Supervisors approve proclamation of January as National Mentoring Month among other matters discussed during regular Monday session
January proclaimed National Mentoring Month … At its Monday, January 14 regular session, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors proclaimed January as National Mentoring Month. Pictured above at the proclamation are: Front row - Left to right: Allamakee County Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Schellhammer, Danny Schlitter with the Allamakee Mentoring Program Steering Committee, Helping Services for Youth and Families Mentoring Coordinator Kathy Schwartzhoff. Second row: Helping Services Prevention Specialist Jen Kimber, volunteer mentor Becky Manning, Helping Services intern Katrina Cotant, Helping Services Director of Prevention Services Tessa Willie. Third row: Bob Rotach with the Allamakee Mentoring Program Steering Committee, Helping Services Mentoring Program Board of Directors member Jim Wadsworth. Back row: Allamakee County Board of Supervisors members Dennis Koenig and Dan Byrnes, Loren Beneke with the Allamakee Mentoring Program Steering Committee, Helping Services Executive Director Carson Eggland. Standard photo by Joe Moses.
by Joe Moses
The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, January 14 to address a full agenda of items including the National Mentoring Month proclamation, funding requests from Helping Services and Main Street Lansing, and the consideration of a personnel matter due to a resignation. There was no Public Comment.
Executive Director Carson Eggland with Helping Services for Youth & Families discussed the organization’s request of $1,500 in funding from the County for Fiscal-Year 2020 and provided an overview of services provided. Mentoring Coordinator Kathy Schwartzhoff discussed Helping Services’ involvement in youth mentoring which strives to connect youth with a caring adult who can help them aspire, achieve and develop to their fullest potential. Schwartzhoff discussed that in 2018, 133 youth were served by Youth Mentoring at Helping Services with the involvement of 182 volunteers. Schwartzhoff read aloud the proclamation declaring January 2019 as National Mentoring Month in Allamakee County. The Supervisors approved the proclamation.
Executive Director Andy Kelleher with Main Street Lansing addressed the Supervisors regarding the organization’s Fiscal-Year 2020 funding request of $3,000, similar to the previous year’s request. Kelleher discussed successful events organized by Main Street Lansing prior to his hiring and successful recent events including Small Business Saturday, which beyond promoting downtown businesses also resulted in 351 pounds of food donated to the Lansing Iowa Food Trust (LIFT) and the Main Street Madness punch card event accounting for $220,100 in holiday spending in Lansing.
Kelleher also discussed the upcoming Sixth Annual Chili Cook-Off to take place February 9, suggesting that the chili cook-off be designated as an official County event. The Supervisors advised Kelleher to have that request placed on the agenda of a future Board of Supervisors meeting for consideration.
Quarterly reports for the Allamakee County Auditor, Sheriff and Recorder were accepted and placed on file. Allamakee County Auditor Denise Beyer discussed an increase in passports late in the year during the holiday season as being a trend similar to previous years.
The Supervisors reviewed and approved a $2,563.69 pay request for the Public Safety Center related to landscaping and signage.
Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour discussed an addendum to the Agreement for the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) City Bridge Construction Funding for the Green Valley Bridge. Ridenour indicated that the addendum is a clarification recommended by the DOT allowing the City of Waukon and Allamakee County to both receive reimbursement on the project, with only the County being listed in this documentation previously. The Supervisors approved the addendum.
The Supervisors moved into the consideration of a personnel matter due to a resignation. Assistant Allamakee County Attorney Jill Kistler informed the Supervisors that Administrative Assistant Jill Mathis has submitted her resignation with two-weeks notice, with her employment ending January 24. Kistler advised that Mathis was an asset to the County Attorney’s Office and has accepted a position elsewhere. The Supervisors accepted the resignation.
Under Department Head Updates, Ridenour discussed that Allamakee County will likely be the location of the next Six-County meeting and briefly discussed the upcoming Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) meeting. Ridenour indicated that the Supervisors have been invited to tour the John Deere production facility following a backhoe purchase by the County.
Ridenour and the Supervisors also discussed inviting the State official involved in quarry scale certifications to address concerns at a future Supervisors meeting. Beyer indicated that this quarry scale matter has been added to the Tuesday, January 22 meeting agenda for 10:30-11 a.m. to allow discussion.
Ridenour discussed information requests and research involving rock purchases from various quarries and options related to costs and billing.
Beyer also discussed ongoing budget work before the Supervisors moved into closed session to address a personnel issue. After resuming the regular session, the Supervisors opted to not consider what action to take regarding the personnel issue discussed in closed session.
Following adjournment, the Supervisors held a Fiscal-Year 2020 budget work session with department heads. As of the writing of this article, the Supervisors were also scheduled to hold an additional budget work session with department heads Tuesday, January 15 with a program review and Fiscal-Year 2020 funding request by Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) and a discussion of insurance on the Allamakee County Courthouse with Jane Regan of Upper Iowa Insurance Services also scheduled to be on that meeting agenda.
