[0:04] Good morning everyone.
Like to call this meeting to order.
[0:08] Could please stand in the pledge of
allegiance.
[0:13] » I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:18] republic for which it stands. One nation
indivisible with liberty and justice for
[0:25] all.
[0:33] could you do roll call please
John
[0:36] » here
>> Jim
[0:37] » here Steve Mcomes
>> here
[0:41] » entertain a motion for today's agenda
>> move to approve today's agenda
[0:45] » second
momes
[0:47] » I
donor I
[0:50] » on the communications
board is there any communications
[0:54] questions.
[0:58] You have any seeing that?
[1:03] Moving on to public comments. This is
the portion of the agenda where we can
[1:07] hear from the public on um about items
that are not listed below. These can
[1:12] become items that for future topics for
future agendas. If you're here to to
[1:17] speak on something on the agenda, we'll
speak about those later. So, do we have
[1:22] any public comments?
[1:25] Good morning board. I just wanted to let
everybody know that Sunday, September
[1:30] 13th, so this Sunday we have our annual
public safety night out. So we have all
[1:33] of our departments between EMS, fire,
law enforcement, utilities, public
[1:37] works, um coming and bringing um
vehicles, demonstrations, just kind of a
[1:44] time for the whole county to get
together and meet these individuals
[1:47] before maybe their black sky day. Um
it's a full family day of fun. It's
[1:52] free. We've done sponsors. We always try
to make this a free family event. Um, so
[1:56] we're hoping for perfect weather. It's
going to be at the Marian County
[1:58] Fairgrounds from 2:00 to 5:00. So I hope
to see everybody there. Thank you.
[2:02] » Thank you, Emily. Appreciate that.
[snorts]
[2:04] » Any other public comments?
[2:09] » Anything online?
>> No.
[2:14] Entertain a motion for approval for the
consent agenda.
[2:17] » I move we approve the consent agenda.
[2:21] Wheeler.
>> Hi.
[2:22] » John.
>> Hi.
[2:23] » McCi.
[clears throat]
[2:25] » On to business. Item number one is
county uh economic development. This
[2:30] would be our um second annual cleanup
day funding request. Good morning.
[2:36] » Good morning. Thank you for your
consideration today. Um the and Kelly
[2:40] Mitchell is here from the hope group as
well. So if you have questions that she
[2:43] can answer for you because I've just
seen it from the outside. Short version
[2:46] is uh they are having their second
annual cleanup. You assisted last year
[2:51] um in their first annual one and I can
she can cover all the things that were
[2:56] picked up. They did a they did a great
job. They had uh community meeting
[3:01] earlier this summer. Uh and she can tell
you a little bit about that. But this is
[3:05] a group that's really trying to make a
difference in a small community. Um and
[3:09] I think from the outside looking in,
they've already done a great job. But
[3:14] again, for a small community coming
together, uh I would just appreciate
[3:17] your consideration of this ask,
[3:25] » Dan. Um and the request is um $1,000 to
help with the roll off dumpsters tipping
[3:31] fees. That's correct. All right. Um last
year those funds um come out of the
[3:39] zoning department, I believe. Where was
the request were you looking at and have
[3:44] you talked to zoning about that at all?
>> Uh Missy did forward. I could have done
[3:49] a better job. I will tell you that
checking with Missy beforehand. I
[3:52] honestly didn't realize or didn't
understand where the money might come
[3:55] from. Was going to leave that to your
discretion. Uh last year it did come out
[3:58] of the zoning spun for cleaning up these
type of places, these type of
[4:03] properties. So u I in all honesty it's
entirely up to you.
[4:09] » And Kelly, are you
>> Yes. If you could could you step to the
[4:12] podium, please?
>> Um, good morning.
[4:15] » Yeah. Tell us your name and address
there so that we have it for record.
[4:19] » Yeah. Kelly Mitchell, uh, from 29070th
Avenue in Otuley, uh, president of Hope,
[4:25] Inc., uh, we're a small group of
concerned citizens looking to revitalize
[4:29] our small town. Um, and so through that
work, uh, a cleanup day, an annual
[4:34] cleanup day is part of that. and we're
just trying to uh make that available to
[4:39] folks to clean up their properties and
keep them um I don't know up to date I
[4:44] guess so to speak. Um you know we're
unincorporated little town. We don't
[4:47] have a cleanup day. All the towns around
us do. Um and we just wanted to bring
[4:51] that to make it as convenient as
possible for our long-term goal is to uh
[4:56] make Otley be as attractive as possible.
keep um growing businesses that have
[5:01] established around there and also make
it more attractive so that people will
[5:05] want to live and possibly build there.
>> So, Kelly, I know that uh you guys had
[5:10] quite success last year. Are you seeing
any um what I would consider repeat
[5:15] offenders where they're just, you know,
they cleaned up or somebody helped them
[5:18] cleaned up and they're just accumulating
again? Yeah, I think there are always
[5:24] going to be some and um you know we
continue to try to build a sense of
[5:28] community in Otley. Um so that it's um I
want to be, you know, I want to be part
[5:33] of the solution, that kind of thing. And
those conversations are always ongoing
[5:37] and we try to be as open as possible and
but making this available um the cleanup
[5:42] day is to help uh those folks know that
they do have a resource and we'll
[5:47] continue to help them. Um, but as far as
targeting any businesses, uh, no, we're
[5:54] not targeting. We're just trying to make
an event available and if any of the
[5:58] businesses that hap that the county
happens to be working with, uh, come
[6:01] forward, we absolutely will be helping
them.
[6:06] » Does this look like this is going to be
an annual thing for Alley? The only
[6:10] reason I asked if if we're going to have
to be looking at Alley and maybe other
[6:15] rural town, are we going to have to
increase the budget for zoning to cover
[6:23] these costs or where this money coming
from?
[6:26] » So, we are also doing fundraising. We
estimate our goal this year to be around
[6:30] $2,800. We're asking for a thousand to
help with tipping fees. Uh we will have
[6:35] rolloff box rentals, those kinds of
thing. I think some of the difference
[6:38] that sets us aside from some of the
other unincorporated communities is we
[6:43] are a group that has come together and
established a 501c3 specifically for um
[6:49] just trying to revitalize our town. I
don't know if there are other groups and
[6:52] some of the other ones uh some of the
other small towns but it but we are
[6:56] reaching out to the county again because
we are unincorporated. We are a rural
[7:00] part of this county and we're just
trying to make it better.
[7:05] » Yeah, I get that. My point is
if it's if it's going to be an annual
[7:10] thing we have we have to start looking
at budgetary things.
[7:14] » So do we increase
on that? I guess not a question to you.
[7:18] » Yeah. But
>> I think it's the situation is is that
[7:22] you know obviously oddly you know has
formed a group and um you know when
[7:28] others do it and as costs rise those are
all things that uh we as a board have to
[7:35] consider especially when um you know
when we're being with how you know when
[7:41] we have Senate file 2472 coming at us
which is the 2% property tax you know
[7:46] those are things that we're just going
to have to be mindful whether you know,
[7:50] [clears throat] I also uh low, you know,
lowhanging fruit, right? You know, it's
[7:55] it's it's come to us, you know, and and
and ask that. I do think that um the
[8:01] businesses and I'm appreciative of them
stepping forward and helping with you.
[8:05] Um I do hope that maybe you can keep
generating and maybe if you're not
[8:09] spending all your funds that it it
carries over to the next
[8:12] » year. Um, when it comes to the funds
that you're using, I'm assuming that
[8:17] would be directly is that something that
we in the when we paid lat in the past,
[8:21] did that go um directly to you or did
that go to the landfill? Do we know the
[8:27] landfill?
>> It did go to the landfill.
[8:29] » Landfill.
>> Okay. All right. Missy, what do you have
[8:31] in that fund currently?
>> 2500.
[8:35] » Okay. All right. So you're right, Steve,
to answer your question, if they're
[8:39] going to make it available to all the
unincorporated communities, possibly
[8:43] there's seven. So we need to look at
that. And then there still needs to be
[8:47] funds. The intent is when we set it
forth when Steve and I um talked about
[8:53] this, we set it forth and it was put
forth because I've worked with property
[8:58] owners that maybe they don't have the
money to pay the tipping fees. That's
[9:02] the difference between them being
compliant and non-compliant. And so we
[9:05] put that money in there. Um cotton did
clean up properties last year that were
[9:11] very non-compliant. We sent out notices
to let people,
[9:15] » hey, your property may not be in
compliance of these things and
[9:18] properties were cleaned up. We were
still we um just recently had another
[9:23] trailer house removed. Another house
sold was going to be cleaned up. We've
[9:27] worked on projects um and Kim part of it
was um inspired by the group and the
[9:34] group helping. So
>> there a 501c3 are they eligible to apply
[9:40] for any landfill
[9:46] » 501c3 correct [clears throat]
>> grants that have you guys I guess that's
[9:50] a good question Tyler. Have you saw any
grants at all when it comes to that? We
[9:54] have I did not know that the landfill
had one available. We will go and check
[9:58] that out. I think you know we continue
to fund raise. We have inkind donations
[10:01] in terms of equipment for that day. So
um skid steer tractors those kinds of
[10:07] things. So people are bringing that in.
Um and then also yes we have done some
[10:11] fundraising where we are reaching out to
the businesses and also those who
[10:14] invested in us last year. Uh again we
will continue. Um, you know, I wish I
[10:19] could say that we were able to fund
raise enough to fund all of it, but
[10:23] that's why I'm here today. Um, we, you
know, we just continue on that on that
[10:28] path.
>> I think it's just I'll go on records and
[10:30] say I think it's just absolutely
fantastic that you guys have taken this
[10:33] on and trying to improve the community
and make it a great place to live and
[10:38] and move forward with that. Quite
frankly, I I wish that more of the
[10:42] unincorporated incorporated areas would
do that self-determination and take
[10:47] those things on as well because we can't
legislate everything from a three person
[10:53] panel up here. So, people need to take
responsibility for their areas of those
[10:57] things. We're here to support those
things. And quite frankly, $1,000 last
[11:02] year, $1,000 this year, and $1,000 going
forward, quite frankly, to me doesn't
[11:07] move the needle very much. coming from a
county perspective, but yet it can
[11:11] directly impact positively impact so
many people their their lives and how
[11:16] they um look at the community and the
county as well as others. And again, I
[11:22] would encourage other uninccorporated
areas to step up and do the same thing.
[11:26] I've got no problem whatsoever with
thousands this year or into the future.
