Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Starting bell.

Good morning. We'll go ahead and call the regular board meeting to order. And we'll start with a roll call.

Alteringer? Here. Hockensmith?

Here.

Connolly? Here. Holm? Here. McCoy?

Here. Action on the minutes from the previous meeting. Move to approve. Roll call altering her.

Yes, Hawkins Smith. Yes, Connolly. Yes, home. Yes, McCoy.

Yes. Any special claims? Action on the bill list is submitted by the county auditor. Roll call altering her.

Yes, Hawkins Smith. No, Connolly. No, home. Yes, McCoy.

Yes. We'll stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. indivisible with liberty and justice for all public comments we're at the point in the meeting where we would accept any public comments from anyone that wants to address the board this morning please come forward state your name and

Good morning. My name is Anne Bacon, and I'm with Impact Community Action and a resident of Polk County. I want to start by saying that Caring Hands and Jody, the provider noted in an agreement for services on today's agenda, do incredible, meaningful work in our community. And I don't stand here to oppose them or the upcoming resolution outright. I stand here because I care deeply about how our county invests in food security, and I believe you do too. The resolution before you today allocates $60,000 this year and $200,000 per year for the next three years for food procurement and food rescue services. That's a significant investment, and it deserves a few honest questions. I want to be transparent. I raised these questions with multiple county staff before coming here today. I wasn't able to get answers. That's part of why I'm standing at this microphone rather than simply following up with an email. Here are my questions. Was a formal RFP process conducted? The county's procurement policy, as posted on its website, indicates that service contracts over $50,000 should go through the procurement division. Second, how was the funding level determined? For context, Impact operates a full food pantry in Ankeny, including vehicle expenses, staffing, administration, and food rescue for less than this amount annually. And lastly, was the Central Iowa Food Security Collaborative consulted? Many organizations have invested heavily in building a shared accountable planning process. Ideally, funding decisions of this size would connect with that work. This board has done it right before. The Hunger-Free Polk County Initiative was a model of what county-led food security investment can look like. Community informed, transparent, and built on access and accountability. That process earned trust across our sector. This one raises questions that I wish could have been answered before we got into this room. I'm not asking you to vote no. I'm asking you to ask and or answer these questions. And if they can't be answered today, to consider tabling it until they can be. Transparent, equitable funding processes protect the county, protect nonprofits, and ultimately protect the people we all serve. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Kathy Underhill. I'm the CEO of DMARC, which is in Polk County, and I'm also a resident of Polk County. Let me start my comments with a thank you. DMARC values our relationship with Polk County, and we're really grateful for the funding that you provided in October dedicated to food purchase during the SNAP shutdown, so huge appreciation. DMARC was surprised when a community member alerted us to the food rescue resolution you'll be voting on today. And I'm speaking today to help kind of correct the record because we at DMARC are getting questions from people like this concerned community member people who kind of know the ins and outs of hunger relief, to ask if something has changed in our relationship with key partners, but of course it has not. For those not familiar with our partnership, the Polk County River Place and North Community Center food pantries are members of DMARC's food pantry network. Being a member of our network means a pantry can place weekly orders for unlimited food that DMARC purchases and it is delivered to their door. DMARC serves as the fiscal sponsor for the county with Food Bank of Iowa where the pantries can order as much food as they would like and DMARC pays all the expenses. DMARC delivers food rescue at least once a day to River Place Monday through Friday. Last fiscal year, these efforts resulted in DMARC providing more than 682,000 pounds of food for the Polk County-run pantries at no cost to the county. Recently, the county asked if we would take on a new network partner, Knock and Drop Iowa. We gladly did so, which resulted in the Global Neighbors Welcome Center. The new effort is serving very high numbers of people, and DMARC is prepared to do more for River Place if a gap has been identified, but that has not been communicated to us. I will close by saying that DMARC unreservedly supports and appreciates all the organizations working to end hunger in Polk County, and we believe that they all deserve access to funding. Thank you.

