Bolkcom: Item d is minutes we've received. Item e is reports and we'll hold reports for a minute maybe if we could. And we'll go to item 7, which would be discussion from members of the public. Jerry?

County Assessor Jerry Musser: Just was passing by; I thought I'd stop in and tell you that the benefit for Ron Lenz and his wife, my employee, was held Sunday morning. It was very successful. The last count I've heard, it's $8,200 or more cleared for the family.

Bolkcom: Wow.

Musser: Certainly I'm sure they want to thank the County employees that were very heavily involved helping down there, plus all of the contributions and ticket sales that came out of this building. I think I probably turned in close to $1000 that came out of here. Some of it coming from realtors, appraisal companies that we contacted. But it appears to have been very successful and 800 or more people served.

Bolkcom: Wow.

Musser: But the amount of money was even greater than that because of the extra...

Bolkcom: Contributions.

Musser: ... contributions that came forth.

Bolkcom: Great. It was quite a good event. Jerry, good work on that. I know you put a lot of work in...

Stutsman: Yes.

Musser: It wasn't me it was some other people...

Bolkcom: organizing that. Yes.

Musser: ... particularly from the Hills... the church down in Hills, I think were heavily involved in it. I had very little to do with it except selling some tickets around here. They were certainly some others that put it together that (inaudible) great big thanks. But anyhow...

Bolkcom: Great.

Musser: ... County employees' participation was awfully great.

Lacina: Shannon was a big help too. Yes, thank her.

Stutsman: Uh-huh.

Bolkcom: Great. Thank you Jerry, for that report. Appreciate it.

Bolkcom: Bob?

Reverend Bob Welsh: (Inaudible) I saw on your 5,b agenda, I thought maybe you proposing discussing something other what you now have in place. Sometime I think it would be good if you looked at televising your informal Tuesday meeting.

Bolkcom: Uh-huh.

Welsh: The reason why I say that is, example today, you discussed in for more detail today than you will on Thursday the grant for well water program and that kind of information. Somehow that's valuable information to give out. I guess at some point I hope that you'll discuss this.

Bolkcom: Good point, Bob. Thanks.

Duffy: In other words the extra televised... televising an extra meeting.

Bolkcom: Yes.

Welsh: Yes.

Duffy: I'm not so sure I'd be doing that because that's the public's right to know thing. Last fiscal year the ads in the paper and the video that we have for some of our formal meetings amount to $35,478.45, which is a lot of money because you have to multiply this over some years. I would say we're kind of opening up the door to other departments, maybe, that videos, from what I've been hearing, they've been collecting dust anyway, most of them. So we're getting into this budget, Bob. A few dollars means a lot.

Welsh: I understand that.

Duffy: I'm really concerned about this budget.

Jordahl: I'm concerned about the budget, too, Charlie, but Bob's point is something that certainly reminds me of my impression before I was a member of the Board of the usefulness of these discussions. A lot of information comes out of these informal sessions that would be good for people to have. Not very many people can come or do come to these meetings on Tuesday mornings, but many more people will come up to me and tell me, he, I saw you on television. A lot more people would find out the information that we talk about which is public information. When you say it's the public's right to know business, you know that's exactly right.

Bolkcom: Right.

Jordahl: I'd be in favor, if the cost of it were no more than doubling the cost of what we're doing currently. There's a lot more information in the Tuesday meetings.

Duffy: I don't know about doubling the cost...

Bolkcom: Well we can...

Duffy: ... it might amount to $70,000. You just mean video?

Bolkcom: Just video, I think is what he's saying. But we can do a better job, I think, on Thursdays in the short term of explaining what we're doing, if there's an item.

Stutsman: Uh-huh.

Bolkcom: I think that point about the Well Program we could take a minute on Thursday or 2, to talk a little more detail what that's about.

Duffy: That's been going on quite a while, the Well Program. So I think the folks in the rural area know that.

Bolkcom: All right. Any other members of the public wish to address the Board? Joe?

Joe Gjovig: Have you any idea how many people are watching the TV programs that are being televised now?

Bolkcom: Thousands.

Gjovig: Is it? (Inaudible) many.

Bolkcom: Lots.

Stutsman: It's impossible to know an exact number. All we know is the feedback we get when people say, I've watched it on TV. I have asked people and I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of people that say they do watch, they watch them in their entirety and thank me for having them televised.

