[21:00] No such request. The agenda is approved as written. Various correspondents. Does

[21:04] any commissioner have correspondence they'd like to share with the board?

[21:10] I have several. It's been a good week. [snorts] For additional correspondence.

[21:15] Uh, first of all, I think most of you received a letter from Mr. Jacobs. I

[21:19] don't know if everybody on the board got it, but um just with some information.

[21:24] He wants us to consider a a different property for a jail location. Listed

[21:29] some good reasonings in there. We have looked at that property in the past. Um

[21:34] when Granger gets more boots on the grounds up here, I think we'll probably

[21:38] have them look at it again. We've had the same response from a couple

[21:42] different companies who have looked at it as far as the size not being big

[21:45] enough especially for ancillary buildings and other space but um we're

[21:51] not close-minded about anything. So we will look at that. I think Commissioner

[21:56] Hatfield and I um had an email that was addressed to us about body cams, the

[22:03] usage, the concerns that we were paying a subscription that's not being used

[22:07] used for. also does not feel that the timing is correct for a multi-million

[22:13] dollar jail upgrade um with the safety and also had some comments his concerns

[22:19] about the sheriff and the taxpayers at this point and where the where the focus

[22:24] was on that. Um, I got another one from Christine Murray, um, who is also in

[22:30] Barry Township, um, and also was concerned about money being spent on the

[22:36] design of the jail and concerned about the political performance. And the last

[22:41] one was about someone who had concerns about the roads and had sent me some

[22:44] photos and I will forward those on to the road commission as well. Anybody

[22:49] else have anything that they >> I just saw this morning that I saw one

[22:53] from one of my constituents about the jail expressing concern about us going

[22:57] forward right now. >> Okay. Anything else?

[23:02] Okay.

[23:05] Consent agenda.

[23:09] Commissioner Basset, would you like to read the consent agenda for us?

[23:12] » Can do that. Um I make a motion to approve the August 23rd vote.

[23:19] office commissioners meeting minutes >> support

[23:23] » motion by Basset support by Getty for all items listed on the consent agenda.

[23:27] Discussion is not allowed in a roll call vote is required. All those in favor

[23:30] vote I and oppose vote nay. Madame clerk would you call the role.

[23:34] » Basset >> I.

[23:35] » Colton >> I.

[23:36] » Can Bell >> I.

[23:37] » Eddie >> I.

[23:38] » Smeelker >> I.

[23:39] » Tunison >> I.

[23:40] » Hatfield >> I.

[23:40] » And Jackson >> I. The consent agenda is approved. We

[23:44] have [clears throat] no presentations this morning. No public hearings this

[23:47] morning. Items for consideration. The chair would entertain a motion for

[23:51] approval of prepaid invoices in the amount of 5 million2 $24,3569.

[23:58] » So moved. >> Support.

[24:00] » Motion by Hatfield. Support by Camp Bell for approval of prepaid invoices in the

[24:04] amount of $5,24,35.69.

[24:08] Is there discussion? Hearing none. Madam clerk, would you

[24:11] call the role? >> Colton.

[24:13] » I. >> Canell.

[24:14] » I. >> Getty.

[24:15] » I. >> Smeler.

[24:16] » I. Tunis >> I

[24:17] » Basset >> I

[24:18] » Hatfield >> I

[24:19] » and Jackson >> I the motion is approved the chair would

[24:22] entertain a motion for approval of claims in the amount of $64,9369

[24:28] » so moved >> support

[24:32] » motion by Smelker support by Tunis for approval of claims the amount of

[24:36] $64,9369 cents is there discussion

[24:41] » madam clerk would you call the role >> I

[24:45] » Getty I >> Smaler.

[24:46] » Hi, >> Tunis.

[24:48] » Hi, >> Basset.

[24:49] » I >> Colton.

[24:49] » Hi, >> Pat.

[24:50] » Hi, >> and Jackson.

[24:52] » I The motion is approved. Approval of commissioner reimbursement mileage in

[24:56] the amount of $25,5.72.

[25:01] » So moved. >> Support.

[25:03] » Motion by Getty, support by Hatfield for approval of commissioner reimbursement

[25:07] mileage in the amount of $255.72. Discussion.

[25:12] » Madame Clerk, would you call the role? >> Getty. I

[25:15] » Smoker. >> Hi

[25:16] » Tunis. >> Hi

[25:17] » Basset. >> Hi

[25:18] » Colton. >> Hi

[25:19] » Campbell. >> I

[25:20] » Hatfield. >> I

[25:21] » Jackson. >> I The motion is approved.

[25:24] » Next up, Matt Ward. >> No, Matt was here somewhere.

[25:29] » Hiding in the back, lurking in the shadow.

[25:31] » There you go. [laughter] >> There you go.

[25:35] » Morning, commissioners. I'm here today to talk about a request for a purchase

[25:40] of a multiffactor authentication subscription. So, in our budget last

[25:45] year, we made a request for roughly $36,000

[25:49] uh for the software tool to implement multiffactor authentication across

[25:53] county systems. And uh turns out that we're going to be able to accomplish

[25:57] that with a little bit less expenditure than we had originally thought. We can

[26:01] use a lower tier of the service and still provide the security that we need

[26:05] to meet all the requirements that we need to. Um but it's not going to cost

[26:09] quite as much. So, we're going to come in at fixed costs of about $19,635

[26:15] and a variable cost uh which is dependent upon

[26:19] [sighs] some of our users won't have access to mobile devices or things like

[26:23] that to get the codes on. So, we'll have to buy some hard tokens for them for

[26:28] that. We're estimating that between $1,500 and $2,500. Uh so that comes in

[26:33] about maximum of about $23,000 as opposed to the $36,000 that we requested

[26:39] in our budget. And the piece that Eric asked me to speak about a little bit

[26:43] today is also the MMRA grant. Uh Eric indicated to me just before the meeting

[26:48] that that grant should cover half of up to $30,000. Uh we will apply for that

[26:53] and hopefully get that and if that's the case, we would apply that to our $19,000

[26:59] cost and and cover some of the costs there as well. But I'm happy to answer

[27:02] any questions about the underlying technology that you might have. Um, as

[27:07] far as the grant goes, I we can ask Eric if we have more questions on details for

[27:11] the grant. Um, get some more information for you there if we need.

[27:15] » Can you give the rest for a while? >> Yeah. So, multiffactor authentication is

[27:19] just another way of helping us secure accounts. Um, people are bad at choosing

[27:24] passwords, frankly. Uh, all of us have too many passwords to remember. So we

[27:28] generally try to pick things that we can recall and uh frankly we're not all as

[27:33] unique as we'd like to believe. So we oftentimes choose things that people

[27:37] have already chosen somewhere else and it's easier to build a list of just

[27:42] stolen passwords that people are going to attempt to try. Multiffactor

[27:45] authentication is one tool we can use to try to make it more challenging for

[27:49] someone. It's not just a password that you need from somebody, but you'd also

[27:52] need to get something that generates a token and steal that as well. So, it

[27:56] makes it a little bit like having two different keys on two different key

[27:59] rings for your home. One that you have and one that your wife has. You both

[28:03] can't get in the house unless you're both there to do it at the same time.

[28:05] So, it is a little in the same way it's a little less convenient than just one

[28:09] key, but it also makes it harder for anybody else to get in the door as well.

[28:13] So, >> okay. Training required on this or is it

[28:16] going to be something that we're all pretty much used to using at this point?

[28:19] I think unfortunately we're all pretty much used to using it uh in other areas

[28:23] of of our lives, but we'd be happy to go through it with any of our users that uh

[28:27] have a challenge facing them to get it done. That's kind of what we do. Um but

[28:31] yeah, and it's also a requirement for us from many more of our security audits or

[28:36] other things like lean audits and um you know, the court's offices have uh MDHHS

[28:43] audits that they're required to go through. They want to see these kind of

[28:46] features inact activated to go ahead and make it more challenging for accounts to

[28:50] be compromised. >> Is [snorts] that 1920,000 is that a

[28:55] one-time cost then? >> I wish that it was, but no, it's a

[28:58] subscriptionbased model. There's nobody that does it as a one-time cost uh for

[29:02] this kind of service. Um it's just it's a subscription that is sort of mandated

[29:08] for us to have that level of security. So whether we're doing it on the

[29:11] firewalls and paying a firewall vendor, we're doing it with Duo at a operating

[29:15] system level, um almost everybody who offers that kind of functionality offers

[29:20] it as software as a service type model. >> Okay. Is this a three-year contract,

[29:24] fiveyear contract? >> A single year. So we are in a boat where

[29:27] if something becomes dramatically cheaper somewhere else, I would be love

[29:31] I would love to see that happen. I'm not sure that it's going to, but if it does

[29:34] become available to us to use a less costly solution even in a year, we can

[29:38] go ahead and reexamine that at the time. [clears throat]

[29:40] » Everything costs money. Everything's going to subscriptionbased.

[29:43] » Unfortunately, we are seeing it across the board. I was talking to Commissioner

[29:46] Smoker earlier and our computer costs from May of this year to October went up

[29:51] 35%. Just for a regular desktop computer that sits on someone's desk for the

[29:55] exact same box. Um, memory costs right now are incredibly high. Storage costs

[30:01] are incredibly high. Um, and all of these software subscription tools

[30:06] utilize those things in their data centers. So, they're going to pay those

[30:08] costs and they're kind enough to share them with us.

