

Neuzil remembered that the Building Inspection unit was at one time approached with the possibility of being hired by communities; has that occurred? Dvorak said this issue is on the table, but has no budget implications yet. Dvorak said he has been working with Swisher City Attorney Steve Greenleaf and Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell to create a contract. Dvorak said Oxford was very interested, but he hasn’t heard back from them. Dvorak said they would only want about 20 permits a year, which would not create a huge impact. He said they really liked working with Swisher, as that’s where they’ve done many of their inspections already.

Dvorak also said they are going to make a presentation to the Building Code Study Committee about mobile home park inspections, for decks, garages, remodeling, etc. Dvorak wasn’t sure if they currently had the staff to do that. Chief Building Inspector Ruben Arsate said there are a lot of dangerous things going on in mobile home parks with faulty wiring, etc. Thompson wondered if they would recoup enough in revenues to cover additional staff, and Dvorak said they didn’t know. Harney asked why they aren’t currently covering mobile home parks, and Dvorak said they had chosen not to, to begin with the rural areas first, and later evaluate if they had time to go into other areas. Dvorak said the Inspectors are overburdened already. Harney said he didn’t think it was fair that he needed a permit to put a deck on his house, while the owner of a mobile home did not. Dvorak answered that they simply had had to choose their priorities for the first year of the system, and they could re-evaluate later. Dvorak said this is a Board decision; he would be glad to start inspecting mobile homes tomorrow, but he would be back in requesting funds for more staff. Moore said that they had stayed away from mobile homes initially because manufactured homes that are established in newer manufactured home parks already meet State standards for inspection. Dvorak said some of the older manufactured home parks do not have any code requirements. Stutsman asked about fees for mobile home parks, where there is often low-income housing? Dvorak answered inspections would only occur on new construction; they would not go into existing structures unless requested to do so. Even then, he said, that would be on a voluntary basis. Dvorak said they also had stayed away from interior remodeling, but they would be looking at adding those inspections as well. Stutsman and Harney noted that they support the Building Code for the safety it provides to Johnson County citizens, not to generate revenue for the County.

Neuzil asked if it was possible that as Planning and Zoning staff got better and better trained, they might seek other employment with higher salaries? Dvorak said he wasn’t sure how to answer that, and noted he has employees that are paid $20,000 less than comparable Iowa City employees, and the County Chief Inspector is paid less than Iowa City’s Field Inspectors. Dvorak said the employees had to be trained and licensed, for the credibility for the Planning and Zoning office. Stutsman said training is an investment of tax dollars, and she wanted to be sure that the employee would stay with the County for at least a while following the training. Stutsman said that she and Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek have talked about a policy where the County would pay for the training if the employee agrees to stay with the County for at least 6 months. Dvorak said he would have no problem with that policy. Neuzil said he was very impressed with Dvorak’s budget presentation. Dvorak said they know a lot more this year; last year, they had to make a lot of assumptions.

Soil and Water Conservation Commissioner Chris Taliga thanked the Board of Supervisors for its past support of the Johnson County Soil and Water Conservation position, which the Board has funded since 1997. Taliga said Johnson County Soil and Water Conservationist Lori Schnoor has been the Johnson County Soil and Water Conservationist for the last 4 years. They have made great strides in Johnson County in terms of providing leadership and services in the area of Civil Engineering and Natural Resource Planning. Johnson County Soil and Water Conservation District has a field office here, in cooperation with NRCS, who also provides a District Conservationist. This office is a training office, where beginning conservationists come to learn how to be a soil and water conservationist and usually, after about 2 years, they leave for a position in their field. Taliga said this situation has left them with a gap in technical assistance to the rural customer. Schnoor’s position, supported by the Board, provides full-time rural soil and water conservation planning assistance to the rural customers as well as to the County offices such as Planning and Zoning, the Health Department, and Secondary Roads.

Taliga said this position has also allowed other staff members the time to approve erosion-control plans for Planning and Zoning, and to fill in where there are gaps in the services. Together as an office, she said they provide a huge spectrum of services to Johnson County. Taliga said originally when they requested $30,000 from the County in 1997, it was for an entry-level position, but soon realized that they didn’t have the money to administer those funds, the 14% paid to IPERS and workman’s compensation. Also, she said the $30,000 didn’t cover training, traveling, raises, or insurance. Taliga said they tried to find alternative funding to cover these needs, and did find some through grants. They also hold an annual plant and tree sale that provides them with some revenues. Taliga said, though, that that funding is not consistent and there is no way they can stay competitive with this salary for a County Soil and Water Conservationist. She said they’ve also found that they have provided some urban-related services through a grant that allowed a staff member to do erosion-control plans and provide other assistance in Sensitive areas. Taliga said that staff member is now working under another grant so the County Soil and Water Conservationist needs to pick up those services. Taliga said they are poised to do that but they need to provide a work environment that is competitive. Taliga said they can’t keep staff under the current financial situation.