Good morning. There's a lot of important things on the agenda today. And my name is Erica Johnson. I am the founding executive director of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice. And so we wanted to bring something up today, not because it's on the agenda, but because it's a developing thing in the world of immigrants and refugees. And we wanted to update you. As we did, I think it was around last summer, summer 2025, the changes as it relates to immigrants and refugees because of the large and growing number of immigrants and refugees who reside in Polk County. As we mentioned last time, IOMMJ, we are an immigrant rights organization. We serve folks around the state. And the bulk of our people that we serve by providing immigration legal services and advocating for welcoming policies in communities live here in Polk County. And as you know, I think, based on our presentation that we gave last summer, like I said, U.S. immigration laws are complex and ever-changing. So there was a new policy that came out on February 18th that is sort of why we're here today, and we wanted to let you know that because of this change, which I have Ann Naff here with me, she is the co-director of our legal services program, and she's gonna talk more about the policy, but the punchline is that because of this change in immigration policy on the federal level, we're hoping to double the number of refugees that we assist who are adjusting their status. So just kind of a reminder, after fleeing persecution and seeking safety, In Iowa, people have been fully vetted and permitted to enter, live, and work lawfully in the U.S. The vetting is conducted by U.S. Department of Homeland Security, DHS, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the National Vetting Center. After one year of physical presence, refugees can submit an application to adjust their status so that they can become lawful permanent residents and gain access to public benefits like food and health care. And so some recent changes which had actually taken place last summer, which is why we came before you then, were restricting or removing their long existing access to those public benefits programs. So on February 18th, DHS issued a new memorandum establishing a new policy that would require refugees who've been physically present President, I should have asked if I had a time limit here, but I'll try to keep it brief.

That's my iPad.

No worries. So as I was saying, this new policy... is requiring that people who have been physically present in the U.S. adjust status after one year, or they will be returned to DHS custody for inspection and examination. So what that means is that refugee families who have been in the U.S. for one year and are not green card holders could be detained while their green card applications are being processed. So legal representation is needed now more than ever for folks who are falling within that category to ensure that people who are seeking safety and security, who are refugees, who are lawfully present in Polk County and unfamiliar with U.S. immigration laws, which are changing constantly, are not detained wrongfully or stripped of their status. So I'm going to call Ann up now so she can talk more about the policy and just kind of some numbers real quick. The estimates are that there's between 3,005 refugees in Iowa who need to adjust their status and need access to immigration legal services. Right now we have 224 people on our waiting list because as you know, as we mentioned last summer, we've been cranking up our efforts to process people to make sure that they have a more stable status while the immigration laws are changing so constantly right now. So we hope to double the number of immigration legal clinics over the next year and assist 500 people over the next year. And in order to do that, we're here requesting support from Polk County. But I'll hand it over to Ann now who can talk more about this more recent change and answer perhaps any questions that folks have.

Yeah, hi, my name is Anne Naffier. I am co-legal director and managing attorney at Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and definitely a resident of Polk County. Just really repeating what Erica said, but highlighting, last time we came and talked to you all, we were very concerned because refugees were getting cut off from any Medicaid or food stamps, and food stamps has happened already. They do not have food assistance anymore. I'm sure they are coming to DMARC and the other food pantries quite a bit. In October, their Medicaid is going to be cut off as well. They need to get green cards and they can apply for green cards at the end of their first year here in the United States. They need to get green cards to do that. In the meantime, on January 1st, the federal government put a pause on all green card applications. So the truth is refugees applying for green cards right now are not going to get them until the federal government lifts that pause. But then, as Erica said, on February 18th, Immigration announced a new policy, which is that if refugees do not have their green cards at the end of their first year here, which is impossible because they can't apply for their green cards until the end of their first year here, and it takes quite a while, many months, many years, and now with a pause could take an indefinite amount of time for them to get their green cards. But if they do not have their green cards, they are subject to detention. And it's not just it could happen, what the memo says is that ICE will come and detain all refugees who do not have their green cards. As Erica said, we think in 2024, about 3,000, it's hard to get exact numbers, but about 3,000 refugees were resettled in Iowa. Many of them, we, last year, we already helped 450 of them apply for their green cards. We've upped our numbers already this year trying to get them. But we do definitely need more financial support in order to to put our refugee neighbors in a safe position in which they will not be subject to detention. As you all know, there are huge warehouses being rented throughout the country. There is plenty of space to detain all 3,000 of those refugees. And what we're trying to do is make sure that that doesn't happen. Any questions I can answer? And if anybody wants a copy of the memo, I have it here. I can share it with you.

I would like a copy of that. You bet. And then I guess my question is, really related to what's happening. I assume this is a national policy and what's happening right now through the federal courts to try to get some rational policy decisions around this process. It just seems like the process is what I would say a process kind of set up for failure. If you need the green card, but you're pausing on green cards, but you can be detained, Again, these were people that were vetted and legally allowed to come into the country, correct?