[30:12] » Plus, they like profit, unfortunately. So,

[30:15] » sure. Questions from commissioners. >> Commissioner Bassid.

[30:20] » Thank you. Uh, when will this be implemented?

[30:22] » So, the goal for us is to implement it on a small test number of users. So we

[30:26] probably get it implemented I would guess within the next 30 days and then

[30:30] everybody else shortly thereafter if we're going to discover a problem we

[30:34] like to you know perform the experiments on oursel as opposed to everybody else

[30:38] first. So uh I don't know that we're going to have all that much trouble with

[30:42] it. It is. I hate to say things like that out loud because that's the fastest

[30:46] way I know of to invite trouble, but um it's it's a feature that we've utilized

[30:51] for our Microsoft Office users for a while and we're just looking to

[30:56] implement it at an operating system level to add some more security. So,

[31:00] » thank you. >> Okay, there are no further questions.

[31:05] The first agenda item is a request for a submission of the grant application MMR

[31:10] to assist in the purchase of the multiffactor authentication software and

[31:14] authorize the county administrator to sign on behalf of the county.

[31:18] » So move >> support

[31:20] » motion by Colton support by Basset to a for authorize the submission of a grant

[31:25] application MMR to assist in the purchase of multiffactor authentication

[31:28] software and authorize a county administrator to sign on behalf of the

[31:31] county. Further questions or discussion?

[31:36] » Madame clerk, would you call the role? >> Smaller.

[31:39] » I. >> Tunis.

[31:40] » I. >> Basset.

[31:41] » I. >> Colton.

[31:42] » Hi. >> Campell.

[31:43] » I. [clears throat] >> Daddy.

[31:44] » I. >> Catfield.

[31:45] » Hi. >> And Jackson.

[31:46] » I. The motion is approved. Second part of that is the chair would entertain a

[31:52] motion for approval of the attached quote from CDW-G

[31:56] for $19,635. U my deal pricing for yearly Cisco Duo

[32:02] advantage multiffactor authentication licensing for 300 users plus additional

[32:06] cost of provising providing physical tokens to a portion of our user base. So

[32:12] move support [clears throat] >> motion by Tunis, support by Hatfield for

[32:16] approval of the attached quote from CDW-G for $19,635

[32:20] for yearly Cisco Duo Advantage multifactor authentication licensing for

[32:25] 300 users plus additional cost for providing physical tokens to a portion

[32:29] of our user base. Further questions or discussion?

[32:33] [clears throat] >> Madame clerk, would you call the role?

[32:35] » Nasset I. >> Colton.

[32:37] » Campbell. >> I.

[32:39] » Daddy, >> I.

[32:40] » Smoker. I >> Tunison.

[32:41] » Hi, >> Gatfield.

[32:42] » Hi, >> and Jackson.

[32:43] » I The motion is approved. >> Thank you, Matt.

[32:46] » You're welcome.

[32:54] » Okay. Contract with Granger Construction.

[32:57] Eric, did you want to lead on this? >> Yep.

[33:15] Good morning, Mr. Chair, commissioners. Uh, in your packet is a contract and

[33:22] addendum with Granger Construction for the

[33:25] purpose of um construction manager services for the

[33:30] construction of a law enforcement facility for Barry County.

[33:33] This obviously as you all have sat through some long meetings in the past

[33:37] month um came about as a result of the interview process uh working with Mark

[33:43] Nettleton our county attorney for these type of issues. Um the contract that was

[33:48] proposed by Granger was renewed. Mr. Nettleton also developed an addendum

[33:51] that tackled certain issues not covered by the contract which he says is very

[33:56] typical in these situations. Um [snorts] both parties uh Mr. Tim, myself and

[34:02] Granger have uh signed off on the contract. So now it's here for your

[34:06] final approval. Uh what you're being asked today is this contract is two full

[34:12] um it handles pre-construction services, but then there's also a um maximum

[34:19] um there's a there's a document in there for the maximum price amount when we get

[34:23] to the end of the pro like the end of the pre-construction services. So, it

[34:26] sets in place the whole construction manager process. Uh, what you're what

[34:33] you're on the hook for if you approve it today is going through the

[34:37] pre-construction phase, which for the Granger U proposal is $96,259.

[34:44] That deals pre-construction, the funding, and final that gets right up to

[34:48] uh deciding whether to go for millage or not.

[34:53] Um, so and that's and that would be a discussion down the line for where we

[34:58] go. So this would get us going. This would help develop the plan as I've in

[35:03] my two years now here I've heard last time outside of the people as Mr.

[35:08] Osborne quoted that just don't like taxes and we're going to vote against

[35:11] everything. Um, the issues have been shared with me is that we didn't have a

[35:16] solid plan. We didn't have a solid location. Uh, we didn't have a solid

[35:19] design and cost. So my commitment at the start of this is we will have all those

[35:24] three issues tackled before we move forward on this. This will get us to

[35:27] that point where you will have those items in place and you will be able to

[35:30] make a decision about whether you want to move forward and when you want to

[35:34] move forward at that time. Our best estimate at this point is that we would

[35:38] finish um pre-construction services in the first quarter of next year. If we

[35:43] get if you approve this today, they'll get started right away.

[35:47] Um and the and the architect is ready to roll too. So, everyone's just waiting on

[35:51] this final approval to start moving forward, working with uh representative

[35:55] the sheriff's office, repres working with administration and the members of

[36:00] your small law enforcement group from the board of commissioners um is the

[36:05] intended process. So, I'm happy to answer any questions you have from that

[36:09] point. >> Questions from commissioners?

[36:12] » Mr. Chair, >> Commissioner Colton, C

[36:15] » could you repeat that number for preconstruction services?

[36:18] Pre-construction total $96,259. >> Okay. So, does that get us

[36:27] through a millillage? >> That would get us Yes.

[36:33] » It would get us through the millillage. >> Yes.

[36:35] » So, if we had a millage and it failed, >> $96,250

[36:40] $259 is your exposure. >> Would end right there. And then what

[36:43] would you anticipate if we win a millillage or some other

[36:48] form of funding? What would the total cost if we ever if we go through the

[36:52] whole process of building a jail? >> The construction manager quote was I

[36:57] believe 2.3 million total. Um and that was their quote. You'd have the

[37:03] architect side of that as well. So when we when we were laying it out and this

[37:07] is where some of the confusion was our budget was 30 to 35 million. 30 million

[37:11] construction, 5 million soft soft costs. So your construction manager, your

[37:16] architect, your other in ancillary costs,

[37:20] bond coun, bond council, uh cost to issue bonds, all those type of things.

[37:25] » So is Aban Marsh considered the architect or

[37:28] » Yes. >> Okay.

[37:30] » So that that would be part of that their cost. There would be a separate contract

[37:33] with them at that point. Right now we have a contract with them to get through

[37:38] this pre-construction phase. I know I worked with uh buildings uh villages at

[37:43] Maple Valley schools and and architect costs were about 5%.

[37:48] The total cost is that in a ballpark? >> It varies but yeah that could be a rough

[37:52] cost at this point. >> Okay. [snorts] Thank you.

[37:56] » Commissioner Campbell, did you have a question?

[37:58] » I did not. >> Okay.

[38:01] » Additional questions from commissioners. We've gone through a lot of the details

[38:06] on this already. So, it seems like we've spent a lot of time on this and [snorts]

[38:11] um after a couple long meetings, I think Granger

[38:15] » certainly came prepared was a good choice for it. Um, and I think it's a

[38:20] good investment that because of what we're asking them to do, which is take a

[38:25] look at all options, but certainly if we can utilize some of the existing square

[38:30] footage in the existing jail >> that we don't know if that's four, five,

[38:35] 6,000 square ft, but if it turns out being 5,000 square ft, that's $5 million

[38:40] of estimated savings that you're putting back in the pocket of the taxpayers. So

[38:45] that's what we're trying to do is look at all options on how to make this a

[38:50] solid project law enforcement center that'll create safer communities that'll

[38:56] address mental health that'll do a number of things that we can't do right

[38:59] now including the safety of the people that work in the jail um and get us out

[39:04] of a facility that's probably the oldest and one of the most rundown facilities

[39:09] in the state at this point. So it's one of the older things. It's one of the

[39:13] biggest things that we have not been able to address or haven't been

[39:16] addressed yet that we're willing to take this on. So, but this is a good starting

[39:21] point for a you know for 96,000 you're going to get a real good feel for what

[39:27] the challenges are, what the opportunities are and what the real

[39:30] costs are on it and we can make a decision at some point in the first

[39:32] quarter where we want to go forward with this and how we're going to go forward

[39:35] with it. So, >> uh to me that's key uh Mr. Chair is you

[39:39] need to start here. you need to get to a point where you know what you're talking

[39:41] about with the final cost design is um you have the final decision to make next

[39:47] year >> if and you want to move forward with the

[39:50] millillage in 27 if there's another way of doing it um if you want to move to 28

[39:55] those are your decisions that that point as the administrator for the county my

[40:01] recommendation is you need to move ahead because the building's not getting

[40:04] better there needs to be and these issues need to be addressed all The

[40:09] other factors I get, I understand. But from our standpoint is we need we can't

[40:14] leave the liabilities out there for the county. We need to address this and move

[40:17] forward. How we make the final decision on moving forward,

[40:22] that can be a different approach, two different ways. And now I think all that

[40:26] will come through the pre-construction services.

