IOWA CITY

Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan says he has tried to talk about supervisor expense allocations for two or three years.

So when it finally got on the agenda for a work session Nov. 8, it quickly turned into a fireball.

“I chose to do this,” Supervisor Royceann Porter said of her recent travels for national conferences. “So I’m not understanding how now all of a sudden, I go, it’s all about Royceann and accountability.”

Sullivan, a longtime supervisor, said he has wanted the discussion for some time.

“I’ve been extremely frustrated the last couple of years,” he said. “I’ve been trying to have this conversation ahead of (annual) budget a couple of years in a row and have been basically shut out, which I think is kind of unfathomable.”

Per board policy, three of five supervisors must sign off on an agenda item for it to be included in a work session.

Supervisors are allowed nearly $5,000 annually for transportation, lodging, meal and registration costs for conferences. With the current Fiscal Year 2024 not half over, the range of supervisor usage goes from Porter, at over $3,700, to former Lone Tree Mayor Jon Green, at zero. Porter’s lodging and meals expenses are more than $400 over the FY24 budget of $1,700, but she is still under budget in transportation and registration costs.

As they begin to talk about the FY25 budget, an $8,000 budget for supervisors was discussed, but that proposed number dropped to $6,000 by the end of the discussion.

“It’s just really important that we remember these are public dollars that we’re spending,” Sullivan said. “Whatever public dollars that we’re spending, we have to justify how we’re spending it.”

Porter said the conferences are important, and would spend her own money to attend them, if necessary.

“The majority of the time, I go out there, I’m actually explaining to them how we’re doing business, what we did with our ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) dollars,” Porter said. “This isn’t fun and games for me. This is very important.”

Platting Plans

Among the zoning and platting applications approved by the Board at its formal session Nov. 9 were Whistling Acres, located in rural southwest Johnson County, and Blu Acres, located southwest of Lone Tree.

The Board approved the preliminary and final plats for Whistling Acres, a three-lot homestead split covering 8.49 acres. The property is located on Sharon Center Road SW, south of Highway 1. The split includes a main lot of 4.97 acres and two outlots.

The Board also approved the preliminary and final plats for Blu Acres, a one-lot farmstead split of 2 acres. The property is located west of River Junction Road SE and north of 640th Street SE, and is part of a larger parent farm.

Oak Crest Hill Speeds

The Board will vote Nov. 16 on establishing a speed limit of 55 miles per hour on Oak Crest Hill Road SE north and south of Hills.

The Hills City Council has elected to drop that speed limit to 35 mph within the boundaries of the city.

Board Action

The Board approved a Naloxone (Narcan) protocol for use in non-emergency situations and approved internal emergency procedures. Narcan is able to reverse opioid overdoses and is being used at election offices nationwide as a defense against threatening letters laced with fentanyl.

The Board approved an expansion of a subrecipient agreement with East Central Iowa Council of Governments for housing rehabilitation and repairs.

The Board approved a resolution authorizing $50,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds as a local match for the Middle Iowa Watershed Management Authority’s application to the Water Quality Management Planning Grant.

The Board approved job descriptions for a lead medic/EMT and office assistant in the Planning, Development and Sustainability department.

The Board issued a proclamation in honor of Veterans Day.

Next meeting: The Board’s next formal session is at 9 a.m. Nov. 16.