Executive & Child Support

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Thursday, December 21, 2023 County Board Room Members Present: Jim Metz, Scott Mildbrand and Mike Bub. Members Absent: none. Other Attendees: Lorie Floyd, Courtney Graff, Michelle Kurth, Larry Brandl and Andria Farrand Call Meeting to Order: Metz called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Approve Agenda: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the September 27, 2023, Executive Committee meeting : Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. McKinsey Opioid Settlement: Graff presented to the committee the option to participate in another class action lawsuit, against different pharmaceutical companies. We can choose to opt out, or if we do nothing we will be included , Graff stated . Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to do nothing and stay part of it. Motion carried. Child Support vacancy: Michelle Kurth advised the committee that the Child Support department’s part-time financial specialist will be leaving for a full-time position with the county. The position is for 25 hours a week. Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve moving forward with hiring a replacement. Motion carried. Strategic Planning Committee- SWOT analysis: Mildbrand, as Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, asked whether he should continue meetings of the committee, to finish the SWOT analysis. He feels we will be finished in a few more meetings and we should see it through. After much discussion there was a motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand to continue the meetings of the Strategic Planning Committee. Motion carried. Mildbrand will contact Lersch and Grimm of the UW -Extension office, and together with Floyd have a quick recap of what is left to work on prior to scheduling the next meeting of the committee. Request from NACo/WCA for 1% of LATCF money received: A letter was received from Mark O’Connell of the Wisconsin Counties Association, asking for all counties that received money in 2022 and 2023 from the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Funds (LATCF), donate 1% of that to NACo for the creation of the National Center for Public Lands. Taylor County received $98,942.81 in 2022 and 2023 for a total of $197,885.62, so that would amount to $1,978.86. Taylor County already pays annual dues to both organizations. Our 2024 dues are $4,356.00 to WCA and $455.00 for NACo. Metz requested that Mark O’Connell and Kurt Gibbs, Marathon County Chair, attend the January 16th County Board session to further explain this request. No further action was taken. Adjourn: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to adjourn at 9:42 a.m. Motion carried. Andria Farrand Taylor County Clerk Joint Meeting of the Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Committee and Executive Committee October 13, 2023 3rd Floor County Board Room Call Meeting to Order: The meeting was called to order at 9:00 am by Lynn Rosemeyer. Members Present: Lynn Rosemeyer, Catherine Lemke, Charles Zenner, Lorie Floyd, Mike Bub and Jim Metz. Members Absent: Ray Soper and Scott Mildbrand. Other Attendees: Christina Schuld, Larry Woebbeking, Corey Dassow, Larry Brandl (Finance) , Courtney Graff (Corp Counsel), Dan Gellert (E.M.), Nicole Hager (Human Resources), Bob Kirkley (Ambulance), Brian Wilson (Star News), Chad Kowalczyk, and Liza Barth. Approve Minutes: Zenner moved to a pprove the minutes of the September 08 & 13 , 2023 meetings; Seconded by Lemke. Motion carried. Approve Agenda: Lemke moved to approve the agenda with 15 items; Seconded by Floyd. Motion carried. Set Next Meeting Day: Call of the Chairman; tentatively set for November 10. Review and A pprove September Expenses and Revenue Reports : Expense reports and revenue spreadsheet s were emailed pr ior to the meeting. No discussion. Zenner moved to approve the September expenses and revenue reports as prese nted; Se conded by Lemke. Motion carried. Public Comments: None. Medical Examiner: Report was emailed prior to the meeting. No discussion. Emergency Management Services: Report was emailed prior to the meeting. No discussion. Sheriff’s Report & Law Enforcement Business: Woebbeking gave a brief update. a) Updates: o Woebbeking stated there are currently 47 inmates, with 19 from Marathon County. o Woebbeking stated the steamer (sanitizer) in the jail kitchen needed to be replaced. It will cost approx. $25,000 and was ordered. b) Acknowledgement of Years of Service to Chad Kowalczyk and Liza Barth: o Chief Deputy Corey Dassow presented both Chad Kowalczyk and Liza Barth with personalized badges for their 15 years of service to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office. Ambulance Business: Bob Kirkley gave a brief update on the ambulance staffing. He stated a local super visor started on October 1, 20 23 and a new on -call occasional m ember will be starting in 2-3 weeks. Review of Public Surveys/Summary of Listening Se ssions: Dan Gellert gave a b rief summary of the public s urveys/summary from the listening sessions held in Taylor County. A handout was provided with the data. No action was taken. Ambulance Options Pros and Cons: Kirley presented a handout with different options for an ambulance contact with th e pros and cons of each. T he County B oard ha d requested an additional option be added. A brief discussion was held. No action was taken. The Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Committee may go into Closed Session by taking a roll call vote a t approx imately 9:45 a.m. pursuant to Section 19.85(1) (e), Wisconsin State Statutes, for the purpose of conductin g public business with competitive or bargaining implications (topic: to discuss the on-going negotiations of a contract for emergency services (amb ulance)). No action will be taken in closed session. T he Closed Session is expected to last for approximately 45 minutes. Bub moved to go into closed session; Seconded by Floyd. Roll call v ote taken: YES – Zenner, Lemke, Floyd, Rosemeyer, Metz and Bub. NO – none. Motion carried. Closed se ssion started at 9: 48 am. Floyd moved to go back into open session; Seconded by Zenner. Motion carried. The meeting will reconvene in Open Session pursuan t to Section 19. 