[40:28] » Yeah. And and I appreciate Mr. Osborne's comments and the other comments we've

[40:32] got from people. Um, and I agree the economy is not in a great place right

[40:36] now with f with food, fuel there. There's a few other things that are

[40:41] obviously weighing on our constituents and our taxpayers. We don't know where

[40:45] it's going to be in 6 months or a year, but we're certainly going to be

[40:48] cognizant of that moving forward. If the economy is in a worse spot, then we may

[40:52] very well decide to hold off on this and look at this in 28 versus 27. So, uh, we

[40:58] need to keep taxpayers at the forefront of our decision-m and we will as we go

[41:02] through this. So, it's not going to be a rush decision. It's been a a very slow,

[41:06] thoughtful process. I'm glad that we engaged the sheriff with this. He had

[41:09] some good ideas on what to do with this as far as a facility. So, we need to

[41:13] just kind of mold some of those ideas together with the help of them and and

[41:17] uh as we get the process rolling, hopefully we can um have a part with I

[41:22] don't know if it'll be monthly or weekly sitdowns with Granger and how this is

[41:26] going because it's going to need to be tweaked

[41:29] » certainly as we go through it. So >> that that aspect of the process will be

[41:32] worked out >> uh after we get I think the first part

[41:35] of the phase will have a kickoff but then it'll be a lot of granger working

[41:38] with a marsh >> to get things moved forward. It may be

[41:42] bi-weekly it may be I think it'll get more frequent middle of the project

[41:48] » as we have to make start making decisions.

[41:51] » Well and the challenge of of [clears throat]

[41:54] building a jail or a jail pod while you have prisoners in the jail. I mean,

[42:00] there's a few things that we have to we have to really focus on and figure out

[42:04] how to make that work. So, >> and my last comment, then I will step

[42:07] back. I want to be clear, this isn't just a jail. This is a law enforcement

[42:10] facility. This is if you've been in the facility, the sheriff's department

[42:14] offices are inadequate. Uh, I mean, to me, um, for their administration, for

[42:21] the officers, the sergeants, um, the CEOs, correction officers, I mean, it's

[42:27] inadequate. It's not safe. we need to do something to address these issues for

[42:30] operationally. Um so whether it's whatever version it is, it's just

[42:35] something that needs to be addressed um sooner than later.

[42:40] [clears throat] >> Yes, I agree, Mr. Chair.

[42:42] » Commissioner Tennyson. >> Um [clears throat] you know, through

[42:45] this whole process, I mean, when they started out at 4852 million, we're like

[42:51] there's no way this we can even begin to take that to taxpayers, right? We've

[42:56] worked really hard to try to figure out how to get this down to where we think

[43:02] it's a manageable number, which $30 million from from 52,

[43:07] that's a big big drop, right? And uh as far as timing, I understand, Larry,

[43:12] exactly what you're saying, timing. But when is time? What what is a good time?

[43:18] Okay, you keep kicking this can down the road, it will never be a possibility.

[43:23] Okay. Um because five years from now, three years from now, you won't be

[43:29] talking $30 million. You're gonna be talking back to the $50 million. Okay?

[43:34] So, this has been a problem for 20 years.

[43:39] Okay? We as a board are putting all of our efforts into trying to figure out

[43:44] how to do this and make this better, not only for the employees down there, but

[43:52] this is is something that's it's falling apart as we speak, okay? And then

[43:58] someday when the state steps in and says you can no longer house them here, then

[44:03] what are we going to do? we're gonna be forced

[44:07] to do something this way. We have a plan.

[44:11] Let's try to get everybody on board with this and say, "Okay, include everybody

[44:16] and say, "Hey, how can we get this done?" Okay, but I understand your your

[44:21] concerns. I know how people are hurting right now,

[44:25] okay? I got a lot of employees that barely get by, okay? And they make a

[44:29] decent wage, but they still struggle. just talked to one of them yesterday

[44:33] about it. So, I understand and we all feel it, too. We all have lives. We all

[44:40] pay bills. We see our insurance rates going through the roof. We see our daily

[44:45] costs going through the roof. But there's not going to be a better

[44:50] time to try to get this done than right now. Okay? So, that's all I got to say

[44:55] about it. >> There's a lot more coming. There's a lot

[44:58] more opportunity. the the plan is not by far is not finalized.

[45:02] » Yeah. When we started doing the commission on aging building, we're

[45:05] talking like 72 half million 7.5 million. And we by going through that

[45:09] bidding process and getting the contractors all in a room, we saved a

[45:16] lot of money when that process was done. And we'll do the same thing through this

[45:21] process. >> So,

[45:24] » absolutely, Mr. Chairman. >> Yes. Now, I have something.

[45:27] » Now, it came it came back. [laughter] Okay.

[45:31] » Light bulb went off. >> Uh yeah, the whole issue here, all you

[45:36] got to do is walk walk through our jail and look at the uh the the safety issues

[45:42] for our deputies that are there, the uh immense amount of money that we're

[45:48] paying constantly to try to keep that thing up and and we still have many

[45:53] violations. We we we can't work fast enough to correct the violations over

[45:57] there. So for us to sit here and do nothing,

[46:01] it's just we're just not doing our job. We have to do something. We have to

[46:06] prepare something. And yes, it ends up being a voter decision, but I'm not

[46:11] doing my job if I don't try to do something about what's going on in our

[46:16] law enforcement facility over there. >> Mhm. [clears throat]

[46:20] » Mr. Chair, >> Mr. Colton,

[46:23] » is location still a discussion? Um, you brought up Fred Jacobs letter.

[46:31] » We feel the best location at this point if we're going to use some of the

[46:34] existing space at the current jail to save taxpayer dollars that that's the

[46:38] best location. But until we get the final program or we get back with them,

[46:43] if they come back and say you can build a new jail and it'd be better to not use

[46:49] that space, then that may open the door to look at other locations as well. But

[46:54] at this point, that's kind of what we're thinking. But we're not opposed to

[46:58] looking at anything. There's no closed doors at this point. So, [snorts]

[47:05] » Commissioner Getty. >> So, I agree with everything that's been

[47:10] said and I think it's important to keep in mind that this is bigger than one

[47:14] person or people's opinion about one person. This is about public safety and

[47:20] um and really seizing the moment. So, I encourage everybody um to frame it that

[47:27] way, you know, to keeping our corrections officers safe, to providing

[47:32] um a safe working environment for all of our officers that are out there on the

[47:37] front lines. Um it it's it's really not a referendum

[47:43] on one person. It's about public safety.

[47:49] » Okay. There are no additional comments or concerns.

[47:53] The chair would entertain a motion for approval approval of the proposed

[47:57] contracts and addendum with Granger Construction to form and authorize the

[48:01] county board chair to sign on behalf of the county.

[48:04] » So moved. >> Support.

[48:08] » Motion by Hatfield support by Tunis for approval of the proposed contracts and

[48:11] addendum with Granger Construction to form an authorized county board chair to

[48:15] sign on behalf of the county. Additional comments or discussion.

[48:19] Madame clerk, would you call the role? >> Colton

[48:22] » I. >> Campbo.

[48:24] » I. >> Daddy.

[48:25] » I. >> Smilker.

[48:26] » I. >> Tunison.

[48:26] » Hi. >> Basset.

[48:27] » I. >> Hatfield.

[48:28] » Hi. >> And Jackson.

[48:30] » I. >> The motion is approved.

[48:34] Thank you all. We'll proceed quickly. >> All right. Budget introduction. [sighs]

[48:40] All right. Um, in front of you or in your packet is a proposed budget for

[48:46] 2027 uh of approximately [snorts]

[48:49] 23.789 million from expenditures. Um, with revenues of 23.8 million for a

[48:58] surplus proposed surplus of 38,000. Um, that's a little misnomer because there's

[49:03] also $300,000 contingency in here. So, there's really a surplus of $338,000.

[49:08] Um, I know I threw some of you off when

[49:12] looking at the document this year and I wanted to walk through a little bit on

[49:15] there. So, if you look at So, if you look open the the budget document, the

[49:19] first thing you run into is the resolution. Pretty much standard form we

[49:22] use every year. Covers all the issues that we need to address and it um

[49:29] before your next meeting you'll have my transmitt letter which will go into more

[49:32] detail on certain issues. But what I want to start with is the revenue

[49:37] expenditure summary for the general fund. The chart that looks like that.

[49:44] So 27 requested. Let's start with that uh

[49:50] column. That is the requests as we received them from the departments. I

[49:53] didn't touch it. I wanted you to see these are all the requests that we got

[49:57] on the air. It could be new positions. It could be line items um etc. Um so in

[50:04] the requests um if we took the request versus and that includes new positions

[50:09] as well. Um as you see most of that is the rationale for the deficit. There

[50:15] would have been a deficit of $428,000 if I brought it to you and said here's my

[50:18] recommended budget. Obviously I wouldn't bring you my recommended budget that

[50:21] way. I wouldn't be here very long if I did.

[50:23] » Um unless there was a very specific reason. Um there are [laughter] a number

[50:29] of position requests that I will cover when we get deeper into the budget uh

[50:33] discussion. The next column being the 2027

[50:37] recommended is what you have to consider um today and this is introduction. So

[50:43] you're really not taking any action on this today. This is introduction review

[50:46] to lead to questions. Um I guess you should have started with that reminder

[50:51] of the process. Uh your next meeting will be your budget appeals and

[50:54] finalizing of the budget. for an October 27th public hearing.

[51:00] So, um we will [clears throat] know next week how many appeals we have, if any.

