The Dallas County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday.
During open forum, Haley Smith stopped by to introduce herself as the new regional representative for Senator Joni Ernst’s office. She said she can act as a liason for both constituents and County officials and the Senator. Smith is based out of the federal building in Des Moines.
At the meeting, payroll change notices were approved for the Assessor’s office, Sheriff’s office and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department. Representatives from Holmes Murphy and Associates then presented information to the Board in regards to the County health plan renewal. Brent Mackey said they will be purchasing health insurance from Wellmark and BCS Insurance Company, along with life insurance from Reliance Standard. Following the presentation and some discussion, the Board approved the renewal.
A public hearing in regards to a lawn mowers lease for the Conservation Board will continue at the next meeting due to the County not yet receiving all necessary documentation from Van Wall.
A list of business property tax credit applications were then approved as presented.
The Board then discussed a cardiac monitors purchase for the EMS department. Director Mike Thomason says the devices they currently have on hand are around nine years old and technology has advanced significantly since that purchase. Typically life expectancy for such equipment is between five and seven years, according to Thomason. The department tested equipment from three different companies on a trial basis over a span of about three months. Thomason says right now there is around $75,000 in the budget for purchase of these items. One of the companies, Phillips, sent equipment that did not work during the testing phase. Physio and Zoll also submitted quotes and equipment for the department to test. Ultimately, Thomason said staff preferred the Zoll equipment, which also offers more features than the other devices. Thomason’s recommendation was to purchase four monitors from Zoll with a payment plan, or purchase two outright without financing the equipment. The Board took no action on the issue, it is expected to be discussed again at next week’s meeting. The geothermal testing proposal for the courthouse was then discussed.
Facilities Director Eric Rose says there’s a leak in one of the geothermal wells. Braun Intertech out of Minneapolis submitted a proposal for a noninvasive scope service to locate the leak in the system. The Board approved the proposal at a cost of $1,700.
Two additional change orders for the human services campus renovation project were then approved. The first is for laminate on the north walls of the second floor restrooms at an additional cost of $881. The second is for additional security conduit and electric security strike for a door at a cost of $1,052.