Reconvened at 10:38 a.m.
Jordahl said they wanted to know how the duties of the personnel requested would be broken down. Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak stated they requested for a part time person to become full time in clerical. He said they also want one full time planning assistant to help with the Land Use Plan. He said they were less than satisfied with the work done by contractors. He stated some of the Board members weren't happy with the first draft of the Land Use Plan and he wasn't happy with the final version. He stated they spent at least 3 weeks cleaning it up. He stated the maps will be on the Internet by Friday. Jordahl asked why it had to be scanned. Dvorak stated they took up so much memory that he had to dump them each time he made one.
Jordahl asked if there were some way of delineating what the duties are for the new position. He said the Board was not comfortable allocating more staff just because they have more work. Dvorak asked why they get more staff then. Stutsman said they need to have a clear understanding of what this person is going to do. Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore said much of Rick's time is spent on grunt work and he does the platting. He explained the new planner would take over the platter duties while he did the applications for rezoning and this would give Rick more time to spend on administrative duties. Jordahl said the coordination of these projects and their implementation will be an increasing task. Dvorak said in his evaluation he was told to expand his knowledge and attend more meetings. He said it's hard to get away from the office and he has communicated that with the Board. He stated he took Monday off and it took half a day just catching up. He explained he attends one seminar a year and he belongs to 2 state organizations, which he has not attended a meeting of in 5 years. He said he can't get away because he's not comfortable with the amount of staff in the office or there's a public hearing he has to attend. Moore stated the workload is going to increase considerably due to the new Land Use Plan. He said it's not just creating the new ordinances, it's also implementing them. He stated they are becoming more planning oriented, which takes up more of Dvorak's time.
Jordahl said he's supportive of a new position for the Zoning Department, but he wants to see a job description. Dvorak said they had one. Jordahl asked what kind of qualifications they were looking for. Moore stated he wanted an experienced planner with a masters degree. Dvorak said they'd be glad to submit a job description and how the job responsibilities would change. Duffy stated he wouldn't support that position right now because many departments want more staff and it's a hard budget year. He asked how many people they had in their office. Dvorak said they had 4 full time positions, 2 part time positions and 2 students. Jordahl said he didn't equate this personnel request with that of other departments because this department is under specific instruction from the Board and an implementation schedule. He said the Board has worked long and hard on the Land Use Plan and now they need the staff to implement it.
Moore said Planning and Zoning's overall personnel request consisted of changing a part-time secretary to full-time to support the rest of the staff. Moore said doing all of his own secretarial work took away time which he could use for research. Stutsman pointed out that Moore was an expensive typist and questioned if typing was the best use of his time. Dvorak said minutes needed to be typed for Sensitive Areas, the Building Code Study Committee, Planning and Zoning Commission meetings, Board of Adjustment Meetings and Planning and Zoning meetings which took up a great deal of the Planning and Zoning staff's time. Dvorak said it was very difficult to hire a qualified part-time secretary. Duffy said if an additional land use planner was hired he wanted an experienced individual hired. Dvorak also mentioned his responsibilities which included posting signs for the Sheriff's and Ambulance Departments and issuing moving permits. Stutsman asked if Planning and Zoning charged for processing building codes and if the cost was sufficient. Dvorak said he had sufficient staff for normal building code applications and Moore said the billing for this was roughly equal to what other counties similar in size to Johnson County charged. Jordahl said he thought the cost of building codes should make it a self-funding action. Dvorak clarified with the Board his understanding that he needed to provide a breakdown of duties and a job description for the requested additional personnel.
The Board then evaluated Planning and Zoning's capital expenditure budget requests. Dvorak said he was requesting $5,000 in FY 2000 and $5,000 in FY 2001, and $10,000 had already been saved. Dvorak said he would see or trade in the department's current truck when the new one was purchased. Jordahl noted that this department requested $4,500 for a copier. Pillard suggested that since the Board had budgeted buying their own copier, that they give their old copier to Planning and Zoning and charge them the trade in price. Stutsman cautioned that the fitness of the copier be assessed before giving it to the Planning and Zoning Department. Dvorak asked if the Board was considering purchasing a color copier since it was a bit expensive to go to an outside source for color copies.
Pillard noted that Planning and Zoning was requesting 2 personal computers, Arcview software and a color printer in technology requests. Dvorak said the 2 PC's were replacements for 2 computer terminals and Pillard pointed out that the request for another copy of Arcview was to install it in Moore's computer. Dvorak said his department was in the process of changing their computer system so outside departments could access their files. Jordahl said the additional computers would be covered under the Central Technology Budget in future years. Stutsman and Jordahl agreed that the computer requests should be funded.
Jordahl asked if additional space would be needed for an additional planner. Dvorak said he could accommodate one but there might be a future space needs to handle growing building code applications. Duffy said a building inspector was not always needed to do building codes and reiterated that an experienced planner should be hired. Moore said there were advantages for hiring an experienced planner and an educated one. Reverend Bob Welsh said that more staff would be needed to implement the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Jordahl agreed with that statement but Duffy did not.
The Board then discussed capital expenditure requests. Pillard said that the current balance for the Administration Building was $260,355 and $15,000 was requested to install a new gutter liner. Pillard continued by saying $17,000 was requested to replace the solar arrays in the Sheriff's office. Jordahl asked about remodeling the breakroom in the Treasurer's Office for more office space. Pillard said it is estimated this would cost $15,000-$20,000. Jordahl recommended allocating $25,000 for expanding the Human Resources office. Duffy objected to this, saying funds to create more office space meant additional personnel, which he felt should be strongly scrutinized. Jordahl said funds were available to do this from the current fiscal year. Pillard said there was a current balance of $264,979 for building construction. Jordahl recommended placing the remaining $1,100,000 into that item.
Pillard noted that jail space needs currently carried $24,000. Stutsman said jail space needs fell under the $1,100,000. Stutsman and Jordahl said they would deal with jail space needs once the outside consultant had made a recommendation. Duffy warned against allocating money from the general fund for the jail because if a bond issue passed for the jail, the Board would not be able to put the jail funds they allocated back into the general fund for other uses. Jordahl said solar arrays for the Sheriff's office should be funded. Jordahl recommended taking $10,000 from the current $122,782 balance for courthouse space needs to purchase additional cameras for the courthouse. Stutsman said $12,000 should be allocated for the Department of Human Services' relocation. Jordahl and Stutsman agreed to provide no funds at that time for replacing and fertilizing storm damaged trees. Pillard pointed out that the allocations the Board had made at that point totaled $1,143,000.
The Board then discussed capital expenditure requests. Pillard noted that the Conservation Department's requests in this area were within their current operating budget. Pillard said the Ambulance Department requested $6,653 for a copier. Jordahl objected on the grounds that this wasn't budgeted over multiple years. Pillard said that the lease for that department's current copier would expire in FY 2000 and it would save money in the long run to purchase a copier. Jordahl, Stutsman and Duffy agreed that it would be better to have $1,000 or $2,000 allocated over several years for a copier. $2,000 was disbursed for the copier. Pillard continued by saying the Ambulance Department proposed saving for an ambulance purchase in FY 2001 and $42,000 be saved during FY 2000 to meet the total $84,000 cost. Jordahl objected that an $84,000 purchase was only budgeted over 2 years. Stutsman said that the reason for the large request amount might be from the Board not allocating for this purchase the previous fiscal year. Duffy said the cost was too high.
Recessed at 11:30 a.m.; reconvened at 1:16 p.m.