Lancaster County
Board of Commissioners
Board of Commissioners
lancaster.ne.gov
STAFF MEETING AGENDA Lancaster County Board of Commissioners New County-City Building Mayor's Conference Room - 2nd Floor Tuesday, February 10, 1998 8:00 a.m. AGENDA ITEM 1 APPROVAL OF STAFF MEETING MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 5, 1998 AND MID-YEAR BUDGET RETREAT MINUTES OF JANUARY 29, 1998 2 ADDITIONS TO AGENDA 3 8:00am REVIEW OF STAFF SECURE FACILITY OPTIONS Dave Kroeker, Budget & Fiscal Officer; Kit Boesch, Human Services Director; Don Killeen, County Property Manager; Jim Blue, Cedars Youth Services Director 4 9:00am SEWER SERVICE AREA Richard Erixson, City Public Works Director 5 ACTION ITEMS 6 CONSENT ITEMS 7 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER REPORT a. Annual Comprehensive Plan Review, Joint Hearing Date with City Council (Tuesday, March 3, 1998 at 4:00 p.m.) 8 PENDING 9 DISCUSSION OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS a. Master Plan Steering Committee - Hudkins b. Ag Land Valuation Board - Hudkins c. Attention Center Advisory Committee - Steinman d. Economic Development Partnership - Steinman e. Joint Budget Committee - Campbell, Steinman 10 SCHEDULE OF BOARD MEMBERMEETINGS a. Public Building Commission - Tuesday, February 10, 1998, at 10:00 a.m., at the County-City Building, Media Center - Campbell, Hudkins b. Management Team - Thursday, February 19, 1998, at 8:00 a.m., at the County-City Building, Room #113 (adjacent to Council Chambers - All Commissioners c. City-County Common - Friday, February 20, 1998, at 8:00 a.m., at the County-City Building, Room #113 (adjacent to Council Chambers) - All Commissioners 11 INVITATIONS TO BOARD MEMBERS 12 CORRESPONDENCE TO THE COUNTY BOARD 13 CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE COUNTY BOARD 14 AGENDA ITEMS FOR COUNTY BOARD MEETING OF FEBRUARY 17, 1998 15 EMERGENCY ITEMS AND OTHER BUSINESS
MINUTES Lancaster County Board of Commissioners County-City Building Mayor's Conference Room, 2nd Floor Tuesday, February 10, 1998 8:00 a.m. Commissioners Present: Linda Steinman, Chair Kathy Campbell Darlene Tussing Steve Svoboda Larry Hudkins Others Present: Kerry Eagan, Chief Administrative Officer Ann Taylor, County Clerk's Office AGENDA ITEM 1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1998 AND THE MINUTES OF THE MID-YEAR BUDGET RETREAT OF JANUARY 29, 1998 (A.M. & P.M. SESSIONS). Board consensus to hold approval of the minutes of the Board of Commissioners meeting of February 5, 1998 to allow further time to review. MOTION: Tussing moved and Campbell seconded approval of the minutes of the Mid-Year Budget Retreat of January 29, 1998 (A.M. & P.M. Sessions). On call Tussing, Campbell, Svoboda and Steinman voted aye. Hudkins was absent from voting. Motion carried. 2 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA a. Budget Letter b. Office Name Plates c. LB 1291 d. Register of Deeds' Microcomputer Request e. Application for Nursing Homes License for Lancaster Manor f. Evacuation Plan for the New County-City Building g. Letter Regarding the Convention & Visitors Bureau MOTION: Tussing moved and Campbell seconded approval of the additions to the agenda. On call Tussing, Campbell, Svoboda and Steinman voted aye. Hudkins was absent from voting. Motion carried. 3 REVIEW OF STAFF-SECURE FACILITY OPTIONS - Kit Boesch, Human Services Administrator; Dennis Banks, Attention Center Director; Jim Blue, Cedars Youth Services Director; Cindy Ryman Yost, Cedars Youth Services; Dave Kroeker, Budget & Fiscal Officer; Don Killeen, County Property Manager Kit Boesch, Human Services Administrator, stated that she had reviewed the draft report on the Lancaster County Comprehensive Juvenile Justice System Study from Chinn Planning, Inc. and concurred with Recommendation No. 16 to reuse all or a portion of existing buildings to meet secure and staff-secure needs. Boesch suggested that the Board consider diverting funds, originally budgeted for a new juvenile detention facility, into development of an Assessment Center and juvenile staff-secure facility in an existing building such as the Airpark Attention Center facility. She also suggested that alternative programs such as "Tracker" electronic monitoring and therapeutic foster care group homes be explored for short term placements. Dennis Banks, Attention Center Director, noted that the Juvenile Court Judges would need to concur with any alternative sentencing proposals. Jim Blue, Cedars Youth Services Director, reported that Karen Chinn had stated in a recent phone conversation with him that development of a juvenile staff-secure facility