[51:06] Um I could guess a couple um just by

[51:10] knowing the decisions I made or recommendations I made, but um there

[51:15] shouldn't be a ton, but once again, we'll probably be surprised to have more

[51:18] than a couple. [laughter] Mhm. >> Um and then if you look at 28 and 29

[51:24] again, we carried those requests over. Um so do we really have a million dollar

[51:29] deficit next year? No, we don't. But that's where I'm starting from. So those

[51:33] are projected wages, projected retirement

[51:37] um requests that we received from certain departments, certain agencies,

[51:42] uh carried over to 28 29. So if you would have start seen where we started

[51:46] last year, we we were in the negative on those as well. So, don't get too excited

[51:51] about 28 29 right now. Those are future projections. And I could have spent a

[51:56] lot of time going through and knocking things down. And I can if that's what

[51:59] you would prefer, but from my rationale, I wanted to show you where we're

[52:02] starting from [snorts] um in future budgets cuz you're not

[52:06] really held to those. The only thing that you're held to is what you approve

[52:09] for 2027 at this point. So, I feel comfortable with the budget

[52:14] we've proposed. So, I think it's it's balanced with and then some with the

[52:17] $338,000 surplus. Um, so I think that's a good time to shift

[52:23] into some of the revenue discussion. Ignore the chart on the next page.

[52:30] If you get into some of the you get more detail than the line items on revenues.

[52:34] Um, just you can see the line share where we pull our money in. Really, the

[52:40] first line is what you need to look at. 17.2 2 million of our 23.8 million comes

[52:47] from General Mills property taxes. So that is what that is how we provide

[52:53] our services to the residents of Barry County and the lo local governments in

[52:57] Barry County. Um if you were in a city Hastings, you look at their budget, it's

[53:03] a lot more diverse. They have taxes. They have they have a lot more in

[53:06] revenue sharing relative to what they do. They have fees for services, you um

[53:11] utilities, those things are a lot different than what we do. So, we carry

[53:15] a lot of our uh revenue from just general fund taxes. That being said, we

[53:20] do get about a million and a half from the state in revenue sharing. Um the key

[53:25] is when you get a bulletin from MAC that says, hey, the legislature is looking at

[53:30] revenue sharing. Cities catch a cold when revenue sharing

[53:35] gets cut. When revenue sharing gets cut for us, they can cut it all tomorrow.

[53:38] And they have in the past. So if you see that, you need to reach out to your

[53:42] legislators and say, "Hey, look, leave us alone." I mean, we get hit a lot as

[53:46] it is, but that million and a half would be a big hole in our budget cuz they

[53:50] could pull that tomorrow if they wanted to. It's all alleg statutoily set.

[53:55] Um there are other issues in here, costs, court costs are in charges for

[53:59] services. Um we have a variety of things that we get um from the state you know

[54:06] sharing probate judge part of district court salaries

[54:10] other court related costs. I know one of the questions one of the

[54:15] commissioners had was EMP grant center federal states the first line

[54:20] that's the emergency management planning grant that gets has been just killed for

[54:26] the last three or four years. I think when I I think the first year I was

[54:29] here, I think we might have been closer to 40 and then last year we were this

[54:33] current year we're at 17 and the next year we're projected to be at nine. So

[54:38] this it's that's money from the feds. The feds just are starting to really cut

[54:41] that back. Um so that's one thing if you talk to Representative Molinar or any of

[54:46] our senators might put a bug on their ear. That's so

[54:50] that's we're getting $9,000 projected for supporting Patrick and everything

[54:54] he's doing. Um, that's one of the reasons that I need to I didn't propose

[54:58] one of his positions that he requested. We need to have a long talk on how we do

[55:02] that, but emergency management is very important for what we do at the county.

[55:07] Um, we need to find a way to continue to support that because we're not getting

[55:11] help from others. Um, the HMP grants are new this year. You

[55:16] just approved that, the $1,500. That's a grant we'll get every year. That's a

[55:20] hazardous materials program, the database that you approved of the

[55:24] earlier this year. Um,

[55:29] trying to think what else highlights in there. Those are the big ones for the

[55:32] revenue. There's a ton of charges for services, but a lot of them are small.

[55:37] » You get real estate, the register of deeds has real estate transfer tax and

[55:40] the um clerk has the vital records. There are two big numbers. Recording

[55:46] fees for the register of deeds. Those are your really big numbers there. Um,

[55:50] copies, record copy fees,

[55:55] fines and forge for obviously look if you look at those number really small

[55:59] right in interest. We've actually made a good amount of interest the past few

[56:03] years [snorts] compared to say six years ago when

[56:07] interest rates were down to nothing. So we're we're making a little bit of money

[56:11] there, but we're also paying a little more than we used to. Um, couple of

[56:15] areas I wanted to talk about. Revenue, uh, miscellaneous revenue. That really

[56:19] is what it is. There's a lot of things that go into that. Um, I tend to be a

[56:23] little more conservative with that number. So, I dropped it 100,000 from

[56:26] where we were, uh, in the current year. Uh, and then transfers. There's a number

[56:31] of transfers that come in. Some of these are done if we don't need them. So,

[56:36] animal shelter donation fund uh, that provides medical and food care for

[56:41] animals. Um we have over a million dollars in that fund right now. So we've

[56:45] been very generous supporters of the animal shelter. Um if we don't spend it,

[56:51] we don't transfer the whole amount. Um defense, that's uh just a standard

[56:57] amount. Building rehab, if we don't spend the money on those specific things

[57:02] proposed in the budget for those items, we won't spend it. Uh building

[57:06] inspection, if you recall, this is new this year. This also a new expenditure

[57:10] department. you approved a new contract with PCI. That contract has 10% of those

[57:15] revenues coming back to the county to support our overhead um for the

[57:20] treasures office. A lot of the work they do, the planning, zoning or community

[57:23] development department. Um that's another get into shortly and then admin.

[57:28] So there are items in there um that we'll get some we'll get some of

[57:33] that revenue u to support those operations this year. Diverted felons is

[57:37] another one that helps to pay for court security. If we don't if we don't need

[57:42] the 216,000, we won't transfer it. It's been in the budget the last three years.

[57:46] We haven't transferred it. So that money continues to grow in the diverted felon

[57:49] funds. Um and the other ones from the vehicle

[57:54] fund, it's for maintenance. If we don't spend it again, we won't transfer it.

[57:58] And the umbrella fund. Looking back at the general

[58:01] expenditures, [clears throat] um you get a little bit more. You don't

[58:05] get the line items here because this document would be huge if you did. Um

[58:10] you get the general areas that we cover um by function.

[58:16] Again, ignore the cart the chart please. Mandated services run through all of

[58:21] those areas that we are mandated by law to provide.

[58:26] Um obviously jail sheriff's department you see are

[58:30] 7.5 million of the 20 you know some million dollar general fund budget we

[58:35] have it's a big number courts are another big number in there

[58:41] uh I intend to when you see the final document have a breakdown by functional

[58:45] area of where we spend our dollars to help support the county

[58:50] non-mandated service level required this format hasn't changed at all so you're

[58:54] seeing the same format you've seen in has passed. Uh all these are items that

[58:59] we are not mandated to do but we do expect certain um efforts from them.

[59:06] Legal counsel kind of have to have an attorney unfortunately in these days. Um

[59:10] admin uh animal shelter is something we have

[59:14] chosen to do as a county. Animal control again not mandated but we've chosen to

[59:18] do it so we need to support it. Veterans Affairs is another one that's in there.

[59:24] [snorts] So that is those general fund items. As you can see, 16 million of the

[59:29] general fund budget is mandated. 5.4 million is nonmandated, but service

[59:34] level is required. And typically those areas where you go, well, we don't

[59:38] really have to do it. Um there's no requirement to do it is the next page.

[59:43] And $849,000 total, but really of that 300 that's contingency. So $550,000 is

[59:50] truly non-mandated. There's no service level required.

[59:53] Um that's so a conservation district money we transferred for parks and wreck

[59:58] and the road commission very small numbers economic development.

[1:00:04] Uh that's one of the items I wanted to share. They they put a larger request in

[1:00:07] this year. Um $277,000 and uh that's one of the areas that you

[1:00:12] can see a big difference on that I uh I gave them a 5% increase in my proposed

[1:00:17] budget. So um they gave them a little more. They've been pretty static the

[1:00:23] last several years, but I know they've upped their efforts and they've come to

[1:00:26] the county to ask for additional support.

[1:00:30] Uh, and then again, we're we are continuing to fund the half million

[1:00:33] dollar extra payment into the retirement fund

[1:00:37] uh to help get us to we're 100% covered. I believe we're 84% still. Um

[1:00:44] but if we get closer to that 100% that's when our requirements drop down lower

[1:00:48] and we're able to free up some operational cash um for debt service

[1:00:54] payments or other things. Uh the bottom of this page is what I really want to

[1:00:59] talk about new position request. Every year we do give departments opportunity

[1:01:04] to put a request in and this typically in the past I know is one of the areas

[1:01:07] where we've seen appeals. Um, as you can see, there were about $45,000 in new

[1:01:12] requests. [snorts] Two positions from the prosecutor's

[1:01:15] office. They've asked for new uh new assistant prosecutor and a new legal

[1:01:18] secretary. [snorts] U Patrick, emergency management has

[1:01:22] asked for a halftime deputy. Uh right now, Jim uh has been serving as the

[1:01:28] volunteer deputy like Patrick did before. Um he was the

[1:01:32] director. U but Jim's getting older so Patrick's and Patrick is trying to up

[1:01:38] our game there. So, he is asking for some support there, but it's not

[1:01:41] something I could recommend yet. The sheriff's department has asked, as their

[1:01:44] staff is getting older, the correction side of it has asked for an

[1:01:48] administrative sergeant to help with foyer issues, but also to help training

[1:01:53] to be Lieutenant Nevin's replacement when he retires in the next few years. I

[1:01:57] see value in it. Um, I just couldn't support the request at this time. U, but

[1:02:03] that's one of those things in appeals. I said if you guys would consider

[1:02:07] um some of your vacant deputy positions kind of a swapping it for a few years

[1:02:11] that that would be something that I could get behind. Um so that's up to

[1:02:14] sheriff's department if they want to come forward to the appeals on that.

