LCHD/EMS building back up for discussion

LEE COUNTY – The construction of a new Lee County Health Department is once again a topic on the agenda for Monday’s Board of Supervisors' meeting.
Last week, Supervisors haggled a bit over the funding stream for the new facility with several, including Supervisors Matt Pflug and Chuck Holmes, expressing concern about where the funds are coming from to build the facility.
In attendance were representatives from Carl A. Nelson, the project’s construction manager for the past year, including Dan Culp and Ryan Harris.
Supervisor Chairman Garry Seyb outlined that the city had $1.4 million left in ARPA funds according to budget director Cindy Renstrom and ARPA fund administrator Chuck Vandenberg.
He said other guaranteed funding included $973,000 in a USDA Rural Emergency Health Care grant, giving the county close to half the cost of the building guaranteed.
The county has also applied for a $600,000 Community Development Block Grant, has a Lee County Community Foundation donation effort underway that Holmes said could generate as much as $1 million according to LCCF director Roger Ricketts, who is spearheading efforts of the fund.
The county also had the project carried to Washington D.C. as part of U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ appropriation project list for her district. Vandenberg submitted the grant to Miller-Meeks in the amount of $2.3 million, but that funding is based on Congressional Appropriations committee approval and, if approved, at their funding discretion.
That list also includes some sewer separation projects from the City of Fort Madison.
Monday’s agenda calls for a discussion of the construction project and “other possible options moving forward.” No action is called for on the agenda item.
If the county were to secure the appropriation and the CDBG funding, that would bring an additional $2.9 million into the new construction for a total of $5.8 million. The total cost of the project, including contingencies, hovers right at $6 million. Any funding from the LCCF would cover the remainder of the new health department and EMS bay.
However, if any of those funding streams don’t become a reality, there would be other options that were discussed at last week’s meeting, including using revenue from new highway speed cameras that will be in place this summer, as well as possible bonding under $1 million without a referendum. Additional bonding could take place under a reverse referendum that is allowed under the county’s designation of the property as an urban renewal zone.
Holmes said last week he had concerns about the unsecured funding levels, as did Pflug. Seyb said there was chance the county would have to bond, but if the funding streams are realized, the building could be financed without needing to bond for additional revenue.
The agenda also includes:
• consideration to approve a lease agreement with Zoll Medical for ventilators and cardiac defibrillators at a cost of $420,000;
• a review of a land records report prepared annually by the Lee County Recorder;
• A closed session is also part of the agenda under Iowa Code 21.5(1)(j) which permits a closed session to discuss the purchase or sale of real estate only when premature disclosure could be reasonably expected to increase the price the governmental body would have to pay for that property or reduce the price the governmental body would receive for that property.