Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Well, good morning.

We'll go ahead and call the regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors to order. Roll call.

Alteringer?

Present.

Hockensmith?

Here.

Honnelly? Here. Holm?

Here.

McCoy.

Here. Action on the minutes from the previous meeting.

Second, Connolly.

Roll call.

Altringer. Yes. Hockensmith.

Yes.

Connolly. Yes. Holm.

Yes.

McCoy.

Yes. Any special claims?

None.

Action on the bill list is submitted by the county auditor. Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hawkins-Smith?

Yes.

Connolly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes. Go ahead and stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Go ahead and move to our first public hearing.

Our first public hearing is on plans, specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for North Polk Outdoor Education Improvement Project.

Is proof of publication on file?

Yes.

Is there anyone here wishing to speak to this item? If not, I will close the hearing and ask for a motion.

So moved.

Second, Holm. Roll call.

This will be for number six, resolution approving plan specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for the North Polk Outdoor Education Improvement Project. Altringer?

Yes.

Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connelly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes. Our next public hearing.

The next public hearing is on plans, specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for 2026 bioreactor project.

Is proof of publication on file?

Yes.

Is there anyone here wishing to speak to this item today? If not, I will close the hearing and ask for a motion.

So moved.

Second, Connelly.

Roll call.

will be for number seven resolution approving plans specifications form of contract and estimated cost for the 2026 bioreactor project altering yes hawkins smith yes connelly yes home yes mccoy yes next public hearing the next public hearing is on disposal of county interest in real estate is proof of publication on file yes

Is there anyone here wishing to speak to this item? Hearing none, I will close the hearing and ask for a motion.

So moved. Second, Connelly.

This will be for number eight, resolution approving a quit claim deed to 20 East 18th Des Moines LLC for a vacant parcel at 249 East 19th Street, Des Moines.

Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connolly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes. Next public hearing.

The next public hearing is on disposal of county interest in real estate.

Is proof of publication on file?

Yes.

Is there anyone here wishing to speak to this item? If not, I will close the hearing and ask for a motion.

roll call this will be for number nine resolution approving a quick claim deed to rocco llc for a vacant parcel behind 115 north second street oak city altering yes hawkins smith yes connelly yes home yes mccoy yes next public hearing the next public hearing is on disposal of county interest in real estate

Is proof of publication on file?

Yes.

Is there anyone here wishing to speak? If not, I will close the hearing and ask for a motion. So move.

Move over to Hockensmith.

This will be for number 10, resolution approving a quitclaim deed to Grayslake LLC for a vacant parcel at 1524 Clark Street, Des Moines.

Roll call.

Alteringer?

Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connelly?

Yes.

Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes. Next public hearing?

The next public hearing is on disposal of county interest in real estate.

Is proof of publication on file?

Yes.

Is there anyone here wishing to speak to this item? If not, I will close the hearing and ask for a motion.

So moved. Moved.

second conley this will be for number 11 resolution approving a quit claim deed to daryl r walker trust for a vacant parcel between 409 south second street and 401 south second street 113 west grime street and 110 west church church street 410 first street and 400 first street poke city and number 12 and 13 resolutions approving quit claim deeds to poke city rentals llc for portion 2 and portion 3 of a vacant parcel between 409 South 2nd Street and 401 South 2nd Street, 113 West Grime Street, and 110 West Church Street, 410 First Street, and 401st Street, Oak City.

Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connelly?

Yes.

Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes. Next public hearing.

The next public hearing is on disposal of county interest in real estate.

Is proof of publication on file?

Yes.

Is there anyone here wishing to speak to this item? If not, I will close the hearing and ask for a motion.

So moved.

Second, hold.

This will be for number 14, resolution approving quit claim deed to John and Mackenzie Swanson for a vacant parcel between 731 56th Street and 727 56th Street, Des Moines.

roll call altering yes hawkins smith yes connelly yes home yes mccoy yes our next and final public hearing our final public hearing is on disposal of county interest in real estate is proof of publication on file yes is there anyone here wishing to speak to this item Hearing none, I'll close the hearing and ask for a motion. Move. Second.

This will be for number 15, resolution approving a claim deed to John and Mackenzie Swanson for a vacant parcel between 748 55th Street and 727 56th Street, Des Moines.

Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hawkins-Smith?

Yes.