[1:02:18] Uh the three items I did recommend uh two position reclassifications in the

[1:02:23] courts uh uh $7,000 total for each and then adding eight hours to our code

[1:02:29] enforcement position um with the soil erosion process is just really been

[1:02:35] extremely busy the last few years um and other we're getting a lot more blight

[1:02:41] requests or asked to issue address blighted issues across the county. um

[1:02:46] having those eight hours for our code officer would be extremely important uh

[1:02:50] to support those efforts. So that would be $30,000 in new requests in year one.

[1:02:55] [clears throat] So that's the general fund revenue

[1:02:57] expenditures capital budget.

[1:03:01] You see you have a requested document of just over $2 million in capital

[1:03:05] requested by departments. Each of the funding sources for those

[1:03:10] items are listed. Uh big ticket items in here.

[1:03:18] You have $468,000 in building rehab projects.

[1:03:24] You have half a million dollar in it, which 80% of that is we have to replace

[1:03:29] our servers. Um it's time they're due for replacement. um we've been moving it

[1:03:35] along, kind of carrying it. So, it is proposing that for next year. I fully

[1:03:39] support that request. Um that's one thing we cannot do without

[1:03:43] unfortunately. Um

[1:03:46] and then $400,000 in vehicle replacements. We have a number of them

[1:03:51] this year. This is abnormal amount. A lot of our court vehicles are over 10

[1:03:55] years old. Uh and we're starting to see their age. Uh 10 years is where we look

[1:04:01] at start replacing those vehicles. So, we're proposing several of them. You

[1:04:05] have a request for a new transporter van from the jail, a new vehicle for

[1:04:09] community development, uh a cost share for parks for a new um

[1:04:14] GMC 1500, two top two patrol vehicles, which is

[1:04:18] we're in our two-year cycle um as opposed to three, which will be next

[1:04:22] year and three, which we did this current year. Two administrative

[1:04:26] vehicles for the sheriff. Uh and then three vehicles in the courts

[1:04:31] and FOC. Your next page shows the amount what I

[1:04:35] recommended of those requests of 1.6 million. So what knocked off uh

[1:04:43] there was a request from the parks for cost sharing on the proposed the grant

[1:04:48] that they received for a new welcome center. I believe that's the title we're

[1:04:51] using for it, right? [snorts] Um I see a lot of value to that. Um and

[1:04:56] I proposed an idea to Dan. um for next year's budget request.

[1:05:01] » Uh I just felt that this year we weren't in a position um to help fund that. At

[1:05:06] this point, I wanted to know a little bit more where we stood on um the

[1:05:10] sheriff's department prior to coming moving that forward to uh the

[1:05:14] commission. [snorts] Um unfortunately, we can't

[1:05:17] there are certain items we can't wait on. Health department parking lot, that

[1:05:21] whole area, if you've been up there, is beyond repair. It needs to be milled and

[1:05:25] replaced. Um, we've we have improvements we need

[1:05:29] to make to the former FOC building. Again, please help me find a new name

[1:05:33] for that building. Tired of calling it former FOC. [snorts]

[1:05:36] Um, especially as we look to we working with agencies to get them into that

[1:05:41] building. Uh, one of the big things and those this item and the courthouse

[1:05:46] security are things the ad hoc uh, building committee has been working on

[1:05:49] um, is that we need to make improvements to mostly our first floor offices um,

[1:05:55] clerk, treasure, register of deeds and courts. Um, unfortunately we've started

[1:06:00] to have issues with some of our um, residents who have

[1:06:07] become a little threatening and um, abusive of staff. So, we're trying to

[1:06:12] address those issues to make sure we protect our staff. I mean, um, some of

[1:06:17] these departments, it gets a little heated and what they do. I mean, you're

[1:06:19] dealing with courts, it's not always fun. So, we need to make sure our staff

[1:06:23] is protected on that side. Uh, let's see what else we have in

[1:06:28] there. Uh, the clerk's office has um the next year of the vital record book in uh

[1:06:33] dig index digit digitalization. Easy for me to say Sarah, but there's an item

[1:06:38] that you you approved last year and it's just the next year. Uh she has new

[1:06:42] software training for election officials. That's a collaboration

[1:06:45] between multiple counties and municipalities. So, uh depending on how

[1:06:49] that goes, it may reducing cost as more people jump on.

[1:06:53] Uh the one thing I wanted did want to talk about is Patrick has requested

[1:06:56] outdoor warning sirens project. Um this will be one you probably seen

[1:07:02] appeals. It's in here for approved because we would be we're the fiduciary.

[1:07:06] I'm not proposing that we fund this, but we are the fiduciary, so I need to show

[1:07:10] the expense. Uh there's a grant that went into FEMA to help fund some of this

[1:07:14] replacement cost. This is new technology that would set things off automatically

[1:07:19] with from National Weather Service issues an tornado warning or severe

[1:07:23] thunderstorm. They've actually got a new downgrade where they never did it

[1:07:27] before, they're doing it now. Um it would set it off automatically. It

[1:07:30] wouldn't depend on 911 to do it. wouldn't depend on somebody else to do

[1:07:33] it. Um, takes the human element out. Uh, but we have a grant in for that and the

[1:07:38] cost share on that. Uh, right now I would suggest is on the local

[1:07:41] communities. Uh, what you may get as a request from Patrick. Uh, and I know

[1:07:46] he's talked to the 911 director about helping to share in that cost. Um, my

[1:07:50] concern is that it's not countywide. It's very targeted in the communities

[1:07:54] that have it. So, those communities have invested in it. Um, if we had more

[1:07:59] countywide approach on that, that would be different. I'm not suggesting it

[1:08:02] because we don't have the capital to put it in countywide. So, [snorts] by

[1:08:05] putting this grant together, I think we're helping the locals, which is what

[1:08:08] we're here to do, but I think the the cost share is on them at this point. And

[1:08:12] in my proposal, my proposal, um, register of deeds is going to use

[1:08:16] some of her own fund to restore some of their information. [snorts]

[1:08:23] Oh, a new duty weapon replacement for the

[1:08:27] sheriff's department is included in capital budget. the capital replacement

[1:08:31] fund. You can see the building rehab items.

[1:08:35] One item in there I I recommended. I'm I'm a little a little apprehensive about

[1:08:40] right now is security garage exterior intercom for the jail. I don't think

[1:08:43] that's an area that we're going to keep. If [clears throat] we do a facility, so

[1:08:48] that would be one that I would understand. I'd be completely okay with

[1:08:50] you cutting. I think the sheriff's department, the jail staff would still

[1:08:54] prefer to request it to get them through the next couple years. But again, I

[1:08:58] think that's something that we can discuss.

[1:09:01] It uh pretty straightforward in what they're doing. Everything besides the

[1:09:04] server is standard year-toear. The diverted felon funds is additional

[1:09:09] funds to um fingerprint machines for the jail. They're they're due for

[1:09:13] replacement. They're can't get parts for theirs anymore. [snorts] And vehicle

[1:09:18] replacement. I think I talked to the sheriff about this originally when we

[1:09:20] met. Um I'm only going to be able to do one administrative vehicle this year and

[1:09:25] we'll bring back the second one for next year.

[1:09:29] Um that the rest of them were funded even the 10,000 for the parks share the

[1:09:34] recommended capital pro. So that's the recommended capital projects

[1:09:40] new positions I talked about already. You see this you have a chart on that

[1:09:42] that explains a little more in each one. Uh again, if I could have recommended

[1:09:47] for administrative sergeant in emergency management, I would have done so. I just

[1:09:51] was not comfortable with where we were at the time to do so. Uh again, if they

[1:09:55] make an appeal and you want to take that a contingency or a cost share or cost

[1:09:59] swapping with the sheriff's department, um I I would I would support those

[1:10:04] decisions. Um I think that takes us in the next section, the approved vacant

[1:10:09] positions. This is a little different than what you've seen in the past. Uh, I

[1:10:12] know there were a lot of questions last year on or comments made too about,

[1:10:16] well, there's a ton of vacancies in those departments. Well, I wanted to

[1:10:19] show you truly where we're at right now. So, you have approved the approved list,

[1:10:22] which is what you see every year. Current vacancies [snorts] outside of

[1:10:28] someone just left and we're posting. These are ones that have been vacant for

[1:10:31] a bit. So, custodian one, we're having a hard time attracting custodians. We had

[1:10:37] a number retire all at once. Um, so we still have one missing there. We're

[1:10:41] still trying to find I know Jeff would love to find somebody who's interested.

[1:10:45] So, if you know anyone looking for work on that side, please send them our way.

