Government : Benton County Board of Supervisors Minutes January 29, 2013

January 29, 2013

The Benton County Board of Supervisors met in regular adjourned session with Supervisors Sanders, Frese and Hertle present. The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m.

Tony Reed of the Central Iowa Juvenile Detention facility briefly explained what his facility provided and there would be a cost savings to Benton County. Reed is to return to the board when he is on the agenda when additional information.

Moved by Hertle, seconded by Frese, to approve the minutes of January 22, 2013 and January 28, 2013. All members voting aye thereon. Motion carried.

Moved by Hertle, seconded by Frese, to appoint Christine Kraemer to the East Central Iowa Council of Governments Revolving Loan Fund Committee for 2013. All members voting aye thereon. Motion carried.

David Thompson and Jo Keunnen of the county attorney’s office met with the board about the upcoming Grand Jury tour. Keunnen advised that the Grand Jury inquires to be sure that no prisoners are being held illegally and tour the county facilities. The jurors then file a report with the county. The auditor questioned if the grand jury was going to visit the Governor Sherman building. Keunnen advised that facility was not on their list. Thompson stated that there is not enough time to visit all buildings. The auditor responded that it was questioned last year as to why the Governor Sherman building had never been viewed by the grand jury.

The time of 9:30 a.m. having arrived, and this being the time and date for the first consideration of Ordinance #67, Pioneer Cemetery Commission. The chair declared the first consideration open for public comment. The county attorney reviewed that the only change from the current ordinance is to remove the requirement that the commission be comprised of a specific number of township officials. Hearing no comment, either for or against, the chair declared the public hearing closed. Moved by Hertle, seconded by Frese, to approve the first consideration of Ordinance #67, An Ordinance Establishing a Cemetery Commission. All members voting aye thereon. Motion carried.

The board had inquired about reducing their salaries. Iowa Code 331.907(3) provides that the board of supervisors may reduce their salaries if it is done 30 days prior to the adoption of the FY14 budget. The matter was placed on the agenda for consideration. The supervisors stated that the compensation board did not recommend a salary increase for FY14 and did not believe the current salary should be reduced.

Deb Harrison and Brad Osborn, representatives of the Shellsburg Library Board and Julie Kimm, director of the Shellsburg library, met with the Board regarding library funding. Harrison stated that they were present to request equitable funding for county libraries. Harrison added that the rural patrons are almost equal to the city patrons and that the rural patrons are taxing the library’s resources. Harrison reported that the current funding mechanism is outdated. Harrison continued that libraries are more relevant during poor economic times and that usage has increased resulting in an increased cost for the service. Harrison stated that the present county funding is not balanced between the communities based on readership. Osborn stated that the majority of rural population is located on the east side of the county, adding that the population of Canton Township is larger than some entire cities in the county. Osborn stated that although the overall rural population has not increased significantly, the townships on the eastern side of the county are increasing while the western townships are decreasing in population and that the funding formula needs to be revised. Harrison stated that Shellsburg’s library board has a good relationship with the other libraries in the county and is in no way advocating a reduction in funding to those libraries, but is only asking for equitable funding. Hertle questioned if this funding proposal had been shared with the other libraries in the county. Harrison responded that it has been discussed at association meetings with the other libraries, but there was no interest in coming to the board at this time by the association as a whole. Osborn added that Shellsburg also serves a lot of low-income residents, which affects the library’s resources. The board took no action on the request.

The board began the matter of establishing wages for non-union employees for FY14. Action on wages for elected officials is done during the hearing on the FY14 budget and therefore is not a part of today’s discussion. The auditor had presented the board with a list of requested compensation for the various employees for FY14. Requests ranged from 2.5% to approximately 20%. The board discussed the compensation of the maintenance department, veterans’ affairs director, county attorney’s office manager, and social services personnel. The discussion varied depending upon each position – the county attorney’s office requested a larger increase as a current employee will be made office manager and will have additional duties, maintenance personnel was longevity and low starting salaries, veterans affairs was due to the number of hours required, and the social services was because of additional responsibilities being anticipated with the retirement of the current director and mental health regionalization. Supervisor Sanders stated that he agreed with the increase for the county attorney’s office manager and an increase for maintenance with all others receiving an across-the-board increase. Supervisor Frese stated that he was in agreement with a 5% increase for maintenance personnel l, and increase for the county attorney’s office manager, and an across-the-board increase of 3% for all others. The Health Board and Conservation Board set salaries for their respective employees.

