Supervisor Heather Knebel (R-Traer).

I hope everyone is enjoying this autumn season. My family has finished combining this year’s crop, and even though there were some wet spots it was an overall great harvest. For those still doing field work, please take care and stay safe.

Jordan Primus has now completed his first month as Tama County Engineer. Jordan is doing a great job and we are enjoying working with him. Jordan, Foreman Taylor, and I recently met with NextEra to discuss the Salt Creek Phase 1 Road Use Agreement. It was decided that Jordan and Taylor would calculate how much it would cost for rock, labor, fuel, etc. to purchase and spread roadstone on the gravel roads that we mutually agreed needed rock after the wind project construction. There is also a culvert that needs repair and a couple roads with crown issues that need to be resolved. I also brought up the approach to the bridge on E29 that was damaged during construction. NextEra is willing to help cover those repair costs as a reimbursement. This fall the County will stockpile the rock until next spring so as to not lose it with snow removal this winter. The Engineer, NextEra, and the Board of Supervisors will then all sign off on closing out the Road Use Agreement once the money is received.

At the beginning of this fiscal year, we appropriated 50% of the Tama County Public Health/Home Health budget, as their future was uncertain at that point. The Board of Supervisors decided to appropriate another 40% in October for a 90% total budget appropriation as we did for most other departments. We are meeting quarterly with the Board of Health and Public Health leaders to collaborate and communicate on the future of the organization using County funds.

The Samuels Group made a presentation to the Board of Supervisors with the public in attendance on the potential of a new jail facility. If the Samuels Group is retained, they would do a deep dive analysis to see if the best path forward is to build a new jail, renovate the current jail, or to do nothing but continue maintaining the current jail. Sheriff Schmidt is leading this activity and would need to build these consultant expenses into his budget if this will be pursued next fiscal year. I feel it best to undergo this extensive review and ask for public input in order to evaluate all options to make the best final decision.

If you have been following the Board of Supervisor meetings or minutes, we have had several exempt sessions over the last month. Our current HR Director has compiled a document explaining the situation at hand and can be found online on the Tama County website from the October 26 agenda if you would like to read it. It came to his attention that four items were believed to have been negotiated in December 2024 by the Secondary Roads Union and the prior HR Administrator, who was hired as the union negotiator, just prior to the five new Supervisors being sworn into Office. December 2024 was not the normal timeframe to update Union contracts, as that had just been done in April 2024. The proposal included a wage increase, vacation increase, contract extension from 2027 to 2032, and a change to the Grievance procedure for Secondary Roads. The vacation and pay increases were implemented but had never been approved in open public session by the 3-member Board of Supervisors at that time. The 2032 contract and grievance procedure were also not approved by the 3-member Board of Supervisors in open public session. The document on the Grievance policy was only signed by Union Representatives, and they signed it after the 5-member Board of Supervisors took office, unbeknownst to us. The prior 3-member Board of Supervisors never signed nor approved it in an open public meeting. The current Board of Supervisors were unaware of the grievance policy changes, so they were never implemented. In order to try and save taxpayer money, the current Board of Supervisors tried to resolve the issue with the Union Representative and the Secondary Road employees to explain the situation in detail. We had a meeting with all Secondary Road employees. We offered to give them the wage and vacation increases and the contract extension until 2032. We felt the Grievance policy needed to remain how it had always been, with the Board of Supervisors having the final say. The alternative is to have an Arbitrator decide every Grievance which would be very expensive for the County and taxpayers. The Union has declined to compromise on the Grievance policy, and they are willing to go to court over it. I will provide more on this topic as it develops, but we seem to be at a stalemate.

As usual, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Supervisor Heather Knebel (R-Traer), the first elected female supervisor in Tama County history, represents District 3, including the townships of Spring Creek, Crystal, Perry, and parts of far northern Carlton (excluding Garwin) and Howard. She can be reached at 641-481-2532 or hknebel@tamacounty.org.