[1:10:49] Um the specialy courts program since I stole Tammy to come work for admin.

[1:10:53] They're working through that issue of how they replace her. So, that's still

[1:10:58] shown in here. Um as an approved position, but at this point, it's not

[1:11:03] filled and they're not planning on filling it as they work through those

[1:11:06] items. Um, I think the other big one is in the

[1:11:10] sheriff's department right now. They're down five deputies. I know they have two

[1:11:13] going to the academy. So, I believe they're truly down three deputies at

[1:11:17] this point. Those two, one started. One's already

[1:11:22] you had one more thought going. >> One backed out.

[1:11:28] » Okay. >> Again.

[1:11:30] » Yeah. Same thing. And I would say to this, you um every county administrator,

[1:11:36] sher city manager I talk to have the same issue. It's tough to attract police

[1:11:41] officers right now. Talked to tough to attract fire. Um it's just a tough field

[1:11:46] uh that uh we'll [snorts] continue to work away at. But that is um you know

[1:11:51] five five deputies in there. You've got four to $500,000 that's budgeted for but

[1:11:56] not being spent. So, some of that will be at the end of the at the end of the

[1:12:01] year if you haven't filled them. That's where some of your surplus comes from in

[1:12:04] the general fund.

[1:12:07] Um, and I know that I talked to them about those positions and they don't

[1:12:10] want to give up the approved items. U, but I wanted to make sure that you were

[1:12:14] aware of that item. And the last page covers all of our other funds. Um,

[1:12:22] the summary of those items because again, um, some of those are very

[1:12:26] specific. There are some we will need to have long discussions with certain

[1:12:30] departments. Um I will tell you just uh as you look at FOC, you look at child

[1:12:36] care funds, those departments

[1:12:40] [snorts] um the cost of providing services to take care of kids if we have

[1:12:43] to put them in a residential program is just ridiculous. I I'll tell you back

[1:12:48] down the amount that she requested this year. I still didn't fully fund either

[1:12:52] request. I did more FOC than the childcare fund. The childcare fund is

[1:12:56] over 2 million in fund balance but that would get eaten away pretty quickly too

[1:13:00] if you put kids into residential programs FOC we're

[1:13:04] about 100,000 just over 100,000 in fund balance so we need to keep that closer

[1:13:09] to funding and again those are worst case scenarios if we don't need to

[1:13:13] transfer if we don't spend it all we won't transfer the full amount of money

[1:13:18] um a lot of the other ones happy to answer any questions on

[1:13:23] and that is the proposed budget for this year. I'm sure there will be lots of

[1:13:28] questions. I'm happy to answer them now. I'm happy to meet with commissioners

[1:13:31] individually to go over any item that you would so like to discuss.

[1:13:37] » Okay. >> And I would like to thank all the

[1:13:40] departments. I probably should have started with that. All the departments

[1:13:43] for their help. Um deputy administrator Tammy Price has been invaluable in

[1:13:47] getting this together. uh former deputy administrator Luella Dennison came in to

[1:13:52] help us get in over in the transition a bit. Um so I appreciate their support

[1:13:57] and help and uh I feel comfortable. We've given you a budget that is

[1:14:01] balanced for next year. Um and hopefully at the end of the day there will be a

[1:14:06] surplus. That being said, we have some items for 27 that we will look at. Um I

[1:14:12] think one of the things for me is without you know I talked to you

[1:14:15] individually but as a commission we don't have an approved set of priorities

[1:14:19] and I don't as a administrator I I don't like that.

[1:14:24] » Um so one of the things we're going to look at next year early in the year is

[1:14:27] some type of strategic plan discussion process. So at least as I understand

[1:14:33] going through your budget, you say, "Hey, law enforcement is our top

[1:14:37] priority." When we look at requests, then I prioritize that or parks are our

[1:14:41] top priority. Then I know that. So those are those things and I do and once again

[1:14:45] talking to you individually, I can I know where some of those are. But as a

[1:14:48] commission, I need five of you at least to say yes, that's our top priority.

[1:14:52] » Um so I think we just good governance is that we do that. Um how we do it is

[1:14:58] another question is something we'll work through. Then Timmy and I have started

[1:15:03] to have discussions on how we improve this process for us and for you for next

[1:15:07] year. Um I know there's some commissioners that want to be more

[1:15:10] involved and we're happy to have those discussions. Um and I know some of your

[1:15:15] questions that I've heard from a couple of them already. We're addressing those

[1:15:19] issues. we're we're anticipating some of those um to get out ahead of you and

[1:15:23] making sure we don't just accept numbers uh that are requested that we're really

[1:15:29] digging into why they're being requested. Uh I did meet with a lot of

[1:15:34] the departments this year. There are certain departments, mental health, they

[1:15:38] just get a number every year, so it doesn't really matter for us to meet

[1:15:41] with them. Um some other departments like that. Um road commission, they a

[1:15:47] small amount. They just set their stuff. They do their own thing. Central

[1:15:49] Dispatch I don't need to do much with. Uh they have their own boards. So it's

[1:15:53] the ones that we work with in a dayto-day that we have a little more

[1:15:57] control on and a little more responsibility for. So we have some

[1:16:01] thoughts and we'll be happy to discuss that early in 27 with all of you.

[1:16:06] » Okay. [snorts] Questions from commissioners?

[1:16:08] » Mr. Chair. >> Yes.

[1:16:10] » Thank you. So, Michael Brown used to use this method where he took the budget

[1:16:14] surplus and then divided into uh the contingency funds like data management,

[1:16:20] vehicle replacement, building um and I guess I was used to that and thought

[1:16:27] everyone did it, but I guess I was told that we were the only county that did it

[1:16:32] that way. Are you moving away from that? >> That's what we've done the last two

[1:16:37] years. Um, so we don't budget for those numbers because we have no idea what

[1:16:41] that number is going to be. We wait till the end of the year and you make you

[1:16:45] give us that resolution at the end of the year that we say, "Hey, you give me

[1:16:48] the authority to split it up between these funds in this manner." [snorts]

[1:16:51] And so we'll do that in December again this year if there's a surplus.

[1:16:57] ideal ideally commissioner um I don't like that approach because to me it's

[1:17:03] great for capital and some of the other things but like it is a demonstrated

[1:17:08] cost center for the county. We need to find a way to we budget for that on an

[1:17:12] annual basis not going oh hey I got $800,000 this surplus I can throw in

[1:17:17] there. Well next year if I don't have $800,000 I still have that IT cost. And

[1:17:22] I think you guys have been seeing a trend

[1:17:25] um when we bring it costs and Matt hates coming to you because he he says the

[1:17:29] same thing every time is that costs are up. There's a different model for how

[1:17:34] they're doing business and it's not one where we can just say well we don't want

[1:17:37] to deal with that model. We're stuck with that model. So how we deal with

[1:17:40] that in our own budget. So that's one of those things I will be working with um

[1:17:45] Dave Dhan our auditors our cost allocation folks to look at the impact

[1:17:51] of how we change funding certain services. So it if we change we put a

[1:17:57] cost for it and we treat it as truly as an internal service fund which is listed

[1:18:01] at but to do that we would need to budget it at the beginning of the year

[1:18:05] and say hey we're taking 100,000 out of the general fund for this we're taking

[1:18:09] 10,000 out of other funds for that. I think Michael did that because what he

[1:18:14] did is he shared some of the pain to some of the special revenue funds. So

[1:18:20] the the special revenue funds aren't absorbing any of the cost of it. So when

[1:18:24] we provide services and I don't mean to scare some of our special revenue folks

[1:18:29] but like transit COA others we provide parks we provide service to them. We

[1:18:36] provide payroll to them. We provide an IT infrastructure to them. They don't

[1:18:39] share in that cost. So, philosophically, um, as a local

[1:18:45] government administrator, I have a problem with that. That is not the way

[1:18:48] I've been trained to do things. So, that's a discussion, but that's an

[1:18:52] approach the county has taken over the years, and that's and that's served us

[1:18:56] well. Um, and if that's something you still want to do, I will continue to do

[1:19:00] that. But that's one of those discussions we need to have next year

[1:19:03] » of how we move forward. Again, I love my my special revenue um partners. Um, but

[1:19:11] the fact that we are sharing costs from that of the general fund without them

[1:19:16] sharing back concerns me for a long-term viability

[1:19:22] vehicle. We don't really we just kind of like, yeah, we'll get to vehicles

[1:19:26] hopefully. Hopefully, we have the money there and we've had the money there, but

[1:19:29] again, we get to a point where we were back in 2008 where things where we were

[1:19:32] cutting everything. Well, there's only so long you can cut and not replace

[1:19:36] certain things before things fall apart. >> Mhm. And once again, the county was in a

[1:19:41] good spot. Um I just I have a different philosophy on that.

[1:19:47] » Okay, Mr. Smoker,

[1:19:51] » question on that. Then on the special revenue services,

[1:19:56] uh on the fund balances, who receives the

[1:20:01] interest off of that money? >> That is a great question, John.

[1:20:05] [laughter] Uh and I'm still trying to 100% understand that. I know some of

[1:20:09] them uh have been built up or some of it goes to general fund.

[1:20:15] I don't think that's the case for all of them and some of that was I don't know

[1:20:18] if it's something that Sue had put in place working with the departments um or

[1:20:22] not. I know COA we just made a a contribution at the end of the year last

[1:20:27] year to make sure that they got their interest in the building fund. Um but we

[1:20:31] need to be doesn't to me it doesn't matter who the treasurer is. It doesn't

[1:20:35] matter who the administrator is. There should be these standard processes is

[1:20:39] how it works. Um, >> everybody should be treated the same.