is more crucial for Lancaster County than secured detention. She also believes that secure detention should be reserved for youth that present a danger to themselves or others, a figure that Blue estimated to be one percent of the Attention Center population. Banks stated that he felt that that estimate of the Attention Center's population that is a risk to the community was too conservative. Blue reviewed per diem options for a 15 bed juvenile staff-secure facility (Exhibit A), noting that renovation of the Airpark Attention Center for use as a staff-secure facility would result in significant savings for the County. He reported that Crime Commission Standards require a staff ratio of 1-3 for staff-secure facilities, as compared to the Attention Center's ratio of 1-6, but noted that the County would realize a savings because Cedars Youth Services' payroll costs are less than the County's. Boesch offered to review the classification spectrum of the current Attention Center population to help determine detention classification needs. Don Killeen, County Property Manager, suggested the "K" Street Building as an alternative site for location of a juvenile staff-secure facility, noting the potential for increased costs for renovation of Trabert Hall. Hudkins arrived. Blue cautioned that the County could lose funding from the Crime Commission if development of a juvenile staff-secure facility does not proceed. He also noted that the salary of the Program Director hired for the staff- secure facility can not continue to be paid from Crime Commission funds. The Board requested that Steinman, Kit Boesch, Human Services Administrator; Dennis Banks, Attention Center Director; Jim Blue, Cedars Youth Services Director; and Kerry Eagan, Chief Administrative Officer meet with the Juvenile Court Judges on Friday, February 13th to discuss whether to develop the Attention Center Airpark facility into a staff-secure facility and to proceed with the options noted in Chinn's report, with a report to the Board at the County Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for Thursday, February 19th. Boesch stated that it is important to offer the judges alternative placements with adult intensive supervision, such as therapeutic group homes, and a Board commitment to fund a array of alternative options. The Board requested that Dennis Banks, Attention Center Director, contact Karen Chinn, Chinn Planning Inc., to clarify her projection of secure and staff-secure detention needs and work with Dave Kroeker, Budget & Fiscal Officer, in completing a financial analysis of housing rates for the two Attention Center facilities, prior to the meeting with the Juvenile Court Judges. The Board also requested Don Killeen, County Property Manager, to contact tenants in the "K" Street Building to gauge concern in relation to location of a juvenile staff-secure facility or Assessment Center in that building. Board consensus to schedule discussion of whether to proceed with Phase II of the Lancaster County Comprehensive Juvenile Justice System Study (Exhibit B) and to hire the architectural firm Sinclair Hille & Associates, Inc. for the project for the County Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 17th. 4 SEWER SERVICE AREA - Dick Erixson, City Public Works Director Dick Erixson, City Public Works Director, reported that if Lincoln Benefit Life's proposal for development at 84th & Van Dorn Street, is approved, City Public Works will request that their sewage be pumped back over the ridge into the Antelope Valley system. He noted that this is a significant change to the City's policy. Erixson reported that a consultant has been hired by the City to review the long range plan for the City's wastewater system and develop alternatives. Erixson invited members of the Board to attend a meeting scheduled for Friday, February 16th at 8:30 a.m. at the Cornhusker Hotel to hear a report from the consultant. The Board noted conflicts for that date, and requested minutes of the meeting and asked that Erixson make a report back to the Board. 5 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER REPORT h. Annual Comprehensive Plan Review, Joint Hearing Date with the City Council (Tuesday, March 3, 1998 at 4 p.m.) The Board requested Kerry Eagan, Chief Administrative Officer, to notify the City Council that a conflict exists for that date. