IOWA CITY

Johnson County officials are not only faced with replacing its jail and sheriff headquarters at a cost that may hit $80 million, but more immediate is the need to fix what’s there.

Examinations of the building paint a picture in which it may not even be safe to walk in front of the building because of deteriorating brickwork.

“We’re all aware, the building, it’s lived its life,” Dave Curtis, Facilities Manager, told the Johnson County Board of Supervisors during its September 11 work session. “Bottom line is, we’re looking at a building that the roof leaks every time it rains.”

A three-phase plan of extensive repairs is initially being cut down to a first phase of design and specifications because the next two construction phases may not work out if the building isn’t worth saving.

Rod Sullivan, Board Chair, said the cost of “simply emptying the jail” and sending detainees to other counties, and staffers to other locations, may be more frugal than repairing a failing building.

“If this is, let’s just say hypothetically, 10 million dollars worth of work, that might buy two years of shipping everybody (elsewhere),” Sullivan said.

The Board agreed, upon Curtis’ recommendation, to hire Iowa City-based Axiom Consultants to do the design work for replacement and repairs of the building’s roof, brick and air conditioning systems.

The actual work, or next two phases, would only happen if the Board decides not to shift jail operations to another location or county on a temporary basis while larger plans are put into place for a new jail facility.

Axiom was previously contracted to install monitoring devices for the building, which are located on each side of the building to monitor structural movement.

Bechtel Named Interim Director

James Bechtel, Project and Systems Analyst, was appointed by the Board to serve as interim Executive Director for the Board of Supervisors.

He replaces Guillermo Morales, who was fired by the Board on September 4 in a tight 3-2 vote following a recommendation by Sullivan to dismiss Morales for being “insubordinate, argumentative and disrespectful,” among other charges.

Sullivan said Morales was “harsh” to county staffers in multiple departments. Among those: Supervisors Royceann Porter and Lisa Green-Douglass, who joined Sullivan in voting for dismissal.

The Board also approved a job description for the position, a formality on the road to finding a new executive director. The job description did include a large number of revisions.

In Memoriam

The Board’s formal session September 12 began with a moment of silence in honor of Conservation Department Director Larry Gullett, who died September 6.

Services were held earlier in the day September 12.

Gullett led the county’s Conservation Department for 11 years and oversaw improvements at Kent Park and other Johnson County “green” areas in recent years. He worked in conservation for more than 40 years and one of his projects included returning seven acres of land to the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.

“I have a lot of respect for him and as somebody who was a leader in conservation-cultivated relationships with indigenous people in a way that wasn’t just putting up a sign,” Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz said. “We gave land back to the Ioway Tribe and that was because of Larry.”

“He’ll be missed,” said Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass.

Board Actions

The Board set multiple public hearings: 9 a.m. Sept. 26, amendment to the county’s Unified Development Ordinance; 9 a.m. Oct. 3, amendment to a General Obligation Loan Agreement for $1.2 million in financing for emergency community equipment; 5:30 p.m. Oct. 10, the monthly evening formal session for consideration of zoning and platting applications.

The Board approved a separate amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance, which includes updates to the UDO in regards to junk and vehicles stored on property, and limiting signage to 250 square feet.

The Board approved, via a 3-1 vote, an amendment to the Future Land Use Map (FLUM) that changes more than 50 acres located west of Tiffin from Agricultural and Conservation to Residential. Green-Douglass voted against the proposal.

The Board approved a $41,300 service agreement with Johnson County Agricultural Association.

The Board approved a fiscal agent agreement with Johnson County Empowerment/Early Childhood Iowa Area for infant and toddler scholarship funds.