Taliga said they are requesting $50,000 dollars this year, whereas last year they requested $30,000. Thompson asked if it has been $30,000 every year since 1997, and Taliga said yes. Taliga said they’ve dipped into their education funds to supplement this, to avoid asking the Board of Supervisors for more money. Taliga said they shouldn’t have waited this long because now they really need it. Stutsman said she always thought the County contribution to this was to supplement what was already in place for hiring this person; she didn’t realize they were funding this whole position. Taliga said the Board funds one full-time position. Taliga reported that Linn County has created a Soil a Water Conservation Department within their County infrastructure that has one employee, employed out of their local NRCS field office; this allows the employee to get County benefits. Taliga said as a non-profit entity of State government, they are not allowed to buy insurance for one employee.

Taliga said they are asking for 2 things: consider increasing the block grant to $50,000, to cover a competitive wage, and a work session to brainstorm a way to make the County employee eligible for County benefits. Thompson asked what the County employee’s salary is now, and Taliga replied $31,000. Taliga said this includes no insurance, training, or IPERS. Taliga said that Lori Schnoor has excelled in many, many areas, including utilizing GIS technologies in the field office and conservation planning. Taliga said they do civil engineering work in their office, and this requires ongoing and continual training.

Neuzil asked what their ending balance is going to be for the last couple of years. He asked if they are in a deficit every year. Taliga said yes, and the deficits, over 3 years, is approaching $21,000, or more. Taliga said they don’t consider this a loss, by any means. Taliga reported that there are ways that this could be looked at in a positive way, and the County could recoup its money. Planning and Zoning currently advises developers to get soil-erosion plans from Soil and Water Conservation for lot subdivisions of greater than 4 lots in rural areas. Taliga said they have recently talked with Secondary Roads, and even single new homes built in rural areas cause considerable soil erosion problems for Secondary Roads. Taliga said all homes in rural areas should have erosion control plans, a service Planning and Zoning can charge for and Soil and Water can provide. Thompson asked if this would be a user fee, and Taliga said yes. Taliga said that the Conservation District provides information and documentation to both rural and urban residents, and there’s no reason the County should not receive something in return.

Thompson asked what will happen if the Board doesn’t fund this position? Taliga said there are certain responsibilities of government, such as infrastructure, health, and the environment. Taliga said soil erosion problems become water quality problems in rivers and streams, and everybody’s costs go up. Taliga said if they didn’t fund this service there would be customers who couldn’t get their services because staffing is too thin. Thompson asked if the Board is requiring residents to have a plan, and they couldn’t come to the Conservation District to get it, where would they go? Taliga said there might be some engineering firms that might be able to provide the service, but there isn’t really anyone with a combination of civil engineering and natural resource planning like the Soil and Water Conservation District.

Taliga said they didn’t realize this was a problem for Secondary Roads until they met with them; she said there are significant costs to Secondary Roads, for the excavation equipment and personnel required to clean out ditches. Thompson asked if the $50,000 covers the cost of health insurance. Taliga said the cost of health insurance is not covered by the $50,000, because they don’t have any way to provide insurance. Stutsman said this is an important policy decision that they are going to have to discuss. Stutsman thought that perhaps this person should be in Planning and Zoning, or even Secondary Roads, and asked to see a copy of Schnoor’s job description. Taliga thought it would be difficult for the Soil and Water Conservation District to be housed in either Planning and Zoning or Secondary Roads because of the equipment they use. Thompson pointed out to Taliga that the Board is receiving a lot of requests from various State agencies that are having funding cuts, and are asking the Board of Supervisors to make up the difference. Stutsman said if the Board is going to fund an employee, she wanted to be sure the person is providing services to the County, perhaps beyond what Schnoor is currently doing. Lehman said they could talk about making this person a County employee in a work session: examine a job description and review the situation with Human Resources and the County Attorney. Stutsman and Lehman volunteered to research this situation and be in touch with Soil and Water Conservation.

Recessed at 2:55 p.m.; reconvened at 3:00 p.m.