Yeah, absolutely. And I've been through a lot of background checks already. The place that we have seen this process begin is up in Minnesota. There's a project called Project Paris. It's P-A-R-R-I-S, and I'm afraid I don't remember what that stands for. But in that, we've seen the federal government, we've seen ICE prioritize Somalian refugees. And so they have arrested Somalian refugees. They have sent many thousands of them to a detention center in Texas. In Minnesota, so far, they have been arresting people who have not applied for their green card, refugees. These are refugees, again, who have not applied for their green card, and refugees who had applied for their green card but have not gotten it yet. We think, according to this memo, they're going to stop that process. And we have some anecdotal evidence that ICE is no longer arresting or if they are arresting people who have a green card application in process, they are then letting them go once they've established that. I will say that they are taking Somalian refugees from Minnesota to Texas. And then when they find out that they have a green card application pending, they are letting them go on the streets of El Paso and saying, oh, hope you can get home to Minnesota. They are not giving them any way to get back to where they belong. And tragically, a couple of weeks ago, a Burmese immigrant died of exposure. That happened to be in Maine, not Mexico. But he was let go on the street five miles from his house. So it wasn't Texas to Minnesota. But he was disabled. He was blind. He was not able to get home. It was at night. And he died of exposure. So there is a federal case right now putting Paris, Project Paris, on hold in Minnesota, but that only applies to refugees in Minnesota. So other refugees throughout the country are going to be subject to this new policy. We haven't seen it put in place yet, but we're not waiting for that. We're going to try to help people before it does actually start to be placed in practice.

So excuse me just a minute.

Sure.

So let me get this straight. If their application is in process, the green card application.

We believe that is going to protect them.

It will be helpful.

It will be helpful. It's not the wording. I mean, if you look at the wording of the memo, it says they have to have their green card. Again, that's impossible. And it does say in one of the paragraphs, it does say that if they apply for their green card, that will be considered to have placed themselves. as the wording goes, back in the custody of ICE. So we think that if they have a pending application, that will protect them from detention.

Okay. And again, this is after a year of?

After a year of being in the United States. So they come and the minute they get to the United States, their first year is on the clock. At the end of that year, they can apply for their green card.

Okay. As I'm reading it, though, it says those who did not file an application, so to your point, they're in process, they filed something, or did not return for the required inspection and examination, which then there's like three bullet points on that. So if they return to this for this inspection, then.

So returning for the inspection is applying for the green card application. That is true. But if you, I mean, the subject is detention of refugees who have failed to adjust to lawful permanent resident status. That makes it sound like it needs to be a done deed. like they have to have the green card. However, I agree with you that we think that as long as they have applied for their green card, that they will be considered to have voluntarily returned themselves to the custody and will not be subject to detention, which is exactly why we need support in order to help people apply for their green cards. We think that will protect them. So I agree with your reading of it. I think there's some other language that's confusing, but I agree with you, and therefore we are going forward and helping people adjust as much as we can.

So what do you exactly need from us? What would you like?

Financial support.

To get more attorneys?

To get more attorneys and to be able to turn our projects more towards to get attorneys, to get the clinics that we need in order to bring people in, to train volunteers, to train volunteer attorneys. I mean, we're leveraging all of the possibilities that we can to help as many thousands of people as we can.

I think Erica submitted that letter last time with a financial cost. Did you have that down last time? I can't remember.

Yeah, we had a couple of things, and they're kind of broken down by how we approach tackling things. And because things have changed so drastically, and they're changing so quickly, We're kind of just going all in. So where we were doing, for example, once a month clinics, we're doing them every week. So essentially, we're looking at a $300,000 commitment is what we're asking for. And it's broken down, like you said, in the categories that we previously submitted. And we can resubmit that if that's helpful to look at.

Well, it's not getting any better. That's correct. Sounds like it's getting worse. And you say we have about 3,500 refugees?

We think in the state of Iowa resettled in 2024. There are some refugees who were resettled earlier who have not adjusted status, so it could be a larger number. Also, we get second waves of refugees, people who are resettled in other states, and then they move to Iowa because we have better housing, better schools, better jobs here. That's great. So we don't know the exact numbers, but we're looking at an estimate of at least 3,000 people who are going to need this.

And what's our estimate for Polk County?

Most of those people are in Polk County. Several hundred are in Sioux City, several hundred are in Cedar Rapids, but we think the vast majority are here in Polk County. And is the state... And I don't have an exact number, sorry.

Is the state putting any funding towards this? They have not. Because it's a statewide issue. It is a statewide issue, absolutely.

It's a nationwide issue.

Thank you. I would hope that... Polk County can, I don't, it won't be a development grant because it's too much money. So it'll just have to be wherever we can find the money like we've done on other things. So I'm hoping that we can provide you the $300,000 to get you some help that you've asked for last summer and hopefully now.

