Washington County E911

Posted

Emergency Management/911 Commission/Communications Commission Meeting Minutes
Wednesday November 20th, 2024, 6:00 PM
Washington County EOC – Emergency Communications Building
2183 Lexington Blvd., Washington IA 52353

In attendance: Richard Young, Mark Robe, Cara Sorrells, Ryan Miller, Marissa Reisen, Jared Schneider, Roy Felts, Melvin Rich, Allen Schneider, and Millie Youngquist.
At 6:00 PM, Chairman Ryan Miller called the Emergency Management Commission meeting to order.
A roll call was conducted, and a quorum was present. Present were representatives from Brighton, Crawfordsville, Kalona, Riverside, Washington, Wellman, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Board of Supervisors. Absent were representatives from Ainsworth and West Chester. The approval of the agenda was requested. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the agenda. Millie Youngquist seconded the motion, and the agenda was approved with no one opposed. Chairman Miller then requested a motion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting, dated September 11th, 2024. Millie Youngquist made a motion to approve the minutes. Roy Felts seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
The only item on the agenda under old business was the siren system update. Marissa Reisen reported that they are moving forward with the project after some additional IT involvement. The technical implementation of the project involved a server and the automatic notification component. There needed to be additional conversation about where it should be placed in the building and if an additional antenna would be needed. There also was the expectation that there would be an update to the manual process that exists now on the dispatch consoles. There were additional conversations that needed to happen with RACOM and the siren vendor(s). This method is preferred over getting up to trigger a button somewhere on another console or having to log into a computer/website. Mark Robe asked Reisen if she anticipated them in place by Spring and she advised that she did.
The next item on the agenda under new business was the coordinator report. Reisen’s first agenda item was the WCRF Grant award dinner on 12/04/24 at 6:30 PM. Emergency Management representatives were invited due to not only the siren grant award but the Stop the Bleed kits for the Schools grant. Marissa needed RSVPs by Sunday the 24th if anyone was interested in attending.
Reisen also reported that she had been working with Andy Miller at the Extension Office to create Winter Weather preparedness fliers for the schools to distribute to students. She reached out about doing presentations but got no interest in that from any of the schools.
Reisen had nothing for approval under purchases. She did advise that she requested fall HVAC preventative maintenance which was approximately $1,200. She also requested a company come look at the front interior vestibule door that was not latching. Peak Construction had no interest in coming since it was out of warranty so she contacted Basepoint out of Cedar Rapids.
There was nothing for the Commission under public input. The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for January 8th, 2025, at 6:00 PM in the Emergency Operations Center. A second date was set for January 29th, 2025, also at 6:00 PM due to it being budget time.
Jared Schneider made a motion to adjourn the Emergency Management meeting, and the motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. The Emergency Management meeting was adjourned at 6:16 PM.
At 6:17 PM, Chairman Richard Young called the 911 Commission meeting to order. Present were representatives from Brighton, Crawfordsville, Kalona, Riverside, Washington, Wellman, the Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff’s Office, and Emergency Management. Absent was a representative from Ainsworth. A quorum was determined. Chairman Richard Young made a request for an approval of the agenda. Marissa Reisen made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Roy Felts seconded the motion, and the agenda was approved with no one opposed. A request was then made for a motion to approve the minutes for the last meeting dated September 11th, 2024. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting and the motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. No one was opposed and the motion passed.
The approval of claims was next, and Cara Sorrells detailed the claims. This month’s 911 claims contained a payment to TAC 10 for $7,350 for the Pro QA (computerized Emergency Medical Dispatch protocols) interface, configuration and installation. There were also two invoices paid to CDW-G of $4,607.07 and $792.24 for the Pro QA server and 3 computer drives. The total of the claims was $27,168.07 and the total of the revenue was $59,125.24. Ryan Miller made a motion to approve the claims as presented. Miller’s motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. The motion to approve the claims was passed unanimously.
Under new business Sorrells reported that she has received official notice of the sale/transfer of the Sharon Center tower at 3054 220th St., Ainsworth to XCell Towers. She will share the information with the Auditor’s office to update the information for future payments. Ryan Miller made a motion to approve future rental payments to be paid to XCell Towers. Miller’s motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist and passed unanimously.
