Supervisors open bids for paving of portion of Breezy Corners Road, approve holding meetings at county libraries on occasion

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, August 1 with a full agenda including the consideration of bids for paving a portion of Breezy Corners Road, the solid waste contract extension and the discussion of changing the Board of Supervisors meeting location on occasion. There were no comments made during the Public Comments portion of the meeting with no members of the public present.

Coordinator of Disability Services Kim Waters provided an update regarding the County Social Services meeting that was held July 27 at Titonka Savings Bank in Forest City. Waters provided some mental health statistics that were discussed at the meeting. On average nationally, Waters relayed that 61% of prison inmates have mental health problems and 40% of those have chronic mental prescriptions. The next County Social Services meeting will be held August 11.

Waters also discussed the upcoming workshop coordinated by NAMI, National Alliance of Mental Illness, that will be held at Veterans Memorial Hospital August 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This free meeting and workshop will teach participants about the types of mental illness, treatments and recovery, coping strategies, communication tools, the mental health system and local resources. Waters discussed the Lifelong Link service, which is a one-stop call-in service that refers contacts to the correct service providers. This service is intended for all ages and a wide variety of concerns relating to disabilities, aging and mental health.

Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour provided some background regarding the next agenda item involving the consideration of bids for paving a portion of Breezy Corners Road. The project would involve the paving of 900 feet of secondary road that has a daily traffic count over 500 vehicles. Ridenour has sent plans and proposals to contractors and the project was advertised in The Standard. Supervisor Dan Byrnes opened the sealed bids and read aloud the company names and dollar amounts of the bids. Concrete Foundations, Inc. of New Hampton has bid $282,058.80 and Wicks Construction of Decorah has bid $306,357.60. Ridenour advised the Supervisors that he would review the bids and provide a recommendation at the Board of Supervisors meeting next Monday.

The manure management plans for several facilities were next on the agenda. Plans for Millerway, Wayne Weber, Gruber Ridge, Longview Ridge and a revised plan for Churchwood were approved. Byrnes discussed that he has received comments regarding the availability of manure management plans at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) office. The Supervisors discussed the matter, including the fact that manure management plans are a matter of public record and are available at the Allamakee County Courthouse. There is a charge for making copies similar to any public records.

Jane Regan with Leschensky Insurance provided an insurance review for the 2015-2016 policy year. The County is receiving a refund on the general policy portion since payroll expenditures were below projections. The County is on target to receive approximately a $30,000 credit/dividend following a positive audit. Regan explained that things have been stable with payroll and workers' compensation for several years.

The Allamakee County Assessor's recommendation for the 1/2 GIS Coordinator salary increase paid by the General Fund was discussed by the Supervisors. The Assessor will fund half of the increase and the Supervisors will fund the other half of the increase. No amendment to the budget is required. The salary increase was approved with a start date of July 18.
The salary increase for the shared Administrative Assistant for Environmental Health and Planning and Zoning was discussed. A dollar an hour raise was approved following input from Environmental Health Director Laurie Moody and Planning and Zoning Administrator Tom Blake. They said Administrative Assistant Melinda Berns has become a valued employee taking on additional responsibilities.

Moody and Blake provided positive recommendations for their respective agenda items relating to the salary increase for this position. Each department will share 50% of the salary increase. Blake discussed that this increase will come from the office equipment line of his budget where he was able to stay below projected costs.
The Supervisors discussed moving meetings to libraries periodically within the County. The Supervisors approved changing the meeting place for their August 22 meeting to New Albin and for their September 19 meeting to Lansing.

The Supervisors discussed adding Nationwide as an option for 457 (b) contributions and retirement plan enhancements. Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Schellhammer has spoken with Chief Marketing Officer Jason Knox of Allen Knox Associates of West Union, the company Allamakee County has used exclusively for its retirement plan options. The Supervisors approved that Nationwide is now able to market its retirement plans to County employees and that current retirement plan participants can transfer to Nationwide if they choose to do so.
The discussion and consideration of the solid waste contract extension was addressed by Allamakee County Solid Waste Manager Dave Mooney, who explained that the County's contract with Town & Country Sanitation will expire in December 2016. Mooney explained that Allamakee County has saved $300,000 over a five-year period of working with Town & Country Sanitation. They have proposed a ten-year contract extension with a five-year price freeze. Years six through ten would allow the County to bid out to other contractors if Town & Country were to raise its hauling charges. Mooney advised that Town & Country has been good to work with, further explaining that they are planning to invest in additional equipment and vehicles, and securing long-term contracts like this one is part of their growth strategy as a family-owned company. The Supervisors discussed that they would like to have Allamakee County Attorney Jill Kistler review the contract before considering the renewal. No action was taken at this time.

The Consideration of Resolution for Special Prosecution was approved. No action was taken regarding the Discussion and Consideration of Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, Easements and Restrictions for North Iowa Juvenile Detention Center. The Supervisors are waiting for an update regarding this agenda item. There were also no Department Head updates at this meeting.