Engineer briefs supervisors on progress on fiscal 2015 budget

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

County engineer Jake Hotchkiss and Sarah Berndt, coordinator of disability services for Henry County, both presented reports during Tuesday?s Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting.

First to present was Hotchkiss with an update on miscellaneous work items taking place in the upcoming weeks. Perhaps most pressing was an update on the budget for next fiscal year. As it stands, Hotchkiss already has several projects that he has in the works for 2015 and of course, the budget will play heavily in the progress and completion of those various projects.

?This is the time of the year that I usually set aside to figure out what construction projects we will be doing for next year. Of course finances play a big role in what we can do. We will also be comparing what we did last year to see how things stack up this year,? Hotchkiss said.

Also on Hotchkiss? docket is an inspection of all county structures under 20 feet. This will mainly include small county bridges. The inspection comes a result of a state safety regulation for county engineers.

In addition, Salem residents should note that the Franklin Avenue project in Salem has officially been approved and letting for the project will be on Feb. 17, 2015. Hotchkiss was also sure to note that the county has received an insurance payment for damages that were done after a bucket came unhinged from a county tandem dump truck last week.

No injuries were reported in that accident.

Sarah Berndt also gave a monthly report regarding the Southeast Iowa Link (SEIL) Access office. According to Berndt, business has been steady this month with one county burial and one general assistance approval made besides the usual program assistance that takes place.

Besides much of the usual, Berndt did brief the board on plans to revise the SEIL office handbook to be more current on basic HIPAA laws and regulations.

?We will be adding a statement regarding grounds for disciplinary action for employees who share protected health information or who attempt to access such information when it is not needed to carry out his or her duties,? Berndt explained.

Berndt went on to explain that the board of supervisors would need to approve such an addition to the employee handbook when the addition was ready for publishing. This approval will likely be made at a future Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Last on Berndt?s report was a brief update on some mild reconstruction that was done at the SEIL offices. According to Berndt, the work was done well and the security system in the building is now up and running.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse. There will be no meeting on Thursday, Nov. 27 due to the Thanksgiving holiday.