Sorrells also reported that there may be a state department bill initiated this legislative session pertaining to the 911 surcharge in Iowa. She shared slides from the 911 Council meeting that explained the issues with the current funding method and the working proposal. The proposal was drafted by the State 911 Program Manager and a work group that was established of local 911 representatives.
Under old business the update on the Wellman tower was next on the agenda. The tower is up and the shelter is in place. Sheriff Schneider commented that the shelter is in very good shape and they did a nice job refurbishing it. They are working on the electrical, the lighting at the top should be functional soon. The fence is not up yet either. There needs to be contact with RACOM to make sure that they will be ready to start placing equipment in the shelter and on the tower. Tara Polek is no longer with RACOM.
The Pro QA implementation is progressing and we have established a timeline. There is a lot of training that each of the telecommunicators will have to complete. There will be a 3-day in-person class in the EOC the last week of January and most of the rest of the training is online. There is demo version installed on each of the workstations and software installed on Cara’s administrative computer. The entire project should be live about March of 2025.
The next 911 meeting date(s) were also tentatively set for January 8th, 2025, and January 29th, 2025, at 6:00 PM. A motion was made to adjourn the 911 Commission meeting by Marissa Reisen and seconded by Roy Felts. The 911 Commission meeting was adjourned at 6:37 PM.
At 6:37 PM, Chairman Ryan Miller called the Communications Commission meeting to order. Present were representatives Ryan Miller, Mark Robe, Millie Youngquist, and Richard Young (sitting in for Jack Seward). Alternates Melvin Rich and Allen Schneider were also present. Stan Stoops was absent. A quorum was determined.
Chairman Miller made a request for an approval of the agenda as published. Allen Schneider made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Millie Youngquist seconded the motion, and the agenda was approved with no one opposed. A request was then made for a motion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting dated September 11th, 2024. Millie Youngquist made a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting and the motion was seconded by Mark Robe. No one was opposed and the motion passed.
The approval of the claims was next, and Cara Sorrells detailed the claims. The total of the claims was $10,408.83 with revenue reported totaling $291,521.00. The revenue included the 2nd quarter of EMA levy funding to Communications. A motion was made by Mark Robe to approve the claims as presented. Millie Youngquist seconded the motion, and the claims were approved with no one opposed.
There were no committee reports for the Commission this month. Sorrells moved onto new business.
There were four personnel changes for approval by the Commission. The first was the termination of Michelle Martin effective October 8th, 2024. The next was the hiring of full-time employee Shannon Tong Van, effective October 30th, 2024. Laura McDowell was also hired for full-time effective November 4th, 2024, and Rendee Campbell was hired for regular part-time effective October 31st, 2024. Millie Youngquist made a motion to approve the personnel changes as presented. Youngquist’s motion was seconded by Mark Robe and approved with no opposition.
The next item for approval was the update to the Communications Rules of Conduct. Sorrells has updated the document, reviewed it with the Sheriff, Chief Deputy, and Amber Armbruster. She sent the document draft with the edits out to the Commission prior to the meeting. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the updates to the Rules of Conduct. Robe’s motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. The motion was approved unanimously. Richard Young suggested that we also run it by Mike Galloway who is a new HR consultant for Washington County.
Following suit with the prior meetings (and the recommendation to change the standing monthly meeting date) the next Communications meeting(s) were also tentatively set for January 8th, 2025, and January 29th, 2025, at 6:00 PM.
Under old business the update to the Wellman site was covered under the 911 Commission meeting. The staffing update included the personnel changes that were just approved and the holiday pay issue is resolved and all previous employees have been compensated.
Mark Robe made a motion to adjourn the Communications Commission meeting. Millie Youngquist seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 PM.

Respectfully submitted by,
Cara Sorrells
Signature: Emergency Management
Signature: 911 Commission
Signature: Communication Commission

Official Publication, minutes to be approved at the January 8th, 2025, meeting. Any amendment to the minutes will be reflected in the following meeting minutes

Published in The News, Thursday, December 12, 2024 L-294