[11:32] We do need to take consideration if it
becomes a budget issue. Absolutely. we
[11:37] need to make sure that we put it in
there, but I don't want to solve a
[11:40] problem I don't have yet. So, I mean, I
don't have a problem whatsoever ask this
[11:47] year. Um, a discussion that we could
have at the next budget session is, you
[11:52] know, maybe we increase that cleanup
budget from 2500 to 10,000. I don't know
[11:57] what that right number is, but other
than just to say I don't want to drive
[12:02] by the unincorporated areas and see junk
sitting at all the place and not feel
[12:07] like we've done our very best to get it
cleaned up. And if it's simply a matter
[12:12] of writing a check for $1,000 to get it
cleaned up, I got no problem whatsoever
[12:17] with that. We're not made of money. I
don't want to give any
[12:22] but uh but there are priorities that I
know that we need to be able to pick and
[12:27] the personal commitment by the
individuals and the businesses in a late
[12:31] is something that I think other
communities should emulate and try with
[12:35] the same kind of thing.
>> Yeah, I think it's a worthwhile project.
[12:40] Don't get me wrong, there I'm at that
point also that
[12:46] we need to look at the funding sources
and how how we're going to fund these if
[12:51] if they become, you know, the other
unincorporated areas want to do the same
[12:56] thing. We need to we need to increase
the the fund that line item. My next
[13:01] question would be miss what what Missy
brought up. If somebody does not have
[13:06] the money to pay the tipping fee,
how do we determine if that is true or
[13:13] not or if they just don't want to pay
it? I mean,
[13:16] » fine line. And honestly, we've never
actually since the funds were set forth,
[13:21] we've never actually I had one contact
me, but they wanted me to actually pay
[13:25] for the roll off and and all that stuff.
Well, that's not the intent. I mean,
[13:30] » I don't mind I don't mind helping people
that need help. I just don't I just
[13:34] don't want to help somebody that's lazy.
>> It has to be on a case- by case basis.
[13:38] And again, that money is I'm not in
support of giving the group the $1,000.
[13:44] If it's coming out of my budget, it
needs to be paid up to $1,000 to the
[13:49] landfill drip.
>> Yeah.
[13:54] » Okay. So, I'm hearing from the board
that they're supported. Um I I guess to
[13:59] me, um it makes the most sense to come
back
[14:04] where we've had it before. Um, that
would be my request. Um, I do think that
[14:09] we are going to have to be mindful when
it comes to if other unincorporated
[14:13] areas do this and at the end of the day.
Um, you know,
[14:20] » that's going to be that's going to be a
budget discussion we have with Missy and
[14:24] Zoning as far as increasing that budget
if if we're if we're going to be
[14:28] supportive in the future of these
things.
[14:32] So K should come just so there is um
last I think it was last meeting Busy
[14:38] was here so there was some room in that
line item as well as department 99 that
[14:42] was pre-budgeted and there is also that
other big cleanup amount that wasn't in
[14:47] isn't directly out of Missy's as
available if you'd want to use that as
[14:51] well on
>> there are options is what we're saying
[14:57] » but I think we have to give direction in
which what we're looking at
[15:00] » so are we looking at bringing it out of
Missy's budget. And
[15:05] that's that would be my recommendation
at this point. We just use uh a little
[15:09] bit for what we did for Busy out of that
other line item. Um, so [clears throat]
[15:14] yeah,
>> and actually I don't disagree with that,
[15:19] Kesha, but I would also um say that if
we do get into the situation where we
[15:25] spent that
uh and we still have needs that are
[15:30] unfunded, that's when we go back to the
99 and we remind Jake of what commented
[15:36] about, right? So I'm just suggesting is
don't feel like, oh, we're spending your
[15:41] budget now. They got no options.
>> I do have absolutely do have options.
[15:45] » I do have actually right now we have
four under notice of violation that may
[15:51] have to be cleaned up by the county and
we have 25 million bucks. So,
[15:55] » and if you and if we run above that then
let's talk to Jake on department 999. We
[16:00] need to hear about it.
>> Yeah. Currently your line item is
[16:06] » it's not it's not big enough to cover
what we're trying to do here. So that's
[16:10] that's an issue we're going to have to
look at in the future.
[16:18] » So do we have a motion?
>> I move to approve the funding request
[16:23] for the office. Second of
>> second
[16:29] John IS.
[16:35] » Thank you. On behalf of Oley, thank you
all so much. Thanks.
[16:40] Item number two is Marian County
Courthouse Special Event Application,
[16:44] Hospital Area Community Hospital, Girls
Night Out
[16:48] before us. Um, this is the application
that we have received. They've been
[16:53] doing this for several years. Um, I have
not heard anything. Facilities, are you
[16:59] good with this request? Okay.
>> 100%. They've been great partners.
[17:02] » Okay, great. Um, they, you know, have
checked all the boxes. I just don't know
[17:08] if you have any special event
>> questions.
[17:14] Just know that they're not requesting to
use restrooms. So, it's just uh the
[17:19] grounds. So, all right. Entertain a
motion for
[17:24] area community growth.
>> So, moved. Support
[17:30] Mcomes.
>> Hi.
[17:32] » Wheeler.
>> Hi.
[17:33] » John.
>> Hi.
[17:35] » Item number three is resolution 2026-98.
A resolution designating the place at
[17:41] which notice of meetings of the Marian
County Board of Supervisors shall be
[17:44] posted
on the attorney. Mr. Har.
[17:48] » Thank you. There were some changes made
to chapters 21 and 22 the Iowa code this
[17:54] year changing the requirements for
notification of public meetings and in
[18:00] an effort to make sure we're in
compliance with that. Um one of the
[18:04] changes was that um we have to have a
designated place where we post uh
[18:09] meeting notices. um the internet or
website uh isn't sufficient although we
[18:14] are required to do that but a physical
location is required and uh there is
[18:19] language in the statute that says that
it must be displayed uh continuously. Um
[18:25] the advice that we've gotten from the
attorney general's office means that
[18:28] that's 24 hours a day. So um placing
them within the courthouse uh during
[18:33] business hours only um there's a matter
of some debate about whether that's uh
[18:38] sufficient or not. And I think it's
probably best that we are safe rather
[18:42] than sorry and designate a place where
we can continuously display our public
[18:48] notices. I've had uh discussions with uh
Drew and Chris and Jake and I think we
[18:56] have some ideas about the south side of
the courthouse. Uh however, whatever the
[19:00] board decides is best. But uh I do think
it's good that we um make this decision
[19:05] so we're in compliance with the law. Hey
Jared, I think after me and Chris were
[19:10] looking at it, we kind of looked at west
side be the best spot. Sure. So,
[19:15] » okay.
>> Y
[19:16] » is this is this the TV screen we were
discussing?
[19:20] » Okay.
>> And that has been ordered or after this
[19:23] I mean like
>> case
[19:26] TV is coming in today.
>> Is the state going to help us pay for
[19:29] this Jim? [laughter]
>> I'll ask him Steve.
[19:32] » Okay.
>> Okay. So I do think the west side um
[19:37] makes sense. I do think uh having it
under a screen so people can walk up to
[19:42] see it and visualize. So um yes and then
that means also I think it's important
[19:48] that uh we'll be able to log will be a
system that we can log in so um those
[19:55] that are having meetings um can post
there too. So yeah,
[20:01] » I'm assuming my suggestion didn't apply
there.
[20:05] » [laughter]
>> They haven't gotten back to me.
[20:09] » So, we'll just be on a scrolling
basically. We can have other
[20:12] announcements and things.
>> Yeah. Going on.
[20:14] » So, right now it's kind of going to be
like how the other displays are in the
[20:17] courthouse which just Google slide which
we can update slides and stuff like
[20:22] that.
[20:26] » That'll be good. I do think designating
this and obviously we have to do it um
[20:31] to follow code. So,
You have no further questions and we'll
[20:36] entertain a motion for resolution
2026-98.
[20:40] » Are we designating the place to in this
resolution?
[20:42] » Yep, it is. It's it's designated on the
west Yep. entry.
[20:46] » Okay. Yep.
>> All right. And thank you to Jane for all
[20:49] your help with this.
We go approve resolution 2026-98.
[20:54] » Second.
>> Hi.
[20:58] » Hi.
>> Holmes.
[20:59] » Hi.
So item number four is resolution
[21:04] 2026-97.
This is adopting new load limits on
[21:08] certain bridges located in Marian County
on the secondary road system.
[21:16] » Yeah. During the most recent uh
inspection cycle from our bridge
[21:20] inspection consultant heard from Michael
Associates that uh particular bridge was
[21:26] in need of
uh an updated post. currently not
[21:31] posted. Uh we have done repairs on this
bridge in the past extending the life
[21:37] maybe eight years ago. We did this eight
or 10 years ago. Um but you know as
[21:43] things changed and deteriorate
the result is we do have a load posting
[21:48] 284040. So what that means is the 28 is
a load limit for your single unit
[21:55] vehicles. So your standard dump truck of
three to seven axles where everything
[22:00] else your combination units would still
be at the 8010 legal load limit. Uh so I
[22:07] recommend this
resolution be approved and signage is
[22:12] already underway.
>> 80 ton is the semi truck.
[22:16] » Yeah. Yeah. T typical
depending on its configuration but right
[22:22] typical combination unit so semi would
be 80,000 pounds or 40.
[22:27] » Yeah,
>> which is the current legal load.
[22:33] » Okay.
>> Or but this would not be legal for any
[22:36] of the all systems permits which is a a
new law went into replacement two or
[22:42] three years ago. Okay.
>> Which I was against.
[22:47] Yeah. Or just to re every bridge.
>> All right.
[22:54] Is there any further questions to tie
in? It seems pretty straightforward to
[22:57] me. I'll entertain a motion for
resolution 2026-97.
[23:02] » Move we approve resolution 2026-97.
[23:10] That sorry
[clears throat] John.
[23:13] » Hi.
>> Hi. Hi.
[23:17] » Thank you. On to item number five. This
is the Maring County Humane Society
[23:22] contract review notice. Um what I have
before you today is um a contract renew
[23:29] um contract review notice and uh it's
brought to us because currently um the
[23:36] agreement that we've had in place has
been in since 2013.
[23:40] Uh, as you're fully aware,
Senate File 2472, as I mentioned
[23:45] earlier, is making us think about what
contracts we have and and looking at
[23:49] those things. And I do feel that it's
important that we bring before um the
[23:54] the contract. And uh this would be just
a notice. So when [clears throat] you
[24:00] look at the current agreement, if you if
you look in your packet, um item number
[24:05] four states that this agreement shall
have a term of 12 months from the date
[24:09] of complete execution by both parties
and shall renew automatically each year
[24:13] unless written notice is given by either
party of intent to terminate or
[24:17] renegotiate the agreement 60 days prior
to renewal. That is why this is being
[24:22] brought before um the board today is
that we have to to be able to even start
[24:27] talking about the contract. We have to
give them notice that we're wanting to
[24:32] um discuss that. Um I would also like to
note um that I also serve on uh as a
[24:39] board of supervisor, I serve on the
board of health and uh there does need
[24:43] to be some language updated in regarding
quarantine. um we the board of health
[24:48] recently had an issue um in a situation
with um a quarantine animal. So I do
[24:54] think it is important that we give them
their notice and it is just to start the
[24:59] negotiation. That is what this is about
and and I frankly I really appreciate
[25:04] all the input that we've received for
all the concern citizens. That's
[25:08] absolutely I encourage that. Uh I love
getting a full email box. It's great to
[25:13] hear from everybody. Um, I also think we
need to, as Kesha just said, put it in
[25:18] perspective. This is not, we are not out
trying to cut, eliminate, diminish, or
[25:26] that humane society does uh
periodically. All contracts should be
[25:33] reviewed. This one's not been looked at
since 2013. We all know things change.
