WADENA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' MEETING OCTOBER 18, 2016

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1 WADENA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' MEETING OCTOBER 18, 2016 The Wadena County Board of Commissioners Meeting was held on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, in the Small Courtroom, Wadena County Courthouse, 415 South Jefferson Street, Wadena Minnesota. The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Chairperson Hofer and all present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Hillukka contacted Chairperson Hofer and stated he would be unable to attend the Board Meeting today. Also present: Commissioners Rodney Bounds, William Stearns, Sheldon Monson, Auditor/Treasurer Judy Taves, Auditor s Office Senior Accountant Janet Kern, Collection/Accounting Unit Supervisor Amie Gendron, Human Services Director Tanya Leskey, Human Services Supervisor Mike Willie, HR/IT Director Curt Kreklau, Jr., Human Services Staff Karen Johnson, Kris Suhl, and Krystal Chermak, and Sebeka Review Messenger/Verndale Sun Reporter Matthew B. Johnson and Staples World Reporter Laurinda Porter. Amend/Approve Day's Agenda: Moved by Commissioner Stearns, seconded by Commissioner Monson, to approve the agenda of the October 18, 2016 regular County Board Meeting as amended to remove #22-Wadena Ag Society, motion carried unanimously. The Court has two emergency ITV hearings this morning and the small courtroom may need to be vacated if the Board Meeting is still in session when the ITV's are needed. Amend/Approve Minutes: Moved by Commissioner Stearns, seconded by Commissioner Monson, to approve the Board of Commissioner's Meeting Minutes of September 13, 2016 and September 21, 2016, motion carried unanimously. Board Warrants: Moved by Commissioner Stearns, seconded by Commissioner Monson, to approve payment of the Board Warrants in the amount of $391,291.34, motion carried unanimously. Human Services Warrants: Moved by Commissioner Monson, seconded by Commissioner Bounds, for approval to pay Human Services warrants in the amount of $67,090.80, motion carried unanimously. Human Services Detention Payments to WCRJC: Amie Gendron reported the total contracted payment to West Central Regional Juvenile Center from January through September 2016 is $44,718.25; if actual days of service had been paid, the cost would have been $26,800. Human Services Monthly Financial Assistance Statistics: The Caseload Statistics indicate there is a total of 2,577 MAXIS and MNsure cases for September The unemployment rate is 5.0% for August Human Services Budget Utilization Summary: The month end September 2016 cash balance is $3,076,451. The salaries and benefits are at 68% budget utilization, overhead/administrative costs are at 63% and program costs are at 93%. Overall, they are at 73% spending level though September /18/16 Page 1

2 Child Support Program Annual Presentation: Amie Gendron gave the Wadena County Human Services Annual Child Support Report. They receive Federal incentive money for the work the staff does based on the performance measures. Wadena County is above the statewide average in all areas except the collection of current support. There are 78 child support agencies in the state, there used to be 84. Of the 78 agencies, 2 (Grant and Ramsey) are supervised under the county attorney's office. The others are under the Human Services offices. For 2015, there were 250,210 children served across the state. Of those, less than 12 percent were on public assistance. For Wadena County, there were 838 open cases for FY15. They anticipate the case load to increase. They have 3 full-time child support staff in the county. Amie listed the many duties of the child support officer. The child support program has the highest percent for Federal reimbursement of all the programs. Human Services Health Care Savings Plan: The current Health Care Savings Plan for the Human Services Department was established in 2012 and is a three year plan, which is expiring December 31, The Human Services staff met, negotiated terms, and voted for the department's new plan. The proposed resolution is the plan with a majority vote. All employees are eligible to participate and it is not based on Merit System classification or PERA years, it is based on years at Wadena County. It is broken down into two groups. One group is employees hired during 2008 or later will contribute $20 per pay period from their wages and they would not be depositing any severance upon termination of employment with the agency. The other group is employees hired prior to 2008 will contribute $20.00 per pay period from their wages and they would contribute 100% of sick leave, 50% of accrued personal leave time and 0% of vacation. Moved by Commissioner Stearns, seconded by Commissioner Monson to approve the following Resolution: Wadena County Human Services Health Care Savings Plan Resolution Whereas, the Laws of Minnesota 2001, Chapter authorizes the Minnesota State Retirement System to offer Health Care Savings Plans (HCSP) to local government employees, and Whereas, a HCSP is an employer sponsored plan that allows employees to set aside money for medical expenses and/or health insurance premiums after separation from public service, and Whereas, the amounts to be placed in the HCSP must be negotiated or agreed to by both the employer and the employee bargaining unit, and Whereas, representatives of the employer and employee bargaining unit have agreed to the following: Any employee who is benefit eligible (works 20 hours or more per week) will participate in the Wadena County Human Services HCSP, unless participation waiver is granted by the MN State Retirement System. Participation in the Wadena County Human Services HCSP begins when the employee is benefit eligible for county health insurance. The Minnesota State Retirement System will manage the HCSP. 10/18/16 Page 2