Iowa City Area Development (ICAD) President Joe Raso said they are requesting $25,000, annually. Raso said their goal is to ask municipalities to invest at $1.25 per capita, although their request of Johnson County is a little lower than that number. In the past decade, ICAD has assisted with over $200,000,000 in capital investments in their service territory, and helped with creating more than 3,300 jobs in the Iowa City area of about $15 an hour, which is higher than the average in the area. ICAD has worked with new and existing companies through the Corridor Careers website, which allows those companies to post jobs; ICAD then markets these jobs to alumni of Iowa colleges and universities, to try and bring people back to the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids corridor.

ICAD’s 2 primary goals for the next 5 years include: talk to existing industry to make sure they know their plans and find out how ICAD can help, and assist around 20 existing companies in expanding their operations. Raso said they would like to help about 15 new companies locate into Johnson County. These goals would create over 2,000 jobs and $150,000,000 in tax base. Raso detailed ICAD’s most recent accomplishments in working with various local companies in their expansions and relocations. Raso pointed out that although most of these projects did not take place in unincorporated Johnson County, the city valuations and taxes generated by the companies do directly impact the County. Raso said that Industrial and Commercial property not in TIFs generates about $1,130,000 annually, in operating funds for the County. He said they are currently working with 11 companies on expansion projects and 15 others on possible relocations.

Raso explained some other areas of partnership. ICAD has worked closely with County staff in developing an economic development plan; this project is ongoing. ICAD also has been in conversation with County staff on the development of a building and site database that will better indicate to companies interested in growing here what sites and buildings are available throughout the ICAD territory. Raso said that ICAD generates taxes that go into the City and County coffers, and said ICAD could help the County and State grow out of the current difficult budget situation. Raso said that ICAD is asking for about $2 million as a combination from private and public investors. Raso said in the past, ICAD has been about 55% private investment, while this year it is up to 65%; Raso said they hope to reach 70% private investment.

Lehman said it took him awhile to understand what the County gets from ICAD. He said that ICAD helps create jobs that might be inside municipality boundaries, but many of those people live in the rural area. He said that cities such as North Liberty, Iowa City and Coralville get new employees, but it generates a county tax base. Lehman said you don’t budget yourself out of an economic downturn, but grow yourself out of it, and ICAD helps do that.

Thompson asked what was given to ICAD last year. Raso said $15,000, which was a $5,000 decrease from previous years. Lehman said he looked this up, and the Board historically gave ICAD $20,000. Lehman said it would be helpful to see what some companies are investing. Lehman said what large municipalities were asked to contribute was small compared to what companies contributed. Bill Bywater said that his company has committed $5,000 a year for the next 5 years. ICAD Chair Steve Atkins said that most companies locate in an urban environment for the amenities, but they are all County residents, and they expect County services. Atkins added that a number of financial institutions have moved into the Iowa City/Coralville area by moving their charter; these include Lone Tree, Solon, Kalona, and Oxford. These banks provide financial support to ICAD. Thompson said she voted for the decrease last year because the Board had not been seeing much of ICAD, other than the annual budget request. Stutsman added that the Board wasn’t even being recognized as a partner; in a recent newspaper article, all ICAD partners had been listed, and Johnson County was not included. Thompson said ICAD has been much more visible to the Board recently, and said she appreciated the kind of information Raso has presented to the Board today. Lehman said in his monthly report, he often can’t mention ICAD’s activities, due to confidentiality concerns. Neuzil said the Board will need assistance from ICAD in the formation of their Economic Development Plan.

Stutsman asked Raso about the fact that there are only 2 women on the ICAD board. Atkins and Raso said this is a consideration; they recently had a woman leave the Board. Raso also said there are 3 or 4 women on their Advisory Council.

Atkins said that the ICAD Council’s first priority is to grow the tax base. He said Iowa City is the only large city in the State of Iowa without a sales tax. This adds even more importance to the commercial and industrial component of the tax base. Atkins said it’s important to remember that this is the reason ICAD exists, and repeated his hope that they can grow out of the current economic difficulty. Neuzil said the most difficult part of the Board’s budget is the lack of economic development, which means reliance on property taxes on residential housing. Atkins encouraged the Board to consider relaying a very simple economic development message: to grow the tax base.

