Case Management Future Discussed At Supervisors Meeting

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors met on Monday, March 20th at their regular time of 9am on the 3rd floor of the courthouse.

The board heard from Heather Gross, Community Services Director for Mahaska County, who talked about upcoming changes to case management, due to privatization of medicare in Iowa.

Gross said that after speaking with insurance representatives, there would be a significant reduction in billing opportunities for the county. “Which translates to, they are going to be taking case management internally.”

Gross wasn’t given a definitive timeline, other than the summer of 2017 for the changes.

Some county residents have had the same case manager for 20 years, and the changes may prove to be worrying, as some residents appear to be upset over the transition.

Gross said, that Amerihealth stated that Mahaska County hadn’t done anything wrong, but instead needed to find ways to save money.

Mahaska County Supervisor Mark Doland, said that he predicts all case management, locally, will be dissolved by the fall of 2017.

The board also discussed appointing a representative to negotiate the Mahaska County Engineers employment contract, which runs out in July.

Mahaska County Supervisor Willie Van Weelden called for a review of the Engineer before negotiations begin. “I think we need to discuss with Dave various things that have happened”, said Van Weelden.

Doland asked Van Weelden if it needed to be a formal survey, and Van Weelden said he believed it needed to be a sit down review, which hadn’t been done since his return to the board approximately 2 years ago. He said, “It probably should have been done last year.”

A review of the Engineer is scheduled for the first meeting in April of 2017 during a closed session, as requested by Mahaska County Engineer Dave Shannahan.

Engineer Dave Shannahan then updated the board on the 28E agreement the county has with the State of Iowa for salt storage. The shed used for storage is reported to be in “pretty bad shape”.

The State of Iowa is recommending that the salt shed should be replaced, and the county agrees with moving forward on a new 28E agreement with the Iowa DOT, to replace the current facility.
Currently, the facility holds 31,000 tons of salt, and Mahaska County utilizes 20% of that storage capacity for it’s use.

The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors went into closed session with retained counsel, in order to discuss the county’s 28E agreement with Pella and Oskaloosa in regards to a regional airport.

The Supervisors hired legal counsel because they felt the regional airport board wasn’t being transparent with the board with regard to the proposed airport. “When you’re discussing legal strategy, it’s advisable that you go into a closed session”, said Doland.

Van Weelden opposed the motion to go into a closed session.

The board also heard from Paul Greufe, and a Human Resources Presentation for the region.

The board heard earlier in the meeting from Dave Sedivec, Mahaska County Conservation Director.

The next meeting is scheduled for April 3rd, at 9am, on the 3rd floor of the Mahaska County Courthouse.