83, Wisconsin S tate Statutes, to take any necessar y action on the matter discuss ed in Closed Session. Open session resumed at 10:25 am. No action was taken. Adjourn: With no further business, Floyd moved to adjourn the meeting; Seconded by Lemke. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 am. Secretary: Christina Schuld, Taylor County Sheriff’s Office EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Wednesday, September 27, 2023 County Board Room Members Present: Jim Metz, Scott Mildbrand and Mike Bub. Members Absent: none. Other Attendees: Chuck Zenner, Ray Soper, Lorie Floyd, Nicole Hager , Courtney Graff, Larry Brandl, Tracy Hartwig, Ben Stanfley, Larry Woebbeking, Corey Dassow, Rachel Ogle, Daniel Gellert, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Call Meeting to Order: Metz called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Approve Agenda : Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the August 22 , 2023, Executive Committee meeting : Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Leave benefits: Hager presented the leave benefits she was asked to develop , beginning with the 4 goals and emphasizing that any earned balances will be retained: • Research a PTO model. • Ensure staff retain earned benefit time. • Mitigate financial impact to Taylor County payment of benefit time. • Consistency in leave implementation for county employees. Eligible employees will still receive one more sick leave payout on the first payroll of 2024 and the remaining balance will be frozen, only to be used on FMLA eligible ti me off. PTO will be a combination of time, to be used for vacation, sickness and personal time. There would be no start and end date, instead it will be a 12-month rolling period. It was determined that in order to receive the sick leave payout, they will need to be WRS eligible with 10 years of service or 20 years total. At retirement, the PTO bank will be paid out at 75% of up to 640 hours. It was also decided to let the employee choose how they want to receive it , whether it be cash, or put into their HSA. Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve the PTO model , with the requirement to be WRS eligible with 10 years of service or 20 years’ service with Taylor County, in order to be eligible for the PTO bank payout and employees will have their choice of how they receive the payout. Motion carried. County Board proceedings: Farrand presented the committee with the following: • County Board proceedings binder- this has the long minutes of the county board sessions. • Index to Taylor County ordinances, petitions and resolutions -this breaks down the ordinances and resolutions by board session as well as by committee/department. • Summary of Taylor County ordinances and resolutions - this is a spreadsheet of the dockets for each board session, with a brief explanation including who introduced it, if it was adopted and the resolution number. These are being presented as Farrand stated she would need to order a new proceedings binder as the current one is full, and they are $800.00. In researching what other counties do, she learned that most just use a nice 3 ring binder, only one other county still uses the proceedings binder. The additional index and summary are nice references originally kept up to date by the County Board office, then Human Resources , but they are no longer necessary, as there is already another index that is given to all supervisors with the short minutes and a hard copy is kept with the short minutes in an additional binder. After further discussion there was a motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to use a nice 3 ring binder for the long minutes instead of ordering the $800.00 proceedings binder and no longer update the additional index and summary binders. Motion carried. Code of Ethics: Hager presented the revised Code of Ethics, Chapter 6 of County Code. All changes discussed at the last meeting were made. Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to accept the changes as presented. Motion carried. Adjourn: Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to adjourn at 10:05 a.m. Motion carried. Andria Farrand Taylor County Clerk EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Tuesday, August 22, 2023 County Board Room Members Present: Jim Metz, Scott Mildbrand and Mike Bub. Members Absent: none. Other Attendees: Nicole Hager, Courtney Graff, Larry Brandl, Michelle Kurth, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Call Meeting to Order: Metz called the meeting to order at 1:25 p.m. Approve Agenda : Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the June 21, 2023, Executive Committee meeting : Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Child Support 2024 budget: Michelle Kurth, Child Support Administrator , presented the Child Support Annua Report for 2022 and stated they ended the year with a small profit. Mildbrand questioned the increase of $30,000.00 from the 2023 budget . Kurth explained it was due to an increase in salaries and the anticipated increase in health insurance. Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the 2024 Child Support budget. Motion carried. Code of Ethics: Hager stated, she and Graff are working to update Chapter 6 of the County Code, Ethics and Records, to be a more robust Code of Ethics. After review and discussion, there were several suggested changes. Hager to make the changes and bring them back to the Executive Committee for approval. No action taken. Corporation Counsel Agreement, Resolution and budget for 2024: Graff stated she is requesting an increase of $100.00 per month for 2024. Motion by Metz, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the 2024 Corporation Counsel budget and agreement. Motion carried. Discuss Employee Handbook- Time away from work: Hager is working with Eric Twerberg of USI Insurance Services to update the time away from work section of the employee handbook to simplify and clarify things. She was asked to work with whomever she needs as a resource and come up with suggestions to present to the County Board at the October meeting. No action taken. Adjourn: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to adjourn the meeting at 2:21 p.m. Motion carried. Andria M. Farrand-County Clerk EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Wednesday, June 21, 2023 County Board Room Members Present: Jim Metz, Scott Mildbrand and Mike Bub. Members Absent: none. Other Attendees: Nicole Hager, Larry Brandl, Michelle Kurth, Tim Hansen and Andria Farrand. Call Meeting to Order: Metz called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Approve Agenda: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the May 16, 2023, Executive Committee meeting : Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Update and approve job description for Child Support -Finance Specialist position: Michelle Kurth, Child Support Administrator, explained she was updating the job description due to a new database that they are required to maintain and monitor The Financial Specialist is the one that is doing that and it takes about 30% of her time . She would also like the position to be looked at for possible re-classification. Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the updated job description. Motion carried. Appoint Tim Hansen as District 2 Supervisor for the remainder of the term: Jim Metz appointed Tim Hansen to fill the vacancy left in District 2 , when Greg Knight resigned. He will also replace Knight on all committees he was appointed to. Clerk Farrand administered the oath to Tim Hansen. Budget Review Committee update: Brandl provided the update and stated that they met with all department heads over the past few months . There were a lot of ideas shared, but the only tangible savings will be from the newly formed Land Information department, in the amount of $50,000.00. No action taken. Approve job description for the External Broadband Manager: Bub stated that the IT Committee met and made some changes to the job description. The county has applied for BEAD grants and has already received $18,000.00 that will cover the salary for the remainder of 2023. There is the potential for Taylor County to receive in excess of $15 million in additional BEAD grant funds and this money could be used to pay this salary, among other things. Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Metz, to approve the job description and take it to Finance and Personnel, then to the County Board for approval. Motion carried. Adjourn: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to adjourn the meeting at 10:27 a.m. Motion carried. Andria M. Farrand County Clerk EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Tuesday, May 16, 2023 County Board Room Members Present: Jim Metz, Scott Mildbrand and Mike Bub. Members Absent: none. Other Attendees: Catherine Lemke, Nicole Hager , Larry Brandl, Melissa Lind, Jennifer Strama, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Call Meeting to Order: Metz called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Approve Agenda: Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the mi nutes of the March 16, 2023, Executive Committee meeti ng: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Future support of the Broadband project: Bub presented a spreadsheet of the 35 sites that need to be connected to the network initially. He is also working with a sub -committee on the BEAD grant application, a potential $15-20 million we could receive. He is spending 15-20 hours a week on Broadband. After much discussion, it was agreed that Lind and Strama would create a future state structure of the IT department, with an additional person, and take it to the IT Committee and Personnel and Finance Committee. Farrand to contact Northwest Regional planning to see if they have grant writers we can utilize. Bub and the subcommittee will continue to work on the grant submission due June 19. County department social media accounts/social media policy: There was discussion about who is responsible for the social media accounts that various departments have. Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to authorize our Administrati ve Coordinator to create a policy for all social media outlets. Motion carried. Adjourn: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 a.m. Motion carried. Andria M. Farrand County Clerk EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Thursday, March 16, 2023 County Board Room Members Present: Jim Metz, Scott Mildbrand and Mike Bub. Members Absent: none. Other Attendees: Michelle Kurth, Larry Brandl, Nicole Hager, Catherine Lemke, Lester Lewis, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Call Meeting to Order: Metz called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Approve Agenda: Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the mi nutes of the February 6, 2023, Executive Committee meeting: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Child Support vacancy: Michelle Kurth, Child Support Administrator, was present to request filling a recent vacancy in her office for a full-time specialist. She was asked how many cases are handled by her office and she stated that they have in excess of 800 cases a year. Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve filling the vacancy. Motion carried. Code of Ethics: Nicole Hager, Human Resources Manager, was present and Courtney Graff, Corporation Counsel, was present via telephone, to discuss the need for a Code of Ethics. Hager stated, the investigation by Ja ke Curtis, suggested that we adopt a code of ethics. Curtis did offer his assistance, but there w ill be a cost associated. After some discussion, there was a motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to allow Hager and Graff to develop a Code of Ethics with Curtis and bring it to the County Board for approval. Motion carried. Taylor County Network Coordinator position: Nicole Hager, Human Resources Manager, was asked at the last Executive Committee meeting to reach out to county employees to see if any of them were interested in fulfilling some of the duties of this new network coordinator position. There were a handful of employees that offered to help. Bub anticipates this will be a part time, contracted position, averaging 20 hours per week. They will manage the internet service providers per their contracts, sell our network to new customers, manage customer issues, apply for grants, among other duties. Motion by Metz , seconded by Bub, to look for an outside person to fill the position and ask Carlson Dettman for a salary range. A roll call vote taken, two (2) voting aye, one (1) voting no (Mil dbrand). Motion carried. Hager will work with Bub on the hiring process. Budget Review Committee update: The committee has been meeting with department heads to gather information, no decisions have been made. Mildbrand asked that the committee check into comp time and paid out sick leave. No action taken. Adjourn: Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to adjourn the meeting at 10:05 a.m. Motion carried. Andria M. Farrand County Clerk EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Monday, February 6, 2023 County Board Room Members Present: Jim Metz, Scott Mildbrand and Mike Bub. Members Absent: none. Other Attendees: Michelle Kurth, Larry Brandl, Nicole Hager, Sarah Holtz, Brian Wilson -Star News and Andria Farrand. Call Meeting to Order: Chairman Jim Metz called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Approve Agenda: Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the January 16, 2023 Executive Committee meeting : Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Child Support Resolution: Michelle Kurth, Child Support Administrator, was present to answer questions on the Child Suppo rt resolution, which requests that the State increase the General- Purpose Revenue (GPR) by $5,000,000.00 in each fiscal year of the 2023 -2025 Wisconsin State budget, which will generate approximately $9,700,000.00 in additional federal funding each year. Bub questioned how it will generate so much, Kurth will investigate and advise. Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub to approve the resolution and send it to the County Board. Motion carried. Additional opioid settlement opportu nity: There is another lawsuit filed against the pharmacies and the opportunity for Taylor County to receive approximately $100,000.00. Bub voiced his concern stating the lawsuits will just increase prescription costs for consumers. Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Metz, to move forward with this additional opportunity. Bub voted no. Motion carried. Job description-Taylor County Network Coordinator: Bub presented the job description, and he expects it to be a part time position. T here was discussion about whether it could be added to the current IT staff, or any other current staff. Could it be sp lit among a few departments. The committee then asked Human Resources to look into the possibility of incorporating it into the current county staff and report back in a month. Treasurer’s Office: In addition to other discussions, Mildbrand stated he talked with Bob and Justin in the Surveyo r’s office about the potential savings in that department when Bob retires later this year. Mildbrand stated that t he dollars saved should be removed from the Surveyor’s budget and moved to budget reduction as immediate budget relief. No action was taken. Establish parameters for the Budget Review Committee: The newly established committee is meeting on February 14th and should be meeting with all of the departments to look for savings, namely future retirements. All ideas sent in by the Supervisors to be presented to the County Board and not dismissed by the Budget Review Committee. The Supervisors need to be involved in the process. There was further discussion, but no action taken. Adjourn: Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to adjourn the meeting at 11:08 a.m. Motion carried. Andria M. Farrand County Clerk EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Monday, January 16, 2023 County Board Room Members Present: Jim Metz, Scott Mildbrand and Mike Bub. Members Absent: none. Other Attendees: Chuck Zenner, Lynn Rosemeyer, Sue Swiantek, Catherine Lemke, Lorie Floyd, Larry Brandl, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Call Meeting to Order: Chairman Jim Metz called the meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. Approve Agenda: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve th e agenda. Motio n carried. Approve the minutes of the September 8, 2022, Executive Committee meeting: Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Special Committee to review all County departments: Bub stated that as part of his motion at the Budget hearing was to form a special committee to review all county departments for potential cost savings. Zenner stated that the committee has already been established by Metz and consists of Zenner, Rosemeyer, Hager and Brandl. Bub stated that the Executive Committee should be the oversight committee. Mildbrand asked Metz to add Soper to the committee. Motion by Bub, seconded by Mildbrand, to form the co mmittee of three County Board Supervisors: Zenner, Rosemeyer and Soper, with Hager and Brandl as ex-officio members. It will be called the Budget Review Committee and is to provide bi -monthly updates to the Executive Committee. Motion carried. Broadband project-how to manage our inves tment: Bub stated our network is live a nd the county will have sites live this week. The concern is who will take responsibility for the network for the next 20 years. The person will need to oversee WANRack and Bug Tusse l, apply for grants, etc. Metz asked Bub to create a job description fo r a new position and bring it back to the Executive Committee along with the estimated number of hours needed per week. Nest meeting date: The next meeting is scheduled for February 6th at 10:00 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Mildbrand, seconded by Bub, to adjourn the meeting at 2:20 p.m. Motion carried. Andria M. Farrand County Clerk