February 7, 2023
The Benton County Board of Supervisors met in regular session with Supervisors Seeman, Primmer and Bierschenk present. The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. at the conference room at the Benton County Service Center. Members of the public were provided the zoom access capability to join in during open session and livestream at https://www.youtube.com/bentoncountyiowa. Unless otherwise noted, all actions were approved unanimously. Summarized Resolutions will be available in the Auditor’s office and at: www.bentoncountyia.gov
( https://www.youtube.com/bentoncountyiowa)
Primmer moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve the minutes of January 31, 2023. Motion carried.
Primmer moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve payroll checks numbered 142719 through 142735, ACH Deposits 51971 through 52114, vendor checks 245193 through 245199 and claims numbered 245200 through 245342. Motion carried.
Primmer moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve the appointment of the following deputies in their respective offices:
Attorney: Tim Dille and Megan Hall
Recorder: Marla Roster and Katelyn Welper
Treasurer: Rose Sackett, Joy Wieditz, Jodi Bonar, Ann Stephens, Beth Geater and Ariane Geiger.
Bierschenk moved/Primmer seconded: To approve farm exemption application for Brian Pippert in part of the NW ¼ of Section 33-86-12. Motion carried.
Bierschenk moved/Primmer seconded: To approve farm exemption application for Tyler Ebnet in part of the SE ¼ of the NE ¼ & NE ¼ SE ¼ of Section 27-85-9. Motion carried.
The time of 9:15 a.m. having arrived, and this being the time and date for a land use hearing for Tanner and Lyndsey Davis in part of the SW ¼ NE ¼ of 22-85-10. Tanner Davis, Mark Dulin, and Matt Dulin was present, along with adjoining land owner Shane Marzen. Marc Greenlee presented the technical information with the Benton County Agricultural Land Use Preservation Ordinance. Greenlee stated the land is not in production. Davis would like to change 6.08 acres for a new residence. There is no existing driveway, the bank needs to be cut down for driveway. This location will need a new well and septic. The required notifications were sent to the adjacent landowner’s and published in the official newspapers. Greenlee received 2 phone calls prior to the meeting with questions. Marzen concerns are that he bought his property 4 years ago and there were no houses in the area, now there is 4 new houses, he doesn’t want the area to become a housing development. Mark Dulin raised concerns on the driveway and who’s property it was on, the area the house will be built on has an electric fence, so it’s misleading stating it’s not in production, it’s a pasture, “it’s not there to keep the weeds out”. Matt Dulin questioned Davis if the driveway would be tapered or would it have a retaining wall. Davis stated he is having it tapered and looking into it with a professional to have the water divert away and not cut into the farm ground. Other conversation was discussed about the area not being turned into a housing development. Hearing no other further comments, the public hearing was closed.
Primmer moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve the land use change for Tanner and Lyndsey Davis in part of the SW ¼ NE ¼ of 22-85-10. Primmer-yes, Bierschenk-yes, Seeman-no. Motion carried.
Jane Drapeaux, Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP), presented their FY 24 Budget Proposal along with providing an update of the services that are offered.
Primmer moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve Resolution #23-7, Employee Status Change for Jeff Harnish in the Sheriff’s Office from part-time to full time effective February 13, 2023 at the hourly rate of $24.48. Motion carried.
Primmer moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve Resolution #23-8, Hiring Jade Schmitz as full-time correctional officer at the Sheriff’s Office at the hourly rate of $19.70 effective February 7, 2023. Motion carried.
Bierschenk moved/Primmer seconded: To approve hiring Wanda Hinshaw as part-time food service/kitchen staff at the Sheriff’s office at the hourly rate of $17.53 effective February 7, 2023. Motion carried.
Bierschenk moved/Primmer seconded: To approve hiring Courtney Meyer as a part-time communications specialist at the Sheriff’s office at the hourly rate of $19.70 effective February 7, 2023. Motion carried.
Engineer, Myron Parizek, discussed with the board during the last snow storm they had a snow plow engine blow, the engine was already rebuilt once. Parizek has looked into a replacement and it would affect his FY24 budget request. Parizek stated there is 2 plows he was looking into; 1-Mac for $231,680 that would be available at the earliest August, 2-Freightliner for $215,007 but wouldn’t be available until January of 2024. Parizek is looking into the Mac since he would get it sooner. He is looking at increasing his equipment budget from $545,000 to $750,000.
Parizek told the board that he met with Shive Hattery on the 61st Street project and to go ahead with the proposal and to survey and to present concepts.
Supervisor Seeman gave the Board an update on the Norway tower project, the foundation is done, there is no delivery date on the steel at this time.
Primmer moved/ Bierschenk seconded: To adjourn. Motion carried.
_______________________________
Tracy Seeman, Chairman
ATTEST: _________________________________
Gina Edler, Deputy Benton County Auditor
February 9, 2023
The Benton County Board of Supervisors met in special session at 6:00 p.m. at the Farm Bureau Office Building in Vinton. Supervisor Seeman called the meeting to order with Supervisor’s Seeman, Primmer and Bierschenk present.
