Insurance Review Part Of Supervisor Meeting

Mahaska County Board of Supervisors for June 17, 2013

Mahaska County Board of Supervisors for June 17, 2013

Oskaloosa, Iowa – After a moment of silence, the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors approved the agenda for the meeting, then the previous meeting’s minutes, with one change made to those.

Judy Funk, with Heartland Insurance, visited with the Supervisors in regards to the county’s insurance coverage and rates for the upcoming year. Items of coverage such as vehicles were down because there are fewer vehicles in the county’s fleet. The special coverage for equipment is also down for those vehicles because the number of covered vehicles is down to four from six. Special coverage includes equipment like computers installed in cars for things like law enforcement, or specialty cameras.

Also reviewed was workers compensation for the county, of which rates have remained stable.

Reviewed next was the 28E agreement with County Life. County Life runs and administrates the ‘County Home’ on behalf of the county. This years agreement was nearly the same as last years, with an increase in cost being passed along to County Life because of a liability insurance rate increase.

Mahaska County Sanitarian Eric Dursky said, during his report to the Supervisors, that he is looking at the ordinance on cleaning up dogs running loose in the county, as the instances of dog bites has been on the rise. He also reported that the septic projects along Carbanado Road will be reaching its conclusion in the near future.

Ryan Schlabauth, Kalona City Administrator, and Jody Bailey, an Environment and Community Planning Consultant for Kalona, spoke to the board about the English River Watershed Management agreement.

Schlabauth and Bailey explained that the purpose of the agreement is to eventually help qmitigate flooding along English River. The group works with the Iowa Flood Center that is located in Iowa City and is looking to build a coalition of counties and cities in an effort to gain grant funding in order to help protect property along that watershed and river.

Supervisor Greg Gordy expressed concerns about legal responsibility that could crop up while part of a 28E agreement. Supervisor Mike Vander Molen didn’t see it as a risk, saying it would be an agreement that would help the group gain access to grants. Supervisor Mark Doland wanted to further research the agreement.

The board also heard a request from Karie Foster, Administrator of Mahaska County Veterans Affairs, who sent a request to the Supervisors for a pay increase. Gordy explained that he believed the request for the pay increase, loosely based upon the increase granted to the assistant county attorney, didn’t apply.

Doland disagreed saying, “I don’t find it to be an outlandish request.” The pay increase would have been based upon what other Veterans Affairs administrators are paid.

Vander Molen believed that such a request would be best reviewed during budget time. With the lack of a motion, the Supervisors moved on to the next item.

Changes to the county dental plan were approved with an effective date of January 1, 2014.

Also, changes to the COBRA/FMLA happened when the Supervisors agreed to outsource the administration of those personnel responsibilities to First Administrators. This was done because of the increasing complexity of rules associated with those programs. The cost incured by the county would be $1000.00 for the FMLA program and a monthly billed charge of $1.10 per employee per month for the COBRA administration.

The Area 15 RPC Articles of Agreement & Bylaws was voted down because of language in the agreement.

The next meeting of the Board of Supervisors will be July 1, 2013 in the third floor conference room at the Mahaska County Courthouse.

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