Connelly? Yes. Holm?

yes mccoy yes we're at that point in the meeting where uh public comments are in order is there anybody in the audience wishing to address the board this morning yes please come forward state your name and

Good morning. My name is Tana Warhead. I'm with the Small Business Administration Office of Disaster and Recovery. We're here, our field operations are here to serve the people who were impacted by the recent declaration or disaster that took place July 2nd through the 4th. There was severe flooding that took place in a particular area. Our agency, Small Business Administration, is a federal agency, and we come to aid when there are disasters declared. What I have here, and I'd like to email to you all, to maybe distribute to some of your constituents, is our disaster loan program. So this speaks to the details of the program. Also, it's available for homeowners, renters, and businesses. So we'd like... If this information can be shared with your constituents and also as we navigate out to other areas. There are several counties that were declared under this disaster and Polk being the primary county. There is Boone, Dallas, Jasper, Madison, William, Story, and Warren that are contiguous counties that were impacted. So these are the areas that we like to serve and be assistance to those individuals who were impacted by the disaster. And if I may have a contact person to send that information to, would love to send the email so that it can be distributed.

Sure, we can definitely get you that right after the meeting. You can talk to either one of these individuals. We'll also have our communications team put that out. I did see the notice that you were taking applications. Yes. Where are you working out of?

So we do have two what we call disaster loan outreach centers. One is in Polk County, and that's at the Four Mile Recreation Center. And I understand that's right by the creek that had the overflowing. The other is Story County, and that's in Ames. I can get you both addresses for you so that you all can have that. In addition to that, we're working on what we call a pop-up, and that's a one-day event that homeowners can come in and apply and get information and so forth. So we did one Saturday. We're planning to do one this Saturday, so more information on that is coming. Also, I'll be doing a presentation with the City of Iowa, the Economic Development Council there. That is slated for the 6th and the 7th, so that'll be next week. And I'll be doing a presentation for the business owners because a lot of times businesses, during disasters, don't really know where to go to get help. And so just so that this is a proactive measure as well as we're serving, you know, presently, that businesses will have the information they need as a backup plan, business continuity, that they can have this in their plans going forward.

That's great. And these are low-interest loans for homeowners and renters, business owners. Okay, very good.

Faith-based organizations are also included in that as well.

That's great. Well, we appreciate that and please provide that information so we can get that out and broadly distribute it. Certainly. Thank you all so much. Thank you for being here. We appreciate it.

Thank you.

Anyone else wishing to? Carol?

Hi, my name is Carol Maher. I live in downtown Des Moines. First of all, I wanted to thank you once again for taking action on reducing speed. In Polk County, item number 24 reduces speed limits from 45 to 35 on what seems to be a very, very long stretch of road in Ankeny. So thank you for that. Always give a shout out when changes are made in the name of traffic safety. And also items number 37 and 41. I've only been coming to these meetings for a year or so. So I'm not up to speed on a lot of history on some of this stuff. But the way I read number 37, the loan off of the revenue bonds issued in July of 2022 of 14.1 million and about 16 months later, that deal has been in forbearance with no principal and interest being repaid. And now it looks like maybe there's a five and a half million dollar balance left plus interest in fees. that it looks like there's maybe a sale of that property pending for 4.5 million by the end of this month. My question would be who's at risk for the million delta there between the outstanding balance of 5.5 million and the 4.5 that's going to proceeds from the sale and if we're waiving all the interest and fees. I spent a little time in the banking industry, certainly on the consumer side, not in the revenue bond as collateral side. So I don't really understand all the risks and underwriting associated with that. So just sort of hold that thought. I don't understand all the financials and risks associated. But then number 41, the YMCA bridge loan that was made in June of 2022. And again, about 16 months later, women forbearance, where there was, it doesn't appear that there's been any payment interest or principal made since October of 2023, where the loan has received three one-year deferrals, additional deferrals, and we're asking for another three one-year referrals which would put out put out the loan to 2029 which would be looks like about six years of of no payments my question would be is there interest or curing through this whole time and how did we underwrite that i mean that seems to be pretty risky I don't know how many underwriters we have on staff and how that all works, but if they haven't been able in that time to find a refinance on the private market, I'm not sure if the county is the best place to be offering banking services, frankly, because there's a lot of really smart people out there in the private market that do that. So I just wanted to get that out there that I hope that when those items come up, there'll be a little discussion on to how we got there. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll go ahead and move on then to permits.

