Officials concerned about suicide attempts in county

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Suicide attempts in Henry County in 2016 are happening at an alarming rate, Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee told the county board of supervisors during its regular meeting Thursday.

McNamee made his remarks during the monthly department head meeting with the supervisors.

?Suicides have been on the rise,? McNamee said. ?The counts are high.?

County Recorder Shirley Wandling agreed with McNamee. ?There seems to be too many suicides and they are increasing. I am wondering what more we can do.?

McNamee said there have been six suicide attempts in 2016, the last one being April 4 and the subject is in critical condition at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. The sheriff also noted that statistics show the highest rate of suicide attempts in March and December.

Moving on to another recent topic that elicited considerable discussion the past few months, McNamee recommended the county part ways with Goldberg Group Architects, PC, of St. Joseph, Mo. The county had been discussing plans for a jail expansion project with Larry Goldberg, of the Goldberg group, since the fall of 2015.

The supervisors readily agreed. ?It didn?t meet our expectations,? said Gary See, board chairman. ?We were disappointed with the information we received (from Goldberg).?

Supervisor Greg Moeller agreed saying, that he didn?t feel Goldberg?s service was adequate.

Supervisors had agreed earlier this year to proceed with the first phase of the Goldberg proposal, which included, among other things, a feasibility study. The county was to pay $3,500 for the work. Thus far, the county has paid the architect $2,298.11.

Moeller said if Goldberg bills the county for the remainder of the sum, it has no choice but to honor its commitment. ?We are legally obligated to pay it,? he said.

McNamee said he is working on securing proposals from other architects regarding jail plans and has established April 15 as the deadline for architects to submit proposals. After he receives the proposals, McNamee said he would discuss them with the board.

In a related jail matter, McNamee said the jail population Wednesday was 33 inmates. The county jail can only house eight prisoners. The sheriff also noted that his department has executed 16 search warrants in March. ?I can remember when we didn?t have 16 search warrants in a year,? he said.

He also said that he is taking applications for three jailer positions and is down to seven reserve deputies. The sheriff?s department is authorized to have up to 15 reserve deputies.

Henry County Emergency Management Director Walt Jackson had the longest report. Jackson said his two training events in March ? propane training and weather spotter ? were very successful. ?We had 30 firefighters show up for the propane training. For the weather spotter class, I was expecting 30-40 people and we had 80 show up. We only have 55 chairs so we had people sitting all over. People came up to me afterwards and said it was the best weather spotter training they ever attended.? Personnel from the National Weather Service led the class.

Jackson also presented a draft of a plan for training of courthouse employees. Some of the planned training includes severe weather, a tornado drill, active shooter, CPR/first aid and fire safety. He said he hopes to make it an annual event.

He stated that he plans to have the classes the third Thursday of each month and adjust it if need be.

The consensus among the supervisors was favorable. ?If I were you, I would start implementing it,? Marc Lindeen, board vice chairman, said.

County Treasurer Ana Lair said about one-fourth of the first half of the year property taxes, which were due March 31, were paid online this year. She said the computer program allows residents to either make a one-time tax payment or schedule monthly payments.

Joe Buffington, county director of planning and zoning, said there has been quite a bit of construction activity this year. ?We?ve issued four house (construction) permits already this year. Last year at this time, we hadn?t issued any.?

Supervisors will meet again in regular session on Tuesday, April 12, at 9 a.m., in the courthouse.