By Mari Radtke
Updates to Tjossem Park campgrounds are moving along. County permits for Osceola Rural Water have been approved.
Seasonal employees are being sought. Director Travis Scott reported at the April 12 regular Conservation Board meeting that those he interviewed wouldn’t work or couldn’t work for $13 per hour. He reported a lack of seasonal employees in the area with wages reaching up to $16 per hour. He requested the board to approve allowing offers up to $15 per hour. The board approved a range from $12 to $15 per hour for seasonal positions. One person is on staff to work half time at Prairie Heritage Center and half time at parks. The board gave the director the freedom to set the final wage with his hiring selections. A fulltime tech will be joining the team just after Memorial Day.
The campground hosts remain the same for the summer 2023 season with the same duties as last year and adding a few duties. The Mill Creek hosts will only help with cabin changeovers on Sundays, but will not do all of the cabin cleaning. The Dog Creek hosts will do the majority of the cabin cleaning.
County Attorney Katie Morgan participated by telephone. She provided an update to the board about a complaint made to Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB) against OCCB. The complaint stated an unposted meeting was held on February 8 but OCCB. She provided the board with information about the process and the choices available to the board for resolution. A video of the “meeting” in question was posted to YouTube. (It has since been removed.) A camera in the rotunda of Prairie Heritage Center captured an after meeting gathering of several people including 3 board members. At least one of the conversations discussed the potential of a land purchase for conservation and potential uses. That conversation was mostly between Board Chair Tom Konz and Director Travis Scott. Because 3 board members were in the room whether or not the legal definition of a meeting creates confusion around if a meeting occurred. The complainant was anonymous. After discussion among the board in a 3-2 split vote it was decided to accept an informal agreement including training. The process to reach resolution to the satisfaction of the complaint is underway.
Two operating manuals for Conservation are deemed to not exist, bylaws and an employee handbook. Scott provided information that most county conservations have bylaws and that he had a copy of one county and could get more if requested. County Attorney Morgan has agreed to produce the bylaws.
A discussion to hire Allyson Dirksen to write an employee handbook.Morgan is not willing to do an employee handbook. Scott commented on the matter even stating that it might be necessary to get an attorney general’s opinion of the board’s authority to have a handbook different from the county’s handbook. Konz noted that he had discussed all the agenda items with [Morgan].
The O’Brien County Supervisors discussed in April to update their employee handbook. The county decided to hire Ahlers & Cooney for human resources guidance including writing a personnel handbook. During discussions, the supervisors decided to have Ahlers & Cooney write their broad handbook with each department customizing the handbook for each department. Supervisors, at a meeting with Konz and OCCB member Dan Verrips and Director Scott, approved hiring an attorney for the handbook for Conservation to become part of the employee handbook. It was agreed that OCCB would get supervisor approval to do this.
Scott argued that there should be one handbook for the whole county and the entire cost should be born by the supervisor budget. Later, Scott said, “We have a lot of county departments that have their own handbooks… that have their own employee handbook.” He went on to say, “We are one of very few in the state that is that way currently. Most [directors] say the county’s handbook is what they go by and may have their own subsection or page that goes along with it.” He continued that other directors say they have their own safety manuals that go along with the employee handbook. He then said, “What we have is completely separate handbook from the county’s handbook that in many places contradicts the county’s handbook.
The Wildlife Habitat Stamp Fund (WHF) committee responded to OCCB’s request to consider moving the use restrictions on Hannibal to a different piece of similar property. The letter said it would be fine as long as hunting remained on Hannibal. Verrips is not interested in making any trade with any remaining restrictions. His point of view was that if the trade is made they (the WHF Committee) should have no say in its use.
The committee came for a site visit. No one entered the property. Recent, unconfirmed reports say the plan to purchase and move the restrictions was approved by the WHF committee. The plan to move the restrictions met with a written objection from Randy Sease of Hartley. Sease founded O’Brien County Sportsmen’s and raised the matching funds for a grant to acquire the Hannibal property in 1989. He demands that no changes be made and states, “If necessary, I will avail this property to the court system should we need to proceed in that manner.”
After moving the restrictions reportedly getting approval, OCCB moving forward with a bylaws, a policy manual and employee handbook DirectorTravis Scott submitted his resignation to the board. A special meeting was called for Wednesday May 24 for the board to consider the resignation. The board split to make May 24, 2023 the final work day for Scott and paying through the date of his submitted resignation, June 19, 2023.
The committee came for a site visit. No one entered the property. Recent, unconfirmed reports say the plan to purchase and move the restrictions was approved by the WHF committee. The plan to move the restrictions met with a written objection from Randy Sease of Hartley. Sease founded O’Brien County Sportsmen’s and raised the matching funds for a grant to acquire the Hannibal property in 1989. He demands that no changes be made and states, “If necessary, I will avail this property to the court system should we need to proceed in that manner.”
After moving the restrictions reportedly getting approval, OCCB moving forward with a bylaws, a policy manual and employee handbook DirectorTravis Scott submitted his resignation to the board. A special meeting was called for Wednesday May 24 for the board to consider the resignation. The board split to make May 24, 2023 the final work day for Scott and paying through the date of his submitted resignation, June 19, 2023.