Allamakee County Board of Supervisors meeting

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in a lengthy session Tuesday, Feb. 22 due to the President’s Day holiday Monday, Feb. 21. There were several items on the agenda that generated discussion. The item which covered concerns from the Historical Preservation Committee was deleted from the agenda.

Becky Neil and Glenn Hatzky were present, representing the Nashua Welcome Center, to ask for a donation to the center. According to Neil and Hatzky, the purpose of the Nashua Welcome Center is to lure potential tourists off of the Avenue of Saints and distribute information about Northeast Iowa's attractions and what the area has to offer.

Neil pointed out that in this area there are attractions that no other part of the state has, due to the unique topography and geology. They also noted that they feel that this area of the state has been neglected by tourism promotion in Des Moines. Neil noted that the suggested $30,000 donation was just a starting off point.

Board chair Kathy Campbell pointed out that the county's budget has been finalized, and Neil stated that all they ask is that the board keep this in consideration for the future. The Nashua Welcome Center has gone before 12 county boards of supervisors so far, and received donations from two.

In the next item of business, discussion centered on re-roofing the remainder of the county courthouse that was not fixed in 2004. Courthouse custodian John Kurt and supervisor Bill Clark both noted areas that seem to be developing problems. Questions as to if repairs should be done in stages or all at once were raised. Tom Gardiner of Gardiner Architecture, who headed the “emergency” roofing project last year, stated that in this situation the county can chose to split the projects, as there are six roofs to be redone, or they can fix them all at once.

Also, because this is not an emergency situation, the county is also in a position to bid the jobs out, should they chose to go that route. Campbell asked Gardiner if he could once again head this project, and he stated that he could write up a proposal to bring before the board and they could establish some sort of timeline for the work to be completed. Gardiner also stated that there would be advantages to completing the whole project at once, as opposed to designating “emergencies”. Kurt also agreed with that line of thought.

David Hjortland and Terri Krueger were approved to be appointed to the NorthLand Agency on Aging Board, and that decision will now be taken to the NorthLand Board. A resolution was passed designating ending balance funds.

Allamakee County Solid Waste Management Director Dave Mooney addressed the board about safety policies that the Safety Committee is working on regarding cell phone use, worker's compensation, and sexual harassment. The Safety Committee is working on a written policy to give guidelines for county employee use of cell phones, personal or the county's, while working. Due to the growing use of personal cell phones, they felt it was necessary to have something saying when it is or is not okay to use cell phones.

They also touched on whether or not the county should have a designated physician for worker’s compensation cases, and it was decided at the present time that it was not necessary to designate a physician. Mooney also reported that requested material to educate employees on sexual harassment in the workplace was ordered, and that the committee was looking into having a CPR course available for county employees.

A public hearing was held on vacating part of Lily Road. Ray Wagner was present and requested to have the county vacate part of the road, and county engineer Brian Ridenour announced that he had received no verbal or written objections. The vacation of Lily Road was approved.

Dan Erker, a representative of Election Systems & Software gave a demonstration on new voting equipment. Due to Federal mandates, centralized vote counting will no longer be allowed, and counties must be set up to tabulate votes at each precinct in the county. Voters will still use the same paper ballots, but the ovals will be filled in with pen instead of pencil. The finished ballots will then be fed into a scanner, which simultaneouslyreads each side of the ballot.

If the voter has made a mistake, like voted for too many candidates or left something blank, the scanner will pick up on that and alert the voter that there may be a potential mistake. The voter may then choose to have the ballot back or if something was left intentionally blank, they may send the ballot through to be counted. After the polls have closed, the tabulated votes may then be sent to the courthouse by modem or memory card from the scanner.

Erker also demonstrated the auto mark system, which allows for disabled voters to vote. They will use the same paper ballot, and for those who have poor eyesight, they can choose to have the type of the ballot enlarged on a touch screen, those who have bad eyesight or are blind may choose to use headphones and have an automated voice read the options to them. If someone is a quadriplegic, they may hook up their wheelchair to the machine and use their blowstick or bitestick to cast their vote. They will be able to review choices, and the machine will let them know if it finds a potential mistake.

Programming of the machines will stay the same as the way the ocular scanner is programmed now. These new machines do pose some potential problems. Storage will be an issue, as they will take up space, and due to the size of the machines, they would probably have to be delivered to the polling sites. Also, extra poll workers may have to be hired to make sure someone is available to help with the machine at all times. Concerns about lines forming were also raised, but Erker did not foresee this as being an issue.

The cost of this equipment is about $10,000 per precinct for the scanner and touch screen unit. Due to Federal law, voting equipment for the disabled must be made available at each precinct. The county would also have to figure in another $25,000-$30,000 for training, back-up units, and units for absentee voting. The State will give some funding, and Allamakee County is looking at ways to combine precincts to keep costs down. The county has also planned for some of this cost in the budget for FY06. There are still some uncertainties about whether this system will be certified, and if it will be necessary to count absentee ballots this way, as well as other points still unclear.

The final item before the meeting ended was a request from the Allamakee Community Foundation to the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors to give $14,000 to their organization. The Allamakee Community Foundation needs to raise as much funding as possible before an application deadline of March 1. The funds the Foundation raises will be matched.

For those not familiar with the Foundation, it is a way for Allamakee County to receive some of the gambling revenue generated across the state, and it also opens up an avenue for people who want to give to the county through small estates and planning for the future. Foundation representative Rachelle Howe stated that “everything through the fund will benefit the entire county”.

The foundation is going to begin a campaign for public awareness, to let people know how to contribute to the fund. The board declined to commit to a specific dollar amount at this time. Kathy Campbell stated that they would need to sit down with auditor Mary O’Neill, look at the budget, and see what they could come up with. She also noted that it would probably be less than what the Foundation is requesting.