We appreciate that and happy to answer any additional questions as folks have them.

Having just received this, I'm sure I'll have additional questions, but I do appreciate this. It gave me a start for my reading. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other public comments this morning? If not, we'll move on to permits.

Number seven, renewal application for Class C retail alcohol license for the Chateau, located at 15065 Northeast White Oak Drive, Cambridge. And numbers eight and nine are renewal applications for Class C retail alcohol licenses with outdoor service for Jester Park Golf Course, located at 11949 Northwest 118th Avenue, Granger, and Woodland Hills Golf Course, located at 620 Northeast 66th Avenue, Des Moines.

Roll call.

Altringer?

Yes.

Hawkins-Smith?

Yes.

Connelly?

Yes. Holm? Yes. McCoy?

Yes. Resolutions?

Numbers 10 and 11 are resolutions authorizing auditor's office to publish notices of public hearing on March 24th on disposal of interest in county-owned real estate for a vacant parcel located behind 3334 Dubuque Avenue, Des Moines, to Bonvienne and Dongsay Kamani, and for a vacant parcel located at 1941 Francis Avenue, Des Moines, to Broadlands Medical Center. Number 12, resolution approving the preliminary plat of Berg Acres. And number 13, resolution approving one permanent drainage easement and two temporary easements with Lindbar Farms.

Move the resolutions collectively. Second. Roll call.

Altschringer? Yes. Hockensmith? Yes. Connelly? Yes. Holm? Yes. McCoy? Yes.

Number 14, resolution approving Seventh Amendment to contract with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to administer Polk County decategorization and community partnerships for protecting children activities.

I move. Second. Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith? Yes. Connolly? Yes. Holm? Yes. McCoy? Yes.

Number 15, resolution approving agreement with KDM Consultants for a PREA audit at the Polk County Juvenile Detention Center. 16, resolution approving memorandum of understanding between Polk County Senior Services and the Iowa Insurance Division. 17, resolution approving Iowa State Fairgrounds Agreement for 2026 Senior Fest. And 18, resolution approving agreement with Caring Hands Outreach Center for Food Rescue.

So moved. Second. Chair, I'd like to pull 18 out. for a separate vote.

OK. We'll consider 15 through 17. Is there a motion to move 15 through 17? I'll move them. Second. Roll call.

Altinger? Yes. Hawkinson?

Yes.

Connelly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes.

Number 18, resolution approving agreement with Caring Hands Outreach Center for Food Rescue. So moved.

Second.

I just got a few comments. I appreciate the people that spoke today. And one of the questions that I have, I wrote down somewhere, about, I think it was Kathy from DMARC that wrote, that talked about the food rescue. I wasn't aware that we are already doing food rescue at River Place. So I need somebody to talk to me about that and what the difference is between that. Eric, if you can talk to me about that.

Eric, will you please come up and yield to some questions?

Absolutely. Should I wait for additional questions or one at a time?

That's good if you can answer that question.

We do receive some food rescue. It was more just for some history. You'll all remember that we had a breakdown in our relationship with the Food Bank of Iowa sometime into the pandemic. That really disrupted some food rescue, and we haven't really come back completely from that. DMARC certainly does provide us food rescue. The resolution on the agenda today is about caring hands. They have expanded that pretty dramatically, including ready-to-eat items. So we're now getting two sources of food rescue, and it's all going out.

So it's a different type of food rescue.

Right. I mean, food rescue is a mixed bag. Anyway, it's really kind of what's available. So you just never know what you're getting day to day. But we are right now getting more of the ready to eat items that don't have any preparation. They can be heated up, put a microwave in the pantry. And so we're seeing more of that.

Eric, at the time that Caring Hands came into the picture, the food bank was struggling to keep the shelves full, right?

So to be real concise on the history, so DMARC really carried us during that period of disruption from the food bank, and they procured all the food for us at a higher cost because they couldn't buy it from the food bank. Protein was low, costs were higher. We rekindled that relationship with food bank, and then it did get better. Mark, after that, we were able to get more protein, eggs in particular. more meat than just chubs of turkey. We'll get better variety of meat. And so that increased this fall when we rekindled that relationship. And then carrying hands, we started receiving food rescue from them about the same time.

Regarding the poundage and procurement, how does that all work when we say there's a procurement issue they talked about?