[25:38] Uh, and this is simply an announcement,
a notice that we just want to look at.
[25:44] So, all the the keyboard warriors out
there that are uh sending out
[25:50] information that we're going to get rid
of this and defund it and all those
[25:55] things. Uh please just hold back, take a
breath, and let it play out. This is
[26:02] simply a notice that we're going to talk
about it.
[26:05] » Yeah. And I do think it is important
that we understand what we're paying
[26:09] for. I mean, we haven't we haven't
talked about it since 2013. Um it is
[26:13] important and it is a time for where
they can speak and we can speak and uh I
[26:18] do think from my perspective I do think
people need to understand that these
[26:24] contracts we it's no different than
library. The library comes to us on a
[26:28] yearly basis. These are contracts that
we're going to have to look at on yearly
[26:31] basis. That's just the way it is. Um,
and uh I'm I know that this ruffled
[26:37] feathers. Um, and
if those of you
[26:43] that went back and looked at the can I
can I hairless pose notice that I did do
[26:48] a disclaimer because I felt that it was
misleading and uh so uh yeah and uh I do
[26:57] think that that is something that
sometimes people read it and don't read
[27:01] the full story of it. Um, and uh,
yeah, I just I mean I do appreciate you
[27:08] reaching out, but you have to understand
that this is part of our job too that
[27:12] with taxpayer funds, we do have to look
at these things and these are contracts
[27:16] that we are I personally plan to look on
a basis. So, Steve, if you have
[27:20] comments,
>> yeah, I got some comments.
[27:24] I I don't me personally
I have no intent of defunding the humane
[27:31] society nor do I believe this board has
any intent
[27:36] I we do need fiscal accountability to
the taxpayers so we need to know where
[27:42] what where the money's going how it's
being used that's simple plain and
[27:47] simple like people need to get their
facts and details together before they
[27:51] jump to conclusions
You know, there may be a time in the not
[27:56] too distant future that the citizens of
Marian County may be asked what taxpayer
[28:02] services are most important to them
because that decision may have be made
[28:06] down the road one of these days because
there's only so much money to go around.
[28:13] That's that's all I got to say.
[28:17] So
this um you know contract uh renew uh
[28:23] review notice board what I would like to
discuss is is um obviously that would
[28:29] our county attorney would help assist
that with us and um and then in turn we
[28:35] would um if you want myself to work with
the county attorney to start that
[28:40] process um I need to hear from the court
I guess that's why it's so
[28:45] » I think with you serving as a member of
the uh board of public health, I think
[28:50] it's appropriate that you would
represent the board of supervisors
[28:57] process.
>> All right. I think that would be
[29:00] logical.
>> Okay. I appreciate that.
[29:04] » Steve, do you have any thoughts?
>> Well, yeah. I mean, we have to answer to
[29:07] the state on where what where we spend
our money. So, anybody that receives
[29:11] taxpayer money should have the same
requirements.
[29:15] » Yeah. I I do think uh financials um
understanding what's being paid um it is
[29:21] important. Uh I do know that there is a
request out there. Um we have received
[29:25] uh some documentation from Humane
Society and I'm grateful for that. Um I
[29:29] do believe the last time I checked the
last three years of financials. We're
[29:33] still waiting on those. So those could
come to us that would be helpful. I do
[29:37] think that the board needs to be able to
review those. Um when you're taking
[29:40] taxpayer money um it is important that
we understand where that money is going.
[29:44] So, um, so with that board,
what I'm what I'm seeking today is a
[29:51] notice that, uh, if we're going to give
the Humane Society contract review
[29:55] notice of their 60 days. Um, and that we
would like to, uh, discuss, um,
[30:01] renegotiate the agreement.
>> Yeah. With no intent of defunding, I
[30:07] mean, or getting rid of it.
>> Eliminate.
[30:10] » Yeah. Eliminate.
>> Yep.
[30:13] you want to have special meetings for
that?
[30:16] » We will have to what we uh Linda what
we'll end up have to do is we'll give
[30:19] notice. So our legal counsel and I will
sit down and discuss and then we'll give
[30:24] legal notice and then uh we'll go from
there.
[30:29] » Yeah. Yeah. And so then that will start
that process if that makes sense. Okay.
[30:34] All right. So
I have a motion. Is that correct?
[30:38] » Yeah.
[30:44] Mcomes.
>> Hi,
[30:46] » Eeler.
>> Hi, Joner.
[30:47] » Hi.
>> Thank you everyone. Appreciate that.
[30:52] Item number six, um board before us is
what I have called and I don't know that
[30:58] we've had one before is called a work
session discussion. Um this is over
[31:03] overtime and compensatory um time
policy. Uh if you recall back in uh late
[31:09] June um there was a I believe it was
June 23rd um we had stated that we would
[31:17] look at um an updating of a policy
at that meeting. Um it was brought to us
[31:25] that uh there was um I believe it was
specifically mainly the road department
[31:30] that was not um very happy with the way
that was reading in the overtime policy.
[31:36] So we had given uh the direction of 90
days to go back um kind of come
[31:43] specifically said come best scenario
uh well um I have been meeting with
[31:50] Tyler and I met with him last week um
because as you know we're getting ready
[31:55] to uh come upon our 90 days that I felt
like we needed to know where where they
[32:02] were at and uh the road department um
has met with um Tyler has met with his
[32:08] road department personnel and I believe
they're here with us today and uh at
[32:12] this point they um they feel that they
do not want to make any changes uh that
[32:19] they like what they have they feel that
it has worked and they want to continue
[32:24] with that
>> clarification it status quo
[32:29] with any amendments
for non-compliance if there are truly
[32:34] things which I do believe there are a
couple things that would need to be
[32:37] amended to be compliant with Iowa or
federal code
[32:41] » status quo amending a non-compliance.
[32:47] I determined at that time that it was
important that since
[32:53] uh as uh several of you are aware we
can't talk behind the scenes. So it's
[33:00] time that we sat and talk and uh I know
that sometimes this type of situation
[33:06] doesn't always make people feel very
comfortable. Um but it is one thing that
[33:11] we need to hear what the other thinks
because you know it's just not me as
[33:17] chair going to be saying this is what
we're doing. We as a board need
[33:21] I do um Tyler and I have chatted and um
I do
[33:28] think when you're sitting in this seat
big picture
[33:34] um when you come into this role
and you have all these different silos
[33:40] it's really hard to follow. it's really
hard to know who's doing what, who's,
[33:45] you know, um, and when it comes to
office hours, when it comes to overtime,
[33:52] um, I didn't realize that there was such
a difference.
[33:55] » Um, and there is there's there's a huge
difference.
[33:58] » And, um, I think that it's important
that we just discuss what we're looking
[34:03] at, what we we are not making a decision
today. uh this is a work session um for
[34:10] the board to you know if there's
questions um we can ask those questions
[34:14] but then hopefully in the near future uh
by the next meeting if uh we decide then
[34:20] we can help me so I'm opening the
[34:32] I'd like to provide some justification
of why we ended up at that where we did
[34:38] as a department,
if if you don't mind,
[34:43] » please any and all.
>> I want to make sure that people can see
[34:47] you. Tyler, could you
>> Yeah, you come up.
[34:49] » Yeah. And please come. And and Tyler, I
appreciate
[34:54] uh your premise when you first started
uh your when you when you first spoke up
[35:01] earlier that because I made the comment
a while back that however we end up with
[35:08] all the pain policies and all those
things. As a supervisor,
[35:13] we are all concerned to make sure that
whatever that policy looks like, it must
[35:18] be legal both by the state and the
federal guidelines. And I know there's
[35:24] some question on how that thing works
and different rules apply to different
[35:28] departments and those things. I
recognize that. And to Kesha's point, we
[35:33] only know what we know. My history has
never been managing a sheriff's
[35:38] department or law enforcement or a road
crew or so my experience is much
[35:46] different bringing that to the table. So
this is a learning process for me too.
[35:51] So there may well be things that are
legal that just seems odd to me from my
[35:56] history. So I'm learning as things go.
So
[36:00] » that's a prime example of coming into
this role and you're you're
[36:06] when you're looking at big picture
because that's what we're supposed to be
[36:09] looking at. We're supposed to be looking
at budgets and the work department falls
[36:12] under us. So I do want to make sure that
people understand the direct departments
[36:16] that fall under us are IT, roads,
facilities, HR, economic development and
[36:22] planning in the me right those others
are either elected or they have their
[36:27] own level. Yep. And board.
>> Yeah. It's confusing.
[36:31] » It's very confusing, right?
>> Yeah.
[36:34] » So, this is a department that we do
directly oversee. I do think that we
[36:38] need to make sure that we we have an
understanding that
[36:40] » the typical taxpayer to think uh not
every department
[36:45] works directly for us.
>> Exactly.
[36:48] » Right.
>> Which was surprising to me as I got into
[36:51] this role because I you would naturally
assume that they do, but in fact they
[36:55] don't.
>> We just oversee their budget. I think
[36:59] » that being said,
>> yeah, I think another important
[37:01] clarification of that point is or
statement maybe not clarification is
[37:07] there's always a lot of discussion about
how the private sector does things and
[37:11] you know this board and previous boards
have mentioned that and and I think it's
[37:16] it's okay to look at that through that
lens occasionally and and
[37:21] but government efficiencies are
different but that doesn't mean we can't
[37:25] still be efficient and budgetary,
fiscally responsible and whatnot,
[37:31] but the county operating as one private
sector or one employer is really
[37:37] difficult due to the nature of the work.
You're really administering in my
[37:41] opinion
many different
[37:45] companies within the county because they
all back they all operate so differently
[37:50] and the nature of the work is so
different here.
[37:54] Just just a statement some How are they?
I mean,
[37:59] » yeah. And and for clarification, which
this is clarification, the previous
[38:04] handbook did define departments
individually specifically on how what
[38:09] their work hours were, their overtime
comp, how that was approved and whatnot.
