Washington County E911

Emergency Management/911/Communications Commission Meeting Minutes
Wednesday September 9th, 2026, 6:00 PM
Washington County EOC – Emergency Communications Building
2183 Lexington Blvd.,
Washington IA 52353

In attendance: Cara Sorrells, Ryan Miller, Illa Earnest, Richard Young, Nathan Schmuecker, Bill Farmer, Sheriff Jared Schneider, and Roy Felts (via phone).
At 6:02 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, Washington, Wellman, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Board of Supervisors. Absent was representation from Ainsworth, Kalona, Riverside, and West Chester. An approval of the agenda was requested. Bill Farmer made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Richard Young 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 August 12th, 2026. Richard Young made a motion to approve the minutes. Bill Farmer seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.
The next item on the agenda was the review and approval of claims. The August expenditures and revenues were not available and will be sent out via email at a future time.
Under new business, the following trainings were covered.
Completed Training/Certificate
ICS-300
Upcoming Training
ICS-400
2026 Annual Iowa Emergency Management and Homeland Security Conference
The following items were on the agenda under old business.
Washington County EMA OWS – Update
On site with RC Systems 09/10/26 and 09/11/26
WCRF Fall Grant and Incident Command Trailer review
Resolution 26-31 document
Trailer Workup document
Recovery Support Function (RSF) document review
Emergency Support Function (ESF) document reviews
Schmuecker explained that the trailer he is looking at would cost $25,000 and with a trade in on the existing red trailer ($3,500) and the white trailer ($9,000), the cost would be $12,500. He is seeking a WCRF grant for that amount. The Board of Supervisors approved resolution 26-31 on September 8th, 2026, to seek WCRF funds for a new incident command trailer. There was a brief discussion on the functionality that he is seeking in a new trailer. The grant documents are due on the 15th.
Richard Young asked for a status on the Hazardous Mitigation Plan update. Schmuecker was advised by the Commission not to wait on its execution. The process is already behind, and it needs to be completed.
The next meeting was scheduled for October 14th, 2026, at 6:00 PM. Bill Farmer made a motion to adjourn the Emergency Management meeting, and the motion was seconded by Richard Young. The Emergency Management meeting was adjourned at 6:23 PM.
At 6:23 PM, Chairman Richard Young called the 911 Commission meeting to order. Present were representatives from Brighton, Crawfordsville, Washington, Wellman, the Sheriff’s Office, the Board of Supervisors, and Emergency Management. The cities of Ainsworth, Kalona, and Riverside lacked representation. A quorum was determined. Chairman Richard Young made a request for approval of the agenda. Ryan Miller made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Bill Farmer 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 August 12th, 2026. Ryan Miller made a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting, and the motion was seconded by Roy Felts. 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 that were emailed prior to the meeting needed correction. Sorrells explained that the travel reimbursements had the old mileage rate on the form, so an additional $21.68 was added to the total expenses. The error was fixed by the Auditor’s office for those three staff members. The total expenses were $5,383.72 and the total revenue reported totaled $261.02 for the month. Bill Farmer made a motion to approve the claims as presented. The motion was seconded by Ryan Miller. The motion to approve the claims was passed unanimously.
There was nothing for the Commission under new business and the next meeting was also scheduled for October 14th, 2026, at 6:00 PM.
There was also nothing under old business, except for an update on SF 659 quarterly billing. Sorrells shared the most recent projections provided by the State 911 Program.
A motion was made to adjourn the 911 Commission meeting by Bill Farmer and seconded by Nathan Schmuecker. The 911 Commission meeting was adjourned at 6:26 PM.
At 6:26 PM, Chairman Ryan Miller called the Communications Commission meeting to order. Present was representatives Richard Young (sitting in for Jack Seward and Stan Stoops), Ryan Miller, Bill Farmer (sitting in for Mark Robe), and Illa Earnest. Alternate Roy Felts was also present via phone. A quorum was determined.
Chairman Miller made a request for an approval of the agenda. Illa Earnest made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Bill Farmer seconded the motion, and the agenda was approved unanimously.
A request was then made for a motion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting dated August 12th, 2026. Richard Young made a motion to approve the minutes from the previous meeting, and the motion was seconded by Bill Farmer. 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 $5,631.97 and there was revenue totaling $314.25 to report. The claims included a T-Mobile bill for $42.84 that Sorrells received today and that was not on the spreadsheet that had been emailed to the Commission. The revenue was a reimbursement from ICAP for a safety grant for annual fire extinguisher service and inspections. Bill Farmer made a motion to approve the claims as presented. Richard Young seconded the motion, and the claims were approved with no one opposed.
There were no committee reports.
The next item under new business was a personnel change request. This was for Delainey Parish and was a change from casual part-time for full-time effective October 5th, 2026. Parish has been working part-time since February 11th, 2020. A motion was made by Illa Earnest to acknowledge the personnel change for Delainey Parish. Earnest’s motion was seconded by Bill Farmer and passed unanimously. This change will also be on the Board of Supervisor’s agenda next Tuesday.
The next Communications meeting was also set for October 14th, 2026, at 6:00 PM.
Under old business, there was nothing new to add in reference to staffing updates.
Bill Farmer made a motion to adjourn the Communications Commission meeting. Richard Young seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 6:29 PM.

Respectfully submitted by,
Cara Sorrells

Official Publication, minutes to be approved at the October 14th, 2026, meeting. Any amendment to the minutes will be reflected in the following meeting minutes

Published in The News, Thursday, October 1, 2026 L-216