Emergency Management/911 Commission/Communications Commission Meeting Minutes
Thursday February 13th, 2025, 6:00 PM
Washington County EOC –
Emergency Communications Building
2183 Lexington Blvd.,
Washington IA 52353
In attendance: Richard Young, Mark Robe, Cara Sorrells, Ryan Miller, Stan Stoops, Roy Felts, Melvin Rich, Jared Schneider, Jack Seward, Jr. and Millie Youngquist.
There was no Emergency Management meeting held this evening. It will be rescheduled.
At 6:01 PM, Chairman Richard Young called the 911 Commission meeting to order. Present were representatives from Brighton, Crawfordsville, Kalona, Washington, Wellman, the Board of Supervisors, and the Sheriff’s Office. Absent was a representative from Ainsworth, Riverside, and Emergency Management. A quorum was determined. Chairman Richard Young made a request for an approval of the agenda. Roy Felts made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Mark Robe seconded the motion, and the agenda was approved with no one opposed. A request was then made for a motion to approve the minutes for the last meeting dated January 8th, 2025. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting and the motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. No one was opposed and the motion passed.
The approval of claims was next, and Cara Sorrells detailed the claims. This month’s 911 claims contained payment to Ace Electric to replace the controller on the generator in the Emergency Communications building. The total of the claim was $10,797.85. The claims also contained the bi-annual budget transfer to Communications for $15,000 and numerous reimbursements for meals for the recent 3-day EMD class. The total of the claims was $37,694.98. The total of the revenue was $50,917.30 and included a $3,000 quarterly GIS grant payment as well as a wireless surcharge payment of $44,163.49. Ryan Miller made a motion to approve the claims as presented. Miller’s motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. The motion to approve the claims was passed unanimously. Sorrells also mentioned that she had received an invoice today for the spare radio antenna from RACOM, and a quote from Elite Tower to repair the mid-level lighting at the Riverside tower. They recommended replacing the full lighting system due to corrosion and the quote was $10,500. Sorrells was directed to reach out to Finish Excavating about the damage since they installed the lighting before committing to any repairs.
The next item on the agenda under new business was discussion on the FY ’26 budget. Sorrells presented the proposed budget for 911. The amount of projected revenue from 911 surcharge was $241,516.94. The total of expenditures was projected to be $533,800. A motion was made to approve the 911 budget for publication by Mark Robe and seconded by Ryan Miller. The motion carried without opposition. Sorrells also presented the annual PSAP expediture collection report submitted to the state. It detailed the costs to run the PSAP (Public Safety Ansering Point) for the previous fiscal year of July 1st, 2023 – June 30th, 2024. The total was $1,657,873 with $492,945 coming from 911 surcharge, $1,130,295 from the Communications budget, and $34,633 coming from Emergency Management.
The next item on the discussion was HSB 104. Sorrells had previously shared the proposal that was submitted to the state to address 911 surcharge. She had been one of the local participants in the working group with the 911 Program Manager. The proposed bill that came out is not what was initially discussed and changes the local percent of surcharge funds from 60% to 46% with no increase on the current $1.00 per line. Each local PSAP stands to lose funding with this revised legislation to offset the state’s shortfall. Millie Youngquist mentioned that they are hosting a legislative briefing at Washington City Hall on Thursday February 20th at 5:30 PM with Heather Hora and Dawn Driscoll.
It was discussed that the next meeting date should be between March 3rd and March 12th for the public hearing. It was set for Wednesday March 5th, 2025 at 6 PM.
Under old business Sorrells shared that we have received a progress billing from Finish Excavating for $62,250 for the Wellman tower. We are now waiting for RACOM to finish installing equipment. There have been some delays in building the racks in staging and moving them to the site.
The Pro QA project is also coming along and is still expected to go live in March. There has been a lot of training happening for the staff and configuration with Priority Dispatch and IT.
A motion was made to adjourn the 911 Commission meeting by Mark Robe and seconded by Jared Schneider. The 911 Commission meeting was adjourned at 6:25 PM.
At 6:26 PM, Chairman Ryan Miller called the Communications Commission meeting to order. Present were representatives Stan Stoops, Ryan Miller, Mark Robe, Millie Youngquist, and Jack Seward. Alternates Richard Young and Melvin Rich were also present. A quorum was determined.
Chairman Miller made a request for an approval of the agenda as published. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the agenda. Millie Youngquist seconded the motion, and the agenda was approved with no one opposed. A request was then made for a motion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting dated January 8th, 2025. Millie Youngquist made a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting and the motion was seconded by Mark Robe. No one was opposed and the motion passed.
The approval of the claims was next, and Cara Sorrells detailed the claims. The total of the claims was $7,228 and that included an ICAP invoice for tort liability insurance totaling $6,050. The revenue was $306,522 and included the EMA levy as well as the bi-annual budget transfer from 911. A motion was made by Jack Seward to approve the claims as presented. Millie Youngquist seconded the motion, and the claims were approved with no one opposed.
There was a committee report from the Personnel and Operations committee. They had met last Thursday virtually to discuss the salary step plan for Communications with Cara Sorrells and Sheriff Jared Schneider. The 2.5% directive from the Board of Supervisors was added to the 7-year step plan and Sheriff Schneider advised that it was recommended that the longevity step be added to the hourly wage versus a lump sum. These numbers are what Sorrells used to figure the wage line items of her budget.
There was a personnel change for approval by the Commission. The status change was for current regular part-time trainee, Rendee Campbell. Since full-time trainee employee Shannon Tong Van has resigned, Campbell was offered a full-time position. She has accepted and it will be effective March 3rd, 2025. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the personnel change as presented. Robe’s motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist and approved with no opposition. Jack Seward and Stan Stoops both abstained. It will be on their agenda the next Tuesday.
The next item on the agenda was discussion on the FY ’26 Communications budget. As stated earlier, the Board of Supervisors recommended a 2.5% increase in salaries and no increase to the other line items in the overall budget. Sorrells still did not know the outcome of the IT funding discussion. The budget was presented with overall expenses totaling $1,212,725.97. For the revenue $1,182,725.97 would come from the EMA levy and $30,000 would come from the bi-annual budget transfer from 911. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the Communications budget for publication. Robe’s motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist and the motion passed unanimously.
Following suit with the prior meeting, the next Communications meeting was set for March 5th, 2025, at 6:00 PM and this will be the public hearing for the proposed FY ’26 budget.
Under old business the update to the Wellman site was covered under the 911 Commission meeting. Jack Seward mentioned that any future invoices for parts and labor to hang equipment can be submitted to Sedgewick. Sorrells stated that she would also reach out to Dion Schminke with Wellman Telephone for an update on his side of the project. The county would like to complete this project in this fiscal year.
Millie Youngquist made a motion to adjourn the Communications Commission meeting. Mark Robe seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 PM.
Respectfully submitted by,
Cara Sorrells
Signature: 911 Commission
Signature: Communications Commission
Official Publication, minutes to be approved at the March 5th, 2025, meeting. Any amendment to the minutes will be reflected in the following meeting minutes
Published in The News, Thursday, March 6, 2025 L-249
