Supervisors hear recommendation from County Compensation Board, appoint Doug Mullen to Planning and Zoning Commission

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, January 16, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with members of the County Compensation Board, who presented a recommendation for a five percent across-the-board salary increase for elected County officials. Speaking on behalf of the Compensation Board, Bill Shafer said that his reasoning in recommending the increase is that for years, Allamakee County has ranked approximately 50th in population among Iowa counties but approximately 80th in salaries.
“To attract and retain good people, those salaries need to be line,” Shafer said. “You have good people working for the County and you need to tell those people ‘you’re doing a good job.’” The Board will have the option of either accepting the recommendation or lowering the recommended increase as it considers the County’s budget in the coming weeks for the next fiscal year.
Also on the subject of employee compensation, the Board met with members of the Insurance Committee, who presented a recommendation to keep Gundersen Lutheran as the County’s health insurance provider. Speaking on behalf of the Insurance Committee, County Engineer Brian Ridenour said the Committee had looked into other health insurance providers and found that Gundersen Lutheran offered the lowest premiums, despite a 14-percent increase for the coming fiscal year.
Also speaking on behalf of the Committee, Rev Lonning said that the Committee’s recommendation includes measures to offset the cost to the County of the premium increase, including an increase in the co-pay for prescription drugs and a $40 employee contribution for the $500 deductible plan. The Committee’s recommendation includes a $17 monthly increase to $564 per employee to the County’s contribution to health insurance costs. A $1,000 deductible plan is also available to County employees for $521 per month and the remaining $43 per month contributed by the County would be placed in a flex spending account for employees who select that plan. The Board voted unanimously to accept the Insurance Committee’s recommendation.
Having accepted the resignation of John Smola from the Planning and Zoning Commission a couple weeks earlier, the Board met with the only two applicants expressing interest in serving the remainder of Smola's term, Doug Mullen of Lansing and Colleen Gragg of Waukon. Speaking on his own behalf, Mullen said he is “very qualified” for the position, and while his farm is mostly in the Bluffland zone, it is under a conservation easement so there will be no conflict of interest. He added that the eastern part of the county is currently unrepresented on the Commission and that, as he is retired, he can put 100% of his time into the position.
Gragg conceded that Mullen has more experience with zoning and withdrew her application, saying that she would continue to attend Commission meetings. Supervisor Lennie Burke said that while he does not dispute Mullen’s qualifications, he has concerns about appointing Mullen to the Commission, citing Mullen’s “reprimand” of Supervisors Larry Schellhammer and Sherry Strub after a previous appointment did not go Mullen’s way. Chairman Schellhammer agreed with Burke that a “higher standard” would be expected from Mullen following his appointment to the Commission. Following assurances from Mullen that he understands what is expected, the Board voted unanimously to appoint Mullen to the Planning and Zoning Commission, effective February 1, to serve the remainder of Smola’s term, which ends this September.
The Board also met with County Attorney Jill Kistler, Waukon Mayor Loren Beneke and Waukon City Attorney Jim Garrett to discuss the alley located behind the Vets Club and City Hall in Waukon. It being the consensus of the Board to move forward with transfer of ownership of the alley and the land on which City Hall is located to the City, Kistler was asked to work with Garrett on the finer details of the agreement. Beneke said the issue would also be discussed during this week’s regular meeting of the Waukon City Council.
The Board also approved a Revolving Loan Fund application from AoK Well Service for a $15,000 three-year loan at 1.3% interest, with three vehicles used as collateral on the loan.
In other business, the Board approved a $15,000 annual contract with the City of Harpers Ferry for police protection provided by the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Department. The Board accepted the resignation of Karen Swenson from the Board of Health and appointed Betty Howe to fill the position. The Board approved the second reading of an amendment to the County’s zoning ordinance to change travel trailer parks and commercial campgrounds to conditional uses in agricultural zones.
The Board also met briefly in closed session with County Attorney Jill Kistler to discuss pending litigation, approved transfers to the Secondary Roads Fund, accepted the Treasurer’s semi-annual report and passed a resolution to participate in the Master Matrix, which allows the County to hold public hearings regarding construction of new confined animal feeding operations and to submit comments to the Department of Natural Resources.