County wants to continue facilities talks with CC

County wants to continue facilities talks with CC

Supervisors indicate no support for reverse referendum

By Chris Baldus cbaldus@charlescitypress.com

If Floyd County leaders decide to build a new jail, a law enforcement center or even a joint-government campus with the city of Charles City, they most likely will go to the voters directly to approve funding. The likelihood of a reverse-referendum appears dim.

“This decision is a large dollar amount and it’s a long-term investment for the citizens of Floyd County,” Floyd County Supervisor Roy Schwickerath said recently in a workshop meeting on the topic. “So I think it’s important that we give them a voice, and the code allows us to do that.”

While a referendum asks voters to approve funding for a project, a reverse-referendum would require opposition to petition the county to stop a project. A consultant recently explained the option to the Floyd County Board during a Dec. 15 workshop on possible next steps in the county’s facilities process.

As of that meeting, the immediate next step involves more discussion between the county supervisors and Charles City officials. Decisions need to be made regarding the city’s involvement in a project with the county and hiring design professionals. And though no supervisors were advocating folding the Charles City Police Department into the Sheriff’s Office, it’s a concept that the supervisors agreed needs to be broached.

County Board Chairman Doug Kamm said he would speak with City Administrator Steve Diers about further meetings with the City Council.

Kamm also called for leadership on facility issues, bringing up the spectre of the Charles City Middle School controversy and repurposing committee meetings that produced plenty of ideas but no action, he said.

“Somebody has to take lead, somebody has to take a step,” he said.

Retired Floyd County Sheriff Bill Cavanaugh, who said he opposes building a new jail but would volunteer to help the project along if it was approved by voters, implored the supervisors at the Dec. 15 meeting not to use a reverse-referendum.

“That seems like such a backdoor way at coming at the taxpayers, you guys,” he said. “I think that’s why the middle school got in such trouble. It was done right, but so wrong.

“This would be selling this project wrong if you go about it in that particular fashion.”

Cavanaugh urged the supervisors to “be honest with the people, talk to them, tell them this is the reality.”

Cavanaugh joined in on the supervisors discussion of the facilities issue throughout the meeting and in his comments, he said merging the police and sheriff agencies “has merit” and should be examined. He also noted that New Hampton has only an overnight holding facility.

“Are you going to move into town because we have a nice jail and sheriff’s office or because we have a nice school facility,” he said. “We all know, everyone of us sitting here know, that we have lost families to Waverly because of the school system alone.

“I would rather see us spend $8 million dollars on the high school than to build a jail.”

He also questioned whether the county should be upgrading its courthouse camera system if it is going to build a new building.

On the cameras, Kamm said: “We’re not going to abandon this courthouse and everybody is going move to the jail. The camera system is going to be here and it is supposed to be expandable.”

Schwickerath said the hardware is supposed to be movable and the system is supposed to have a seven to 10 year service life. He said building a jail could take longer that that and the technical and security needs will remain in the interim.

On the economic impact of a new jail, Kamm said. “I’ve had people call me and say this is economic development.” And it’s spending money for facilities and operations within the county rather than sending money out of county.

Kamm also said the courthouse itself is “well worn” and “needs some updating.” Floyd County shouldn’t get itself in the position Mitchell County was where it had to act because the courthouse was in dire shape.

“We have a heating system that’s — the clock is ticking,” he said. “We have 58 window air conditioners hanging in windows that are about to fall out. So do you tie it all to that?”

Schwickerath said the project the county goes forward with needs to address more than one county facility. It needs to solve multiple issues.

On working with the city, the supervisors agreed they need to have more discussions with city leaders.

“It appears to me that there may be some financial reasons to work with the city, or to do countywide law enforcement or at least do a joint law enforcement facility,” Schwickerath said. “There may be some grants available some funding streams available.”

Supervisor Mark Kuhn said: “We’re talking about things here that we really never discussed with the city. (On merging law enforcement) they never indicated an desire to do that. I think we need to go there and find that question out.”

Kuhn also said while the city and county should continue their discussions, the Charles City School District and the Charles City Family YMCA, the other two partners in a Charles City-wide public facilities study don’t need to be involved.

“Perhaps it would be best to take the school out of it,” Kuhn said. “I don’t exactly see how the county’s law enforcement center really directly affects the school and the YMCA.”

During the facilities study led by FEH Design, some concepts include county facilities moving into the Charles City Middle School building that will be vacated of students when the new addition at Charles City High School is ready to open.

“I don’t really think we’re going to put any facilities into the vacated N 500 N. Grand facility,” Kuhn said. “We’ve never really discussed it. I don’t think we’re going there.”

Among the decisions the county has before them is whether to hire FEH Design, which studied the jail and recommended building new to help with the next steps or to hire a different consultant.

On the topic of referendum and an objection by Cavanaugh that FEH Design even mentioned the possibility of a reverse referendum, Schwickerath said: “Bill, we’re elected to represent the citizens of Floyd County and we’re going to keep their best interests in mind. There’s a lot of things that can’t go to vote, it’s been pointed out, but this is one particular one that definitely can go to vote and belongs there probably.”

Schwickerath also said he would be disappointed with any consultant that didn’t present the board all of the options, taking away the decision from the board.

Kamm told Cavanaugh: “You’re reading more into that than it was. All he did was present us some options.”

Cavanaugh said the option should never have been presented and the county supervisors, who he complimented multiple times for the process used so far on the jail issue, should be open with the taxpayers.

“Put it out there,” he said. “Let’s educate the taxpayers. Lets be open and up front. You’re going to have a much better response going to have much.

Kamm, while not advocating a reverse referendum, said supervisors were elected to do a job.

“That’s another thing that everybody needs to understand,” Kamm said “We live in a republic and in a republic the model of government is you elect a board and the board makes decisions and that’s kind of how this middle school thing got started was all at once … a lot of people didn’t realize that a board makes decisions. Every single decision doesn’t go for a vote.”

“I think it’s been proven they made the right decision and I think it was just presented wrong,” Cavanaugh said. “That’s all that happened looking back at it.”