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Union County Secondary Roads Department is seeking a budget amendment for FY2020, pulling $273,000 from its current reserves of $1,214,861.
Engineer Zach Gunsolley outlined the proposed amendment during the Union County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday.
The additional funding is needed to cover the increased amount of rock the county used on gravel roads in the aftermath of last year’s flooding, a $390,000 shortfall.
The county has received $122,772 of Federal Emergency Management reimbursement money from the flooding incident, which has been added to the reserves. Gunsolley said $1,437,000 more has been submitted, but not yet approved by FEMA. Gunsolley said he has surveyed other counties, 20 of which had flood damage, who are receiving the same “trickle” of FEMA money. These dollars are added to the reserves as they come in.
Gunsolley’s proposal included reducing the land budget by $22,000. He could not decrease that number all the way to zero, he said, because of the need to purchase easements from landowners on upcoming projects.
The budget for an Arispe autoseal project was reduced by $36,000, eliminating that budget entirely. That is an example of projects delayed as a repercussion of last spring’s flood damage, Gunsolley said.
Design work and fees for damaged bridges increased the budget by $21,000.
Previously, Gunsolley had indicated he might need to add to the budget in order to pay out the excessive employee comp time at the end of the year after the board of supervisors changed the amount of time that can be rolled over into the next year. Gunsolley said that amount has been partially mitigated by turnover in the department and a winter that allowed employees to use some of that comp time instead of increasing the banked amount like a harsher winter would have required.
Supervisor Rick Friday suggested Gunsolley decrease his new equipment budget. Gunsolley said he was comfortable with subtracting $80,000 from that line item, but he cautioned that the new equipment budget is also used as a cushion in case the equipment repair budget is depleted.
Once the current FEMA reimbursements are figured in, the total amount needed from the reserves is $151,000. Future FEMA payments will be added back to the reserves.
A public hearing on the budget amendment will be set on May 4, likely for May 18. Union County Auditor Sandy Hysell said there are other departments that need to submit amendments before the hearing can be officially set.
Earlier this year, Gunsolley requested the board approve the replacement of two pickups used by the secondary road crew: one for Superintendent Al Hysell and one for himself. The board asked him to wait until closer to the end of the fiscal year and recommended that the department purchase only one truck.
The truck Hysell uses is currently broken down needing approximately $4,000 of repair.
The board approved Gunsolley’s request to seek bids for a replacement rather than spend the money on repairs.
The board also approved the first of three easement purchases to allow the secondary roads department to replace a bridge on 170th Street. Friday abstained from this vote citing conflict of interest because the land is owned by his son.
Voting
Sandy Hysell requested the board approve the purchase of six plexiglass barriers to be used during the primary elections June 2. The cost for the barriers would be around $500 to $600 dollars. Chad Sanson, whose wife Sara Sanson works in the auditor’s office, is donating the labor to make them and only charging for the cost of materials. Hysell said there will be three precincts open in Creston.
Shaun Lauer, building and grounds is looking into the cost of plexiglass barriers to be used in the treasurer’s, auditor’s, recorder’s and assessor’s windows in the courthouse when those offices are reopened to the public after the current health crisis.
The Iowa Secretary of State’s office is mailing absentee voting request forms to all registered voters in Iowa for the primaries. The aim is to cut down on the amount of in-person voting June 2. Voters can send the postage paid request form back and then they will receive a mail-in ballot.
“I hope my (absentee ballot counters) are overwhelmed,” Hysell said, adding that she hopes most people will choose to vote that way rather than at the physical poll locations.
Wind Turbines
The supervisors received a corrected amount from Mid-American Energy for the Southern Hills wind turbine project’s decommissioning plan. The total amount was $1,289,000 with $35,800 per turbine.
Friday questioned whether they could require Mid-American to use the original $36,800 per turbine for a total of $1,324,800. Matt Ott of Mid-American could not be reached for comment. Supervisor Ron Riley will try to contact him later.
Gunsolley, after a conversation with Clay County Engineer William Rabenberg asked if daily penalties could be added to the road agreement for the same project. Rabenburg said they had problems getting repairs taken care of in a timely manner on some of their projects. Gunsolley said those projects were not being done by Mid-American.
The decommissioning and road agreement plans are set to be voted on April 20.