Duffy: On the other side of the coin, there's been people tell me as long as these meetings are going to televised I'm not coming up here. They don't want to be on television and I haven't seen them either. There's been quite of few with that. But I understand that televising meetings, the way we're doing them now, some people do watch them. And I hope they do or else we're throwing away money, but there's a lot of people in the rural area that don't have cable.

Stutsman: That's the regret I have is that we can't get it to the rural areas.

Bolkcom: All right. Any other members of the public wish to address the Board? All right.

Bolkcom: Back up to item e, and that's reports from members of the Board. Jonathan?

Jordahl: I really want to defer to Charlie on the item last night.

Bolkcom: Or... Maybe we can... Can I halt this for a minute? Maybe we should go to the work session. We have Karen Countryman and Rick here. Can we do reports after that? Would that be OK?

Jordahl: That'd be fine with me.

Welsh: Do the reports on Thursday.

Bolkcom: Do the reports on Thursday? All right.

Jordahl: Yes.

Bolkcom: OK. Sorry about that. I just looked up and I get these looks from...

Jordahl: Like how long is this going to...

Bolkcom: My god, we've got this work session and what is this... We don't want to sit through these boring Supervisor reports.

Bolkcom stated that this was on the agenda as a result of last week's discussion about the Plan. He said he wanted an update on what the Zoning's Commission viewpoint on the Plan was and then to get feedback from the Board about where they are. Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak said that when the Zoning Commission met 2 were absent because of illness. He said there was a pretty good response from the public; 3 or 4 people spoke. He said the Zoning Commission, speaking for them, 2 of the members felt they hadn't had enough time to actually get into the 26 pages well enough to address the questions they had and then set a public hearing for the end of the month, which was the original goal. He said they expressed concerns that they wanted more time. He said one member wanted to wait until the end of November. Dvorak said they tried to express their concern that they didn't need that long to look at 26 pages. He said they agreed to have another work session on the 10th of November at 6:30. Duffy said he would be gone and Dvorak said it was the Zoning Commission. Duffy said he wasn't for that because he had to go to the State Economic Development Committee Meeting. Dvorak said it wasn't a public hearing, just a work session, the date was set and they couldn't really do anything about it. He said the pubic hearing with luck would be within the next week or 2 after that. He said he couldn't tell them when to have their public hearings. Bolkcom asked if it was a work session on the 10th. Dvorak said correct. Duffy said the public could speak at it though. Dvorak said they could and the Commission does take input from the pubic at the end of meetings similar to the Board of Supervisors.

He said there was considerable discussion about the changes that were put into the Plan from the previous meeting. Dvorak said that staff tried to explain that and they did a fairly good job. Jordahl said he was present during part of that discussion and he wanted to compliment Dvorak on how well he did presenting a balanced case. Dvorak said staff was supportive of the document and they would love to see it move on and get completed as soon as possible because they had been working on it for 2 years and 10 months. Duffy said that they hadn't been working on it for 2 years and 10 months because it was Karen Countryman's document. Dvorak said that his staff and the Board of Supervisors had been working on it for that long. Duffy said he was at the meeting and only counted 3 farmers and then asked Dvorak if that was right. Dvorak said he didn't know. Bolkcom asked when they had their meeting with the Commission. Stutsman said it was September 29th. Bolkcom then said that the Commission met on the 14th of October and they wanted another month to read 26 pages. He said he was interested in knowing if people need more time what were the specific concerns that members of the Zoning Commission have about the document other than they want more time and they're concerned about some proposed changes that occurred. He said he was perplexed why they needed more time because they had already had 2 weeks. Bolkcom said he read the document in 30 minutes. Lacina said it took them 2 and a half years to get to where they are. He said that 2 of them were missing was the thing and they want to sit down in a meeting so they can all 5 discuss it. He said he didn't know that it was necessarily a concern about the document. Dvorak said one Commission member did express the concern that he would like to have all 5 members there. Stutsman asked if there was any guarantee that all 5 would be there on the 10th. Dvorak said if you look at the Commission minutes from the last 2 or 3 years there hasn't been many times where all 5 of them have been there. Bolkcom said it hadn't been a factor before and he didn't think it was a factor now.

