MINUTES
Board of Directors Meeting
Jasper County Emergency Services
December 1st 2020
Chairman Fries called the meeting to order at 12:08 p.m. Meeting was held at the Board office, 13870 Dispatch Lane, Carthage, MO as per public notice. Present in addition to Chairman Fries, Vice Chairman Tim Wilson, Ron Brewer, Carl Francis, Greg Dagnan, and Dan Stanley. Representing staff was Executive Director April Ford.
No Representing Public
Review and Action of Minutes
Open and closed minutes for the Board of Director’s Meeting on October 6th were reviewed. November notes were reviewed, but not presented for approval since the meeting did not have a quorum.
Director Wilson motioned to approve both open and closed meeting minutes for October 6th, 2020 Director Stanley seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. The motion was adopted.
Public Comment and Correspondence
No Public Comment
Financial Report and Payment of Bills
The sales tax deposit for September was received on October 7th 2020, in the amount of $175,326.37. The sales tax deposit for October was received on November 6th 2020, in the amount of $152,624.05. We have not received the sales tax check for November or December.
Total bills submitted for approval today $193,623.68 (Nov & Dec).
The Checkbook balance after payment of bills will be $34,842.91.
Accounts receivable balance: $3,605.53. (Record Request Fee, METS dispatching fee & Joplin Fiber).
The Money Market account balance is $1,192,925.90.
Executive Director Ford reported the payment made to AT&T is on the dispute account and is being paid for the service minus taxes and the over charged amount for October.
Director Wilson motioned to approve the financial report and the payment of the Bills. Director Dagnan seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. The motion was adopted.
Executive Director Report
See Attached Report
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that we are still waiting on AT&T to clear up our bill dispute. She reported on the surplus equipment on govdeals.com and stated they have some items that are not selling on govdeals.com and asked if they can be made available to the staff for purchase or other agencies. Chairman Fries stated they can be made available to staff, but other agencies need to go to govdeals.com to purchase. She asked about donating the old arm cots and they agreed, they can be donated if anyone wants them. She further reported on the current staffing situation and COVID related illness. She gave a quick overview on the technical projects they are completed before year end and the items that may move to 2021.
Unfinished Business
Avtec Update
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that we are waiting on Jasper County Sheriff’s Office to make a decision if they are moving NexEdge equipment or moving to MOSWIN.
Building Maintenance/Expansion/Parking Lot
Executive Director Ford stated that she is waiting on the Architect firm to assist with the parking lot expansion and getting an engineer involved for the RFP and since it is winter time, they will likely have this done in the spring. She reported the building expansion and all maintenance is on hold for approval, but is in the budget.
CARES Act
Executive Director Ford reported that she will apply for CARES Act money before the deadline for all expenses related to COVID19.
Pop / Snack Machine (60914, 49200, and 60923)
Executive Director Ford reported that the purchase of the Pop / Snack Machine under 60914 is in the budget amendment for 2020 and the new GL for revenue is 49200 and expenses is 60923 and is reflected in the 2021 budget for approval.
New Business
Health Department Entries
Executive Director Ford reported that they are overwhelmed by COVID19 entries and given the current staffing situation, they cannot keep up. It was previously discussed to stop making entries and let all departments know. She has asked about hiring temporary staff to assist, but that has been turned down in the past. She reported there is no way to stay caught up now and the Health Department is behind, as well and they give addresses that are not accurate and we have to track down the correct address and sometimes don’t get anything updated from them. She reported that Greene Co, Barry Co and some other counties have stopped making entries for the same reason. She also reported that Newton Co hired staff for these entries, but they are having a hard time keeping up. Greg Dagnan reported there are 5130 active cases in Jasper County. Carl Francis asked about hiring in overtime to make entries. Ford reported the overtime being hired in now is just to cover consoles and they are running short on shifts. The Board agreed to stop making entries and just notify all agencies why they had to stop.
Bank Security Pledge
Executive Director Ford presented the securities pledge held at the Country Club Bank as of September 30th, 2020. In the book amount of $2,000,000.00, the market amount of $2,003,080.00 and the current face amount of $2,000,000.00.
Director Francis motioned to approve the Bank Security Pledge. Director Wilson seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. The motion was adopted.
NetSolus Agreement
The NetSolus agreement is an auto renewal agreement and will be presented at the next meeting if there is any changes.
Payroll – Vacation
It was reported that an error was made with the last payroll and Brandon McClintock was paid out another week of vacation. He did have the vacation in his bank, however it was not planned to be paid out. Paychex has a check box that was not unchecked. There are three options to remedy this mistake. The first option is he can keep the money and we will deplete his vacation bank by 40 hours, leaving him with 14 hours. The second option is he write a check and we will need to figure out taxes or the third options is that we hold out 40 hours of pay on the next payroll. Brandon is fine with being paid out the 40 hours and losing the vacation time in his bank. The Board agreed that this pay out of vacation was fine and he will just lose the vacation time in his bank.
Holiday Pay
The Holiday pay policy was reviewed as it relates to COVID19 time. It was reported that 5 employees have lost holiday pay due to being out on isolation or quarantine from the health department. Executive Director Ford asked if the Board would modify this to exempt COVID19 leave if the proper paperwork was on file showing they were quarantined, testing or on isolation orders.
Director Wilson motioned to approve the exception to the Holiday Pay policy if on COVID19 Leave with paperwork. Director Stanley seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. The motion was adopted.