[1:20:42] » Yeah, absolutely. Everybody should be treated the same. Um, but that goes good

[1:20:45] and bad. There should be shared cost, revenues, shared expenses. Um, so those

[1:20:51] are those issues we're trying to understand and uh with the transition

[1:20:54] from, you know, Sue to Kelly after 40 years, there's the change in certain

[1:20:59] approaches. So, I think they're all good discussions.

[1:21:03] » Okay. Commissioner Tunison.

[1:21:07] » Eric, I got a question on the unfunded liabilities that we pay that extra half

[1:21:12] million. Do we pay interest on that? Is that why we're paying the extra 500?

[1:21:18] » No, we're paying the extra 5 because we have a required contribution that will

[1:21:21] get us to >> 100% funded at a certain point,

[1:21:24] » right? >> The commission has made a decision that

[1:21:27] they want to speed that up. We want to help put more money in there so we reach

[1:21:32] that 100% funded earlier. Um and and it may be valuable for us to bring Mge back

[1:21:38] in. And it's probably been a while since you've heard from MES because Michael

[1:21:41] was the board president and um but I think it may be valuable to have one of

[1:21:46] our reps from Mge come back in to walk you through some of that process. Um I

[1:21:51] know I've met with them multiple times since I've been here. Tammy's You met

[1:21:55] with her yet? Veronica? Okay. Uh Jeff had met with her before he left. Um, so

[1:22:01] that's I think that's a valuable thing we can bring in uh later in the year,

[1:22:04] early next year and have run through the annual evaluation with you.

[1:22:10] » But no, it's not an interest. It's just a matter of trying to get ahead of the

[1:22:12] game. >> Okay. That's I was just curious if we're

[1:22:14] paying interest on that. >> They just frustrate me because they keep

[1:22:18] changing their actuary numbers and keep telling us we owe more. So,

[1:22:21] » and they did they did this year. Um, it was a good year. So, it was a good year

[1:22:25] for them to do it. But um and it's some people will say it's a more realistic

[1:22:32] approach. I mean they used to be I think closer to 8%. I mean to have 8% returns

[1:22:37] every year historically probably not.

[1:22:41] Some you'll have 15 other years you'll have two. Some years you lost money. I

[1:22:46] would say I know there are people out scheduling them in later for a

[1:22:49] presentation. >> Okay.

[1:22:52] But I also would say I think that MS is

[1:22:59] yeah their practices are somewhat unusual atypical for a member to

[1:23:08] accelerate the the catch up on the unfunded. Um yeah

[1:23:14] » yeah in the private sector whatever that unfunded is and whatever the pension

[1:23:19] funds uh provisions are for that that's usually what is done.

[1:23:25] » Yeah. >> Uh it's just you know the nature of the

[1:23:29] beast. Um the bottom line is that uh when you look at any

[1:23:39] reasonable projection of future returns [snorts]

[1:23:46] they're our employees are going to be fine

[1:23:51] whether we have caught it up sooner or whether we play it out the way MS wants.

[1:23:57] So I think that in my mind playing yeah paying the additional half

[1:24:05] million a year uh is okay. It's really not necessary. And

[1:24:13] I think that as we start going through the exercise that Eric is talking about

[1:24:18] prioritizing really uh uh where our funding

[1:24:24] priorities are that one very much in to me has a

[1:24:30] question mark next to it. Um, I I think and I and I say the same thing about the

[1:24:40] our practices with establishing all of these extra fund balances.

[1:24:46] Uh, to to to me that reminds me an awful lot of uh uh household budgeting when

[1:24:54] you sort out all the envelopes and allocate your

[1:24:59] joy of fund accounting. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh I think that you

[1:25:03] know what is lacking when you do that is uh an analysis of what are your total

[1:25:13] available fund balances out there and what are the chances that you're ever

[1:25:19] going to get hit in in each of those operational areas that would could not

[1:25:25] be addressed by a consolidated fund balance. In some aspects you can't

[1:25:30] because of the funds we have to keep it separate. Um for I mean I will tell you

[1:25:35] for example I think there's 7 million in the 100% umbrella fund right now.

[1:25:39] » Is could more of that be available? >> I I can't tell you yes right now.

[1:25:44] » I can't tell you no right now. Um that would be discussion with the treasurer.

[1:25:47] » Yeah. >> There's four plus million in the

[1:25:49] foreclosure fund. We very very deliberately not touch that until all

[1:25:54] the court cases are resolved. And that's a shock to a consolidated fund that you

[1:25:59] would not want to have to deal with. >> No. And and I think the the one thing

[1:26:02] that we haven't really talked about and it's a decision the county made I think

[1:26:05] in 12 to move away from retirey healthcare. Um we have the statement we

[1:26:12] put in uh on a monthly basis for everyone right now. Uh we have a handful

[1:26:17] of people left on retirey healthcare. Um so when they hit 65, they age out, they

[1:26:22] go to Medicare. We don't fund that anymore. So, we have [sighs and gasps] a

[1:26:26] few people. I think 2032 the last one comes off the books. Uh, but at some

[1:26:31] point you could make a decision to say, "Hey, we're going to buy you out of our

[1:26:35] the liability standpoint. We're going to pay you off. We'll take that risk." And

[1:26:39] you probably have about 8 $900,000 in that fund right now over what our

[1:26:44] long-term liabilities are that you could then put into something. So, are there

[1:26:49] resources there that if we got down into a crunch and you need to make I had to

[1:26:53] make a call? Well, sure there are. Am I going to say, "Hey, that 800,000

[1:26:57] was taken tomorrow." Absolutely not. Unless we make some other decisions. So,

[1:27:02] um, those are more discussions we can have going forward. It

[1:27:05] » It's a It's not a simple discussion.

[1:27:09] » No. >> But it's one that we need to y

[1:27:12] » we do need to have at some point. >> Just give me plenty of time to be

[1:27:18] prepared for that discussion. >> Yes, sir.

[1:27:22] Why do you think we haven't pushed you the last couple?

[1:27:24] » I appreciate that. >> Yeah.

[1:27:27] » Okay. I don't think we need a vote on this, do we? You do not.

[1:27:29] » This is just an open discussion. >> It's introduction. So, you will at your

[1:27:34] next meeting um your next meeting after. So, the intention is we get through

[1:27:39] appeals uh at that meeting and you have whatever

[1:27:43] number if you approve any appeals. we pop that into the budget right away and

[1:27:46] we give you a total number at that meeting that you approve a budget for um

[1:27:52] the public hearing to be scheduled in October. So

[1:27:55] there are items in here we'll tweak between now and then. Um but the coming

[1:28:01] out of the next meeting on the 22nd is when you will have a final budget uh

[1:28:05] draft for your consideration on October 27th.

[1:28:09] » Okay. [snorts] Okay. We have no unfinished business, no

[1:28:14] new business. Do you have anything for the county administrator's report?

[1:28:17] » I covered the ad hoc building committee already. That's something we'll continue

[1:28:20] to work on. We'll have more information when we have uh fixed cost software

[1:28:24] project. There are hiccups. We're working through them. We had a check

[1:28:28] run. I notified you all that the checks printed without routing numbers on. So,

[1:28:34] uh those were fixed the next day and remailed out, but we're addressing that

[1:28:38] with folks. Um Tammy's got him BSA scheduled the next three days when they

[1:28:43] come back tomorrow with departments to make sure we have everything built out,

[1:28:47] access to what they need. Um I love the functionality. I love having it at my

[1:28:53] fingertips. I never had access to Tyler prior to this. I kept telling everyone

[1:28:58] that they're like, "Eric, that's fine." Um but I love having it at my

[1:29:01] fingertips. I can pull things up. Um so there will be headaches. You will

[1:29:07] probably hear from some of your departments saying, "Hey, we don't have

[1:29:09] access to this." We're working through it. BSNA has got a great support going

[1:29:13] forward. Um, and they're also working with the locals to try and get everybody

[1:29:17] on the cloud tax and some of the other cloud stuff that they may give it an

[1:29:22] incentive if they do it now. Um, because we're on it. We have tax for the first

[1:29:27] time in our history as a county. So, well, we will in November. They'll get

[1:29:31] that implemented there. So, all in all, there has been pain, but um, it's going

[1:29:35] okay. So, we'll continue to plug away. >> Okay. [clears throat] Thank you.

[1:29:40] » I think that's all I have. [snorts] >> Chairperson's report. We're at the start

[1:29:44] of the cycle, so it will be Barry Township tonight, Rutland on Wednesday.

[1:29:48] So, other than that, vice chairperson's report.

[1:29:51] » Same thing. >> Okay. Commissioner reports. Commissioner

[1:29:55] Tunis, >> uh, be attending Hastings charter

[1:29:59] tonight. That's about all I got. >> Okay. Commissioner Campbell,

[1:30:04] » I do have uh Syria tonight and I believe Johnstone on Wednesday.

