Board Of Supervisors Inches Closer To Mental Health Agreement

Mahaska County Board of Supervisors In Session On September 3, 2013By Eduardo Zamarripa, CRI Weekly News

Oskaloosa, Iowa – On Monday morning, the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors inched closer to agreeing on a tri-county mental health regionalization 28E agreement.

Mahaska County is looking to regionalize with Marion and Poweshiek County. The mental health services that are provided do not change. What changes is the system is now administered under one umbrella, instead of three different counties. In the last Board of Supervisors meeting, the board revised the 28E agreement with County Attorney Charles Stream.

Supervisor Mike Vander Molen made a motion to indicate to Marion and Poweshiek County that Mahaska County is willing to agree on the revised mental health 28E agreement. The motion was approved on a two-to-one vote, with Supervisor Greg Gordy voting “no.” That motion came after a 35-minute discussion between the board and Central Point Coordinator, Julie Bak. Bak has been in charge of leading the mental health regionalization efforts.

Gordy expressed concerns with Poweshiek County’s commitment towards the 28E agreement with Mahaska County and suggested partnering with Wapello County in its own tri-county region. Supervisor Mark Doland also said Mahaska County and Poweshiek County have had “fundamental differences” in the process of completing this agreement. Nevertheless, Vander Molen made the motion to approve the 28E agreement with the revisions and move forward with the tri-county region. Doland supported the motion.

The board also unanimously approved terminating Mahaska County Emergency Management’s agreement with the Southeast Iowa Response Group (SIRG). SIRG responds to hazardous materials calls for a region made up of 10 counties. The service is provided by the Ottumwa Fire Department. Mahaska county has contracted with SIRG for hazmat response since 1991. That costs the county about $19,000 annually. Mahaska County EMA Director Jamey Robinson has maintained that EMA can provide the county with the same services provided by SIRG at a cheaper price.

In addition to that, the board also opened a big for Project #L-EWP13. The project will be located at 185th street, and it involves a bridge crossing over the North Skunk River. The bid was awarded to the lowest bidder, Maxim Trucking and TK Concrete Inc., for the price of $89,450.

The board discussed appointing the four annual representatives for the Mahaska County Solid Waste Management Commission. Gordy is one of the appointees, along with Peggy Wright, John Jacobs and Alan DeBruin. Gordy made a motion to re-appoint all four representatives. Vander Molen expressed concern with not having gender balance in the appointment of the representatives and suggested posting the openings for three months. However, according to Gordy, doing so would mean having interim appointees in that period of time, which would temporarily take away the county’s voting power. Doland and Gordy voted “yes” on the motion, while Van Der Molen voted “no.”

The board unanimously approved a secondary road fuel purchase for the Oskaloosa Christian School, and approved a tractor purchase procedure for County Engineer Jerry Nusbaum. Nusbaum said he will request a quote from the vendor, and will request bids, in order to replace a “track-type” tractor.

The next Board of Supervisors meeting is on Nov. 18 at 9 a.m.

Posted by on Nov 4 2013. Filed under Local News, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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