Historic Preservation Board President Kristin Summerwill said she is the newly-elected President to the Board of the Historical Society. Summerwill thanked the Board for past support; the County has been the mainstay and core funder for the Historical Society in past years. Summerwill said the Historical Society tries to represent the County in 3 ways: programming, selection and recruitment of Board members, and future planning. She said they tried to get representation from places in the County other than Iowa City and Coralville, which is where their 2 sites are. Summerwill said the Historical Society is also funded by Iowa City and Coralville, but pointed out that the combination of Board and staff has been very successful in getting money through grants, sponsorship, and gifts. She said they have raised over $100,000 in addition to the money the Historical Society gets from the County, Iowa City, and Coralville. Summerwill said the Historical Society is also about to begin, for the first time, a major business membership campaign. She said they have a number of interesting projects in progress. Summerwill said the Board of the Historical Society is extremely pleased with their staff, and the progress that they been made.

Historical Society Director Margaret Wieting repeated her thanks to the Board of Supervisors for their support. She said that since September 11th the world has changed, and it has helped everyone realize the importance of their heritage and values. She said that organizations like the Historical Society are the keepers of the stories and artifacts that have defined us as a County, a community, and a nation. Wieting said because of this, they can come to the Board with confidence and ask for their increased support, despite the difficult times.

Wieting reiterated the Historical Society’s mission, to be a public center of learning about the historical and cultural heritage of Johnson County. They do this through education, preservation, and interpretation. Wieting said the Board of Supervisors’ increased support would allow the Historical Society to do a number of things:

• Continue to be a first-class repository of Johnson County history
• Create more education opportunities for children and adults to access historical information through an on-site library via the Internet
• Preserve more stories of Johnson County families, businesses, and organizations
• When necessary, hire consultants with particular expertise to help the Historical Society preserve the story of Johnson County
• Continue to offer programs and services to the public at no charge

Wieting said the heart and soul of the organization is their collections. Like any non-profit, the Historical Society has dreams and goals that surpass existing accomplishments, and all of them cost money. To a large extent, they are staff-driven. Wieting said the Board’s contribution helps the Historical Society employ 3 full-time staff, and these staff persons allow the organization to do so much. Wieting said in the next year they would like to do a number of things: expand their educational programming, implement a recognition program and exhibition of century businesses in Johnson County, pay for materials involved in collection care and maintenance, expand the opportunities for historic games, continue and expand the traveling trunk program, expand the History for Lunch series, expand the summer day programming, and develop a website.

Wieting emphasized Summerwill’s point that the Historical Society actively pursues funding sources other than the support of municipalities. Last week, she said, they received a State Historical Society grant to the Cultural Affairs Department of $7,200, to look at the Asylum and train volunteers to lead tours and open houses on the site. Wieting said that person will also develop and present an hour-long outdoor interpretive program of farming community songs and stories, on the Asylum site. Wieting said they also received a $17,000 grant to begin working with all the Johnson County school districts to integrate the curriculum of the schoolhouse into 5th-grade classes when they study Iowa history. The goal is that every 5th-grader in Johnson County would come and experience what it was like to go to school in 1876 and 1951 on the 2 floors of the schoolhouse. Wieting said that although the schoolhouse is located in Coralville, it is really a Johnson County treasure, and tells the story of schoolhouses throughout Johnson County. She said Stone Academy is the 2nd-oldest remaining school in Iowa; there are only 36 one-room schoolhouses in Iowa on the National Register. Only 3 2-room schoolhouses in Iowa are on the National Register, and the Coralville Schoolhouse is one of those 3. Wieting said it’s not only a local treasure, but a County and State treasure as well. She said these will be showcased next summer during a national conference on country schools held at the University of Iowa. She said both the Coralville Schoolhouse and Stone Academy will be toured by the attendees of the conference.

Wieting said the Johnson County Historical Society is continuing to build partnerships, and mentioned the Johnson County Historic Preservation Commission. She said they are developing an active acquisition plan to discover what the Historical Society does not have in its collection to tell the story of Johnson County. Wieting said they are also having discussion with the Old Capitol Museum, which will be closed for 2 years for restoration.

Neuzil said the Historical Society manages 3 areas: the Coralville Schoolhouse, Plum Grove, and the County Asylum. He said the Coralville Schoolhouse and Plum Grove are beautiful places, in great condition; the County Asylum, on the other hand, is not. He said he would be uncomfortable putting people in those buildings. He asked who spent the money for restoring the Coralville Schoolhouse and Plum Grove? Wieting answered that the Plum Grove site is owned by the State of Iowa, and they are responsible for maintenance. The Coralville Schoolhouse was restored by the Johnson County Historical Society in the early 70s; currently, the City of Coralville provides many services such as snow removal and landscaping, in partnership with the Johnson County Historical Society. She said because the site is on the National Registry, it is eligible for Historic Site grants. Neuzil suggested that, at some point, the Historical Society needs to think about that for the County Asylum as well, because it is deteriorating. Wieting said she was in the horse and hay barn last week, and experts feel it is in good shape, though it obviously needs repair. She wondered if she should ask 3 contractors with historic preservation background to look at the horse barn, gratis, to see what it needs. Neuzil said it’s great that Coralville has been a priority; now, the County Farm needs to be a priority, as well.

