Allamakee County Board of Supervisors - regular session Monday, Feb. 28, 2005

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday morning, Feb. 28, wading through a handful of agenda items, several of them quite lengthy. The first of those items of lengthy discussion was a presentation by the steering committee heading up the project to bring to reality a satellite center for Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC), a building addition to the existing Waukon Senior High School campus to make a grades 7-12 center, and a Community Wellness Center on the current high school campus.

Committee members Mike Myers, John Speer, Patty Fosaaen and Dennis Lyons were each present to discuss with the Supervisors the funding possibilities from county sources to help facilitate construction of the NICC satellite center portion of the overall project. Committee members reviewed the overall project with the Supervisors, and explained the different sources of funding for each piece of the project.

Foremost within the discussion was the importance of a collaborative effort between the three entities involved in the overall project - the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD), the City of Waukon, and Allamakee County. With that in mind, members of the committee were seeking to fill what has been determined to be an approximate $625,000 gap in funding for construction of the NICC satellite center.

Speer explained that a majority of the funding for the proposed $1.5 million NICC center is planned to come from a $500,000 Demonstration Construction grant and $375,000 of matching funds from ACSD, thus leaving an approximate $625,000 price tag to yet be accounted for. The Supervisors have already committed an amount of $50,000 in county funding to the NICC project in earlier discussions, and concern was expressed as to where additional funding sources could be obtained by the county.

Lyons further explained that the $625,000 commitment would not necessarily have to come in one lump sum, but could be spread out over a 10-year timeframe, breaking down the annual commitment to a somewhat more manageable level in a loan-type format. Discussion continued amid concerns of additional funding sources, with Supervisors chairperson Kathy Campbell stating that property taxes were basically the lone source of revenue for the county. Fellow supervisor Bill Clark further explained that the only way to budget for the proposed funding on the part of the county would be to increase an existing tax levy, with the county’s general basic or general supplemental funds being the initial focus.

As discussion wound down, a third contribution possibility for the county was offered by Campbell, that being completing the road and utility infrastructure portion of the project as the county’s piece of the collaborative effort. Myers said he would share his set of engineering plans for such infrastructure with Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour for assessment of cost possibilities and feasibility of completion by the county.

With all those options having been proposed, the Board of Supervisors agreed to further investigate those possibilities before committing to anything at this time. Lyons explained that the committee was not looking for an answer at this point in time, and it was agreed that within the next week or so the county would have a better grasp on what it could commit to the project.

Committee members also presented an initial cost/benefit analysis recognizing the direct and indirect benefits the entire county would receive from bringing a satellite campus for NICC into the area. Drawing students from not only this area, but surrounding counties and states, as well as the jobs a satellite center would create were the main direct benefits noted, along with the potential college cost savings for area students and their families. Indirectly, it was felt that such an advancement for the Waukon area would further entice new businesses and families to migrate to the area.

VOTING MACHINES

Representatives of Matt Parrott and Sons Company were present to demonstrate to the Supervisors and employees in the Allamakee County Auditor’s office new automated vote counting equipment being required by federal mandate. The presentation was the second of two the Supervisors and auditor employees have now seen within the last week in an effort to make a decision on which equipment would best meet the needs of the Allamakee County voting system.

In addition to a new precinct-specific vote tabulation system that would replace the centralized counting system now being used, the presentation also ventured into ADA (American Disabilities Act)-compliant machines for use by those with disabilities.

Christine Vadner, representative of Matt Parrott and Sons Company who has worked with Allamakee County with its current voting system, explained that although the new system is not yet certified for use, she expected it to be so within the next month or so, and use of the machines is being federally mandated for implementation yet this year. She advised the Supervisors to budget approximately $10,000 per precinct for the new voting equipment. There will also be an additional cost for software to run the equipment, a decision needing to made on whether to purchase that software upfront for an additional $55,000 or to lease the software at a cost of $750 per major election.

The Supervisors will now work with the Auditor’s office to help reach a decision on which route to take with the new equipment, having seen presentations by two different companies. Also involved in the decision will be the possibility of reducing the number of voting precincts within the county to help save equipment costs.

ROAD EASEMENTS

The final matter of lengthy discussion at Monday’s meeting centered around the issue of road easements that was first brought to public light in the form of letters to the newspaper editor from Dean and Sherry Bechtel of Jefferson Township. Obvious differences in interpretation of an original easement purchase of 1.33 acres of land owned by the Bechtels has become a point of contention between the family and Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour, who was also in attendance for this portion of the meeting.

The Bechtels stated they had been paid a sum of $78.11 at the signing of the easement in 1975 for what was termed “loss” of that 1.33 acres, which the Bechtels stated was not plantable ground anyway. The easement had been completed to help make Peterson Hollow Drive a safer road to travel.

A main concern stated by the Bechtels was that, although the easement stated the land could be used for “road purposes”, they felt the original soil that they claim has now been stripped away to the rock base was either being used for other roadways in the county or even sold by the county. Supervisor Bill Clark stated that it had never been the practice of Allamakee County to sell such soil, and Ridenour echoed that he has never been aware of any such practice during his engineering tenure with Allamakee County.

Continued discussion on inconsistent communication and obvious differences in understanding and interpretation of original easement documents between the two parties finally boiled down to a question posed to the Bechtels. “What do you feel you want the county to do in this case?” asked Clark. It was determined that the Bechtel family needed to come up with a request of what they felt would remedy the situation, and the family agreed to propose a possible solution to the Board of Supervisors at a future meeting.

APPROVED ITEMS

With very limited discussion, the Board of Supervisors appointed three individuals - Jean Huffey, Betty Helgerson, and Larry Wolfe - to the Allamakee Historic Preservation Committee. Approval was also given to the annual update of the S&P Enterprise manure management plan.

Two other items given approval were a request for funds from the county to the Allamakee County Community Foundation (ACCF) and a new lease agreement for Allamakee-Clayton REC’s use of the county’s radio tower north of Waukon. Rachelle Howe of the ACCF was present to hear the Supervisors’ commitment to giving $5,000 to the foundation’s endowment plan that will be used in the future to benefit non-profit organizations from within the county.

The lease agreement with REC increased the tower use rate from $900 per year to a $250 per month rate more comparable with the recent improvements made to the tower.