Supervisors approve salary increase recommendations, reject initial offer to purchase Makee Manor property

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Tuesday, March 4 the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to follow the recommendation of the Compensation Board's recommendations regarding annual salary increases for elected County officials. Members of the Board of Supervisors will receive an annual increase of $1,250; the Recorder, Treasurer, Auditor and Sheriff will see a $2,250 increase; and the County Attorney will receive a $3,250 raise.
Supervisor Sherry Strub said that the Board's goal was to get Allamakee County to a better rank in terms of salaries when compared with other comparable counties. She noted that other counties also tend to give raises every year, so Allamakee County has been falling behind. She also explained that the Board did not want to undercut the work of the Compensation Board.
Chairman Larry Schellhammer that the Board also wanted to step away from giving raises on a percentage basis, adding that it was the Board's intention to bring up the wages of the County's lower paid employees. With that goal in mind, the Board also voted unanimously to give other department heads and non-union employees an hourly raise of 45 cents.
In a related matter, the Board met with Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour, who told the Board that he has been working for the County without a contract. The Board approved a three-year contract with Ridenour starting at $46.18 hourly and increasing one half of one percent per year, along with a $20 monthly increase to cover the increase in health insurance premium.

MAKEE MANOR
The Board also met with Jack Sweeney, Stacie Cooper and Bob Hager regarding the Living Stone's offer to purchase the Makee Manor property. Chairman Schellhammer said that the Board had been unable to discuss the offer as a group since the last meeting due to Iowa's open meeting laws, but that he and the other members of the Board had expressed their concerns about the offer with County Attorney Jill Kistler.
Kistler said that the concerns she had heard included the selling price, which was $20,000 less than the asking price for nearly twice as much land, the lack of job creation, how the use of the property by a non-profit organization would affect tax rolls and the County's continued use of the lagoon.
Schellhammer said that there were enough concerns raised about the offer that he would not be in favor of accepting it. He said he appreciates what the Hagers are trying to do, and that he would be likely to volunteer work himself in support of such a project, but that the offer "does not meet the goals and objectives the County has for the property."
Supervisor Strub said that her primary concern was that the proposed project would not create jobs, at least not right away. She said the Hagers have "a great vision" but noted that the business plan shows that the facility would be run mostly by volunteers. Strub also noted that the Sheriff's Department would not be comfortable with the type of facility proposed being in close proximity to the buildings used for evidence storage.
Supervisor Dennis Koenig said that he agrees that the Hagers' proposal would be good for the people they want to help, and that he would volunteer to help, but as a County Supervisor he has to think about jobs. He said when the Board first learned that Makee Manor would be closing, he met with 24 people who just wanted their jobs back, so his biggest priority has to be to create jobs. "The plan is faith based, and I'm a faith guy," he said. "But sitting in this chair it's hard for me to go along with the plan."

Chairman Schellhammer said that the Board could not accept the offer as presented, noting that, other concerns aside, the Board could not accept less than $10,000 per acre. Schellhammer then made a motion to reject the Hagers' offer as presented and the motion carried unanimously.
Hager said that he respects the Board's decision. Real estate developer Jack Sweeney said that there are other offers pending on the property, but that he had been waiting for the Board's decision on the Hagers' offer before requesting a formal offer from the other prospective buyers. The Board voted unanimously to extend the listing agreement with Sweeney, which was set to expire March 5, for another 30 days.

OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the Board met with Nate Summers, a Vice President of D.A. Davidson and Company of Des Moines, who gave a presentation on the services his company could offer with regard to funding capital projects, such as the construction of a new jail or secondary roads projects.