Government Notes: New times set for Linn supervisors meetings

The Linn County Board of Supervisor meetings have been moved up an hour starting this week.

The supervisors’ Monday working session and Wednesday formal session will begin at 10 a.m. The Tuesday department head update meeting will take place at 9 a.m.

The supervisors at last Wednesday’s formal meeting decided to change the meeting times, which are open to the public. County meetings are held at the Jean Oxley Linn County Public Service Center, 935 Second St. SW in Cedar Rapids.

Last week, new supervisor Chair Louie Zumbach proposed the time changes after hearing from county staff. Longer supervisor meetings that had begun at 11 a.m. tended to cut into the lunch hour and push staff work back into the afternoon.

“My office has a vested interest in those meeting times,” Linn County Auditor Joel Miller told the supervisors last week. “The time proves to be problematic for that. Some of those meetings run into the lunch hour so the morning is pretty much shot and in the afternoon, they have to play catch up on the minutes. So it would be nice to move it up earlier so meetings can be typed up and recorded while they are still fresh.”

Miller also suggested that the supervisors hold meetings in various cities around the county in the future. All three supervisors were open to holding some sort of meetings in different communities.

“I think it’s a great suggestion and we can reach out to mayors and city clerks to see if we could even do lunch-and-learn type sessions with city councils and make them open to the public with public comment,” Supervisor Ben Rogers said last week. “I think there are ways we can do that that’s beneficial for the communities.”

Take Cedar Rapids’ budget survey

The city of Cedar Rapids is asking citizens for input on priorities in its fiscal 2024 budget.

In the coming months, the City Council will vote on a municipal budget for the time period spanning July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. The budget guides spending on services such as police, fire, parks and recreation, flood control and street repairs.

The survey is available on the homepage of Cedar Rapids’ website, cedar-rapids.org, or directly at lp.constantcontactpages.com/sv/EFL8QY9. It asks residents which departments they think should receive the most funding in the city budget.

The city is giving residents a chance to win pie for a year for taking the budget survey. One winner chosen at random will receive certificates for 12 pies from Kathy's Pies in Cedar Rapids.

Only Cedar Rapids residents age 18 and older are eligible to complete the survey and win pie for a year. One entry per verified resident will be entered into the drawing. The contest ends at midnight Jan. 14.

Dental provider added to Iowa City Healthy Kids clinics

Healthy Kids School-Based Clinics is gaining a new pediatric dentist to provide free dental care to uninsured children.

The Iowa City school board is expected to approve a volunteer health care provider agreement between the clinic and pediatric dentist Elizabeth Pfohl at a meeting Tuesday.

The clinics — located in Iowa City schools — are celebrating 15 years of providing free services for children from birth through high school graduation who are uninsured, who cannot afford high deductibles or copays or who experience extreme barriers to accessing health care. To mark the anniversary, a goal is to raise $250,000 by March 1.

About 5 percent of students — 725 — in the Iowa City Community School District are uninsured, according to the clinics. The number does not include preschoolers and students from other districts who also use the clinics’ services. Three thousand children in Johnson County have no dental insurance.

To meet the need, the clinics need to offer 1,800 appointments a year — double the number they were able to provide in the 2021-22 school year. In addition to Iowa City students, the clinics serve children from Regina Catholic Education Center in Iowa City, and Clear Creek Amana and Solon and West Branch school districts.

Provider time is donated by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. A volunteer pediatrician and dermatologist come once a month.

Services include health care, mental health care, management of acute and chronic illness, dental care, vision care and referrals for lab tests, X-rays and specialty care. The clinics also help with the cost of medications, lab tests, glasses and other services.

Playground upgrades for Clear Creek Amana schools

Elementary schools in the Clear Creek Amana Community School District will be getting playground updates this summer.

Tiffin Elementary School will get new playground structures and additional inclusive equipment, and a new safety surface. The combined cost is about $233,800, according to board documents.

North Bend and Clear Creek elementary schools are expected to get new safety surfaces. Amana Elementary will get a replacement to the top of the existing playground surface. The district is working to finalize the cost of these projects, which are all expected to be completed this summer.

Oakhill Elementary will get additional inclusive equipment and safety surfacing expected by summer 2024.

Iowa City Council to consider housing stability pilot program

The Iowa City Council will consider a grant agreement with Shelter House for a housing stability pilot program funded by pandemic relief dollars.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shelter House has prevented the eviction of 583 households — nearly 1,000 people — and disbursed $1.16 million in emergency rental assistance, according to the project proposal submitted by the nonprofit.

If approved at its Tuesday meeting, the City Council would spend $1.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act aid for the pilot program aimed at preventing homelessness through eviction prevention and diversion, as well as improving housing retention.

The funds would be used to hire five full-time positions: one coordinated entry specialist, two housing stability support specialists and two eviction prevention and housing stabilization specialists.

The council’s formal meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall. Ahead of the formal meeting, the council will meet at 4 p.m. to decide who to appoint to fill a council vacancy.

Government Notes is published Mondays and contains updates from area government bodies. Marissa Payne, Gage Miskimen, Izabela Zaluska and Grace King of The Gazette contribute.