Wayne County Board of Supervisors
January 27, 2020
A meeting of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors was held on the 27th day of January, 2020, in the Board Room of the Wayne County Courthouse, Corydon, Iowa, pursuant to notice duly given in compliance with Iowa Code Section 21.4. The Board noted due notice of meeting subject to said Code Section.
Present were David Dotts, Tom Swearingin, Don Seams; members of the Board of Supervisors, Tony Miller, Bill Byrns, Sue Ruble, Rhonda Bennett, Jenn Reed, Abby Clark, Keith Davis, Michelle Dooley
Unless otherwise noted, all motions were approved unanimously.
Dotts called meeting to order at 9:00 AM
Pledge of Allegiance
David requested agenda be amended to add; Tax Abatement for Parcel # 12230C204006 for the City of Seymour; TSwearingin made motion to adopt the agenda with amendment, seconded by Seams.
Seams made motion to approve January 13, 2020 minutes, seconded by TSwearingin.
TSwearingin made motion to approve claims, seconded by Seams.
Seams made motion to approve payroll, seconded by TSwearingin.
Tony Miller presented on behalf to Southeast Iowa Response Group. Miller gave an update regarding the Response Group. SIRG covers 11 counties and consist of 32-member response team. They have purchased a new rescue boat and Hazmat Truck. They have an equipment trailer prepared to respond to all hazmat calls. Appanoose and Lucas County is being added effective July 1, 2020. A new 28E agreement was presented. TSwearingin made motion to accept and approve the new 28E agreement, seconded by Seams. Byrns had nothing else to add for Emergency Management or 911.
City of Seymour requested the Board to abate the second half of property taxes for Parcel#12230C204006. Seams made motion to approve the tax abatement request for 2nd half of current year for Parcel#12230C204006 for the City of Seymour, seconded by TSwearingin.
Randy Zerr, County Engineer, gave a reminder; Cramer Associates will begin work on the bridge north of Promise City on Highway S56 between Newton and Ohio Road. Work is scheduled to begin Monday, February 3rd. Cramer Assoc. will have 85 working days to complete the project. Preconstruction meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 28th.
Secondary Roads working with FEMA regarding low water crossings. There were some errors in GPS coordinates, so FEMA/State of Iowa are reviewing how to proceed on Joint application with DNR permit which has a 90-120-day review process. Wayne County will be responsible for 15% of the cost. Calhoun-Burns & Associates Inc is working with Federal Highway Administration on the contract for Medicine Creek Project. Secondary Roads is working on updating DOT mapping for the county and continual snow removal. SRuble asked if the public could still visit with Supervisors regarding road issues. TSwearingin would like the public to visit directly with Secondary Roads Department. SRuble is not happy about the blading done in Sewal. Ms. Ruble requested an update on Hwy2 extensions project and why the mowing was only done twice last year? Zerr stated that Highway 2 is an Iowa DOT project and the mowing was decreased due to weather and equipment breakdowns.
Wayne County Senior Meal Site meeting was cancelled; therefore, quarterly allocation was issued to the Wayne County Senior Meal Site Board. Seams would like the allocation to be split between Corydon and Lineville. TSwearingin made motion to table the change of quarterly allocation for future meeting, seconded by Seams.
Dotts summarized the ATV & OTV Ordinance that the County is looking into adopting. The Board is scheduled to visit with Al Wilson, County Attorney later this week. Proposed Ordinance 02-2020 is available in the Auditor’s office if anyone would like a copy. 1st Reading will be February 10, 2020.
Dotts read the Wayne County Meeting Room Policy. Seams made motion to approve the Meeting Room Policy, seconded by TSwearingin. The policy will be posted in the Conference Room for public viewing.