Bolkcom said he didn't think what the Board has presented was a huge departure from what the Commission presented to the Board. He said it was an improvement that has the essence of everything in the old plan. He said there was nothing new in the 26 pages and to have 2 weeks go by and nobody read the document and then ask for another month. He said he was concerned about that and would like to give them direction on when they want them to hold public hearings and report that document back to the Board one way or another. He said if they don't want to pass, it that's fine; if they want to approve it, that would be great. He would like to give them a time frame for action to return it to the Board. Lacina said that was totally inappropriate. He said they are not County employees, like the Board; they are volunteers. He said he wasn't hearing any real objections to the Plan; they just want to sit down when they have a chance and discuss it. Lacina said for the Board to step in now would be taking it away from them. Bolkcom said he didn't get that they needed more time to read 26 pages. Lacina asked what their fear was in letting the Commission do the process. Bolkcom said he wasn't in fear of the process, but he wanted to make sure the Board acts in a timely way. Lacina said he is not for even the perception of the Board stepping in and calling the shots. Lacina said the Zoning Commission could do a very adequate, excellent job, if they just let them review the document. Bolkcom said they could meet whenever they wanted to meet, but he wanted to encourage them not to stall the Plan off. Duffy said they weren't stalling it off, they were ramming it down people's throats. Bolkcom said they were working on it for almost 3 years. Duffy said not on this plan, because this was Countryman's plan. Bolkcom said it wasn't Countryman's plan, it was the County's plan. He said Countryman assisted the Board with the plan. Duffy said if this plan was the same as the other why did they have Countryman help them. Jordahl said Countryman facilitated the Board working on a document which grew out of their desire to have elements of the current Plan which they liked brought forward. Duffy said they were talking about 3 different plans. Jordahl said they had the Auditor's Office pull together the things which all of the Board agreed on, to come forward. He said this is how Countryman started this document, looking at what the entire Board agreed on or at least a majority of the Board agreed on in both plans. Duffy asked about the ECICOG Plan.

Lacina said the Commission has a date set, they should pass the message along to Planning and Zoning that the Board would like them to move along as quickly as they can and then they know. Bolkcom agreed that is his message. Stutsman said that's was what they wanted to convey to them that unless there was a really valid reason not to move along that they are on track to move along. She said they will meet November 10th and they fully expect them to make a decision on the 10th on a plan for a public hearing. She said she wasn't interested in, if one member wasn't there, putting the meeting off. She said they could get their information to fellow Commission members if they can't attend the meeting. Jordahl asked if she wanted to set a date for when they would like to have had the public hearing held. Bolkcom said by the end of November he would like to see the Commission vote yes or no on the Plan and return it to the Board. Lacina said that could be a target. Lacina said he wasn't for setting a date, saying they will have it done by then. Jordahl said they could say please. Stutsman said they all have interest in this plan, but she thinks they have interest in serving the public. She said they have told the public for 2, almost 3 years that they are updating the Comp Plan and it's time they get it in place. She said they could work on it indefinitely, but she thinks they are not being fair to the people who elected them if they just keep stalling. She said that was what she saw happening right now. Lacina asked if she thought the Zoning Commission was stalling. Bolkcom said he thought a member of it was. Lacina said he could understand that 3 of them would like the chance for the other 2 to be involved. He said if it had been one, it might have been different. Jordahl said the 1997 plan was forwarded to them from the Zoning Commission with 3 members present and voting. Lacina asked if they had all had a chance to review it and he thought they had.

Bolkcom asked if every Commission member had received the plan. Dvorak said yes. Bolkcom asked if they had concerns about the plan and couldn't make it to the meeting would they call Dvorak about it. Dvorak said he could ask them to but in the past they hadn't. Bolkcom said they wanted their feedback, because that was what he process was about. Bolkcom said if they give them another month they take the time to read the 26 pages. Lacina said if the Zoning Commission turned the tables on the Board of Supervisors and said the Supervisors are going to meet here and here and here, the Board wouldn't' be too impressed with their schedule and they need to respect the fact that they need to sit down as a group and review it. Lacina said Dvorak had the message that they need to sit down as a group and review it in an expeditious manner. Bolkcom said the Board was interested in seeing a public hearing by the end of November. Dvorak asked if the Board would draft a letter. Bolkcom said they could draft a letter. Lacina and Duffy said they weren't for that. Stutsman said it would be appropriate to draft a letter. Jordahl agreed. Stutsman said they should reinforce their support of the process and their time. Dvorak said the Chair of the Commission was very interested in trying to move it forward and have a meeting on the 28th of the month for a pubic hearing. Bolkcom said they have done a lot of work on it and they should respect that. Duffy said that ECICOG plan and before that the North Corridor Plan was the big thing and now nobody pays any attention to it. He said they didn't even vote on that plan. Jordahl said they voted in a sense on every element of the plan when they highlighted it and it was compiled by the Auditor's Office. Duffy said they should ask for public comment on that plan. Bolkcom said that Duffy has consistently argued against any plan and about 80% of the provisions in the plan and he would get a chance to vote against the plan when it comes to the Board of Supervisors. Duffy said he helped write the other plan. Bolkcom said he liked that plan. Bolkcom said if they don't pass the proposed plan, they still have the old one, and they can continue to implement it. Jordahl complimented Duffy on the good job done on the existing Comp Plan. Lacina asked if they were clear as to what they were having Dvorak do. Bolkcom said the Board was going to draft a letter and they would give it to Dvorak to disseminate. Duffy said there was one thing about a plan they ought to ask the County Attorney's advice on, he asked if it was just a guide, a guide today and a law tomorrow. Bolkcom and Jordahl said it was a guide. Jordahl said it was a basis for new ordinances as they choose to implement them. Bolkcom asked if there was anything else and there was no further discussion.

