Supervisors Make Statement On Annexation While Putting Off 911 Decision
On Monday morning, the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors met in regular session in the 3rd-floor conference room inside the Mahaksa County Courthouse.
In a previous article, we outlined a potential agreement between Mahaska County and the City of Oskaloosa regarding the two entities taking over the 911 system from its current arrangement.
The negotiations between the two entities are ongoing, and the discussion is centered on budgeting for the 911 operations.
Those negotiations are now bumping into the need for the budget to be submitted to the State of Iowa, and Mahaska County believes they will need more time to reach a final agreement before that deadline.
Due to the inability to resolve all issues before the deadline, the recommendation is to table the agreement for further discussion and consideration. The motion indicated that more time is needed to address all the factors involved adequately.
So, any decision on the future of 911 services was tabled at this point.
Another agenda item for the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors was a document they referenced from the Iowa Public Information Board about the South Central Regional Airport Agency.
Board Chair Mark Groenendyk referenced the document, saying that it highlighted findings “of open meeting violations by SCRAA.”
“The way I read it, it wasn’t against the entire SCRAA Board, but the Executive Board,” said Groenendyk. “And so it’s my understanding from this letter that the executive board took action without publishing the meeting and having public comment.”
The question of how farmland was being rented was discussed at a board of supervisors meeting late last year, and four area citizens filed complaints with the Iowa Public Information Board regarding the lack of public meetings by the SCRAA.
Oskaloosa News obtained a copy of the document Groenendyk reference, and the IPIB writes at the end of their summary:
Under Iowa Code § 21.2(1)(j), the SCRAA Executive Committee is a governmental body. Thus,
it is subject to the chapter 21 open meeting requirements when a majority of its members gather
to deliberate or act within the scope of its duty to develop and make recommendations on public
policy issues.
On September 13 and November 21, 2023, the members of the Executive Committee gathered to
deliberate or act upon matters within the scope of the Committee’s advisory duties. Neither of
these meetings complied with the open meetings requirements of chapter 21. Therefore, the
complaints should be accepted.
Supervisor Chuck Webb then motioned that Mahaska County send a letter to the Iowa DOT that they won’t support the City of Oskaloosa annexing right away from the city to the land purchased by the SCRAA.
The annexation of that right-of-way would be vital for the proposed regional airport to move forward.
The agenda item that took most of the discussion time was adopting a wage compensation plan.
The plan is to attract and retain employees into the future.
The conversation touched upon the broader implications of the proposed pay adjustments for the county workforce. By focusing on the correctional officers’ immediate needs, there was an acknowledgment that other county employees might feel overlooked or unfairly treated due to receiving smaller raises. However, the justification provided was centered on the long-term benefits of stabilizing critical positions within the county’s workforce, which is expected to lead to overall improvements in the county’s operations and employee satisfaction.
The motion to consider the adoption of a wage compensation plan was approved.
