MUSCATINE, Iowa — The Muscatine County Board of Supervisors will
continue with plans to float $3.75 million worth of projects for
its upcoming bond issue, but the county might not end up spending
all the money.
That’s because the Board is not convinced the Administration
Building at 414 E. Third St. is worth the $1.75 million or more it
would take to make it structurally sound, replace its heating and
air-conditioning system and otherwise make it more useful to county
employees and the public they serve.
Board members discussed the building during their regular
meeting Monday morning.
The county purchased the 27,789-square-foot Administration
Building from HNI Corp. for about $500,000 and spent approximately
$1.5 million remodeling the facility. It’s been in use by county
employees since 2007.
“I feel we’re throwing good money after bad with this building,”
Supervisor Jeff Sorensen said.
“We already have $2 million into this 100-year-old building,”
Supervisor Tom Furlong said of the Administration Building, where
the Board meets on Mondays and where about a half-dozen departments
are housed. “I don’t support spending any more without a vote of
the people.”
The Board decided it wants to learn from Shive Hattery, the
engineering firm that provided cost estimates for repairs to the
building, how much it will cost — and what it will take — to
stabilize the Administration Building for at least three years.
That would give the Board time to design and construct a new
building northeast of the Courthouse on Fourth Street, property the
county already owns.
Layoffs to proceed?
At the request of County Recorder Cindy Gray, Sorensen agreed to
analyze the work flow in Gray’s four-person office to help
determine if last week’s decision to reduce one employee to 25
hours per week is justified.
Sorensen, who performed similar analyses in his former work with
HNI Corp., also offered his free service to the treasurer’s office,
which is scheduled to lose two employees, and the auditor, who will
lose one.
The Board decided not to alter the proposed 2012-13 budget,
which includes the layoffs.
If Sorensen’s studies change supervisors’ minds and some or all
employees are retained, their salaries and benefits would be paid
out of reserve funds for the coming year, which stand at 21 percent
of expenditures.
In a related matter, Muscatine County Attorney Alan Ostergren
said he needs more information about proposed severance payments
and continued health care benefits for employees who would be laid
off before he can provide the Board with legal advice about how to
proceed with severance packages.
Severance payments must serve a public purpose, Ostergren said.
If the employees being laid off consent to sign an agreement not to
sue the county in exchange for a severance package, that would be a
public purpose, he said.
Miscellaneous
n The Board will allow the county’s Conservation Board to begin
a trial initiative to spread the word about its programs and
activities on Facebook.
Thirty-one Iowa counties already have such an outreach,
according to Musca-tine County Conservation Director Curt
Weiss.
n The Board voted 4-1, with Chairwoman Kas Kelly casting the
sole no vote, to approve the proposed 2012-13 budget for
publication. Kelly said she would have preferred more discussion on
the budget proposal.
Supervisors voted unanimously to set 7 p.m. Monday, March 5, for
a public hearing on the proposed $31.4 million budget at the
Administration Building at 414 E. Third St.
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