Well, that was when, so DMARC, and if I say anything wrong, Kathy, you'll have to clarify the details, but they buy food on the open market, they get food rescue, and they purchase from the food bank as well. And they can purchase by the pound much cheaper from the food bank than other sources. When we weren't a partner with the food bank for that two or three year disrupted period, they weren't able to buy that at a lower cost. So they had to procure it from other sources, which made their prices go up. And of course, protein is expensive as well. So all that was related. With the reestablishment of that food bank relationship, that by itself has helped dramatically.

So are they doing procurement through food bank?

Is DMARC doing procurement through the food bank?

Yes.

Yes, they have a partnership too.

Yes. Okay. So it's the same kind of cost.

I'd probably defer Jody to.

I would say so. If they needed something, we can buy it at the same price as probably Kokeo in there. But we have a, the difference, the big difference is that we operate over 40%. The difference is that we operate a building that's 43,000 square feet in Altoona, and we are ran by 250 plus volunteers. So our cost for salaries, different things like that, are tremendously low. We pick up, and I think I had a note that I gave to Frank, but over 700, about 700 and some thousand pounds of food each year. And so when I heard that Polk County was suffering, and of course I'm a big Polk County resident and always been supportive of Polk County, when I heard that River Place was suffering, we took our rescue food to another Polk County pantry to make sure that the homeless, the homeless population, of course, by River Place is huge. So we made sure that they'd have food that they could eat without having to cook it, without having to try to, you know, frozen meat is not going to really help that person that's homeless. So we just stepped up. We did that for free for, I don't know how many, I think we, when was it, Eric, was it September we started, somewhere in there? September, and currently still are providing food at that point for free. We provide over 40 boxes a day, but they're banana boxes. each day to River Place, and it is gone by the time that we take it there. So we're wanting to keep the food that we rescue in Polk County. That's the big difference, too, is our food, we don't go outside of Polk County. Our food, if you help anybody, it's within Polk County. So that kind of gives you an idea. But it's the volunteer force is how we keep our costs low.

Joni, I'm just curious because I'm probably aging myself a little bit here, but I remember when Carrying Hands ran out of a little house in Altoona out on 3rd Street and Larry O'Connor. Yeah, he's still there with me. Dean's dad was kind of heading it up. So it's expanded quite a bit. Where are you guys at now in Altoona?

You remember the old artistic building?

Where we're at?

The artistic building, we took that, and we have a building of 43,000 square feet, plus we have five acres. And so we're working with the city of Altoona to also help with the expenses, too. So what you would be giving to us, we're going to present to Dean, actually, in a couple weeks about matching. So that way we can help if there's other pantries in need in Polk County that they could call Caring Hands and we'd help them.

Well, I'm certainly going to support this. I was just curious, maybe Frank answered. I don't know. So would we have normally gotten an application through a grant administrator for this? I'm getting confused as far as just pushing money out the door for certain projects and then other projects go through our grant administrator's office and things like that.

Can you clarify that for me? Sure. Happy to. So first, it is not a grant, and so it would not have gone through the normal grant process. Some of the genesis, and Jody touched on it, is when we were having some food issues, they brought in their program to provide that food for free. And so that was somewhat of a pilot program for us to review it, see how their program ran in working with community family and youth services. And it was extremely well received. It's been great. So then they provided us with a proposal. We had an existing relationship working with them. They gave us a proposal for not just food rescue, but also additional services, hygiene products, and things of that nature. And this is less of a business to business agreement. This is more of an incubator type agreement, a partnership. So Polk County is partnering with Carrying Hands to help this business model, which they are going to then scale across the county to Grimes, to Ankeny. It's a great model because it's volunteer driven. So what it's going to do for Polk County is allow us to reduce cost over time. while enhancing the services to food insecurity and so after that three-year term the idea is they will be sustainable they will be able to operate on their own so again it's volunteer driven it's a very unique model that i don't know that exists it's polk county centric which is great focusing on our polk county pantries I know DMARC and Impact spoke, and they both spoke highly of Carrying Hands. So I'm not sure what the problem is, other than maybe other organizations aren't receiving funding. But I think that in agreement with Community Family Use Services, this is something that is in need. This board has done a great job of spreading dollars to multiple organizations. I know DMARC was, I think, the sole recipient of Hunger Freeport County, over $2 million. Impact through contributions, federal pass-throughs has received over $40 million. So I think every organization is receiving support, but we want to really try this new model with caring hands, and I think it's going to have a great impact in Polk County.

yeah i i i think from what i heard some of the other uh non-profits ask was you know is are we going to be eligible for those type of allocations um also or are we going to continue to go through the grant process like we have in the past i think i think that's what i heard you say is that right it's part of it okay

I think we would continue to receive any grants, and you as a board would continue to review those, and we continue to review any proposals that come our way. And then what we would do as a department at my level is recommend it to the board, which we're recommending the Carrying Hands Agreement today. Okay.