[1:30:10] » Okay. Commissioner Smoker, >> I'm good. Commissioner Gaddy

[1:30:15] » got Yankee Springs on Thursday night. Um and yeah, start of the cycle. So,

[1:30:24] » Commissioner Colton, >> Woodland Township tonight, Village of

[1:30:27] Nashville on Thursday. >> Okay. Commissioner Basson. Uh, I don't

[1:30:31] know where I'm going to be for the next couple of weeks since my trip was

[1:30:34] planned today or canceled today, but um, uh, Katherine was telling me about a

[1:30:39] Yankee Springs planning uh, meeting tonight that I think I'm going to try to

[1:30:42] go to. And then Yankee Springs and again the cycle glib Prairieville coming up

[1:30:47] next week, so see where I am. >> Commissioner Basset was supposed to be

[1:30:50] in Hawaii for 10 days, but >> she decided she wanted to stay with us.

[1:30:54] Hurricane. [laughter] >> Good decision.

[1:30:56] » Lel four-letter [snorts] word right now. Yeah, hurricanes are

[1:31:00] your friend. >> Oh, yeah.

[1:31:01] » Okay. Limited public comment at this time. Any member of the public wishing

[1:31:05] to address the board may do so for up to three minutes.

[1:31:09] » Twice I was referred to as Mr. Osborne, so that made my drive from Delton well

[1:31:13] worth it. So, thank you. Um, don't get me wrong, I'm also feel the

[1:31:19] jail needs upgrading. Um, I've only been there a few times, luckily, to register

[1:31:25] guns. Uh hopefully after today that doesn't change.

[1:31:29] » Oh, we'll take you back anytime you want to go, Larry. [laughter]

[1:31:32] » Um but uh my intent is just to start thinking what you need to do to work as

[1:31:39] a county to come together to get it passed. I just don't want it to, you

[1:31:43] know, that was a lot of tax dollars wasted. Um but it needs to happen. Just

[1:31:49] everybody needs to work together to bring all the groups together. Dave has

[1:31:54] mentioned a couple times now to me about the uh uh mental health. That's a big

[1:32:00] thing, man. That promote that more because that's that's a very important

[1:32:05] aspect of this. So So anyway, don't get me wrong. I I'm with you. I appreciate

[1:32:10] what you're doing, but I don't see everybody working together to try to get

[1:32:14] the community to come together for a yes vote. And that's what you really need to

[1:32:18] Let's make that happen. >> Thank you.

[1:32:22] Additional public comment.

[1:32:32] » Always hate coming right there and you know it. Where are you? Where are you?

[1:32:36] All right. I'm going to do uh seems out this was released and I didn't release

[1:32:40] it. Uh hope this is hopefully to calm me down a

[1:32:44] little bit on some of the stuff we've been doing with elections. This is this

[1:32:47] is released to Rasmusen and it says yes the Dominion systems have modems that

[1:32:51] can connect to the internet but they are disabled by election officials who do to

[1:32:55] fully uh test to asssure they're switched off. Venezuelan engineer and

[1:33:00] might add this all goes back to Venezuelan Maduro just got arrested not

[1:33:04] too long ago. I got goosebumps when that happened. some of the information we had

[1:33:08] that we shared with the federal government that we come on with uh the

[1:33:12] uh um

[1:33:16] oh email addresses or email messages back and forth uh that helped. So

[1:33:22] anyways, V Venezuelan engineer testimony that doesn't matter. They can be

[1:33:25] remotely switched on by us. So this is my job, okay? It's not political. And uh

[1:33:32] if you want to read more of the testimony here, it says uh uh I got

[1:33:36] time. This is a question by an attorney. Do the computers made in China and

[1:33:41] Taiwan include circuits that can communicate with the internet? The

[1:33:46] answer, and this is from this Venezuelan engineer, correct? They have internal

[1:33:50] modems that allow external communications. And it is the

[1:33:53] responsibility of each one of those each one of the different corporations to

[1:33:57] disable those components or to leave them disabled for the elections.

[1:34:03] This is a question from the attorney. Now, can the firmware keep those modems

[1:34:08] enabled even if the software commands the system to disable the modems? In

[1:34:13] other words,

[1:34:16] can you have fir firmware that allows the modems to remain on even when the

[1:34:21] software thinks it's off? The answer from the Venezuelan uh engineer, yes.

[1:34:27] Well, for that you would need an [snorts] engineer that understands a

[1:34:31] Windows pipeline system which will allow you to block certain parameters within

[1:34:35] the systems. But through the operating system, then I can enable the

[1:34:40] components. In other words, yes. The answer to your question is yes. So

[1:34:45] again, this is my job to get stay on top of this right here. That is not

[1:34:50] political. And uh this is one of those things I had to sit on for a long time

[1:34:55] and now I looked at it going, "Hey, they released that to Ras Mus." All right, I

[1:34:58] can say it now. So again, um we're still marching forward on that and it is not

[1:35:04] political. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Additional public comment

[1:35:13] hearing. None. Other business. We have none. Commissioner comments.

[1:35:17] Commissioner Basset. >> Um I think at some point I'd like to

[1:35:21] hear a report on the um webcams that we have and uh figure that out if we're

[1:35:26] going to have a separate me, you know, some kind of meeting or whatever. But

[1:35:29] I'd like to have a report on where that stands.

[1:35:31] » Okay. [snorts] Commissioner Colton, Commissioner Getty.

[1:35:37] Um, I guess I'd still like some answers

[1:35:41] about the body cams. I'd like to hear a status update from

[1:35:46] the sheriff and the sheriff's department. Just want I don't want that

[1:35:49] to I don't want to lose focus on on making sure that those are implemented

[1:35:55] and and being used. >> Okay. Commissioner Smilker,

[1:35:59] » I'm good. >> Commissioner Hatfield. Uh just a very

[1:36:03] brief uh comment repeating what I think I said uh at the last meeting. We

[1:36:09] realize, believe me, we realize the importance of how we conduct a

[1:36:15] millillage campaign if we decide to move ahead. But what we're doing now is what

[1:36:23] is necessary to get the information that we need to go out there and effectively

[1:36:29] communicate with everybody in the county exactly what the costs are are going to

[1:36:36] be, what's what services are connected with those and uh why we feel that now

[1:36:44] is the time to move ahead. So nothing that's going on now should infer that we

[1:36:52] don't intend to conduct a very effective millage campaign if we decide [snorts]

[1:37:00] that that's the direction we're going. So don't criticize us for where we are.

[1:37:06] You know, we're right where we need to be. We're gathering information and

[1:37:11] talking to the experts so that we can put an effective campaign out there if

[1:37:16] that becomes the the direction we choose.

[1:37:20] » Okay, Commissioner Campbell. >> Uh just to say go along with the

[1:37:26] Commissioner Getty and Commissioner Basset, I I mean we're all getting calls

[1:37:30] on on the body cams for sure. Uh so we we just need to continue staying on top

[1:37:35] of that. Make sure we have a direction and a plan what's going to happen with

[1:37:38] that so we can answer to our constituents. Um also um uh I'm not

[1:37:44] going to call you Mr. Osborne. I know you too well, Larry. He brings up a very

[1:37:49] appreciate what you said there, Larry. Uh I have a thing down at the VFW

[1:37:55] uh and it holds true in everything we do. It's three simple words. Together we

[1:38:00] can. and together we can make this law enforcement uh facility come a reality.

[1:38:06] But it's going to take every one of us. Every one of us has got to be on board.

[1:38:10] Every one of us has got to be knowing what's going on and being upfront on it.

[1:38:14] Now, on another thing, we have 9/11 coming up on Friday night. We all

[1:38:19] remember what a tragedy that was to our country and [snorts] uh the uh Scouts of

[1:38:24] America, the uh Delta Moose, the Hickory Legion, and uh BFW 422 family. We always

[1:38:31] put together an event at the fire barn. Starts at 6:00. It's a it's a

[1:38:37] remembrance and a ceremony honoring those who died there and a chance for us

[1:38:42] to never forget what happened there. And uh we'd like to see you all come out

[1:38:46] afterwards. there's uh free uh uh extensive hot dogs, so come on down and

[1:38:53] enjoy that if you can. Uh we'd love to see you there. Thank you, Commissioner

[1:38:59] Tennis. >> Um wanted [clears throat] to give little

[1:39:02] update on the Commission on Aging building. I went out there last Tuesday.

[1:39:07] Um it's looking fantastic out there. Uh they had a few loose ends. They were

[1:39:13] planning on moving in this coming Friday. start over the weekend. Uh it's

[1:39:19] going to be like a week delayed, but it won't affect like the grand opening or

[1:39:23] anything. They're going to start moving in just a week later. Give the

[1:39:26] contractors a little bit more time to finish up small details.

[1:39:31] So the 16th, I think she's going to start moving furniture and stuff in

[1:39:35] there. And then um the 29th will be for the public to

[1:39:40] come and finally see the great results of us

[1:39:46] the community coming together and putting this together for the seniors of

[1:39:50] this county. It's really going to be special for them. A lot of people

[1:39:53] excited about it. So, it's been a long time coming. So, it has the process

[1:40:00] worked with that though, like you said, saving almost a million dollars, bidding

[1:40:04] out locally, doing some things that really worked well for that. So, proud

[1:40:07] of the effort that they all put together and I'm sure that that staff at

[1:40:11] Commission on Aging is going to be happy to have this behind them.

[1:40:13] » They're excited. really excited.

[1:40:17] » Um, I don't have much other than don't forget school buses are out there and

[1:40:22] tractors right out on the road as we get to the harvest season and back in

[1:40:26] school. So, watch out for those. Take care. Thank you all for coming. We'll

[1:40:30] look forward to seeing you soon.

[1:40:38] Okay.

Board of Commissioners 09/08/2026

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