[38:12] And it was very specifically defined by
department, lumping some together, uh I
[38:20] think as courthouse employees and
whatnot. I think so we need to make sure
[38:24] that when we redid the handbook we kept
it more of a high level and the reason
[38:30] the reason we are here today is because
we had a was approximately 30 that went
[38:35] from um exempt to non-exempt. So that
brought up the question, okay, and then
[38:41] we come to find out and it Tyler's
correct. It was in the handbook before.
[38:46] I did not fetch that that we had all
this difference. That's on me.
[38:50] » I think from from road department
perspective, I think it's important to
[38:54] note that that handbook is no longer in
effect. The new handbook as of July one
[38:59] last year is in effect and does not
clearly define those things. We at the
[39:04] road department, I issued as the
department head a memo to employees that
[39:09] we will retain the policies and
practices of the previous handbook until
[39:15] further notice at which point I was
drafting a policy for work hours and
[39:20] overtime compensation to clarify with
the department of 38
[39:26] full-time employees and over 40 part
with part-time we have to define things
[39:31] and and have polic policies and
procedures in place to manage a
[39:36] department such as that.
So I think if you will remember that
[39:42] that is an important piece later on. Um
so I guess I I came up here to tell you
[39:50] how I arrived at status quo with
amending any non-compliance.
[39:55] So after the last board meeting uh took
so I do have my personnel committee here
[40:01] again uh plus one Mike as our road
maintenance supervisor who is most
[40:05] directly involved with administering
policies and review and time off and and
[40:13] whatnot uh through
through time tracking and and what and
[40:18] approving different things. So Mike is
here and this is our first note as our
[40:22] revenue supervisor.
So we left the last meeting um
[40:29] and provide got some further
clarification about the budget being a
[40:34] key point in in this and dur ahead of
that meeting I provided you with some
[40:39] information that overtime in totality
overtime paid to road department
[40:46] employees is roughly4% of the road
department's budget
[40:52] and 09% of the county's overall budget.
Uh so the fiscal impact for from a road
[40:59] department perspective if changes were
made and all the overtime was eliminated
[41:03] would be
a fairly small piece of the pie if you
[41:08] will.
So I also looked at
[41:13] » just for one just one for clarification.
So I mean the 0809
[41:20] I mean that seems like a really small
number. Give me a dollar amount rather
[41:24] than a percentage.
>> If we were
[41:26] » I mean tell me is that $100,000 is that
$50,000 or is that
[41:31] » So the over put it in perspective
>> the overtime paid out is 37
[41:37] for road department employees.
>> Okay.
[41:39] » And I annually
>> but there's comp
[41:41] » on average annually.
>> But then the comp time can you include
[41:44] » but the but the fiscal impact is $37,000
annually. On average that's okay
[41:49] average. [cough] and and [clears throat]
that was the number I was
[41:54] » and
>> percentages can be
[41:56] » and those hours can't all be eliminated
and 37 is paying time and so if you take
[42:03] the halftime portion that's $12,000. So
12,000 is the max potential savings if
[42:09] you eliminated 100% of all overtime
because you're we still work those
[42:14] overtime hours in some way shape or
>> Okay. Okay. So, Tyler, I think though we
[42:17] need to make sure we understand that the
public um we're not talking overtime
[42:22] over 40. We're talking overtime explain
explain how your overtime because you do
[42:28] overtime different in the summer versus
in the winter. So,
[42:31] » we do not do overtime different in the
summer versus the winter.
[42:34] » I thought you did um because you work
10our days of
[42:37] » four. Sorry. Yes. Yes.
>> So, that's a work hour change. should
[42:42] say not necessarily a overtime approval
change necessarily.
[42:47] So typical
work week regularly scheduled work week
[42:52] for the road department is 7 to 3:30
with a half hour unpaid lunch. Overtime
[42:57] is after eight hours in a workday.
The current employee handbook states
[43:02] that all time off is counted as time
work except sick leave. So that's one of
[43:08] the changes that will have to be made.
So that the employee handbook for all
[43:13] county employees states that
per Iowa code comp time cannot be used
[43:19] as time work. That's one of the
non-compliance things that's come to
[43:23] light through this process that we
>> which I appreciate you
[43:27] » have been doing have explained.
>> So yes, in the summer we have a 10-hour
[43:34] we have in place a policy that the board
approved
[43:39] I don't know 20 17 maybe a 10-hour day
workday policy in which we can implement
[43:45] with two weeks notice a change to four
10-hour days with overtime after 10 in
[43:51] those for those specific employees that
are on that schedule
[43:55] » which theoretically save us money
because we don't have to
[43:59] we don't have to we don't have to gear
up for them the next day you know
[44:02] » yeah already on site it saves us money
>> plus travel time to and from work sites
[44:09] efficiency gains was the intent with
that.
[44:13] » Do you how much do you typically have
for overtime in the summer when you do
[44:17] the 10 hours?
[44:21] Do you have a lot working on Friday?
Guess what I'm asking? It' be very I
[44:25] mean the bulk of our overtime on an
annual basis is incurred in the
[44:30] you know rare instances 2015 probably
the last time we really incurred
[44:34] substantial overtime due to flooding
when we were just trying to get drugs
[44:39] paid drugs included tobacco but so
typical average
[44:46] uh year is borrow times incurred between
the months of November and April May end
[44:53] of Okay.
[44:56] And and
[45:00] yes, there is overtime on Fridays for a
variety of different reasons. Um
[45:07] I still we've run analysis. I think in
2021 was probably the last time, you
[45:12] know, after that policy of 10our days
have been in place for a while where we
[45:18] look re-evaluated the efficiencies
there. Is this still making sense for us
[45:22] as a department? uh and and it was at
that time
[45:26] uh even though there are instances of
that um again for a variety of reasons
[45:32] and we still get called out at 8:00 p.m.
you know, when after working a 10hour
[45:36] day doesn't eliminate those and and and
that's a good point that the nature of
[45:41] our work is not typically dictated by a
schedule or a schedule overtime even the
[45:48] nature of our work is something that's
dictated outside of our control warrants
[45:52] overtime. So whether that's a road
hazard, a weather event, whatnot, we
[45:57] have very little control there. And I
think that's an important piece that's
[46:01] defined in the code of federal
regulation that talks about the reason
[46:06] some of these extra compensations. So
something like overtime after 8 is
[46:12] provided to employees is because of the
disarrangement in their words of
[46:17] personal time and personal watch or the
lack of notice provided to work those
[46:23] overtime hours or to work hours in which
you were scheduled to have a day of rest
[46:30] i.e. holidays or Saturdays and Sundays.
But I do think
[46:37] » that we're saying
currently overtime over eight and it's
[46:42] including vacation. That's not common. I
I want to say that overtime over eight
[46:47] may be in the field and some what you're
doing but including vacation is a
[46:52] premium. I do think that we need to make
sure and make that aware that's a
[46:56] premium.
>> So give us an example.
[46:58] » Perfect. I have I have an example. So
it's actually an example is given in the
[47:02] code of f federal regulation when
talking about working technicals.
[47:06] » So overtime after a is
in the federal regulations as a
[47:11] recognized and approved method of
compensation.
[47:16] » Yes.
>> So here
[47:18] » I think that's an important clarifying
point from the meeting we had back in
[47:21] April when it was when there was some
panic around that being legal or not.
[47:28] » Right. and and by the state too. I mean
you got you gota I mean is the state
[47:33] follow those same rules.
>> So how important is that?
[47:36] » Yep. Sorry. Yes. For the most part the
state of Iowa follows the Fair Labor
[47:40] Standards Act
>> which is overtime over 40.
[47:43] » Over time over
>> right you can be more
[47:47] » right. Okay.
>> Uh um you can you can give over that.
[47:51] That's being more generous. Right. But
standard is over 40.
[47:55] » Okay.
There is a section of Iowa code specific
[47:59] to state and local government employees
called application of fair labor
[48:05] standards act for state and local
government employees.
[48:09] Uh that's where it's defined that comp
time cannot be used as time work. So
[48:14] that's where that okay
>> came from.
[48:17] Otherwise, Fair Labor Standards Act
warrants
[48:24] overtime and work rules for for local.
[48:30] However, there are and I've asked for
clarification from our HR attorney and
[48:37] from ISAC
council
[48:41] that there are sections of the code of
federal regulations. This is 29 CFR 778
[48:47] defines
has sections that allow for overtime
[48:53] after 8. They also allow for holidays,
vacation, weekends to be counted as time
[49:01] work or automatic overtime would be both
of those things. It also allows for many
[49:07] other things that apply to other county
departments that don't necessarily apply
[49:11] to the road department. And full
clarification here, I looked at that
[49:15] code of federal regulation through the
lens of the road department only. Now,
[49:18] did I come across things that apply to
other departments? Yes. My review was
[49:23] simply pertinent to the road department.
They can speak for themselves uh
[49:28] regarding specific issues.
So
[49:33] yes, it also states that it has to be
written or unwritten contract, employee
[49:40] agreement, policy or established
practice. So to my point earlier that we
[49:47] had a handbook that defined then it was
taken out then I implemented a memo that
[49:53] we're going to retain that established
practice that was previously defined
[49:59] with the intent of writing a policy. My
policy has not been effective because
[50:04] this conversation started back in April
when I was planning to implement that
[50:09] policy in March and I held off until
this discussion had worked itself out.
[50:16] So to that point we are still legal
because we have that policy or
[50:21] established practice in my opinion. That
is not a legal opinion. That's my
[50:26] interpretation of what I read.
[50:31] So, so
>> I I would like to just Yeah.
[50:34] » So, we have had uh legal counsel
uh employment
[50:41] legal not to not to throw shade on our
county attorney uh but I mean it's
[50:47] employment laws is a specific kind of
law. So I just so we have had an opinion
[50:55] from our u employment law consultation
that says yes this is a legal process
[51:04] that we have for the overtime after a
>> and there is count time cannot be
[51:11] counted as work hours.
I mean I would suggest to go back and
[51:16] define what that is too for the public
so that everybody really understands
[51:20] that that just means that count time
means you have to take other time off
[51:24] you can't get paid for it right it
doesn't count for time if they choose to
[51:30] » well
go ahead explain to explain to us
[51:34] explain to how the comp
>> in lie of being paid at time and you can
[51:39] acrew a bank of hours at time and so
it's a It's a benefit offered allowable
[51:45] up to 240 hours per code of federal
regulation
[51:49] typically for public sector employees.
>> We we have dialed that back a little
[51:56] bit. We h we as a department only allow
a comp time approval of 120 hours, not
[52:06] 240.
[52:09] Okay. But but you can bank hours at a at
time and a half
[52:15] for overtime hours work in lie of
payment
[52:20] at time and a half.
>> And that is
[52:24] » there's a section within the handbook
that the employee gets the choice
[52:29] » to whether they do this or that with the
except for the road department. Other
[52:33] departments handle that differently.
[52:39] In order to separate the road department
out from our current handbook, then you
[52:43] would have to write a policy.
