County receives over $4 million from 2020 storm
Washington County commissioners met Tuesday morning, June 14. Bill Dorrenbacher opened the meeting with a scripture story and prayer, which was followed by the pledge to the flag. There was no public comment. Chairman Kent Vance opened the meeting.
County Administrator Misty Peterson gave her report, with the first being Building Permit 22-17 for Daniel and Paris Varela for a 2,300 square foot home. This permit was approved. Next was Extension 22-04 to sign a final Mylar gribble letter by the chairman and this was also approved.
Peterson asked for a letter authorizing names be changed on a credit card for the nursing home to remove Brenda Rhea, Sabrina Hunt and Chris Packer and add Misty Peterson, Libby Schutz and Dawn Florian to the card. This was approved by the board. Peterson received the final amount from insurance on the amount for the damage during the storm two years ago. The company informed Peterson that the final amount the county will receive is $4,436,860.37, but has yet to receive a little over $1 million.
Ambulance Director Collin Patterson asked for funds from the scholarship fund to pay for an EMT class for James Ziebarth. It would cost $3,000 and Patterson said he is really needed. He helps now in that position, but they would like to make it permanent. The board approved this.
Commissioner Tony Wells said they have found 20’x26’ sunshades for the fairgrounds, as it got really hot last year. Vance said there should be more than two at the price they are. They decided to purchase four of them and see if they can use Conservation Trust funds.
Claudia Strait, Director of the Early Childhood Council, then spoke to the board about funds for the council. She said they have a need for more funds. There will be another daycare home in Otis and a lot of people for Family, Fun, Neighbor, which allows people to watch up to four children without getting a license. She explained what the council does and where the funds go that they receive.
Teresa Traxler and Grant Smith, from the Department of Human Services, were also present to speak to the board about how the funds are used and the receipts she receives from Council for every expense. This makes sure that the county is only billed for items going to Washington County.
Brenda Chapin, Washington County Coordinator and Parenting Educator for Baby Bear Hugs in Washington County; Jennifer Deam, Executive Director of Baby Bear Hugs; and Ruth Seedorf, past executive director of Baby Bear Hugs retiring later in the year, then spoke to the board about funds for Baby Bear Hugs, what their programs do and what ages their different programs serve. They are asking for $15,000, the same they received last year.
A public hearing was held next for Family Opt Out. This was mainly for county employees with two employees attending, but they made no comments. Peterson’s recommendation was to opt out of the program. If the county goes into the insurance program, every employee would have to be enrolled and no one could opt out. If the county does opt out, but an employee wants to be in, they could join, but there could be monetary penalties if they decide to quit. The board approved the recommendation to opt out of that part of the insurance plan.
Another public hearing on a supplemental budget for the Department of Human Services was held. There was no one present for this hearing. The department received a grant for $846,983 and the money has to be added to their budget, which the board approved.
Marylin Wagner and Dana Foley, Loss Control Representatives for CTSI (County Technical Services Insurance), spoke to the board about their insurance and workman’s comp, for an update for the county and the pools they are in. They only insure counties in the different pools and spoke about what they offer and the coverage the county has. The counties received information at the CCI winter conference. They discussed what is covered per county and the workman’s comp was also discussed. They were able to find different extra insurance for law enforcement. After going through all the information presented and asking questions, and the meeting was adjourned.
The commissioners attended the Flag Day services held by the Elks in Odells parking lot at 12:15 p.m. and then held a work session for part of the afternoon.
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