And I think, Frank, too, you outlined the areas where there currently is a food and desert, which is what Jody's going to fill in basically north of 80, east and west in Volk County. I mean, we're so centric on Des Moines and areas. There are other areas in our county that need that, and that's the area Jody's expanding into. And I want to fully support this. I'm just a bit, quite frankly, a little bit bewildered here that What we want to do is keep waste, food waste, from going to the landfill. And Carrying Hands is collecting an enormous amount of that and getting it back in to be able to help people who are food insecure, which is what Polk County is focused on so heavily. And I'm just confused on the questions we've got from organizations where we're just simply trying to get food to people who need it. So I'm fully supportive of the caring hands. It's going to be something that's a different direction, but that's what we need to explore. There's no one answer to food insecurity. This is another option we have to try to resolve that. So I'm fully supportive of this.

My only concern, I've got a couple concerns. I've always been supportive of nonprofits investing in our community, particularly when it comes to reducing hunger in our community, I think. Caring Hands has done an awesome job. And I think they're going to continue to do an awesome job. My problem is, for years, we've always worked collaboratively together in that space. And I know that I think they meet monthly or at least quarterly with all of the nonprofits when it comes to food insecurity. And usually, when we come up with something new or different, this board talks about it. and we collaborate together and see if this is a plan. I'm not saying it's a bad plan. I think what Jody's doing is a great idea to give food if it's taking from Prairie Meadows or Hy-Vee or Casey's or whatever it is to our homeless population and to River Place, that's awesome. But it would have been certainly nice to talk about it collectively with the rest of the group in the organizations in that network. uh... to see if that's is that a gap that needs to be filled i mean we're not experts in that food insecurity but they are and i'm just saying why didn't we have that collaborative discussion i'm certainly going to support this resolution but The other problem I have is six months ago when we did give that money for SNAP because it was stopped, I asked the question, why can't we give operational money to those people because they are also going to need it? And you all looked at me cross-eyed and said, absolutely not. And here we are giving money for operations. And that's because we're not doing anything in a grant form because this is coming out of, I assume, Prairie Meadows dollars. I'm sure it's not coming out of general fund, but I don't know that. So that's the other thing I have a concern about. I think some of these grants deserve operational money. They can't do it all themselves and just do programming by computers, something else the board needs to start talking about with these nonprofits. They can't do it alone, or they're gonna have to all start coming up and giving us proposals like Carrying Hands has. So I think it's fine that we do this, but I do think that all of these other food insecurities need to come to us, specifically DMARC. So I'm going to propose an amendment that we give DMARC and Food Bank of Iowa some additional dollars to do exactly what Carried Hands is doing.

Well, I think, you know, Angela, this was a staff driven. I mean, Eric brought this forward, Frank. and you're doing exactly what government does best is you're trying to take something and dilute it down and just throw money at it. Like at this point, we have a proposal from Caring Hands, and if DMARC and Food Bank wanna come back and make a proposal, as Frank mentioned, we can evaluate that. But I don't think it's fair just to say, because Group A gets money, we're in Group B and C money too. So I would like to see proposals, and we'll entertain those, or maybe because this Caring Hands was staff-driven, they present that to Eric, and it comes through the same path, or whatever path forward, But I object to the idea of, well, Caring Hands is going to get money. Let's give money to everybody.

I heard you. You told me a long time ago you wanted to do something about food in this county.

And this is what the different direction looks like, which apparently has other organizations now complaining that they don't get their cut, too, which is not saying that any of the orders.

I don't think that's what they're complaining about. I don't think that's what they're complaining about.

I'm not saying that they don't have a proposal. I clearly said if they want to present to Eric or present that to us through the means that you have mentioned that was previously done, we can entertain that. but I just don't think today because one group has a proposal, again, to help an area that historically has been underserved in Polk County and has a different model of self-sufficiency and has a retail side to their store and is rapidly expanding their impact and helping at a time that Eric and that area needed it, why we wouldn't entertain proposals from anyone that wants to do that, but simply to say we're gonna give them the same amount of money because Karen's hand is getting money today doesn't make sense to me.

How does the board wish to proceed? Is there a motion?

We have a motion and second already on the table.

There's a motion and a second.

Was there a formal motion to amend?

No, I'm dropping an amendment.

Then we do have a motion and a second.

There's a motion and a second.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connolly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes.

