By Jim Magdefrau

VINTON – The Benton County Board of Supervisors found getting ready for the holidays to be complicated due to Christmas falling on a Monday, at their meeting Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, at the service center in Vinton.

Susan Wilber of the human resources office discussed the holiday schedule for county employees. The state has Tuesday, Dec. 26 as a holiday. The board first made a motion to have this as the county’s holiday as well. This was later withdrawn, and the matter was eventually tabled to next week.

Sheriff Ron Tippett asked the board how it will handle employees who work on that day, which could mean being paid double time and a half. Tippett said he does not have that in his budget. He’d prefer to give eight hours of comp time. This also affects the union labor on secondary roads.

It was suggested it be a floating holiday.

The board then considered letting the union employees have eight hours of comp time if they work on Dec. 26. 

District court in the courthouse is taking a holiday day on Dec. 26. The county is also looking at Dec. 22.

Wilber said the county needs to better to define how holidays are handled.

Other employment matters

The board approved the employee status change for Owen Hansen, going from part-time to full-time, corrections officer, for $21.08 per hour.

Wilber said they are working to improve communications throughout the county. They are looking at texting vendors to send notices and reminders to employees. It was suggested that a survey be taken of employees to see how many people are interested in this. 

Scott Hansen, Emergency Management, talked with the board about retirement policy changes. He plans to retire as director. He had questions about insurance coverage, since when he retires he will be nine months short of being 65 and qualifying for Medicare. He is looking for early retirement help in getting health insurance between the time he retires and qualifies for Medicare. He suggested making a change to the amount provided in the early retirement policy.

The early retirement plan has not been reviewed since 2012. It will be on the agenda again on Dec. 19.

Engineer work

A utility permit was approved for Alliant Energy in Kane, Union, Eldorado, Fremont and Florence Townships. They are tying in substations, from the Tama County line to the Linn County line. They are burying and boring cable in these townships. 

Other business

Shelby Williams, Benton County Conservation, said the county is receiving tribal funding. She suggested earmarking this money for the Wildcat Bluff project, and to help with tribal surveys of the land. The grant is $100,000. The board approved authorizing this.

In public comments, the board was asked about the impact on insurance premiums from the recent $250,000 settlement. Board member Richard Primmer said this should not affect county premiums by very much. They are also working on updating the handbook for the county. It was added that all employees have to take harassment training through the county’s insurance provider. There is a procedure for discipline in the handbook, which is confidential.