The Dallas County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday.
At the meeting, the Board approved payroll change notices for the sheriff’s office, emergency medical services and attorney’s office. The Board then approved a letter of support for the City of West Des Moines’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant application. The City is looking for money to work on the Grand Prairie Parkway corridor from Raccoon River Drive to 105th Street.
Robert Alexander Carfrae was then appointed to the Veteran Affairs Commission to fill a vacant term which will end June 30, 2018. Director Nick Praska says eight people applied for the position, the Board interviewed candidates and Carfrae was chosen partially based on his background in marketing.
A contract with Metro Waste Authority was then discussed. Environmental Health Director Ted Truwin says this is for the household hazardous waste events. Metro Waste Authority will now be asking residents to bring items to the transfer station in Grimes, rather than picking up materials on the weekends. The current contract has the County paying around $11,000 for their portion of the cost for these services. The Supervisors chose to not renew the contract with Metro Waste Authority.
The fiscal year 2015/2016 budget amendment was then reviewed. The Board will be setting up a workshop to discuss budget items with the E911 board and the amendment will be brought up again for action at next week’s Supervisors meeting. A public hearing in regards to the budget’s second amendment was then set for May 17th.
A contract with Academy Roofing was then approved for repairs to the 210 North 10th Street building. The estimated cost is $16,100 and the project is expected to start this week.
The Supervisors then heard updates on the north campus and space planning. Architect Jerry Purdy says both projects continue to move forward and no formal action was taken on either item. The Board did approve the purchase of an Automated External Defibrillator for the north campus. The County plans to pay for the equipment through a $1,000 Iowa Communities Assurance Pool grant.
A request from the mayors of Dallas County to increase the Board membership from three Supervisors to five. The request states that increasing the the number of Supervisors would better serve and represent the roughly 80,000 people in Dallas County. The Supervisors said research needs to be done and they feel holding workshops on the topic would be appropriate. The mayors have requested the issue be brought before voters during the general election in November, that would need to be approved by August 31st to make it on the ballot. A workshop to discuss the issue will be scheduled in the near future.
A human resources workshop was then held to discuss turnover in various departments. Human Resources Director Erin Freeman says the Sheriff’s office sees the largest turnover rate, particularly in the dispatch area where around 33 percent of employees depart within their first two years of employment. She says more than half of the County employees have been employed here for less than nine years. Freeman addressed priorities that she feels should be focused on when it comes to the County’s pay plan. Her goal is to have employees start start at an appropriate rate and then prove themselves through performance to earn increases in compensation. No formal action was taken after the discussion, though Freeman says if the Board wants to make changes to the payroll for the next fiscal year she will need to know by June 1st.
Finally, the Board went into a closed session to discuss the purchase of particular real estate.