Number 17, renewal application for Class C retail alcohol license with outdoor service area permit for Norwood Inn Limited located at 4592 Northeast 29th Street, Des Moines. renewal application for Class C retail alcohol license for Outer Limits located at 6560 Northeast 14th Street, Des Moines, and number 19, ownership update for special Class C retail alcohol license for Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, Iowa Chapter 39, located at 160 Northeast 49th Place, Des Moines.

Roll call.

Alteringer? Yes.

Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connelly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes.

resolutions number 20 resolution authorizing auditor's office to publish notice of public hearing for august 11th to consider plans specifications form of contract and estimated cost for the sleepy hollow stream restoration project 21 resolution authorizing support of a surface transportation block grant program funding request with the city of ankeny for northeast 94th avenue reconstruction from the nemoine area metropolitan planning organization 22, resolution approving an assessment for drainage district Poke Boone, Dallas, number one, of 25.152% of the original assessment amount to be spread upon the properties in the district. 23, resolution approving weatherization project in the amount of $17,933.09 to be awarded to an approved contractor. And number 24, resolution approving the establishment of the recommended speed limit on Northeast 66th Avenue.

So moved.

Second, Holm. Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connolly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes.

Number 25, resolution approving amended agreement with Cragness & Associates for Suite 102 Judicial Center.

Move.

Second, Holm. Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connolly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes.

Number 26, resolution approving service agreement with resources for human development.

Move.

Second, Hockensmith.

Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connolly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes.

Number 27, resolution approving agreement for radon mitigation services with Central Prairie Radon doing business as Ameriserve Radon Mitigation.

So moved. Second, Connolly.

Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connolly? Yes. Yes. Home.

Yes.

McCoy.

Yes.

Number 28, resolution approving Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy U.S. Department of Justice Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Grant. 29, resolution approving 28E agreement with Jasper County for law enforcement services in the city of Mitchellville. 30, resolution approving 28E agreement with the Bondurant-Farrar Community School District for law enforcement services and one school resource officer. And number 31, resolution approving Midwest HIDTA sub-award recipient agreement.

So moved.

Second, Holm. Roll call.

Altringer. Yes. Hockensmith.

Yes.

Connelly.

Yes.

Holm.

Yes.

McCoy.

Yes.

Number 32, resolution approving position modification in the sheriff's office. And number 33, resolution approving agreement with Health Gauge Wellness Solutions.

So moved, Holm.

Second.

Roll call.

Altringer. Yes. Hockensmith.

Yes.

Connelly?

Yes.

Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes.

Numbers 34 through 36 are resolutions approving the recommendations of the Polk County Assessor for allowance of the military service tax exemption, the homestead tax credit, and the 65 plus homestead tax exemption.

Move. Second. Connelly.

Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hawkins-Smith?

Yes.

Connelly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes.

Number 37, resolution approving amendment to forbearance agreement and loan modification agreement with Calvin Community and First Interstate Bank.

Littlecock and Smith.

Second.

Frank, is there anything you can share with the board as it relates to what we're doing today on this forbearance agreement? With the YMCA? Yeah, or no, this is for Calvin Community Center.

Number 37.

37, I think Dominic, that'd be fine.

I think I had the same questions as Carol when I first saw this come through when I contacted Deb, who's our budget director on it. And it's my understanding that the nature of these bonds are such that the taxpayer in Polk County is not on the hook for repayment. Instead, this is a financing vehicle for nonprofits to utilize the county's bonding authority to achieve better financial terms. And Deb, if I've said anything wrong, I'd welcome you up.

So it's called conduit financing, and it's essentially conduit financing is when a nonprofit uses our bonding authority, but they collateralize the debt with their own institution so that they get a lower interest rate as a nonprofit. And so it's conduit financing. It does not put the taxpayer at risk. So thank you.

We've done it multiple times.

Yes. Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connelly? Yeah. Holm?

Supervisor Holm?

Yes.

LaQuette?

Yes.

Number 38, resolution abating taxes for Crossroads Community Church Grimes for property at 3240 Northwest 102nd Granger. 39, resolution authorizing auditor's office to publish notice of public hearing for August 11th on disposal of county interest in property located in the city of Altoona. 40 resolution approving increasing the township trustees and clerks hourly compensation rate 41 resolution approving second amendment to loan agreement with the ymca and number 42 resolution approving bid and first aid supplies contract to glove pro plus i'd actually like to pull 41 for discussion and move the others okay um

Yeah, would you please make a motion to? Yes.

Is there a second or discussion on the motion?

Roll call.

Okay, so are we doing the vote here on everything except 41? Correct. Okay, so this will be for numbers 38, 39, 40, and 42. Alterner?

