Meeting Notes 9-30-21
Meeting Notes from the September 30 Meeting of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners.
Meeting Packet: https://www.miottawa.org/appImages/Calendar/1632927114446-packet.PDF
Meeting Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOfjf-zv1e0
Communication Tower Lease Agreement: The Board approved a Lease Agreement with AT&T to install its wireless broadband equipment on the County's Fillmore Street/Stanton Street Communications Tower. AT&T has agreed to lease tower space from the County at a rate of $2,100 per month for a minimum of five (5) years, with automatic renewal for at least an additional five (5) years.
Agricultural Processing Renaissance Zone: The Board approved the Resolution approving an Agricultural Processing Renaissance Zone for a 15 year term in Holland Charter Township.
Summary:
In 2010, the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners approved an Agricultural Processing Renaissance Zone (APRZ), also in Holland Charter Township for Request Foods, that allowed it to expand its operations, adding 250 jobs and investment of $40.6M.
This year, Request Foods, Inc. is requesting approval of a second APRZ as a part of an overall incentive package that will support a building renovation and construction of a new facility dedicated to growing their Ready-to-Eat frozen food line. Not only will this project create 50 new jobs paying between $18-$37 per hour, it will also increase demand for locally sourced agricultural products, thereby strengthening our agricultural sector and the agribusinesses that support it.
The requested term of the APRZ is 15 years. MEDC estimates that the foregone taxes during that term will total $11,060,265.
Implementation of Cost of Services for Family Planning Program: The Board approved the implementation of select fees on October 1, 2021 for the Family Planning services.
Summary:
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and Title X guidelines requires Family Planning programs to complete a cost analysis and update billing rates every two years.
Fiscal Services worked with Family Planning staff to calculate fees using the cost analysis tool provided by MDHHS. The analysis is a tool that assists local health departments in developing a schedule of fees to recover the reasonable cost of providing services. After the calculation was complete, we compared our cost per procedure to locally prevailing rates, Michigan Medicaid fee schedule published by MDHHS, and average reimbursement rates of private insurers.
Services will not be denied, due to inability to pay or lack of health insurance. Insurance is accepted, including Medicaid. To remain competitive with other providers of Family Planning Services in the area, we are proposing to set our rates at the private insurance reimbursable rate plus 5%.
This equates to setting a fee schedule that is 21%-28% of the actual cost of providing the service. The additional costs are supplemented by local and grant funds.
Email Retention and Archiving Rule Policy: The Board approved the revised Email Retention and Archiving Rule Policy for review and comment on First Reading.
Summary:
The current email policy is being updated to stipulate that the Innovation and Technology Department will maintain e-mail retention for all emails sent or received for 2-years.
2021 Budget Adjustments: The Board approved the monthly budget adjustments per the above schedule.
HIPAA Compliance Policy: The Board approved the revised HIPAA Compliance Policy for review and comment on First Reading.
Drone Purchase and Usage Policy: The Board approved the Drone Purchase and Usage Policy for review and comment. The Policy stipulates that no department officer, agent, or employee may purchase or use a drone, subject to limited exceptions on First Reading.
Photography in County Buildings Policy: The Board approved the Photography in County Buildings Policy on First Reading. The policy mandates that no officer, agent, employee or member of the public may photograph the interior of County facilities or make any photostatic copy or other reproduction of any County building plans, subject to the following exceptions:
The person is photographing a publicly noticed meeting, gathering or hearing;
The person is photographing individuals with their consent and if the focus of the photograph is the individual(s) and not on any security or other feature of the facility;
3. The photograph is taken with a camera that is not physically located on County Property;
4. The person has received the express permission of the County Administrator.
I voted no because, outside of employee workareas, I believe public buildings to be accessible to the public and that includes being accessible through photographic means.
2022 Budget Resolution: The Board approved the Fiscal Year 2022 General Appropriations Act. A snapshot of the 2022 budget is shown above.