Moved by Hertle, seconded by Frese, to set all compensation as requested for FY14 by the various departments. All members voting nay. Motion failed. Sanders stated that he had an issue with granting the salaries as requested and would prefer to see an across-the-board increase.

Moved by Frese, seconded by Hertle, to adopt Resolution #13-9, ESTABLSIHING WAGES AND SALARIES FOR NON-UNION EMPLOYEES FOR FY14. Voting aye were Frese and Hertle. Sanders voting nay. Motion carried. Sanders stated that he was opposed to the action due to the increase for veterans’ affairs and that Zander’s salary increase should have been addressed, if and when her job duties changed.

Mary Williams, Social Services Director, and Dana Burmeister, Transportation Director, both spoke to the board about their current year budgets. Williams and Burmeister stated that they did not have enough spending authority left in the FY13 budgets to meet expenses and payroll. The options are to cut services and reduce spending or to have their budgets amended. Hertle and Frese stated that they did not want the services reduced and that more funds would be appropriated to the departments.

Veterans’ Affairs Director Charles James reviewed his FY14 budget with the supervisors. James explained the types of services his department provides and the requirements of his position.

Moved by Frese, seconded by Hertle, to recess. All members voting aye thereon. Motion carried.

The Board reconvened at 6:00 p.m. at the Newhall City Park Pavilion with all members present.

The Board discussed issues facing the sanitary disposal facility with representatives of the cities and rural areas of the county. County Engineer Myron Parizek and Jennifer Fencl of East Central Iowa Council of Governments provided a detailed explanation of various factors that have affected the landfill’s life expectancy. Fencl also reviewed the current governance of the landfill, explaining that in the 1970’s a Sanitary Disposal Commission was created through 28E agreements with the cities and the county. In the 1980’s the Commission gave the day-to-day management and operations of the facility to the county with oversight of the commission’s executive committee; however, the executive committee ceased to exist as well. It was explained that new 28E agreements need to be drafted and entered into by the cities and counties as well as determining the future of the landfill. The county had a feasibility study done that outlined three options: maintaining the landfill as it is currently; maintaining a transfer station; or allowing communities to contract to dispose of their waste individually at a facility outside of the county and closing the current landfill. There were several questions as to whether the cities would still have to contribute a per-capita fee if they were to contract individually to dispose of their waste elsewhere, as well as if there were any 28E agreements in place currently. The general response was that a per-capita fee would still be needed for the closure of the current landfill, which contains waste generated throughout the county. It was explained that if one city no longer participates in the 28E that the financial health of the facility is affected and all of the other communities are affected in return. It was reiterated that a new 28E agreement needed to be developed and entered into and that a committee representative of Benton County should be formed to begin work on the agreement as soon as possible. Several persons volunteered to sit on the committee, including Andy Lent of Vinton, Dave Fish of Belle Plaine, Loras Schulte of Norway, Doug Kearns of Garrison, Ron Buch – past commission member, County Engineer Myron Parizek, and Terry Hertle. Farm Bureau will also be appointing a member to the committee.

Moved by Frese, seconded by Hertle, to direct the committee to study and draft a new 28E Agreement for the Benton County Solid Waste Facility, and that said study be done with the assistance of the East Central Iowa Council of Governments. All members voting aye thereon. Motion carried.

Moved by Frese, seconded by Hertle, to adjourn. All members voting aye thereon. Motion carried.

_______________________________

Jason Sanders, Chairman

ATTEST: _________________________________

Jill Marlow, Auditor