>> I wrote a policy already because the
[52:50] current [clears throat] handbook does
not define what
[52:54] » overtime approval
and and use of comp time and and
[52:58] different things. So it defines work
hours and which raises back what we
[53:02] talked about and every department is
different. We're not we're not a factory
[53:07] that runs eight hours a day move. You
know, everything's different. I would
[53:13] like to go back and answer the question
about the legal opinion.
[53:16] » Sure.
>> I don't know that there's been a formal
[53:20] legal opinion. I have an email and
Alicia can speak to this August
[53:27] from from our council HR council on
August 21st with some specific questions
[53:34] that I had to know about.
Is overtime after eight hours a day
[53:39] allowed? If an individual policy
allowing it, then it is allowed stating
[53:44] some code of federal regulation. Can
vacation count as time work for
[53:48] calculating the overtime?
If you have an individual policy
[53:52] allowing it, then it is allowed.
Same question for holidays. Same answer.
[53:59] So, I didn't just take those answers and
say we're done. I investigated those
[54:04] codes of federal regulation and how they
specifically would apply to the Maring
[54:07] County Secondary Road Department.
I would like to give an example if you
[54:14] have a few more minutes.
So the example given in 29 CFR 778
[54:20] for uh calculating overtime for a
holiday in a work week
[54:27] as time work or not as time work it gave
scenarios
[54:32] and I actually I'll
[54:38] be best to look at the second page I
want to hear the back side of
[54:45] So the in this example the employee is
working a 40hour week five eight hour
[54:52] days.
Uh
[54:56] Tuesday is a holiday in that week. Okay.
And
[55:01] they worked eight hours on Monday, nine
hours on Tuesday which was the hall. So
[55:06] physically working 8 n 88 88 8 and then
they also worked a nine hour day on
[55:12] Saturday. Very typical example for the
roof.
[55:16] We only get one holiday for Christmas.
Christmas lands on a Tuesday. We're
[55:20] pushing snow on a Tuesday.
Snow's on a Friday night. We're pushing
[55:25] snow on that Saturday. Okay. So very
very typical. And that's very typical
[55:30] for multiple holidays for the road
department. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
[55:35] Year's, Veterans Day, Mday Day, any of
those are fair game for this instance.
[55:44] If we apply the overtime after 8 rule,
so what our current practice status quo,
[55:51] we would get nine hours of overtime pay
and the holiday pay of eight hours on
[55:56] Tuesday. Additionally, we would get nine
hours for Saturday because the hand
[56:00] previous defined Saturdays and Sundays
as as overtime.
[56:07] If you apply
the basic code effect of f federal
[56:12] regulation 29 CFR 778 refers to the act
as section 7A of the act of the fair
[56:20] labor standards act which is overtime
after 40 hours of work as the required
[56:28] minimum overtime payment.
The only overtime [clears throat] during
[56:32] the work week would be one hour on
Friday because they worked
[56:37] Monday through Friday and didn't hit
over 40 until Friday. So, one hour of
[56:42] overtime paid on Friday and then all
nine on Saturday would then be overtime.
[56:45] In this example, the work week begins on
a Monday. Current practice, u so you're
[56:51] all aware, Mary County Handbook defines
the work week beginning at 12:01 a.m. on
[56:57] Saturday morning. So, our work week is
Saturday 12:01 a.m. to Friday at
[57:03] midnight.
There's been some discussion. I'm not
[57:06] really going to get into that today, but
for an equal comparison in this example,
[57:10] I use Monday 12:1 a.m. as the beginning
of the work week. So, in overtime after
[57:16] 40, there would be 10 hours of overtime
versus the overtime after 8, we would
[57:22] have 18 hours of overtime, whether
that's taken as overtime pay or overtime
[57:27] or comp comp time
also as proposed in June. So the policy
[57:33] that amendment or excuse me the handbook
amendment section 4 that was brought
[57:36] before this board June 23rd of 2026 said
overtime after 40 with holidays as time
[57:44] work
not vacation holidays as time under that
[57:49] scenario with the work week as stated
that would also yield 18 hours of time
[57:54] work. So now you may be asking well why
that's that's equal to what we're doing
[58:00] now. Why am I so opposed to that? Well,
there are also policies and practices
[58:05] that would have to be in place. So, as
we work through pros and cons of
[58:08] overtime after 8 versus overtime after
40, there are pros and cons to each.
[58:14] But with overtime after 40, there were
more cons regarding policies that we
[58:17] would have to put into place on how to
administer
[58:21] and regulate time off, time work,
regular hours. If some like in this
[58:27] example, if on Thursday somebody hits
their overtime after 40, now we're going
[58:30] to have to have a policy that says, "Do
you or do you not get time off on
[58:36] Friday? Are you expected to return to
work?"
[58:40] There are ways to work through that.
Though those are challenges that don't
[58:45] exist under Overtime Act 8 that we would
have to work through. Is it impossible?
[58:49] No. But I'd like to provide a little bit
more explanation.
[58:55] on this uh or insight of those scenarios
where let's say we worked on Christmas
[59:01] pushing snow and then the following
Saturday.
[59:03] » Before we leave this though, can I can I
>> Yep.
[59:06] » Okay. So currently your second line
overtime over 40. But if the compromise
[59:13] was to pay for holidays,
>> that's the last one.
[59:19] » As proposed,
>> time over 40, but including
[59:24] vacation and holiday.
>> What was proposed in June did not
[59:28] include
>> No, no, no. I said if that was a
[59:30] compromise, okay,
>> you would still read 18.
[59:37] » That is correct.
But there are
[59:40] policy and procedural challenges that
come from.
[59:43] » I just think that we need to make sure
that we understand that there yes there
[59:48] is policies there is procedural things
that change.
[59:54] Tyler and I have had this discussion and
I I will be frank. It it is really hard
[59:59] when you're governing taxpayer dollars
and they're saying
[1:00:04] I don't get overtime rate. Why do they
get it? I don't get the luxury of the 18
[1:00:11] days of, you know, of sick leave or the
extra vacation, the comp time, the, you
[1:00:17] know, the diapers, the all that. And
then when you come into this seat and
[1:00:21] you look at it big picture, you're like,
"Oh my goodness, this is this is so
[1:00:27] different in every it's like all
different silos, and you're supposed to
[1:00:31] try to keep track of it."
And I I just I frankly I struggle with
[1:00:36] that. I think part of the tangible
tangibleness of what was presented at
[1:00:42] the last board meeting was that if this
is a budgetary discussion
[1:00:47] and everyone goes to the same work hours
and overtime policies, it's actually
[1:00:53] going to cost the county money. Correct.
>> Okay. So, I think what we have to think
[1:00:58] about is when you have law enforcement,
okay, they're going to be carved out.
[1:01:04] Other than I do know that the sheriff's
department, jailers and and um dispatch
[1:01:09] they are over um 40 with holidays and
vacation included.
[1:01:14] » It's just the dispatch.
>> It's just the dispatch, not the jailers.
[1:01:18] Okay. Sorry.
[1:01:21] » They're under 171 over 28. Okay. Um and
then we have the rest of these. We have
[1:01:29] I mean we have some that currently are
working 37 and a half and their overtime
[1:01:35] is 37. We have some that are 40. We have
some that are eight.
[1:01:42] » We have no control over.
>> No, we do on these six departments.
[1:01:46] » Oh, okay.
>> Yeah. Just in ours. Just in ours, we
[1:01:50] have two that are over 40, two that are
over 37 and a half, and two that are
[1:01:55] over eight.
[1:02:01] Regardless, I think what my point was
was that leaving that meeting, it it's
[1:02:07] hard for me and hard for my employees to
grasp
[1:02:12] this is a fiscal issue when when I state
those numbers of potential savings for
[1:02:18] the road department and ultimately for
the county as as a whole, but other
[1:02:23] departments going to the same policies
will cost more So cumulatively
[1:02:29] » that doesn't make sense. So why make the
change when it implements other
[1:02:33] challenges and the b the benefits
they're getting? I'm going to explain a
[1:02:40] little bit more here if you like. But
that I think
[1:02:45] one point that I I would tell you that
is also a consideration for me is it's
[1:02:51] not all about the money. It's not all
about pennies times. Some of it is just
[1:02:55] a matter of being consistent fair across
all departments. Make sure everybody is
[1:03:00] treated as
>> equable equally as we can. You can't
[1:03:05] have them all identical. I recognize
that everybody's doing a different job.
[1:03:09] » And I think one of my next points will
>> but I think you have to also make sure
[1:03:14] that
one department isn't and I'm not
[1:03:18] suggesting you are. I'm just saying we
have to look objectively each
[1:03:22] department. to make sure that each
department is being treated fairly for
[1:03:27] the work that they do and the
environment that they work in. They
[1:03:31] don't have to be identical. Fair is not
identical.
[1:03:36] So that being said is it's not all about
nickels and dimes. I want to make sure
[1:03:41] that we're treating everybody whether
I'm in the auditor's office or the
[1:03:46] treasurer's office or the road
department. Everybody feels like, yeah,
[1:03:50] you know what? I'm in great shape here.
That's what I'm at.
[1:03:53] » So So I'm I'm I'm hearing that we're
we're not looking at a one policy cover
[1:03:58] all
>> if it doesn't fit. No.
[1:04:02] If it can't work, I don't.
And again, anybody who's watched other
[1:04:06] people in there to Kisha's point earlier
on,
[1:04:09] » the way the open meetings law, we've
never had this discussion. So we're up
[1:04:14] here throwing stuff out that
>> that's what's hard about this job and I
[1:04:19] find so frustrating. I am so
oldfashioned, Jim. If I got a problem
[1:04:23] with somebody,
I walk up to them and look in the face
[1:04:27] and I ask. We can't do that without
breaking the law.
[1:04:30] » I agree.
>> And I want to make sure that the public
[1:04:36] understands where we're we're going from
this, too. Because again, I go big
[1:04:40] picture and I know that Tyler and I I
have had our disagreements in the aspect
[1:04:44] of when you got 40% of your workforce in
the county as um you know and they're
[1:04:54] looking at overtime over 40 and not
including vacation and sick leave. It
[1:04:58] makes or not sick, sorry, holidays and
vacation.
[1:05:03] We do have a premium and I I you know
and I'm assuming Tyler's gonna say it is
[1:05:08] a premium. Okay, I get it that not all
departments are going to be the same
[1:05:14] meaning from this department to what
somebody you know sort of Henworthy did,
[1:05:19] you know, right? Um I just think while
they're trying to fix
[1:05:24] » well because here here in lies the
situation. We have these 30 employees
[1:05:30] that I felt like, oh, now what are we
going to do with them from exempt to
[1:05:36] non-exempt? And this is what opened up.