Number 19, resolution approving letter of engagement with Cease and Wadding for representation in legal matter. Number 20, resolution approving improvements at Prairie Meadows Casino Racetrack and Hotel. And number 21, resolution approving sponsorship agreement with Gorge Wine Company.

I'd like to move to separate out 19 and 20 and talk specifically about them separately.

OK, we will consider these separately. Item 19 first.

So this is number 19, resolution approving letter of engagement with Cease and Wadding for representation in legal matter.

So moved.

Second.

Discussion? Roll call.

Balteringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

No.

Connelly? No.

Holm? Yes. McCoy?

Yes. Item 20, I do know that we do have Brian Rocco here, the new CEO of Prairie Meadows. Brian, do you want to come up and just tell us briefly what you're proposing for the board's consideration?

Yes, thank you, Chair, Board, Frank. We appreciate the opportunity to be before you today. Today, pursuant to Article 23, which is our leaseholder improvement agreement between Polk County and Prairie Meadows, we're requesting capital improvements of our facility that will invest additional dollars into the property, which in turn will help us receive additional opportunities to improve our business. Specifically, it's $2.2 million of capital that we're asking for. Anything over $100,000 needs to come before this board. We are asking for an opportunity to erect a new barn on the backside That is part of a three-year horseman's agreement with the Horseman's Benevolent Protective Agency. That three-year agreement is a reduction in days, but it's something that all parties agreed to and is something that we needed to submit to the commission immediately. part of our license renewal. And so that was part of that agreement. In addition to that, there's a $200,000 exerciser that will help with equine health and welfare of the animals. And then a $500,000 a relocation of the poker room, which will do a couple of things for us. It'll help us use some space that is underutilized at the property on the fourth floor by moving that poker room to the fourth floor, but then will also allow us to do some additional things with gaming space in that current location. In all, it's about $2.2 million and respectfully request approval of this project and happy to answer any questions from this board.

Brian, the only thing I have, and once again, I'm probably dating myself a little bit, and I really appreciate the partnership with Prairie Meadows we've had for many, many years, but I kind of really wish, like in the past, we have had full-blown board staff discussions, like Gary would come down with big designs and showing us exactly what they were doing and what have you, because believe it or not, we do get questions from constituents about what are they doing here, Tom, what are they doing there, what's that they're building over here, And then I say, well, I'm not really sure. So I just would like a little bit more thorough in the future. And we're going to be doing expansions and things like that to do a board staff discussion is all I'd ask.

absolutely I will do that in the future yes yes absolutely you have plans done any drawings of any kind or we have not started yes we have now we have not started at this point we wanted to seek approval all of these projects which I should have mentioned will be conducted in the fall and except the horse exerciser which is really just a um uh something that we would purchase uh in place on the back side and so we wanted to seek approval um we have um uh we'll need uh a design for the barn on the back side we'll need uh a contractor to do that and i'll uh for sure bring that we believe it's about 1.5 million based on our research for that particular barn. And then the relocation of the fourth floor is just existing space. We can bring those designs forward. We wanted to see if we had support and I will bring this, I can bring those specific designs forward as well.

Yeah, as Tom mentioned, for as long as I can remember, we've always had a board staff on any major renovations down at Prairie Meadows. I've enjoyed being able to make informed votes, you know, and start property. I know you guys are going to do a great job. And as Tom said, we have a great relationship with Prairie Meadows and always has been. But to be transparent, we've always liked to see what's happening on our property and as most people normally would. So whenever you're ready to do that, it's a formal vote and it's in, you know, that part of the lease. So. It's not that big a deal, but as Tom mentioned, we do like to see what's happening. Whenever you're ready, just bring it forward.

Understood, I will do that.

Thanks, Brian.

Yep, thank you. Thanks, Brian, and welcome to your new role. Is there a motion to approve item 20?

We have a motion and a second. No, we don't? No, I'm so sorry. Then I'll motion. Is there a second?

Second. Roll call.

alter yes, Hockensmith, yes, Connelly, yes, home, yes, McCoy, yes.

This would be number 21 resolution approving sponsorship agreement with gorge wine company.

Roll call alter yes, Hockensmith, yes, Connelly, yes, home, yes, McCoy, yes.

Number 22, resolution approving community development grant award for the city of Alleman.

I would like to defer on that until the next meeting, please. Is there a second? Second.

Roll call.

Yes. Yes. Connelly? Yes. Holm? Yes. McCoy? Yes.

Number 23, resolution approving community development grant award for the Safe Center of Iowa. And numbers 24 and 25 are resolutions approving community betterment grant awards and community sponsorship awards.

I move the resolution collectively. Second.

