BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
WASHINGTON COUNTY, IOWA
REGULAR MEETING OF TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2024
At 9:00 am Chair Richard Young called the meeting to order in regular session, Courthouse Chambers. Items on the agenda included: Emergency Management Service Advisory report; discussion/action re: transferring General Assistance responsibilities to HACAP; personnel change requests–Ambulance; job description for the position of Assistant Information Technology Director; personnel change request–Washington County Sheriff & Information Technology/Asst. IT Director; discussion/action re: wiring proposal from Tri-City Electric; Review and Approval of Service Agreement with Dakota Minnesota and Eastern for activities related to realignment of Dogwood Ave located at MP 268.5 Ottumwa Subdivision; approval of FY2024 Secondary Roads Five-Year Program Version 1.0–an amendment; Wind Turbine Ordinance Road Use Agreement and Decommissioning Plan. Supervisors Jack Seward Jr., Marcus Fedler, Bob Yoder, and Stan Stoops were also present.
All motions were passed unanimously unless noted otherwise.
The Board voted to approve the agenda as published.
Jim Lester, who holds the position of the Chief of Police for the City of Washington, but serves in the role of a community member on the Washington County Emergency Medical Service Advisory Council (EMSAC), provided the Board with an update on EMSAC’s activities for the past year. Lester shared that EMSAC, which came into existence in 2021, has struggled to attract a quorum at its meetings which in turn has hampered efforts to take any type of formal action. Lester conveyed a request to the Supervisors to take formal action to provide the Washington County Ambulance Services Department with consistent and permanent leadership structure and support in the form of an Emergency Services levy. Such a levy, which would last for a 15-year period of time and would be for an amount not to exceed 75 cents per $1,000 dollars of assessed property value, is currently not in place in Washington County and would require voter approval before being instituted. Lester cautioned that Iowa Code states that the dollar amount requested under such a levy must tie directly to a need and he urged that caution and careful consideration be exhibited in the process of arriving at a need for the funding. Lester also offered his opinion that such an Emergency Services levy should not be used to replace levy funding that is already in place for support of the Ambulance Department. Instead, according to Lester, such a levy should be used to supplement funding that is already in place for the Ambulance Department. Lester also advocated for a change in the Emergency Management Services by-laws to lower the quorum for meetings from seven members to five members. Board discussion followed with regard to Lester’s recommendations but no formal action was taken.
Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) CEO Jane Drapeaux was present to discuss HACAP’s proposal to take over General Assistance responsibilities from Washington County. HACAP provides assistance to individuals with expenses that include food, rent, utilities, and burial. Drapeaux offered her opinion that it would be a good fit for HACAP to take over such responsibilities from Washington County and by doing so it would provide increased convenience for individuals that presently travel not only to the HACAP facility at Orchard Hill for benefits but also to the County facility at Orchard Hills for General Assistance benefits as well. In return for taking over the operation of the General Assistance program Drapeaux requested $1,200.00 annually. This amount would be in addition to the $120,000.00 in support that the County has annually provided to HACAP over the past several years. Young voiced that the change would actually result in savings for the county and cited as an example the elimination of the approximate $11,000.00 in salary and benefits presently paid to the Washington County General Assistance Director. Drapeaux deemed the proposal as an intuitive way to reduce county spending, and ensure Washington County residents in need of aid could access it. The Board held a discussion on the proposal and ultimately voted to begin the process of transferring General Assistance responsibilities to Hawkeye Area Community Action Program beginning July 1, 2024.
The Board voted to acknowledge, and authorize the Chair to sign, a personnel change request from Ambulance Services for EMT Stephen Swaffer employee status will change to non-exempt casual PT eff. February 26, 2024. Swaffer’s rate of pay will not change.
The Board voted to acknowledge, and authorize the Chair to sign, a personnel change request from Ambulance Services for EMT Joshua Laws employee status will change to non-exempt casual PT eff. March 1, 2024. Laws’ rate of pay will not change.
The Board voted to approve an amended job description for the position of Assistant Information Technology (IT) Director.
The Board voted to acknowledge, and authorize the Chair to sign, a personnel change request from Washington Co. Sheriff & Information Technology (IT)/Asst. IT Director for the hiring of FT non-exempt Assistant IT Director Kyle Evans eff. February 22, 2024, at the rate of $39.75/hr. and at the rate of $41.30/hr. eff. July 1, 2024.
The Board voted to approve a quote in the amount of $64,655.00 received from Tri-City Electric Company for updating data cables at telephone locations in County offices throughout the Courthouse as well as offices located in the McCreedy Building.
The Board voted to approve a Service Agreement with Dakota Minnesota and Eastern for activities related to the realignment of Dogwood Avenue located at MP 268.5 Ottumwa Subdivision.
The Board voted to approve an amendment to the FY2024 Secondary Roads Five-Year Road Program and to authorize the Chair to sign.
The Board took no action re: a Wind Turbine Ordinance Road Use Agreement.
The Board took no action re: a proposed Wind Turbine Decommissioning Plan.
At 10:10 am the Board voted to adjourn.
ATTEST: s/DANIEL L. WIDMER, Washington County Auditor
Published in The News, Thursday, March 14, 2024 L-174