Um,
[1:05:42] I struggle with all the differences. I
do I struggle with all the different
[1:05:47] silos and it's uh don't touch my silo.
Don't touch me. This is what I've done.
[1:05:53] And I think that we need to be looking
at big picture and I said this to Tyler
[1:05:59] and I would say this, you know, again,
I'm saying this in an open meeting. If
[1:06:03] it's not that much of an impact, what's
the big deal? What's the big deal in the
[1:06:07] change?
>> Well, I still have a really important
[1:06:09] thing. Why don't
in your thought
[1:06:15] that I
unless you want to jump at
[1:06:20] » But yeah, I have a very important that I
really would appreciate.
[1:06:25] » Okay. So, um, as the only other
department that you all control that is
[1:06:30] overtime after 8, Tyler and I are lost
out of this. Okay. It's important. Do
[1:06:35] you guys understand that hearing from
the other side of overtime after 8?
[1:06:39] Yeah. At least the big pie is a lot
smaller than his. So, we're somewhere
[1:06:44] around 13,000 in total overtime. We
average three call outs a week all year
[1:06:50] long. That's while my people, my two
guys are at home with their families.
[1:06:55] That's while it's holidays, that's on
weekends. So, knowing that we are
[1:07:01] following federal statute minus the comp
timing,
[1:07:06] I'm 100% fine of changing that aspect of
it. And I would encourage the board. I
[1:07:12] understand because as a department head,
I hear people say things to, "Well, it
[1:07:16] seems like you guys had it really,
really good."
[1:07:19] I always win that argument. Believe it
or not, I have never lost the argument
[1:07:24] when someone approaches me with either
what we make or how good our benefits
[1:07:29] are. Because every time we have to go
back and compare like to like. This is
[1:07:33] not apples to pairs. This is like to
like. I understand that let's say 40% of
[1:07:38] our workforce in Marian County is
overtime after eight. 40%
[1:07:42] » 40 or sorry, overtime after 40.
>> Yeah, you're fine. Yep. That group of
[1:07:46] people doesn't get called in unscheduled
an average three times a week. They
[1:07:51] don't
>> on their behalf though. They are called
[1:07:53] in maybe that Thursday they're told
they're showing up for overtime the next
[1:07:57] day and there's no or Saturday without
>> that is that is an exception not the
[1:08:02] rule
>> and that I do know that they have
[1:08:05] » it does happen. That is an exception not
the rule. So my encouragement to the
[1:08:09] board is compare like to like because I
hear it on wages too. It's been brought
[1:08:13] up both within county and out of county
how well my people are compensated. I
[1:08:18] would encourage anyone to find someone
like in the county that would be jealous
[1:08:24] of what my guys make because you won't.
My son is a first year first year
[1:08:31] journeyman and makes more than I do.
First year
[1:08:35] » and but we know that how many hours he
puts in too, right? I mean a journeyman
[1:08:39] does. He puts in an hour. I bet he
doesn't put more hours than I do in
[1:08:44] and this is not coming from a place of
complaining about wages because this
[1:08:47] board will ask, "You've never heard a
complaint about wage without my
[1:08:50] department." Not me, not any of my
people. We're totally satisfied because
[1:08:55] the reason we do government service is
the key word service.
[1:09:00] We don't do this job just because it's a
job. We do this because we care about
[1:09:06] our communities. We care about our
taxpayers. we are taxpayers and we want
[1:09:10] what's best for our local government. So
I think that's an important distinction
[1:09:14] to make that every single county
employee [clears throat] that I'm aware
[1:09:17] of comes to work because there's a
service aspect of giving back to their
[1:09:21] community that matters. So what we're
asking in return is let's compare like
[1:09:25] to like when my guys leave. The reason
I'm in favor of overtime after 8 with
[1:09:31] the removal of comp time, which I'm 100%
for, because federal law dictates it, is
[1:09:37] when they leave their families because I
gave them 15 minutes because the jail
[1:09:40] had another issue or another air handler
is down or there's an electrical outage,
[1:09:47] that should come with a premium. So, I'm
I'm open to say it is premium.
[1:09:51] Absolutely. And it should be because
everyone else in the trades gets that
[1:09:55] safe.
[1:09:58] That's where I'm at. So,
>> yeah, I I can't argue that. I also look
[1:10:05] at it as um
calculating the payroll and getting all
[1:10:12] that information and managing it and
getting it to Jake's office in order to
[1:10:18] make the payrolls and everything. And I,
you know, I would just propose or
[1:10:23] suggest that we as a group or we as a
county also look at a pain management
[1:10:30] system that gets us off of, you know,
doing time cards, time sheets and
[1:10:36] submitting stuff that I mean the
environment I came from, you know, yes,
[1:10:42] the department heads and managers would
get a rolled up calendar look at it and
[1:10:48] see what hours worked, hours in, hours
out, whether they were on an hourly or
[1:10:53] whether they were exempt. Uh, and then
they would approve or disapprove work
[1:10:57] with the employee on Yeah, it's a And in
doing so, it sets us up in a situation
[1:11:03] where yeah, you may not call it overtime
after eight, but we called it a
[1:11:08] differential rate or a call out rate or
something that said exactly to your
[1:11:14] point is, okay, I've already worked my
eight hours. I only had half an hour at
[1:11:18] home with my family and I got called in.
That would be a call out rate, which
[1:11:23] it's not overtime, but it's a call out.
You know what I mean?
[1:11:26] » And we actually do that now a little
bit. So my department, they get two
[1:11:30] hours for a call out. I do not count
that two hours as OT for clarification.
[1:11:35] So what I count is their phys to the
jail and it takes an hour. They get one
[1:11:40] hour of o overtime and then they get two
hours of straight time. And and let me
[1:11:45] clarify too is my my intention here is
not to cut overtime for the sake of
[1:11:51] cutting overtime because we all know
with the new tax laws. I don't want to
[1:11:55] define things not as overtime simply to
make sure that it's taxable to the
[1:11:59] federal government because I don't want
to put anybody in that kind of a
[1:12:03] situation either. I'm just suggesting
that we're we're trying to look at it in
[1:12:07] a way that again is simplifying the
process but still making sure that we
[1:12:12] take care of the employees in the face
that set them uh in a way that yeah they
[1:12:18] are being compensated fairly and
appropriately for the work that they do
[1:12:21] in the time that they're doing. So
Chris, I just for clarification, so if
[1:12:26] they have a call out and it's takes them
an hour, but you give them two hours, do
[1:12:30] you pay them overtime or straight?
>> Pay them overtime only for the time
[1:12:34] work. So let's say so we have a twohour
minimum that they're getting paid for.
[1:12:38] If that took one hour, that's one hour
of overtime, one hour of straight time.
[1:12:44] » Okay.
there there is some code of federal
[1:12:48] regulation specific to call out pay um
that will likely impact how we currently
[1:12:54] do it. So when I talk the two things
that were the non-compliance issues that
[1:12:59] I mentioned very early on would be the
comp time worked and how call out pay is
[1:13:06] it's really on the payroll side we have
to change how we're paying it depending
[1:13:12] whether they actually work let's say
they get a minimum of two but they only
[1:13:15] work one that's recorded differently
unless they from if they worked two or
[1:13:23] half hour
That's different because the time that
[1:13:27] they're getting paid for that they don't
work is treated differently than the
[1:13:31] time they work in that call period per
code of regulation.
[1:13:36] So I think the county would need to be
on board the code of regulation
[1:13:41] regardless of how departments handle
call.
[1:13:43] » Yes. I I think that's
>> I think that there's so many differences
[1:13:47] that I also at the end of the day we
need as a board need to think about
[1:13:52] » some departments you know are going to
be like well I want to have that too
[1:13:55] right so when looking at the budget
overall it may come to a point that we
[1:14:01] may say you got to look at your overtime
right you know and um I guess as a as it
[1:14:09] a budget time we need to know more about
how much money you are spending in your
[1:14:12] overtime what you have aotted in your
budget for that
[1:14:15] » I have
on typically use 38% of that
[1:14:21] which 37 and change that I gave you
earlier
[1:14:26] and half
>> um
[1:14:29] » so limiting overs like Chris is
way easier said than done
[1:14:36] » my point earlier about the nature of our
work is dictated by things that are out
[1:14:40] of our control
>> and I think Chris's point about
[1:14:43] providing public service. The sacrifice
so far because we provide public service
[1:14:49] and that's part of our
part of the way that our policies are
[1:14:54] set up make it so we don't have a
problem with employees showing up in
[1:15:00] those difficult crazy hours and
oftentimes very repetitive crazy hours.
[1:15:07] I think that part of my point that I
wanted to make earlier about
[1:15:12] if Christmas is on that Tuesday, you
know, we're reporting to work on that
[1:15:16] Tuesday. Yes, we get paid eight hours,
but we and we also get overtime. Well,
[1:15:25] then we're going to look at Saturday,
too. So, in in Christmas, and Chris is
[1:15:29] probably similar stays.
>> They they lost the benefit of the
[1:15:35] holiday. Yeah. they got picked. You
know, they lost the benefit of what a
[1:15:39] holiday is. It's a time of rest. And I
think CO better regulation defines that
[1:15:44] weekends and holidays as times of reps
intentionally.
[1:15:51] We lose that. We lose time. So if you
look at this in a net personal time
[1:15:56] overtime after 40 in that scenario I
gave you is a net negative -3 hours of
[1:16:01] personal time lost by these employees
provided public service. Under our
[1:16:06] current practice they would net nine
hours of personal time through comp time
[1:16:13] or through payment o of overtime. But
that's the benefit to them for
[1:16:19] disarranging their life being called in
at 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve to come work
[1:16:25] on Christmas because the weatherman
didn't get a ride
[1:16:29] and now we're here so everybody else can
get to Christmas and now we're reporting
[1:16:35] to work six days later. House employee
doesn't have that opportunity. Got their
[1:16:41] holiday reported four times.
>> Let me ask you this and again I'm I'm
[1:16:44] asking only because they don't know So
who manages the call outs
[1:16:49] » in my department? Largely Mike McMurray
the road manage super.
[1:16:53] » Okay. I mean I've again question because
past history I mean there are occasions
[1:17:01] where people can manage people can
manage and I'm not suggesting we are
[1:17:06] please don't misunderstand my question.
My only comment is we just need separate
[1:17:12] those so that there is a clear line of
distinction between you know who who has
[1:17:18] the authority to do that.
>> I manage the overtime in my department
[1:17:22] and I would happily tell you that
neither one of my guys are ecstatic when
[1:17:28] I call at night or 2 o'clock in the
morning and say, "Hey, I need to go to
[1:17:32] the jail."
>> Yeah. I I
[1:17:34] » and and
>> I have to ask that question. Absolutely.
[1:17:39] Good question.