Roll call. Chair, I'd like to only make one comment. Sure. On the Safe Center, if I remember correctly, in late fall, I think we gave... another, I don't know what kind of grant it was, or we just gave it to them, over $500,000 for three years. Is that right, to build or to do something? Yes, yes.

It was for the rental of space at DMU 32 Business Center.

Okay, so that was for $500,000 for over three years?

Three years, yeah.

Okay, and now we're giving them a development grant, correct?

Correct.

Okay, I just want to clarify.

And it is for building specific build out. The building is just roughly an update. The facility will be fully built out at a cost of about 1.5 million. And it's a medical grade medical complex. And our funding will go directly into purchase of some equipment for the facility. In the fundraising, they have raised a half a million from the Blumenthal Family Foundation. And then I believe there's a anonymous donation for an additional quarter of a million of the 1.5 and the 100,000 will go into medical grade and they will continue the fundraising and they are continuing fundraising and grant writing There is a pending grant with the Department of Human Services at the state level that if they're able to receive it, would just about finish the complete $1.5 million.

Isn't that a statewide though? Yes. Does that money go statewide?

Statewide, but it would go. I think the... Funding for the build out would cover the remaining costs. And then all of the architectural services were donated.

Yeah, I've talked to Angie about it. Yeah. OK.

So they're close.

As you know, it's sort of like the Sobering Center or the Health Services Center. It's a lot of people putting private and public money together. And I think the whole board participated in the funding for the development grants.

Oh, it's a great project. I just wanted to point out that it's another one that was different than a grant we were approving and plus we gave them, not that I object to giving them money,

Right.

I don't think it was 500,000 either.

Yeah, I've got it written down here, 502,416 over three years.

Okay, I'll have to check my numbers because I thought it was closer to 390.

Okay, roll call.

Altenger? Yes. Hockensmith? Yes. Connolly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes. Communications? Yes.

Number 26, PepsiCo official notice of retraction and updated compliance notification. 27, notice that the Polk County Board of Supervisors will convene as a canvassing board on March 19th to canvass the votes cast for the West Des Moines City Council at-large special election to fill a vacancy held on February 17th. And on March 24th, to canvass the votes cast for the West Des Moines City Council at-large special election to fill a vacancy held on February 17th from the votes cast in Dallas, Polk, and Warren counties. And number 28, Notice that the Polk County Board of Supervisors will convene as a canvassing board on April 7th to canvass the votes cast for the Elkhart City Council at-large special election to fill a vacancy held on March 31st, 2026.

Receive and file.

Number 29, notice of appraisement of damages and time for appeal in the matter of condemnation of land for development pursuant to the Southeast Salix Drive project.

Refer to treasurer and county attorney.

Numbers 30 and 31 are requests for tax abatements for property at 4000 East 29th Street, Des Moines and 1014 Hull Avenue, Des Moines.

Refer to assessor, treasurer, and county attorney.

NUMBERS 32 AND 33 ARE CITY OF URBANDALE NOTICES OF CONSULTATION CONCERNING PROPOSED AMENDMENT NUMBER 2 TO THE AMENDED AND RESTATED WEST OVER URBAN RENEWAL PLAN AND PROPOSED AMENDMENT NUMBER 5 TO THE AMENDED AND RESTATED DOWNTOWN URBANDALE NEIGHBORHOOD AREA URBAN RENEWAL PLAN. AND NUMBER 34, CITY OF GRANGER NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION OF PROPERTY INTO THE CITY OF GRANGER.

I REFER TO PUBLIC WORKS AND COUNTY ATTORNEY. ANY BUDGET ACTIONS? NONE. APPOINTMENTS? Move.

Second.

Roll call.

Hall Chair? Yes. Huffington?

Yes.

Connelly? Yes. Holm? Yes. McCoy?

Yes. Any board member comments this morning?

Mr. Chair, I know I'm not a board member, but could I be in order? You are in order. I just wanted to touch on item 19. And we normally wouldn't discuss items that could potentially be in litigation. But I just want this board to be very clear on what they're voting on and how they're voting, given that You are all fiduciaries. I am a fiduciary of this county. And so I think I feel compelled just to make you aware that this is to recover damages from a lawsuit in which this county had a multimillion dollar settlement that is funded by the taxpayers. And so this is an effort to recover those damages. And so I just want all of you to be clear that that's what we're doing here and how you're voting on that item. Thank you.

It would be nice for you to tell us that prior to this meeting.

Any other business to come before us? If not, I would entertain a motion to adjourn the move. Roll call.

Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Yes. We're adjourned.