Floyd County supervisors consider changing regular meeting time

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Board of Supervisors’ regular Tuesday meetings might move from mornings to afternoons, to make it possible to address new issues that come up at workshop meetings the day before.

Supervisors discussed the idea Monday morning, and the three members seemed to favor the idea, saying it could solve potential agenda problems, eliminate conflicts with one or two other meetings, and simply be a chance to “try something new.”

Current supervisor Chair Roy Schwickerath said at the meeting Monday that he and Auditor Gloria Carr had been talking about ways to allow items that came up at a workshop meeting to be ready to take action on at the next regular meeting.

The board currently meets just about every Monday at 9 a.m. for a workshop meeting where supervisors discuss items for possible decisions during future regular board meetings. No official actions are taken at meetings announced as workshop meetings.

The regular meetings are currently held at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.

A problem can occur if an issue comes up at a Monday morning workshop meeting that needs to be addressed during the regular meeting the next day, but that isn’t on the Tuesday agenda.

The Iowa Open Meetings Law requires that an agenda for a public meeting be posted and sent out at least 24 hours before the start of the meeting, so by the time the Monday 9 a.m. meeting starts it’s already too late to modify the agenda for a Tuesday 9 a.m. meeting.

“We could actually set our meeting on Wednesday or Thursday,” Schwickerath said, but noted that many of the other boards and commissions that the supervisors sit on meet on those days.

“I think the one I like the best, actually is, could we do our Tuesday meetings at 1 o’clock, and that would allow us to do the 24-hour notice from Monday,” Schwickerath said.

Supervisor Linda Tjaden, who is likely to be elected the new chair by the board at its 2021 organizational meeting Jan. 4, since the position usually rotates annually, said she had thought about that idea and was not opposed to it.

“Numerous times it seems like something will come up at the workshop and then it’s already too late to put it on the agenda. That would give us time,” she said.

Supervisor Doug Kamm said it wouldn’t hurt to try something different, noting that in the past meetings had been held in the evening or at other locations to try to make them more accessible.

Although Monday’s meeting was listed as a special meeting so the board could take action on other items, no decision on the regular meeting time was made.

The issue of agendas had came up last week during a decision on whether there should be a facemask mandate for people entering the courthouse.

The board, by not seconding a motion proposing a mask requirement, did not take any action in that regard, but one person at the meeting questioned whether the issue should have even been brought up, since it wasn’t specifically listed on the Tuesday agenda and some people who might have been interested in the topic did not know it would be discussed.

The mask requirement motion had been made under a “discussion/review/action regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) issues as applicable” item that has been on almost every supervisors’ agenda since the pandemic was identified.

Also at the meeting Monday:

• County Recorder Deb Roberts administered the oath of office to the three county officers who had been re-elected in November. They were Supervisor Tjaden, Auditor Carr and Sheriff Jeff Crooks.

• Tjaden reported she had been working with Floyd County Public Health on locations for public distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, and said the Youth Enrichment Center at the county fairgrounds seemed to be “ideal.”

A survey is now available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/HCDJY3F, asking people if they plan to get the vaccine when it becomes available, to help with distribution planning.

• The board began planning for the Jan. 4 organization meeting, including discussing board member appointments to various boards and commissions and other annual duties taken care of at the first meeting of each new year.