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA a. Budget Letter The Board approved the draft letter (Exhibit C) for inclusion in the budget packets. b. Office Name Plates The Board requested that decals with the Commissioners's names be placed on their office windows. c. LB 1291 Eagan reported that the County could potentially lose $40,000 per month in revenue if LB 1291, which changes provisions relating to inheritance tax, is passed. He noted that a hearing on the bill is scheduled for Friday, February 13th. The Board requested that Dave Kroeker, Budget & Fiscal Officer, submit a letter of testimony on the bill's impact. d. Register of Deeds' Microcomputer Request Eagan reported that approval of this item was delayed one week to allow further discussion by the full Board. He reported that Register of Deeds' staff must leave their desks 50-60 times a day to access information in the books, and the three computer workstations would increase employee efficiency. Tussing suggested that one of the eleven public workstations be moved for employee use. Steinman noted that one of the considerations listed by Dan Nolte, Register of Deeds, was heavy public usage of the existing workstations. She stated that his statement conflicted with her observations during numerous visits to their office. Steinman also voiced concern that the Board was setting a precedent by expending large sums of money on one department, regardless of that department's ability to generate fees. Kroeker suggested that the Register of Deeds set time limits for public use of the existing workstations to eliminate waiting periods. MOTION: Hudkins moved and Campbell seconded to authorize the three additional workstations requested by the Register of Deeds office. Steinman requested that the item be held for one week to allow further input from the Register of Deeds on whether all the existing workstations are needed for public use. WITHDREW: Hudkins withdrew his motion, at the request of the Chair. e. Application for Nursing Homes License for Lancaster Manor MOTION: Tussing moved and Campbell seconded to approve the Chair's signature on the application for application for nursing homes license for Lancaster Manor. On call Tussing, Campbell, Hudkins, Svoboda and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried. f. Evacuation Plan for the New County-City Building Eagan reported that floor captains in the new County-City Building will be issued monitor radios for use in evacuation situations. g. Letter Regarding the Convention & Visitors Bureau Steinman reported on a letter received from Doug Wassung, Harvester Motel General Manager, noting concern that the Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is being referred to as a service of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce on staff business cards (Exhibit D). She noted that questions regarding use of lodging tax dollars and salary considerations were also raised. The Board requested Kerry Eagan, Chief Administrative Officer, to share Wassung's letter with Paul McCue, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, and Michael Carpenter, Director of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, and request their comments, with report back to the Board. 6 DISCUSSION OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS a. Master Plan Steering Committee - Hudkins Hudkins reported that a contract was signed with Valentino's for food service in the new County-City Building. b. Agricultural & Horticultural Land Valuation Board - Hudkins Hudkins reported that Area 5 Agricultural & Horticultural Land Valuation Board supports LB 1148, which provides for reorganization of the agricultural and land valuation boards. c. Attention Center Advisory Committee - Steinman No report was given. d. Economic Development Partnership - Steinman Steinman reported that a training session has been scheduled for posting of job opportunities on the Economic Development website. e. Joint Budget Committee - Campbell, Steinman Campbell reported that reports were received from the Consortium and on the League of Human Dignity. 7 SCHEDULE OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS a. Public Building Commission - Tuesday, February 10, 1998, at 10 a.m., in the County-City Building, Media Center - Campbell, Hudkins b. Management Team - Thursday, February 19, 1998, at 8 a.m., in the County-City Building, Room #113 - All Commissioners c. City-County Common - Friday, February 20, 1998, at 8 a.m., in the County-City Building, Room #113 - All Commissioners 8 INVITATIONS TO BOARD MEMBERS 9 CORRESPONDENCE TO THE COUNTY BOARD 10 CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE COUNTY BOARD 11 AGENDA ITEMS FOR COUNTY BOARD MEETING OF FEBRUARY 17, 1998 12 EMERGENCY ITEMS AND OTHER BUSINESS 13 ADJOURNMENT By direction of the Board, the meeting was adjourned. ______________________ Kandra Hahn Lancaster County Clerk