Bolkcom: Has raffle tickets for the Supervisors association fall school raffle to fund scholarships, very worthwhile cause.

Duffy: I bought one last year after the thing was over.

Bolkcom: I have them right here. There 10 bucks each and...

Duffy: Only 10.

Stutsman: You've got a lot to sell, Joe.

Lacina: Yes.

Jordahl: What are they raffling off, Joe?

Bolkcom: I don't know what they're raffling off.

Stutsman: Oh, it's a trip isn't it.

Bolkcom: It's a Carnival cruise for 2.

Jordahl: Oh my goodness.

Bolkcom: Top prize, 4 day cruise, and 5 second place prizes would be Iowa bed and breakfast.

Jordahl: Oh.

Stutsman: I'd rather do the bed and breakfast.

Jordahl: Than go on a boat?

Bolkcom: I've got a ticket for you. Anybody that wants a ticket...

Jordahl: We'll have to talk.

Bolkcom: ...see me.

Lacina: Actually I've (inaudible) got $100 worth of beautiful T-shirts every year from that. I've got some orange ones and...

Stutsman: Oh, Steve.

Lacina: ... all the rejects, I go and I bid on those.

Jordahl: Why don't you wear those to work, Steve?

Lacina: Oh my.

Bolkcom: All right. Anything else?

Lacina: It frightens the farm animals.

Bolkcom: Carolyn?

Peters: Budget time is fast approaching and I would like to know how you want me to proceed on the Board's budget and do other budgets. Do you want me to just go ahead and plug numbers in? I would feel much more comfortable if I had somebody reviewing the numbers with me.

Lacina: I do think we need memory upgrades on some of these PC's and stuff to keep current with the technology and things. The rest of it I guess I would have you recommend to us in terms of needs.

Stutsman: Would it be appropriate for the Chair and the Vice-Chair to sit down and work with you on that?

Lacina: Yes.

Bolkcom: That'd be fine.

Peters: That'd be fine if they want to.

Bolkcom: The budget instructions also are pretty clear.

Peters: I can read the instructions, but I'm not sure what all you have in the back of your mind for next year.

Jordahl: I think in terms of the office itself there may be some things that you see clearly that would be a wish list. I'm thinking of these chairs and whatever else jumps out at you.

Bolkcom: We don't need chairs.

Jordahl: I'm not saying...

Stutsman: Wait until you're gone.

Jordahl: ... stick it in the budget, but I'm saying...

Lacina: New duct tape.

Jordahl: ...I'd like to see a wish list.

Bolkcom: New chairs.

Jordahl: They don't match.

Bolkcom: Who cares? Nobody cares about that.

Lacina: My duct tape matches my material.

Bolkcom: Nobody cares about that. Are we going to spend $2,000 so chairs match? I'll be in here to visit with you about that.

Jordahl: I bet you will.

Bolkcom: As a constituent of course.

Stutsman: We can move to matching cups, Jonathan.

Jordahl: We have matching cups from Ireland.

Bolkcom: Who cares.

Peters: (Inaudible) new duct tape last week.

Bolkcom: I think that's all (inaudible)

Lacina: I do appreciate that, that's a nice job, that's nice.

Bolkcom: Anything else? We're recessed until Thursday.

Recessed at 10:15 a.m.; reconvened on October 22, 1998 at 9:20 a.m.

(Continued in Part 4)