>> Snow removal is actually in part
[1:17:42] dictated by the snow and removal
ordinance that the county have in
[1:17:46] effect. Our work hours are dictated
somewhat by that ordinance. And Mike
[1:17:51] works within the confines of that. And
generally
[1:17:55] I I trust Mike 100% with his judgment.
>> So do I. days. We still have many
[1:18:01] conversations throughout the banner and
many of those are at 11 p.m. when he's
[1:18:06] going to be calling these guys at 2 a.m.
and we're trying to make a decision or
[1:18:10] he's letting know what his decision is,
which I trust.
[1:18:14] » Believe me, Jim, I know what it's all
about.
[1:18:16] » I'm sure you do.
>> I'm sure you can give me an education.
[1:18:20] We haven't been able to sit down and
have that talk.
[1:18:22] » It looks like Jason
behind you,
[1:18:26] » Tyler. The guy behind you with a gun
wants to say just two seconds on it. I
[1:18:30] and I do realize that no matter where
the overtime is in different
[1:18:35] departments, whether it be at the
courthouse, whether it be here,
[1:18:37] different places, I mean, my what I just
would encourage is the leaders of those
[1:18:42] areas, just listen to them. I mean,
where it is because everybody, the
[1:18:47] public service side, I know people don't
want to be called out. We have it all
[1:18:51] the time. We're our guys. I mean,
whether it be overtime or different
[1:18:53] things. Society's changed. I mean,
there's a lot of people that I mean,
[1:18:57] will give up to to have that time at
home with their families versus getting
[1:19:01] the extra pay or what, but just please
listen to them. I mean, that's all I
[1:19:06] want to add to it is and and and I know
the fairness side of this came up in my
[1:19:09] 14 years at chair. I mean, but there's
times that different positions, that's
[1:19:14] where you have to listen to. I mean, if
he's making that decision to call
[1:19:17] somebody out, he's doing it for a
reason. If Tyler is, they're doing it
[1:19:21] for a reason. They're not to screw over
another department or to hurt another
[1:19:25] department or to say, "Hey, we're better
than other department. They're just
[1:19:28] trying to provide a public service."
>> In every decision that I make, I know
[1:19:34] some other department heads are in the
same with accountability to the
[1:19:37] taxpayer. I know guarantees too.
>> Yes. But I also know I also know that
[1:19:43] when I make those calls or Mike makes
those calls,
[1:19:47] every hand in this aisle is going to go
up when it's Christmas Day and we got to
[1:19:50] go push up because they understand that
responsibility of public service that
[1:19:55] they signed up for. But they also
understand that we're going to get a
[1:19:59] benefit for disarranging our life,
upsetting our personal time, losing it
[1:20:04] entirely. You can't always get that
back.
[1:20:09] And nobody's calling my phone and saying
you're working too many hours.
[1:20:14] » In fact, it's very much of the opposite.
>> So, I'm gonna say this because I think
[1:20:19] it's important that when time comes and
if it does and we're looking at because
[1:20:25] of the 2% cap that we may have to have a
discussion on overtime and it may affect
[1:20:33] the citizens
because why? Because there at the end of
[1:20:38] the day, we only have so much money.
>> It may affect the laws of sweet.
[1:20:41] » Exactly. And that's what I think that
people need to understand that no
[1:20:45] difference than when we were talking
about humane society is that we have to
[1:20:50] look at the contracts whether it's the
library. We have to look at we have to
[1:20:53] look at all this. It doesn't make our
job any easier. But I think that I also
[1:20:59] don't want to have um oh gosh, they're
doing it so I'm going to do it. And then
[1:21:04] all of a sudden we're creating this m
mon montrocity of overtime because we
[1:21:08] can because we've all done our own thing
and that's hard too. And so when we look
[1:21:13] at big picture it makes it when when I
have in my own six and then we have all
[1:21:19] the others there's like 17 departments
just so the public knows there's 17
[1:21:24] different departments in county
government and they may all have their
[1:21:28] own policy. What? Just a quick question
in regards to that. Do we know what
[1:21:33] other counties spend on overtime rate at
the road departments? Do we know? I
[1:21:37] mean, way, way low. I mean, maybe you go
to a county west of us, north of us,
[1:21:41] east of us, and they're spending 100,000
in [clears throat] overtime on different
[1:21:45] things. I mean, those are the things.
And I understand what you're saying as
[1:21:48] supervisors on that budgetary side of
it, but sometimes I don't know if we
[1:21:52] look at the big picture of where it is
everywhere else around us. And these
[1:21:56] guys might be doing a fabulous job on
keeping it at 39.
[1:21:59] » Everybody else is going to taste it if
you can't afford it.
[1:22:01] » I I I understand, but I mean there's
areas that I mean we had discussions.
[1:22:06] » Yeah, we we've had areas of discussion
on on where to cut and different things.
[1:22:10] That's a whole another discussion.
>> When I wor when I worked I didn't want
[1:22:13] to work all the time, but when I was
called I came.
[1:22:16] » Yeah. Hey, hey, hey, wait. I don't think
anybody's going to abuse.
[1:22:21] » Got to bring up something though because
we're having a work session and I think
[1:22:24] it's important to talk about it. Let's
talk about it.
[1:22:28] They're called out. What is their
overtime?
[1:22:32] » Most time we I now talk with my employee
comp time. I've already done overtime
[1:22:38] between previous employee and employee I
have now. So, what do you do for when
[1:22:42] you call out like midnight, server's
down, sheriff can't be down?
[1:22:47] » Usually, most times it's me who gets
called out for that that type of stuff.
[1:22:52] But if it's something like um a deputy
calls, usually it's like every half an
[1:22:57] hour at cop time that after like 31
that's another half an hour. So,
[1:23:05] » but your salary?
>> Yeah.
[1:23:07] » So, you're doing that for
>> under your salary? You're not doing it
[1:23:11] for extra comp.
>> No.
[1:23:13] » Okay.
>> But I think
[1:23:15] » No, I just I just think that the board
needs to think of those things.
[1:23:17] » But I but I also think we can't get away
from the times that I mean I can tell
[1:23:20] you this in my office. There's many
times deputies stay after. I mean and
[1:23:25] and they they get to the point that
they're giving hours far far more than
[1:23:29] taking. So at some point if if it
becomes so strict on whatever it is on
[1:23:34] if it's whatever the policies if there's
no leeway ever in county government or
[1:23:39] whatever it's going to cost more
>> Jason that's not my my that's my point
[1:23:44] I'm just thinking of your just said what
you're supportive so I'm just saying I
[1:23:49] think that what we have to be mindful of
>> I'm supportive of it too but
[1:23:54] » I'm supportive of your office too
>> but what I'm saying is it can cost far
[1:23:58] more when when when you start getting to
places on it, it can cost far more. I
[1:24:02] mean, we're at 171. I won't even get to
the sheriff's office, but but getting
[1:24:06] you you give up. We're giving up those
11 hours.
[1:24:10] » So, all of a sudden, you get to the
point or whatever where where you no
[1:24:13] longer have that flexibility on
different things and it's going to and
[1:24:17] you now have a sheriff's office with
that's high going to be far far more on
[1:24:21] overtime rates or different things too
when that discussion comes into play.
[1:24:25] So, you just have to balance that whole
side of things. You know what? At at the
[1:24:29] end of the day, I bring it up because I
want people to know that there are Drews
[1:24:34] out there saying a word.
>> He's not He's not saying a word. And I
[1:24:39] appreciate that. And I know that he's
doing it because he's doing his service.
[1:24:43] And I appreciate that. Um I do think
though that we have some that will be
[1:24:49] Tyler, I appreciate you going to bat for
your for, you know, your team. Okay. And
[1:24:54] that's important just as Chris did.
Okay. just as you are.
[1:24:58] » I'm going about I'm going to bat for all
counting points. I mean that that's what
[1:25:02] I'm truly trying to to say here is is no
matter if it's Drew or whoever it is and
[1:25:08] there's different times.
>> Yeah. I mean that that you have to I
[1:25:12] mean if somebody calls somebody Jake
during election years if his people are
[1:25:16] going above and beyond which they are
numerous times how do we make that fair
[1:25:21] and that's there's a difference
but you have to trust the electeds or
[1:25:26] those people to do that
>> it's pretty hard to be equitable with a
[1:25:30] division of the services that are
provided
[1:25:35] » and I don't think anybody's intention is
to screw it down so tight so that the
[1:25:39] department don't have some flexibility
how to manage their reporting needs to
[1:25:42] do those things. I think at least from
my perspective I have two goals here.
[1:25:46] Number one uh make sure that we're
legal, make sure that we're doing things
[1:25:51] that meet the smell test from the state
and federal government because I really
[1:25:54] don't get uh don't uh uh enjoy getting
subpoenas and those kind of things or
[1:26:01] threatened by the government that we're
doing something wrong. That's number
[1:26:04] one. And number two is I don't
understand how this that process works
[1:26:08] for the department.
And you know what? That's what we're
[1:26:12] here for is if a constituent comes up to
me and says, "I've heard these things on
[1:26:18] how the sheriff's department is paid or
the road department or the maintenance
[1:26:21] department and I disagree with it. What
do you think?" I sure as hell better
[1:26:26] know what to think because I don't know.
I mean, right? It falls on us and we're
[1:26:32] we're elected just as those other
elected departments.
[1:26:36] » Oh yeah.
>> And shruging my shoulders and saying I
[1:26:40] don't know.
>> I let them do whatever. I'm um back to
[1:26:45] what you were talking about software um
for doing. Yep. I think that is
[1:26:52] important especially with
>> and it's ending in 28 but doesn't mean
[1:26:58] that overtime isn't going to happen. Um
Tyler, how much time do you guys spend
[1:27:03] on tracking overtime?
>> Not over time tracking time sheets.
[1:27:07] » D I mean Mike has to drive around to
pick up paper time cards
[1:27:12] » from all the shops. He reviews them.
Brian reviews them. I mean hours every
[1:27:17] other week.
>> I I'm involved. Tammy, Brian, Mike, and
[1:27:22] Mike.
>> This is so that everybody understands
[1:27:25] perspective. This is the first anybody
has talked about this publicly. Jake has
[1:27:30] got a scared look on this.
>> But also, I mean, those are some of the
[1:27:36] things where I clearly come from the
private sector and we try to build
[1:27:41] efficiency in doing some of those
things. And that's all my suggestion is
[1:27:44] is we're trying to build accuracy and
efficiency for that process.
[1:27:48] » Yeah. the trade management.
>> Yeah. No, I know. I recognize that, but
[1:27:52] there's certain things that can't be
>> and just making sure that in under
[1:27:55] compliance. I mean, there are things
that I mean, we can key in things wrong.
[1:28:00] I mean, not that we do, but I mean, I do
think that it would help with the
[1:28:04] process and it it's a time reference. I
do think so. If Mike's not doing that,
[1:28:09] taking how muchever time it takes, you
know, he could work on another project.
