Harrison County Supervisors Meeting February 19, 2025 Chairman Brian Rife and member Rebecca Wilkerson attended the SWIPCO Comprehensive Plan meeting at the Willow Lake Nature Center. A general discussion about County issues was held. No action was taken. ATTEST: Megan Reffett, Auditor Brian Rife, Chairman February 20, 2025 Chairman Brian Rife called the meeting to order with members Tony Smith and Rebecca Wilkerson in attendance. Motion to approve the tentative agenda was made by Wilkerson, second by Smith. Motion carried. Attendance: Auditor Megan Reffett, Paul J. Rhoten, Susan Bonham, Michele Stirtz, Jack Jones, Sarah Delanty, Mitch Flaherty, Trisa McLaughlin, Diane Kuhlman, Tina Fagan, Paula Shulte, Andrea Feller, Alica Makey, Justin Wagner, Jessica Allen, Emily Allmon, Felicia Geith, Steve Smith, David Sherer, Bonnie Castillo, Brittany Freet, Rashelle Wohlers Opioid Agreement Chief Deputy Flaherty presented the board with an agreement between the Opioid Committee and Sheriff’s office to offer funds to the DARE program. The funds will be used to fund $1000 scholarships in each of the 5 county schools for the next two years. They also requested to receive $2500 upfront to help purchase supplies for the program. The Board approved the agreement with a motion by Smith, second by Wilkerson. Salary Recommendation Trista McLaughlin the Compensation Board Chairman presented the recommended salaries for county elected officials. The Board thanked the Compensation Board for the work that they did. Insurance Committee Megan Reffett presented the board with the recommendation from the Insurance Committee for FY26. The committee reviewed several new policy options with HUB earlier this week and narrowed down two options. The committee is recommending that the county offer the two plans and give the employees the option to choose the plan that best fits their needs. Woodbine School Presentation on Regional Perming Arts Center Representatives from Woodbine School presented a proposal for a new Performing Arts Center and asked for a letter of support and in-kind contributions from the county. The Board of Supervisors agreed that they would be open to providing a letter of support and offered other ideas where they could look for funding and support. Brittany Freet – VA PTSD Support Group VA director presented on The Vet Center Group from Omaha that provides services to veterans. They reached out asking if the County would be interested in holding PTSD support groups for Veterans and Director Freet felt this was a needed service. The Courthouse Annex conference room is the suggested location to start the program and would allow them to meet Veterans before and after the meeting as well. The board approved the usage with a motion by Smith and seconded Wilkerson. Motion carried. County Risk Management Position Chairman Rife advised the board that he received a call from IMWCA and that they were concerned that we had recent incidents that were not documented with reports filed properly with IMWCA. Bill Dickey from IMWCA encouraged the County to proceed with the hiring of the Risk Manager position to make sure that agreement with IMWCA is being followed. The board discussed the salary on the position and the requirements of the position. Rashelle Wohlers was the only applicant for the position and discussed with the board what she was hoping to see out of the position and what the requirements of the position would be. Motion to appoint Rashelle Wohlers at the rate of $12000 per year with a start date of March 1st by Rife, second by Smith. Smith Yay. Rife Yay. Wilkerson Nay. Motion carried. Handwritten Warrant to US Bank The board approved the handwritten warrant to US Bank in the amount of $9163.18. Motion by Smith, Second by Wilkerson. Motion carried. Loess Hills Alliance Funding Wilkerson had misunderstood what year they were requesting funding for and requested not to discuss it today. Discussion on Lising Of County Board on Website Wilkerson asked what the process of getting all outside boards with their board members on the County website was. It was discussed that there are tabs on the website that take users to outside departments websites where a lot of that information could be found. She requested that a page on the County’s website be created with this information. It was advised that this would incur a cost from the website programmers. She requested a quote to see what it would cost. Discussion on Bank Reconciliation Policy Wilkerson presented a policy regarding the reconciliation of outside bank accounts. Chairman Rife recommended that we wait until the State Auditors report comes back to decide how to proceed. Discussion on Elevator Service Contract Wilkerson asked where we were in the process and County Attorney Delanty stated that she had requested the contract. Auditor Reffett advised that she received the contract received last night but has not been able to review it yet. Engineer Engineer Struble discussed projects and activities that his department are trying to wrap up before his retirement. He presented the budget and 5-year construction plan for the Engineers department. Budget Engineer Struble presented his budget for FY26 and 5-year construction program. The board discussed removing a bridge replacement project from FY26 to help reduce costs to balance the budget. Payment for Panora Ave Struble presented the final payout from the Farm to Market account for the resurfacing project on Panora Ave. Motion by Smith, second by Wilkerson. Motion carried. Consider Agreement with Pottawattamie County Engineer Engineer Struble presented the agreement with Pottawattamie County to have their engineer act as the interim Harrison County Engineer until the position is filled. Attorney Delanty reviewed the document and advised that she did not like the agreement and felt it was not protective of the county. The board agreed to table the decision until the agreement could be reviewed by Attorney Delanty with the Pottawattamie County Attorney. Melody Oaks Petition for Reclassification of a Road to level C from level B County Attorney Sarah Delanty advised that the petition that was submitted did not have the same legal description that was submitted previously to reclassify the road from level C to level B. The newly submitted petition has a legal description that cuts the original petitioners out. The new petition requests to move the gate and reclassifies the new portion of road. Delanty advised the board that Iowa Code does not allow a portion of a road to be reclassified and that they must reclassify the entire portion of the road. Delanty suggested that the board have a petition with the original petitioners’ signatures as well since the County Resolution from 1997 states that all landowners must sign the petition to reclassify to level C. She also stated the petition did not include the required trust documents that were needed to prove who could sign on behalf of the Trust from one of the landowners. Chairman Rife advised that per the County Attorney’s recommendation they not accept the petition. Motion to reject was made by Rife, no second. Motion died. Motion to accept the petition by Smith, second by Wilkerson. Smith Yay. Wilkerson Yay. Rife Nay. Motion carried. Discussion on FY26 Budget Budget Director Megan Reffett presented the Board with current budget. She advised that the current budget does not balance and will not allow for salary increases. Discussion was held about having all departments cut their budgets by 2%, Reffett agreed to send all budgets back and request departments adjust their budgets. Chairman Rife also requested to have his meeting mileage reimbursement removed from the boards budget and requested a 0% increase for salary. Members Smith and Wilkerson agreed to also have a 0% salary increase. Multiple salary options for all other County employees were discussed and Reffett agreed compute salary scenarios with those numbers and bring them back. Public Comment Paul Rhoten- requested that the board look at the option of increasing the amount that the board pays for the care of military graves. Tina Fagan – Presented on behalf of the Jail. She presented numbers from Shelby County noting that their starting wage was almost $5 an hour more than hers. She stated that her people are dealing with more and not being compensated for it. Susan Bonham – Had comments to Sarah Delanty and thanked her for being here to provide legal advice to the board With business of the day completed, the Board adjourned on a motion by Smtih, second by Wilkerson. Motion carried. ATTEST: Megan Reffett, Auditor Brain Rife, Chairman NOTE: These minutes are as recorded by the Clerk to the Board of Supervisors and are subject to Board approval at the next regular meeting. MVTN 2-26-25 TDR 2-27-25