Health / Dental / Vision Insurance
The Dental and Vision Insurance is on a multi-year agreement with no changes to the premium. The health insurance plan was presented with a 5.9% increase to keep the existing Anthem Health Insurance plan and buy-up plan made available to all employees. Executive Director Ford recommended staying with the same plan and taking the 5.9% increase, reporting it is not as high as expected, but that we will need to look into future plans to modify the existing policy since employees are not seeing any assistance with family, child, and/or spouse insurance. The Board suggested looking into percentages v’s a set fee in the future and looking at starting it from their eligibility date from their start at JASCO. This will be reviewed in 2021.
Director Dagnan motioned to approve the Anthem increase of 5.9% and maintain the current Health Insurance options. Director Stanley seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. The motion was adopted.
Administrator Agreement
This agreement will be discussed and voted on during executive session. There is no changes to the agreement, with exception to an increase consistent with the employees and the wage scale changes proposed or approved.
Wage Scale Increase / Positions
The wage scale was presented with some changes. The proposed changes was related to the Systems Manager retiring and the change was recommended to the title of the IT Manager position and the GIS Manager positions. The title will change to Systems Specialist and GIS Specialist, but the replacement of the Systems Manager will likely be sought for two Systems Specialists. Ford explained that this position acts as CAD and Systems Administrator, a facilitator to NetSolus and all current vendors support teams, as well as GIS analysts and handles un-officially most facilities duties. It was reported that we need someone to be able to assist with radios and facilities, but the biggest concern is with GIS and overall Systems management. Ford stated she plans to post the Systems Specialists position to see what kind of interest she can get and they may need to look at the proposed pay, but it will be non-exempt for these positions for now.
The second proposed change is to the overall starting pay. She recommended a COLA / Raise of 2% and stated that from what she has seen, a 1.3% COLA was given at the Federal level. She stated with Joplin giving a 9% across the board raise to all positions, both starting and current and Newton County, Monett, Greene County, Christian Co and others looking into wage increases, we need to do something, but a 2% is the recommendation for now to the wage scale. Merits of 2.5% between the scales still apply as it relates to performance reviews.
Chairman Fries stated no motion was necessary since it was in the budget for discussion there.
Budget 2020 Amendment
The 2020 Budget Amendment was presented for review. She reported she was not anticipating an increase in revenue from November and December sales tax from 2019 for 2020, but was planning to finish up some projects that had been put off until December regarding public education supplies and purchases for some building equipment, as well as the technical projects from both Netsolus and Command One, as well as the equipment move planned for Fire East tower.
Director Francis motioned to approve the 2020 Budget Amendment as presented. Director Dagnan seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. The motion was adopted.
Budget 2021
The 2021 Budget was presented with justification and items highlighted as they related to projects pending. The employee payroll was highlighted for review in the event the wage scale increase or addition of personnel was not approved, as well as the replacement of the 9-1-1 phone systems and the building maintenance, changes and the tower building in the event the NexEdge equipment is being moved over to the JASCO building and tower. There was no budget meetings leading up to this meeting where Board members were present, therefore discussion occurred and it was noted the expenses were too high to keep some of the projects in the budget for 2021, as the revenue was not there to sustain the projects currently. It was noted by Ford that to complete the projects, it would require depleting of the money market or the Board to look at a loan. The recommendation was made to move the phone system replacement out of the 2021 budget proposal and put it on the agenda in the future when ready for a possible approval to use funds from the money market and/or a loan from a financial institution. It was also decided to remove the tower building and the parking lot expansion until costs could be finalized and then it could come back to the Board for review and a plan to amend the budget if being approved to either use the money market and/or explore lending institutions. The budget comparisons were reviewed in detail and it was noted that an increase of 3% should be anticipated for the sales tax revenue, where it was presented without an increase and planned to remain steady. These changes were noted with the current 2021 budget presented and the budget will be approved with the changes, as listed below:
Revenue – 3% increase to the sales tax, based on the anticipated 2020 amended year end for GL 47000.
Expenses – Removal of the 9-1-1 phone system replacement costs in 60418, removal of the money planned for the parking lot expansion in GL 60211 and the removal of the tower building in GL 60214.
Director Brewer noted he had not been able to review the budget as he would like and reported he wanted to see pivot tables on the comparison reports. Ford took note of this for future review.
Director Francis motioned to approve the 2021 Budget as Amended. Director Wilson seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Director Brewer abstained. The motion was adopted.
Closed Session Announcement and/or Report:
Jasper County Emergency Services Board announced to close for personnel records and evaluations pursuant to Mo. Statute Section 610.021 (13).
1:43 p.m. Director Wilson motioned to go into closed session. Director Stanley seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. The motion was adopted.
Vote: Fries – In Favor
Wilson – In Favor
Brewer – In Favor
Francis – In Favor
Dagnan – In Favor
Stanley – In Favor
1:51 p.m. Director Wilson motioned to come out of closed session. Director Brewer seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. The motion was adopted.
Vote: Fries – In Favor
Wilson – In Favor
Brewer – In Favor
Francis – In Favor
Dagnan – In Favor
Stanley – In Favor
Director Francis motioned to accept the Administrator Agreement. Director Dagnan seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. The motion was adopted.
1:51 p.m. Director Francis motioned to adjourn. Director Dagnan seconded the motion. Vote: 6-0. The motion was adopted.
The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 5th at 12:00 p.m.
On the________ day of ________________2021
I, Jeff Fries, Chairman ___________________________certify these Jasper County Emergency Services Board Meeting Minutes for___________________________. They have been reviewed and are accurate.
On the ________day of_________________2021
I, Dan Stanley, Director __________________________ attest the Jasper County Emergency Services Board Meeting Minutes for ___________________________. They have been reviewed and are accurate.