3 The HCSP will be effective from January 1, 2017 to December 31, The HCSP will be renegotiated by employees and the board no later than December Each eligible employee will contribute to the HCSP as follows: *Based on the last hire date for a Wadena County Human Services position, employees hired during 2008 or years later, will contribute $20.00 per pay period from their wages. No deposit of accrued leave bank hours will be contributed upon separation. * Based on the last hire date for a Wadena County Human Services position, employees hired prior to 2008, will contribute $20.00 per pay period from their wages. Upon separation, deposit 50% of accrued personal leave time, 100% of accrued sick, and zero % of accrued vacation. 2. Based upon board action on October 16, 2012, employees will no longer be able to take up to two months of leave prior to separation; employees will follow county leave policy. Therefore Be It Resolved, the Wadena County Board of Commissioners approves the implementation of the HCSP effective January 1, Signed by: James Hofer, Chairman Date Wadena County Board of Commissioners Tanya Leskey, Director Date Wadena County Human Services Amie Gendron, Wadena County Human Date Services Staff Representative Karen Johnson, Wadena County Human Date Services Staff Representative Motion carried unanimously. Human Services Eligibility Worker Resignation: Moved by Commissioner Monson, seconded by Commissioner Stearns, to accept the resignation of Cheryl Hahn, Human Services Eligibility Worker, last date of employment is October 14, 2016, motion carried unanimously. Cheryl has met with Curt Kreklau for exit interview. 10/18/16 Page 3

4 Human Services Crossover Youth Update: Mike Willie gave an update on the progress and hiring for the Crossover Youth Program. He reported at their last meeting, they completed reviewing the Stearns County Crossover Youth Practice Guide and amending that to suit Wadena County. Corrections has a person on their staff, Alicia, who is the contact person for their agency and Krystal Chermak is the contact person for Human Services. He attended a presentation yesterday from the University of Georgetown with Alicia and Angela Sonsalla, the Assistant County Attorney regarding an application process for Crossover Youth where they are identifying potential counties that would participate in a cohort training program where selected counties would receive training and support from Georgetown University in the process of developing their multi-disciplinary teams involving juvenile justice. They participated in a phone conference on that and received information on it. They are continuing to explore whether this allocation process would suit Wadena County. There has been another county in the area (Crow Wing County) that was a cohort a few years ago. They will talk to them and see what they gained from that program. There is another meeting scheduled for October 28 to continue their process. They will start lining up the Crossover Youth team that is going meet on a regular basis to review cases to identify the particular youth that are going to be served by the Crossover Youth Program. Human Services Introduction of New Staff: Mike Willie introduced Krystal Chermak, who is their contact person for Crossover Youth. She previously was a Family Based Services Provider at Human Services and was promoted to Agency Social Worker. She will be doing child protection work for the agency and part of her role will be the contact person for Crossover Youth. Kris Suhl, who was a Case Aide, filled Krystal's Family Based Services Provider position. Nicole Revelki, who was an intern, was hired to fill the Case Aide position. Chairperson Hofer said the new hire will need Board approval. A Board Action Form is needed to show hire date for longevity. Mr. Willie will provide that. Judy Taves-Appointment of Deputy Auditor-Treasurer: This matter is a wrap-up to what was discussed at the September 27 preliminary budget/levy setting meeting. The position of Deputy Auditor/Treasurer was posted on September 27 and there were no applicants other than the proposed appointee. Ms. Taves requested to close the position posting and appoint Curtis Bryniarski as Deputy Auditor/Treasurer, which is a non-union, supervisory position. He would be moving to Grade 54, Step 1. The Staff Accountant position would be retained, but not included in the 2017 budget; it will be discussed for inclusion in the 2018 budget. Moved by Commissioner Monson, seconded by Commissioner Stearns, for approval to appoint Curtis Bryniarski as Deputy Auditor/Treasurer, a non-union, supervisory position, Grade 54, Step 1, retaining original anniversary date, appointment effective October 18, 2016, motion carried unanimously. The Board recessed at 9:56 a.m. and reconvened at 10:00 a.m. Curt Kreklau-Debbie Mursu Time in Service Credit: Mr. Kreklau stated that Debbie Mursu and the Teamsters Business Agent, Mike Horton, presented a request for a Time in Service Credit to the Board on September 12, This would adjust her time by 4 years, 10 months and provide an additional longevity increase. The Board requested that the County Labor Attorney be consulted prior to taking action. This was done and the County Labor Attorney has recommended against granting this credit based on her experience and the experience of some of her colleagues. This case is different than other case histories because of a 10 year break in service and the request was made 30 years later for credit to 10/18/16 Page 4