Yes.

Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connelly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes. We're now on item 41.

Thank you. I was originally going to pull this and then I almost didn't because I don't think I could have put my questions any better than Carol did during public comments. I have a concern about our role as a bank, particularly the role of the bank when the loans are being defaulted on or continue to be extended without payment. I will vote for this. think that we need to take a closer look as we're handling these loans that are currently out there and when groups come to us asking for loans in the future because this isn't the only one on our books that we aren't getting payment for and that does cost our taxpayers' money. And with that, I will move 41 on its own. Did you want to speak to it, Frank?

Frank. Sure, sure. So I'd say a couple things. I don't disagree with anything Carol said.

Well, let's get a second on it first.

I can tell you that I would not bring an agreement like this to this board, but we have it now, so it is yours to deal with, and one thing that you've directed me to do is to look at cleaning up some of these poorly structured agreements. This would be one of them, but these things do take time, and so by deferring it, it gives us an opportunity to continue to work with the Y to come to an agreement to better utilize that property. What I don't want is for us to prematurely cut the deal. They could maybe go into bankruptcy as an example and the county never sees a dollar of that money. I think there's an opportunity to restructure that property, to downsize the gym itself, to repurpose some of that facility to create a revenue stream. Potentially the county could own the asset or at least make that a revenue but those things take time, and we're continuing to do our due diligence and work with them. My goal is to have this be the last year of deferment. And so in the next 12 months, we're hoping to have some type of an agreement that restructures that loan, that gets the county to begin being paid back, or at least have some asset out of the arrangement.

Thank you.

Very good. So the motion is to... i've moved 41. i just wanted to pull up so so uh supervisor altringer has moved 41. uh did supervisor conley second yeah i thought so uh supervisor conley seconded uh all those in uh favorite roll call altering her yes hawkins smith yes connelly yeah home yes mccoy yes

Numbers 43 and 44 are resolutions approving Platinum Sponsorship Awards for Latino Resources Inc. and for Downtown Events Group Inc. for the World Food and Music Festival. Numbers 45 and 46 are resolutions approving Community Betterment Grant Awards and Community Sponsorship Awards.

So moved.

Second, Holm.

It's good to have you with us, Joe. We hope for a Joe Gonzales for a great Latino festival with wonderful weather this year. Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connelly? Yes. Holm? Yes. McCoy?

Yes. Communications. Communications.

Number 47, City Development Board notice of written decision in the matter of the City of Ankeny's voluntary annexation petition within the urbanized areas of the City of Polk City. 48, City of Bondurant notice of proposed 100% voluntary annexation within two miles of the cities of Altoona and Mitchellville. 49, City of Des Moines notice of public meeting of compensation commission to assess damages for taking a property in the matter of the condemnation of certain rights and land for Douglas Avenue improvements from Earl Hay Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway project. And number 50, City of Urbandale notice of consultation concerning the proposed amendment number three to the second amended and restated Northwest Market Center urban renewal plan.

Refer to public works and county attorney. Any budget actions today? None. Appointments?

I move the appointment to Hockensmith.

Second.

Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hockensmith?

Yes.

Connelly? Yeah. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes. Any board member comments this morning?

This is Supervisor Hockensmith. I have a question, Mr. Chairman. Some of the questions that were asked earlier um during the board meeting about bonding that i have i don't fully understand at all i mean i understand we got to pay out bonds and what have you but um and maybe i've missed something that at one point always was our bonding firm do we have a different bonding firm now or are we utilizing a traditional bonding organization to issue bonds for us

Yes, we are. I'll go ahead and have Dominic respond to that. We use Dorsey Law Firm.

I'm sorry, you cut out there, Dominic. I'm sorry, what?

Dorsey and Whitney Law Firm.

Okay, okay, okay. All right, thank you. just to add on to that we have a current agreement with dorsey and whitney to provide bond council to the county so no decisions recommendations are put forth without having advice from bond council yeah it would just be easier sometimes frank i know that uh you know they're always sometimes they would show up at a meeting and be able to come up to the podium and discuss the questions at hand you know and that that was really helpful uh you kind of it makes it less confusing for the constituents that have the questions, I think, but that's all I have.

Point we'll take in, Supervisor, and hearing no other business to come before us, I would entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Back at home.

Roll call.

Altringer? Yes. Hawkins-Smith?

Yes.

Connelly? Yes. Holm?

Yes.

McCoy?

Yes. We're adjourned. Thank you all.