Discussion was held on the FY24 county budget. Budget topics ranged from the upcoming 911 Radio system project, mental health, roads and other budget concerns, along with explaining the importance of keeping reserves in the county fund balances. Auditor Rippel and Supervisor Primmer brought some handouts to share, which included the current 2022 valuation report, 2021 levy sheet along with worksheets reflecting the assessed value changes over the past year along with the land use department’s yearly review.
Primmer moved/Bierschenk seconded: To adjourn at 7:00 p.m. Motion carried.
_______________________________
Tracy Seeman, Chairman
ATTEST: _________________________________
Hayley Rippel, Benton County Auditor
February 10, 2023
The Benton County Board of Supervisors met in special session at 10:00 a.m. at the Virginia Gay Hospital Conference Room in Vinton. Supervisor Seeman called the meeting to order along with Supervisor’s Primmer and Bierschenk present. This is a joint meeting with the Benton County Public Board of Health along with Virginia Gay Hospital CEO Michele Schoonover and Katie Cox, Director of Public Health.
After both Boards called the meeting to order, and Dr. Mangold, Chairman of the Board of Health giving a quick overview of the reason for today’s meeting, it was turned over to Becky Nowachek with Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Nowachek provided a handout and discussed what is public health and what do they do. Also touching on what roles and responsibilities the local boards of health have pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 137.104. A large part of public health is promoting health care equity, quality and accessibility. It is a partnership of local public health, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, non-profit organizations, health care providers, policymakers, businesses and many others working together to protect and improve the overall health of Iowans. Discussion regarding the areas of work activities along with population and non-population status and where home-health fits in place.
Currently Benton County is currently active in a 3-way contract drafted in 1994 between Benton County Board of Supervisors, The Board of Public Health and Virginia Gay Hospital. County Attorney Ray Lough was also in attendance and was involved with the current document and will also help us make changes in drafting a future contract. Lough stated that at that time this merger was drafted, the county was very fortunate to have Virginia Gay Hospital (VGH) step up and assist providing public health needs. Katie Cox acts as the liaison between the county and the hospital. The funding comes from Benton County tax dollars and grants from the state. It is also worth noting that VGH has had to absorb some of the shortfalls therein. The concept from back then is substantially different than the current needs of today along with the constant fiscal year requirement changes.
Maggie Mangold mentioned how they have been trying to address the changing needs and possible revised contract in the past, but made no progress. The purpose of today’s meeting was to educate everyone on the public health needs and to find out if all three parties are still on board. Mangold felt the Board of Health wants to be more engaged when it comes to the budgeting portion and prioritizing the public health needs. This may be something we need to model after a state contract and hold yearly reviews and tweak accordingly. Other topics discussed ranged from immunizations, school audits, activities that are billable and non-billable along with the record number of suicides and mental health illnesses the county has seen. This would be something they would like to potentially work on getting a project set up for.
All parties agreed the meeting was educational without a doubt. The public health professionals work to keep things from happening or recurring through implementing education programs, recommending policies, administering services and conducting research. There was no action taken today and will continue status as is for the FY 24 Budget but this was the first step taken towards possible changes to be made for FY 25.
Primmer moved/Bierschenk seconded: To adjourn. Motion carried.
_______________________________
Tracy Seeman, Chairman
ATTEST: _________________________________
Hayley Rippel, Benton County Auditor
February 10, 2023
The Benton County Board of Supervisors met in regular session with Supervisors Seeman, Primmer and Bierschenk present. The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. at the conference room at the Benton County Service Center. Members of the public were provided the zoom access capability to join in during open session and livestream at https://www.youtube.com/bentoncountyiowa. Unless otherwise noted, all actions were approved unanimously. Summarized Resolutions will be available in the Auditor’s office and at: www.bentoncountyia.gov
( https://www.youtube.com/bentoncountyiowa)
The purpose of the meeting was to receive an update and discuss the E911 Emergency Radio Project with Racom and True North representatives. Supervisor Seeman asked where we were, what has been fulfilled and what needs still need to be met. Scott Hansen spoke up about the recent known change orders and wants to be made aware of any future ones since it is FY 24 budget time. Currently there are no new expected change orders for the future. Maintenance on the LEC tower was also discussed along with maintenance contracts over a 10-year plan and radios and portables being uniform for all that utilize them. The cost of purchasing spare equipment was a topic since numerous counties will be upgrading to the same system state wide. There tends to be a lot of duplication with spare equipment sitting around and then going obsolete before being needed. Racom has been brainstorming for a solution. That maybe they would purchase spares and come up with a shared agreement for when a need arises with a county or nearby neighboring county who could use the spares they would have.
Current status is getting the electrical portion needs started, the cement work is in place and now the wiring will need to get routed for all 5 tower sites.
Primmer moved/ Bierschenk seconded: To adjourn. Motion carried.
_______________________________
Tracy Seeman, Chairman
ATTEST: _________________________________
Hayley Rippel, Benton County Auditor
Jim Magdefrau 