5 get longevity bump now and be eligible for another one in a year and a half. Moved by Chairperson Hofer, seconded by Commissioner Stearns, to deny the request of Debbie Mursu for additional service time, motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Monson asked if there was a policy that would bring clarity to this issue. Mr. Kreklau said the process will be that it will be addressed at the time of offer, to be sure those terms are laid out in the initial offer letters. Curt Kreklau-IT Service Support Outsourcing: As part of the budgeting process, the IT Department proposed outsourcing the Network Analyst position for 2017, using salary and benefit dollars allocated for the position. Curt said he talked to three professional services organizations that offer managed IT services. He would like the Board to approve a three month trial period starting in October with TrueIT out of Fargo and he would use 2016 money budgeted for the Network Analyst salary that didn't get spent. He said that would be more than budgeted for the total cost from now through the 2017 budget, which so far has been tentatively approved. It would be $4,500 per month out of a remainder of about $22,000 in salary in the 2016 budget. He would like to spend $13,500 out of that for the three month trial. After the trial period, he would like to come back to the Board and report if it goes well, he will continue on through 2017 and if it doesn't, he will come back to the Board and either propose another firm or he will ask that in 2017 that money would be allocated for the position rather than outsourcing. Curt stated he pursued two other companies, Marco and West Central. One didn't compete with the level of services they could provide and the other one wasn't price competitive. The other aspect with TrueIT is that at the three month point, our use of their services will be evaluated and the price point. The first thing he would do a full mapping of our network architecture. The second thing he wants to do is more formally develop and document processes and procedures. TrueIT runs their network operation center 24/7. A lot will be monitored in the background. Moved by Commissioner Stearns, seconded by Commissioner Bounds, to approve a three month trial agreement for Managed Services with TrueIT, at $4,500 per month, using unspent Network Analyst salary and benefits dollars in the 2016 budget. IT Department will report back in January, 2017, motion carried unanimously. Morris Electronics contract ends December 31, Curt would like to buy a small block of time from Morris Electronics for project related items. Curt Kreklau-HR Forms, Personnel Files, Orientation Process & Exit Interviews: The Human Resources Department is initiating several processes, including standardizing personnel files, the employee orientation process and exit interviews. Curt presented the forms to the Management Team and he wanted the Board to be aware of the progress being made in the HR Department. The forms to be reviewed by the Board and provide feedback for the Personnel File List, Orientation Checklist and Exit Interview Guide. It was suggested that Curt present a quarterly report on the exit interviews with aggregate data. Commissioner Monson said there should be no shadow files. Curt Kreklau-Department Head Performance Evaluation Form & Process: The Human Resources Department developed and presented a proposed Performance Evaluation Process and Instrument for the Board's review, discussion and feedback. Curt explained his proposed performance evaluation process with the Board. 10/18/16 Page 5

6 Moved by Commissioner Stearns, seconded by Commissioner Bounds, to approve the Department Head Performance Review Instrument and Process developed by the Human Resources Department, motion carried unanimously. Ms. Taves asked the Chair if she should reset a date and time for Mike Olson from the Ag Society to come before the Board. Chairperson Hofer mentioned the Ag Society should give an annual review on how the fair did this year, what maintenance projects they have in mind and there should be a discussion about the new lease agreement. Judy will contact Mike and request a new date. Commissioners' Reports: Commissioner Monson: 10/11-attended County Board Meeting; 10/17-attended tax forfeit sale. Commissioner Bounds: 10/11-attended County Board Meeting. Commissioner Stearns: 10/11-attended County Board Meeting; 10/17-Liaison Meeting with Tanya Leskey. Commissioner Hofer: 10/11-attended County Board Meeting; 10/12-attended Soil & Water Resources Regional Water Plan Meeting. Commissioner Hillukka: not present. 10/11-attended County Board Meeting. Moved by Commissioner Bounds, seconded by Commissioner Monson, to adjourn the Board of Commissioner's Meeting at 10:42 a.m., motion carried unanimously. Judy Taves, Wadena County Auditor-Treasurer Jim Hofer, Chairperson Wadena County Board of Commissioners 10/18/2016 Page 6 10/18/16 Page 6