Compensation Board met Monday, January 6, 2020. The Board recommended a 7% increase for all elected officials. TSwearingin stated he must abstain from voting but could discuss. The fund balances for Wayne County is looking well. Valuations for the County have increased; rollbacks from the state have decreased resulting in taxpayers paying on approximately 80% of assessed value. In FY20, elected officials received 3.6% increase. Sheriff, Keith Davis was present to speak on behalf of elected officials. Sheriff Davis stated that Ringgold County pays their Sheriff 10% more than Wayne County and is very comparable. More expenditures for Law Center will be taken out of LOSST Funds in FY21. LOSST Fund is .01 cent Local Option Sales and Service Tax collected. Seams mentioned that his background was in education and that their raises were 3% or less and Seams also mentioned that his taxes have increased 77% over the past 5 years mainly due to moving to Corydon.
Dotts made motion for 5% increase, seconded by Seams.
Dotts & Seams – Aye and TSwearingin abstained from voting.
Wayne County Handbook Discussion
2.5 Medical Examinations is fine as written.
2.6 Employment of Relatives needs to refer to 4.1Definition of Employee Status
2.7 Job Vacancies and Posting; All job vacancies are to be posted and public notice given.
2.15 Needs to be removed it is specific to the Sheriff’s Office and the Sheriff’s office has an Department policy
9.1 Add 2 hours for Christmas Eve
9.1 Remove paragraph 2 and 3
6.1 Terminology has been updated
TSwearingin made motion to accept County Employee Handbook changes, seconded by Seams.
TSwearingin made motion to accept the Treasurer’s Cash and Outstanding Report for December, seconded by Seams.
Seams made motion to accept the Treasurer’s Semi-Annual Financial Report, seconded by TSwearingin
Supervisor Meetings
TSwearingin: Conservation Board is working on FY21 Budget. Kenny Banks will be meeting with City of Corydon regarding Lakeside Park.
Public Health Board is working on their FY21 Budget. Shelley Bickel is working on grant that may enable PHN to expand services and increase staff. Nuisance Ordinance is not going to be passed and David Rhodes is working on a Department Policy/Procedures. Southeastern Iowa Response Group is expanding the covered territory to include Appanoose and Lucas effective July 1st, 2020. And SIRG is working on a grant for new level A suites for their response team. 1015 Transit will not transport within the City of Ottumwa. TSwearingin has 1015 Transit Financials if anyone would like to review and the garage is almost done.
Dotts attended ISAC University in January. Training included; Methods to improve communication with the 5 generations in the workforce currently and recognized the challenges of blending the 5 generations together. How to deal with the day to day struggles and pressures and bringing fun into the workplace. Laughter is the best medicine. Recognizing mental illness is on the increase in our communities and working environment and how to be sensitive to the needs of individuals.
Dotts also attended Iowa Department of Correction meeting. They are working on FY21 budgets.
Seams attended Iowa Workforce Development meeting. Workforce Development was challenged court so the regions had to back to the original 15 regions. Seams also attended CROSS, Mental Health meeting. They are concerned about the sustainability of the program. Also, the difficulty of getting patients admitted into the new mental health facility in Osceola. Governor is requesting the program be funded at 12.50 per capita and the remaining backfilled by 80 million appropriations. And the Governor is pushing the future funding to be part of .01 cent increase in Sales Tax. State is mandating the region to provide children’s mental health service but currently is not providing in funding to the regions. Milestones Area Agency of Aging is working on filling the gaps within the counties to provide meals for aging residents.
Public Comment: Ronda Bennett asked that the Auditor not be allowed to record the Board meetings for the Wayne County Independent Newspaper. The Board respected her request and stated the Auditor will not record any meetings for any publications in the future. It was also mentioned that the POW and Iowa Flags needed replaced. Sue Ruble stated she was disappointed in the Board for not passing the Nuisance Ordinance. Ms. Ruble stated that her property is being devalued because of neighboring properties. Dotts said he never supported the Ordinance and thinks the policy and procedure that David Rhodes is drafting will address Wayne County’s needs. Seams stated, he opposed the Ordinance because it did not include policies and procedures.
Claims paid on January 27, 2020:
Seams made motion to adjourn at 10:36 AM, seconded by TSwearingin.
The Board will meet in session on the 10th day of February, 2020 at 9AM
_____________________________ Attest:_____________________
David Dotts, Chairman Michelle Dooley, Wayne County Auditor