[1:28:13] Correct.
>> Right.
[1:28:14] » Correct. Okay.
>> Two quick points. Over the last couple
[1:28:17] years, I've researched a lot of those
softwares and they are capable of doing
[1:28:21] really whatever you wanted to do with
county department crew and individual
[1:28:27] personnel level policies for whatever
whether it's overtime, regular hours
[1:28:34] very they a good version of those
softwares is very capable of really
[1:28:39] tailoring to the needs and some are very
specific to local governments. My other
[1:28:44] point is I hope when we get into the
discussions about in-depth discussions
[1:28:49] about budgets moving forward, I hope the
road department still gets credits for a
[1:28:54] proactive approach of reducing our
full-time employees by two at the
[1:28:59] supervisory level
that we've dealt with which has resulted
[1:29:05] in some more overtime for certain
personnel because of that reduction in
[1:29:09] full-time staff. I hope we get credit
for that because I proactively took a
[1:29:15] look at our budget in our incoming
revenues, not including House File 718
[1:29:20] or Senate File 2472,
not looking at restrictions imposed by
[1:29:26] the state legislator,
just looking at revenues coming in as
[1:29:30] property tax and secondary or excuse me,
road use tax. I un understood
[1:29:38] difficult times were coming because
those revenues coming into the road
[1:29:41] department were not keeping up with
inflation and we needed to make tangible
[1:29:45] changes and we've done it across the
board including sacrificing in our
[1:29:49] personnel line item already. I hope we
get credit for that
[1:29:54] when looking at things moving forward
which [clears throat] resulted in more
[1:29:58] overtime
>> and yes I agree and I but I also would
[1:30:01] think that all departments are looking
at that.
[1:30:05] » I think we all have to look at how we're
going to be more efficient. It's you
[1:30:09] know that's just what part of management
is is being more efficient. No different
[1:30:13] than us. We're just looking. We're
wanting to talk about this again about
[1:30:17] any public feeding. Making sure
efficiencies.
[1:30:21] » I think we said something. Did you have
something you wanted to say? I
[1:30:23] » want to say that um
[1:30:27] » I just want to say that I have been
looking at uh software for the whole
[1:30:32] county and I'm confident that we can
find something out there that that's
[1:30:37] within our budget. Um it takes longer
than um I've anticipated to get some
[1:30:42] quotes. Um, I've had ask for some. Um,
I'm looking at one. Um, I think Neo gov
[1:30:50] uh was one that we looked at, wasn't it?
>> Yep.
[1:30:54] » Um, of course you can have the Taj Mahal
and you can have all of it, which I
[1:30:57] would love, but um, a small portion of
it. I think it's something that the
[1:31:02] county will need to look at and it's
affordable and I think that it would
[1:31:07] save a lot of time and then also make
sure that we calculate everything
[1:31:12] correctly.
>> That is
[1:31:14] » I think that's important.
>> Yes. Making sure that due to not Yeah.
[1:31:19] stacking, filing, whatever you want.
>> I didn't say that. Nope. Nope. I I
[1:31:24] didn't
>> No, you said we're saying that we're
[1:31:26] doing it. It's just we're human and if
we can have the system to make sure that
[1:31:31] we're not doing it, it just safeguards
us.
[1:31:34] » I remember when I started county, we
didn't have computers.
[1:31:39] » We didn't have cell phones either. We
didn't have internet.
[1:31:43] » Did we have bars then? [laughter]
[1:31:47] » Okay.
>> I will have a I will have quotes for you
[1:31:50] at some point. It's just not going to be
immediately. Um it is time consuming.
[1:31:55] And I have one vendor that's out that I
really want to quote from. Uh so I won't
[1:32:00] have anything until the middle of
September.
[1:32:03] » Okay.
>> Appreciate that.
[1:32:06] » I have one final thought for
and it's a good one. Okay. We may be at
[1:32:12] disagreement on this, but I think I can
speak for every single county employee
[1:32:17] and every department head
almost eight years. The one thing I've
[1:32:22] everybody is willing to come to the
what's best for the taxpayer. Everybody.
[1:32:28] We are going to disagree on small things
which I think from a budgetary
[1:32:33] standpoint it is a small portion but an
important portion to consider. The
[1:32:38] overtime aspect of it. I don't want to
minimize a dollar let alone between both
[1:32:43] of our eight hour overtime pay
departments roughly 47 to 48,000. Right?
[1:32:50] I don't want to minimize that. That's a
lot of money.
[1:32:53] » We're all willing to come to the table
and have conversations.
[1:32:56] » No, I know. And I appreciate I really
do.
[1:32:58] » We appreciate that the poor also take
seriously.
[1:33:02] » And if we allis
that would be boring.
[1:33:05] » It would be extremely boring.
>> I mean, that's the truth. I mean, we
[1:33:08] should be able to sit here and have
conversation and not be like, "Okay,
[1:33:11] yep." You know,
>> and I made that statement, right? for
[1:33:14] the benefit of the public to understand
that we may have our disagreements on
[1:33:18] things like this, but as a whole, I I've
been around a as a former military man,
[1:33:24] I've been around a lot of government,
and I've been around a lot of private
[1:33:27] sector, which is most of my life. I
would say that as a whole, this place
[1:33:32] works more efficiently than most private
sector businesses I've been in
[1:33:36] management in in a long time. So, I I
think we're on the right track. I like
[1:33:42] the fact that we had communication
today. So, I appreciate that and we look
[1:33:45] forward to having more communication as
we start talking about budgets. So,
[1:33:49] thank you for that.
>> You know, Chris, it's really hard making
[1:33:51] decisions on
if even if you agree with somebody.
[1:33:56] I want to make that decision, but
sometimes the checkbook don't let you.
[1:34:02] » Absolutely.
>> That's the hard part.
[1:34:06] Okay.
>> So, it's now back to us board. I feel
[1:34:08] that it's important. Um
if you go to your packet
[1:34:14] in your packet we have what is the
current um policy and then what was
[1:34:21] proposed.
Um I'm the proposal was just changing a
[1:34:27] couple of words which but did impact
greatly when it come to uh overtime
[1:34:33] because David
did not
[1:34:37] Uh, [clears throat]
I need to know where we're going from.
[1:34:42] Are we
putting this on the agenda for the end
[1:34:47] of the month uh to make that decision?
Do you even want an agenda item? Do you
[1:34:53] want to leave it as current and not?
And know that come budget time, we're
[1:35:02] probably going to have to talk to each
department a little bit more about in
[1:35:05] depth. about their overtime
[1:35:18] or do you want to just have the agenda
item and we'll think on it and then
[1:35:24] we'll make a decision there. I just I
want to know whether we want the agenda
[1:35:27] item or not. That's kind of where I'm
with and that's why I brought it in as a
[1:35:32] » my personal opinion.
[1:35:36] I don't want to. I like I said, why why
why fix it if it ain't broke? I I just
[1:35:41] assume leave it the way and I'm not
saying what what what are you calling
[1:35:46] the current?
>> Uh the current is we'd have to change
[1:35:50] some verbiage. I think there's an update
in there. It talks about comp and that
[1:35:54] has to be removed um because
compensation can't be considered. Um and
[1:35:59] that's uh so there would be some sort of
update but it would not be significantly
[1:36:04] updating it to what was proposed in
June.
[1:36:09] I would put it on the agenda
in 30 days give us an opportunity to
[1:36:15] digest this a little bit further. Uh but
I also don't think we want to ignore it
[1:36:19] especially after a hour long work
session here. um that we need to
[1:36:25] consciously make the decision to either
maintain where we are today or make a
[1:36:30] change. So I think it does warrant us
having it on the agenda for a vote
[1:36:38] changes. We've looked at it, we've
investigated it, and this is what we
[1:36:42] want to stay with or we've looked at it.
We've investigated it and these are the
[1:36:46] changes that we're going to make.
However it is presented is doesn't
[1:36:51] matter to me. But I think it's important
for us to make a uh a
[1:36:57] communicated and a thoughtful vote on
whether we maintain it or we change
[1:37:04] » and not just ignore it.
>> Okay. So the next meeting is the 22nd.
[1:37:09] Um we give the 90 days on the 23rd for
kind of how our ruling. Are you wanting
[1:37:14] to do that in two weeks? Um are you but
because the next meeting because of the
[1:37:19] way the land's going to be till October
13th
[1:37:24] » is that going to affect any
timing things or anything?
[1:37:30] » Not really. I mean it's just
I'm just a rule follower. I'm just I
[1:37:36] said 90 days so I like to follow. Well,
I'm I'm leaning towards Kyler and
[1:37:43] Chris's.
>> So, but I mean, at the end of the day, I
[1:37:46] mean, if we're gonna make that Yeah.
decision just to put it on there. I just
[1:37:51] um and it gives us time to hear from the
people.
[1:37:55] » I mean, it does. It does. I mean, we
clearly, you know, I'm sure there'll be
[1:38:00] some sort of, you know, posting and that
we have this work session and then, you
[1:38:04] know, the people we'll hear from people.
So I have no issue with putting it on
[1:38:08] either any
nor do I. I think either one is fine.
[1:38:13] » Okay.
>> Well, I think for my sake to be
[1:38:16] compliant, I would like it to be um for
my
[1:38:21] 22nd.
>> That's fine.
[1:38:23] » Okay. All right.
>> Okay. Um great discussion.
[1:38:29] Uh, I appreciate your guys's willingness
and if there's topics like this, this is
[1:38:33] probably what we'll have to do in the
future because this is I think
[1:38:36] effective. I think what you hear from
the people and it gives everybody else
[1:38:40] chance the public to hear what we have
to say too. So,
[1:38:42] » well, we can make we can make these
decisions when we like this. But in the
[1:38:47] future, like like I said earlier, there
may there may become a time in the not
[1:38:52] so distant future when the people and us
are going to have to decide what
[1:38:56] services are most important.
>> And just like the main society, we love
[1:39:02] to hear from the public. Send us
information, your thoughts, your
[1:39:06] concerns. Love to hear from you. So
[clears throat] I've got a great big
[1:39:09] huge inbox email. So fill it up.
>> [laughter]
[1:39:16] » All right, with that I entertain a
motion to close the discussion.
[1:39:20] » So second
>> I
[1:39:28] » item number seven order.
>> Uh I have aation meeting next week.
[1:39:37] » Uh I have a landfill meeting tomorrow.
Um just to update the board, uh continue
[1:39:44] to have meetings for uh the task force
for the the governor on the outdoor rent
[1:39:48] um department. We need our
um now a couple times meetings tomorrow.
[1:39:55] So long hours long three hours. So
>> that's all I have a motion to move to.
[1:40:03] » Second
oppose. All right.
[1:40:09] Thank you everyone.