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Supervisors discuss more courthouse change orders, treasurer’s staff interviews

By Robert Maharry 5 min read

The Marshall County Board of Supervisors approved over $700,000 in additional change orders on the courthouse project and discussed the findings from interviews with former employees at the treasurer's office during Tuesday morning's regular meeting.

In all, the board voted to approve $707,355.62 in change orders, the vast majority of which -- about $604,000 -- will cover exterior masonry. According to a cost breakdown provided in the agenda packet, the county will be responsible for just over $321,000 of the masonry costs, while the insurer EMC will cover just shy of $283,000. Other major expenses in the latest change order include about $67,000 for audio-video materials and labor in the boardroom (all the county's responsibility), exterior wood doors at a total cost of $28,521.90 (mostly paid by EMC), a $5,943.56 reduction in the cost for ballistic walls and $5,769.50 in plumbing corrections from the previous contractor billed as damages.

Board Chairman Dave Thompson and Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke said all of the items except for one -- an amount between $11,000 and $13,000 for a display of the 135-year-old historic doors that would fall on the county to pay for -- are already in the project budget, and the supervisors ultimately voted to approve the display as part of the entire package.

"The bulk of this is an idea we had to take our historic exterior doors and use them as kind of a focal point in the rotunda," Baedke said. "The plan is to put them in the middle of the rotunda, have them redone and frame them up so they could be opened inside the building and we can display them. Because they are really cool doors. They're big, (and) they're heavy."

Baedke said the doors would also be repainted and refinished. Supervisor Steve Salasek said he would like to see the work completed by county employees, but Baedke responded that while they would have the ability, ordering the trim material and scheduling issues would push it back at least a year. He also offered to pay for the project out of the Buildings and Grounds budget to make it happen if need be.

"I think we can do this within budget. I think Bill (Patten) said it a couple years ago. If we're worried about $10,000 here or there, we're in a lot more trouble than we think," Baedke said.

Attorney Michael Galloway of the Des Moines-based firm Ahlers and Cooney P.C., which works with the county on matters like employment law and labor relations, briefly addressed the board about the findings from recent interviews with former employees of the Marshall County Treasurer's Office.

As the board prepared the county budget for the upcoming fiscal year, County Treasurer Jarret Heil asked for an increase in base pay for his staff, citing workforce shortages and arguing that they were compensated at lower rates than employees from other departments who are considered to be on the same grade level. Thompson and Patten expressed concerns about providing "preferential treatment" to one department over another, and they voted down a motion from fellow Supervisor Steve Salasek that would have provided an additional pay bump to the treasurer's staff on top of the three percent raise all county employees are set to receive.

After voting to deny the request on March 29, Thompson and Patten asked that Ahlers and Cooney conduct independent exit interviews with departing staff and former employees in an attempt to get a better grasp on why they were choosing to leave.

During Tuesday morning's meeting, Galloway provided a brief summary of his interviews and said "not one" of the eight or nine former employees he spoke to had chosen to leave the treasurer's office because of the pay.

"Reasons that were given are obviously confidential personnel matters that I can't express or talk to you (about) in a public meeting," Galloway said. "I can tell you that, obviously, pay is a public issue. All of our salaries here in the county are public."

Heil, who is not seeking re-election to his current office and instead announced his intentions to run for a seat on the Board of Supervisors as a Republican on March 25, was in attendance but did not ask any further questions of Galloway. Thompson, who along with Heil is one of four candidates seeking two available seats on the board, also had no questions, and no official action was taken.

The board's next regular meeting on May 24 will need to be held at a different location as early voting will be underway at the election center.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, the board:

• Approved a letter of support for TRAILS Inc. on a Destination Iowa grant application.

• Approved the issuance of liquor and tobacco license for Prime Stop Inc. (formerly Randhawa's) at 1659 Marshalltown Blvd. in Melbourne.

• Approved a Class C liquor license renewal for the West Marshall Golf Course Association DBA Lincoln Valley Golf.

• Approved an employee status change for Travis Daters from MECH1 to MECH2 in the secondary roads department and a pay increase from $27.02 to $27.88 per hour.

• Approved a lease extension with the Iowa Valley Community College District for the use of the Orpheum Theater until Dec. 23.

• Approved a memorandum of understanding with Jasper County to share the costs of construction on two bridges at a total cost of $11,121 to Marshall County.

• Approved the Marshall County employee and health prescription drug benefit plan and employee dental benefit plan rates for fiscal year 2023.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.

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