Wieting said she’s only been director for 2 years, and said she wasn’t sure that there have always been clear-cut signals that the Historical Society can move forward with the project; there’s been ambiguity. Thompson said that, so far, it has been thought that repairs would be at the Board of Supervisors’ expense. Thompson said in its historical day, the place wasn’t very nice; it wasn’t a nice place to be, and it was cold in the winter. Harney said the siding is also deteriorating on the asylum building. Wieting noted that the Historical Society does not have access to the dairy farm, because Chatham Oaks locks that up. Lehman thought there would be consensus to at least have a contractor assess the buildings, and said the Board could get permission to get access to the Historical Society. Thompson said if they knew how much it would cost, they could think about working it into the budget. Stutsman said improvements would come at a cost. Neuzil said he wanted to see the County Asylum at the same priority level as the Coralville project. Wieting said that, to be honest, there was ambiguity; is the Historical Society able to go forward and come back with a plan? Neuzil said there are 2 different issues: one is with the 163 acres of land, the other with fixing the buildings. Thompson said they have never given the Historical Society permission to do anything; Neuzil and Wieting agreed. Summerwill said they have very clear-cut relationships with Coralville and the schoolhouse, and with Plum Grove and the State; they are long-term, clear-cut, definitive relationships. She said they feel they don’t have that with the County, and would like to establish that type of relationship. Neuzil asked what this would take? Summerwill thought the ball was in the Board of Supervisors’ court; Thompson suggested that if the Board received documentation of how much it would take to make appropriate repairs, they would look at it. Stutsman said she would rather let the process of studying the County Farm go forward as planned, and Harney agreed. Thompson said they shouldn’t let the buildings fall down; Stutsman replied they weren’t going to fall down. Neuzil thought they were 2 different issues: the land and the buildings. Lehman thought the building analysis could be done in conjunction, as a consideration of the whole picture. Wieting said they are positioned to look at the 40-acre site, on which the buildings stand, but they haven’t gone ahead yet. Summerwill said the impetus so far, with the site survey, etc., is the Historical Society trying to move on the issue, but not knowing how they can move. Neuzil said he understood they are in the early stages, but he was suggesting that if there’s a problem with the roof on the asylum, the Historical Society would want to have a "Fix the Roof" fundraiser, just as they did on the Coralville Schoolhouse. Wieting said that from her understanding, her organization is only doing the interpretation; it’s much different than the Coralville Schoolhouse. Stutsman agreed, saying the County owns the buildings, not the Historical Society. Neuzil countered that the Historical Society raises money for it. Lehman said that right now, they have asked for permission to evaluate the buildings. Stutsman acknowledged that there have been mixed messages, and said they are in the process of determining whose role is what, and how the County and the Historical Society will interact with one another.

Neuzil asked what Coralville gives the Historical Society each year; Wieting answered $6,500, and in-kind services with the maintenance of the Schoolhouse. Wieting asked if the Historical Society should go ahead and evaluate the buildings on the site to see if they’re worthy of being nominated for the National Register. Thompson said the County people put some extra shingles on the asylum roof, and County staff thought it might need a new roof. Neuzil suggested that, for the County to commit $50,000, he hoped they would be high on the priority list. The Board gave the Historical Society permission to go ahead with the building evaluation. Neuzil said it seemed that Coralville gets a lot of attention for its investment; Summerwill said this is indicative of the relationship the Historical Society has had with Coralville versus the relationship with the County. Summerwill said a concrete, positive, forward-moving relationship with the County might yield good results. Neuzil said that in his opinion, there is no County Farm unless those buildings are fixed. He didn’t know where the Board of Supervisors would find the money for that, with all of the other County capital problems. Neuzil thought they are on the right track.

Wieting said Leah Rogers is continuing her work on the County Farm site, and said Rogers, an archaeologist, and other people are walking the site looking for artifacts. The group discussed the search for burial sites and graves on the site, as well, and the various methods they are using to look for disturbances and depressions in the ground.

Adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary