An item on the Jan. 23 Jones County Board of Supervisors’ agenda brought about much discussion as the county enters the Fiscal Year 2025 budget season.
Chairman Ned Rohwedder offered that Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach requested to have an item placed on the agenda concerning a potential hiring freeze and/or hiring guidelines.
Zirkelbach explained that his intent is to raise awareness on the county’s tight budget and budget concerns. He said perhaps there needs to be a review process by the board of supervisors, the ability to ask questions of department heads, before an open position is filled.
“Can we shift some things around to fill a position?” proposed Zirkelbach.
He said he didn’t feel hiring more employees was wise at the moment until the board and county auditor know where things are at budget-wise.
Supervisor Joe Oswald said before he would agree to such action, he wanted to know which positions are needing to be filled at the moment and how a hiring freeze would impact the county. He said not replacing personnel might save the county money, but those duties would still need to be carried out by someone.
“I don’t want to clamp down on law enforcement,” added Zirkelbach.
Supervisor John Schlarmann suggested having department heads come to the board first to discuss the hiring of an employee before any action is done.
“I think that’s a good idea until we get through the budget process and find out where we’re at,” commented Rohwedder. “We need to take a cautious approach to let people know we’re concerned about it.”
“I won’t vote for not allowing people to replace a position,” Oswald said. “I’m not in favor of that requirement. Before there are any new hires, we need to discuss that here before posting the job.”
“This is dangerous territory,” said Supervisor Jeff Swisher, “especially with new hires in the process now.”
County Auditor Whitney Hein said department heads could make the board aware of open positions before posting the jobs to the public.
“I don’t want to stop something in the process,” clarified Zirkelbach, noting that Conservation has already made an offer to hire a new natural resource manager. “That’s not the intent. They (department heads) need to explain why there’s an increase in their budget.
“We’re at a crossroads with the budget and we need to see where we’re at with all of this,” Schlarmann said.
The board voted to temporarily require department heads to come to them first to discuss the need for any new hires before posting the job. Hein offered to draft a letter to department heads on this matter and the board’s decision.
In other county business:
• The board approved a 28E agreement with Buchanan County for a shared mental health advocate.
At a previous board meeting, Community Services Director Lucia Herman informed the board that Jones County had been without an advocate for the past five years due to hiring issues.
Buchanan County’s mental health advocate will cover Jones when it comes to mental health committals.
This contracted service will be paid for by the MHDS region.
• The board appointed Mareda Pierce to the Pioneer Cemetery Commission.
• The board set a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 9:15 a.m. to re-zone 2.73 acres on County Road E-34 in Fairview Township from R-Residential to C2-Highway Commercial District.
Land Use Administrator Whitney Amos said the property is owned by Jason Gideon.
• The board approved the preliminary plat of Wapsi Ridge 2nd Addition, a subdivision in Fairview Township off 212th Avenue. The subdivision contains three lots.
The preliminary plat was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
• The board set a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 9:45 a.m. to dispose of unused right of way adjacent to the former Military Road off 130th Street and Highway 151.
The county plans to sell .45 acres of unused right of way. The request to sell was made by an adjacent landowner, Bryce Ricklefs, owner of Boomerang.
County Engineer Derek Snead had the parcel appraised.
The board will collect sealed bids on the sale of the property. The property will be offered to the bidder who comes in equal-to or greater than the appraised value.