LINN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
CEDAR RAPIDS, LINN COUNTY, IOWA
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2023 8:00 A.M.
(These are the minutes in their entirety. Archived minutes can be found at www.linncounty.org).
The Board met in session at the Linn County Jean Oxley Public Service Center. Present: Chairperson Zumbach, Vice Chairperson Rogers (arrived at 8:05 a.m.) and Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt (via phone). Board members voting “AYE” unless otherwise noted.
The Board met with Elected Officials and Department Heads to discuss County-related issues including:
Jenna Takes, Health Solutions, presented the quarterly Wellness Program update.
Joi Alexander presented a 2022 Communications Recap highlighting the most popular social media and website hits, etc.
Alexander and Britt Nielsen discussed 10 Products in 10 Minutes and gave examples of products that they helped departments with.
Alexander continued with an overview of new Media Relations and Communications & Branding Standards Policies.
The Board heard updates from the following Department Heads:
David Thielen, LCCS Executive Dir. – General Assistance: Overflow Shelter is 55-65 individuals a night with street population of around 200; ongoing project to automate the update process for the resource sheets; working on progress report for the work being done by the Alliance for Equitable Housing; policy updates for General Assistance; Juvenile Detention Center: Clinton County contract coming to the Board next week; working on data for East Central Region for funding a Tanager Mental Health Counselor; working on server and camera upgrades; Access Center: changed digital medical records provider; working on opening their community based withdrawal management program; working with State of Iowa to address the challenges of EMS not being able to bill for taking individuals to the Access Center; Child & Youth Development: upcoming National Association for the Education of Young Children site visit; preparing for quality rating review through the state of Iowa; Ryan White: 202 ongoing clients; Options: training and infrastructure grant for approximately $70,000 in the fall and awards made in January; work continues on ARPA funded exterior doors project; ECI/Decat: potential funding cuts and loss of positions due to IDPH/DHS merger; East Central Region: asking to increase hours of position; attended meeting to discuss appropriate way to the region to support the Access Centers; Home Health: current case load is 66; attending various meetings.
Dennis Goemaat, Conservation Dir. – projects on hold due to weather; various bike trail projects; various campground projects; received Destination Iowa grant and in planning process; bird preserve project; Conservation approved distributing and publishing their annual report yesterday.
Pramod Dwivedi, Health Department Dir. – strategic plan; building health equity work continues; Communications Specialist started in December; wastewater surveillance data; COVID-19 testing site; harm reduction grant; completed 95 food safety inspections; 10 septic permits for wastewater; Community Health Improvement plan work continues; progressing with medical mobile clinic.
Jon Gallagher, Soil Conservation – ongoing training for Soil Health Coordinator and has attended Trees Forever Symposium, Big Soil Health Event and WFAN Annual Conference; provided education activities to Boulder Peak Intermediate School classes; began preliminary communication with Linn County Farm Bureau for collaborative education opportunities; working on Indian Creek Watershed amendment; program updates including field reviews, construction oversight and technical recommendations utilized by representatives from Trees Forever and performed site visit with Iowa DNR, Iowa Dept. of Ag. and City of Center Point representatives to discuss sponsored project options in support of recently approved Urban WQI grant; 2022 weed commissioner activities.
Dustin Peterson, Veterans Affairs Dir. – KPI’s; budget update; services to veterans; Veteran’s Affairs Commission; claims for benefits (64); community outreach; attended Iowa Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs day on the hill; depletion of Iowa Veterans trust fund; 3,110 Linn County Veterans are connected to federal million dollars.
Phil Lowder, IT Dir. – supply chain issues have almost disappeared; maintenance and equipment costs are rising with inflation; rewriting job description to make more entry level; Microsoft patch Tuesday update; GIS Dept. creating and configuring GIS maps and dashboards for the Secondary Road’s Dept.; certification for employee in GIS.
Public Comment: Dustin Mazgaj, Walford, stated that he should have spoken earlier as this pertains to low income veterans, General Assistance and homeless people, that others talked about today. He gave a PowerPoint presentation on 1501 1st Ave, Marion highlighting numerous issues with the property including: dead bat, wiring issues, exposed copper wires, circuit breaker issues, etc. The City of Marion inspected this property and is covering up the violations. Mazgaj stated that Todd Lee Chambers is a willful and deliberate slumlord that owns Heartland Inspections, and they perform inspections in Linn County. David Gregory was the tenant of this property for 28
years. He talked prior incidents with bed bugs and not being able to sleep and Chambers refusing to fix it. A 30 day notice was given to Gregory and he then committed suicide in that unit. Mazgaj saw first-hand what Gregory was living through. He stated that this is not a mistake and Chambers is a slumlord that needs to be held accountable.
Adjournment at 10:22 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
JOEL D. MILLER, Linn County Auditor
By: Amanda Hoy, Executive Assistant
Approved by:
LOUIS J. ZUMBACH, Chairperson
Board of Supervisors
Published in the MVL Sun, Feb. 9, 2023.
Linn BoS Jan 24
February 9, 2023