Washington County E911

Emergency Management/911/Communications Commission Meeting Minutes
Wednesday October 14th, 2026, 6:00 PM
Washington County EOC – Emergency Communications Building
2183 Lexington Blvd., Washington IA 52353

In attendance: Cara Sorrells, Ryan Miller, Millie Youngquist, Richard Young, Bill Farmer, Sheriff Jared Schneider, Mark Robe, Allen Schneider, Stan Stoops, and Roy Felts.
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 was representation from Ainsworth and West Chester. An approval of the agenda was requested. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Bill Farmer 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 9th, 2026. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the minutes. Richard Young seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.
The next item on the agenda was the review and approval of claims. September’s expenditures and revenues were sent out via email previously for review. A motion was made by Mark Robe to approve the claims as presented with the addition of the RAVE invoice for $2,550. Robe’s motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist and approved without opposition.
Under new business, the following was covered.
Coordinator Schmuecker is attending the 2026 Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Conference in Ankeny from October 14th through 16th
The ICS-400 course will be hosted on October 20th and 21st at the Washington County EOC from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM both dates
September flooding
Proclamation of Disaster Emergency by Governor Reynolds
Local Declaration of Local Disaster by the Washington County BOS
In-person assistance program was held at the Kalona YMCA on October 5th from 10:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Red Cross has been activated with over fifty methods of assistance provided
The following items were on the agenda under old business.
Washington County EMA OWS – Update
Washington County EMS Advisory Council – Update
WCRF Fall Grant and Incident Command Trailer review
Sheriff Schneider asked that the formal approval of the WCRF Fall Grant for the incident command trailer be added as an agenda item for next month’s meeting.
The next meeting was scheduled for November 12th, 2026, at 6:00 PM. Bill Farmer made a motion to adjourn the Emergency Management meeting, and the motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. The Emergency Management meeting was adjourned at 6:22 PM.
At 6:22 PM, Chairman Richard Young called the 911 Commission meeting to order. Present were representatives from Brighton, Crawfordsville, Kalona, Riverside, Washington, Wellman, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Board of Supervisors. The city of Ainsworth, and Emergency Management lacked representation. A quorum was determined. Chairman Richard Young made a request for approval of the agenda. Roy Felts made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Mark Robe 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 9th, 2026. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting, and the motion was seconded by Bill Farmer. 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 included three registrations for the upcoming Fall NENA Conference, an invoice from White Posts for $5,449.10, annual maintenance to Priority Dispatch for $8,100, and an invoice from CenturyLink for $5,959.17 for an IP address update/transition to allow for the State’s data center migrations and 911 call delivery. There was revenue including $3,000 from the State of Iowa for the 1st Quarter GIS grant payment.
The total expenses were $26,440.52 and the total revenue reported totaled $4,603.84 for the month. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the claims as presented. The motion was seconded by Millie Youngquist. The motion to approve the claims was passed unanimously.
Under new business, Sorrells reported that two telecommunicators recently attended an EMD certification class in Des Moines. The class was held with free registration due to a training fund grant through the Iowa 911 Council. Sorrells is seeking quotes for the replacement of the laptops within the Communications Center. Sorrells and the IT staff also received information that we will need to replace the batteries in the Vertiv UPS battery back-up units in the building. She will have further on costs when the information is available.
The next meeting was also scheduled for November 12th, 2026, at 6:00 PM.
There was nothing under old business, Sorrells had no update on SF 659 quarterly billing.
A motion was made to adjourn the 911 Commission meeting by Bill Farmer and seconded by Mark Robe. The 911 Commission meeting was adjourned at 6:27 PM.
At 6:27 PM, Chairman Ryan Miller called the Communications Commission meeting to order. Present was representatives Richard Young (sitting in for Jack Seward), Ryan Miller, Mark Robe, and Millie Youngquist. Alternates Roy Felts, Bill Farmer, and Allen Schneider were also present. A quorum was determined. Stan Stoops also arrived after roll call.
Chairman Miller made a request for an approval of the agenda. Mark Robe made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Millie Youngquist 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 September 9th, 2026. Mark Robe 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 $1,347.15 and there was no revenue to report. Millie Youngquist 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 designation of the EMS Advisory Council Communications representative for the Board of Supervisors. A motion was made by Roy Felts to nominate Cara Sorrells as the primary representative and Sheriff Jared Schneider as the alternate. Millie Youngquist seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. Also discussed was the dissolution of the West Chester First Responders and new EMS system standards that were released.
The next Communications meeting was also set for November 12th, 2026, at 6:00 PM.
Under old business, Sorrells advised that they were fully staffed with the addition of the latest full-time hire. Both the full-time hire and the last part-time hire will complete some additional training in the month of October. Sorrells also reported that the three telecommunicators who passed the CTO (Certified Training Officer) course are training this October. Each CTO receives an additional $1.50 per hour while training. These telecommunicators are Brandi Lalla-Kraemer, Aspen Bromell, and Lydia Houston.
Mark Robe made a motion to adjourn the Communications Commission meeting. Bill Farmer seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 PM.

Respectfully submitted by,
Cara Sorrells

Official Publication, minutes to be approved at the November 12th, 2026, meeting. Any amendment to the minutes will be reflected in the following meeting minutes.

Published in The News, Thursday, November 5, 2026 L-236