Split board approves lease for county health department

In a 2-1 vote, the Jasper County Board of Supervisors approved a lease agreement on Tuesday to lease office space at 114 W. Fourth St. S. to house the Jasper County Health Department. Supervisor Joe Brock voted against the measure and continued to implore the board to work together.

“My suggestion would be that we act as a board and come look at everything that is on the table. I think that is where it needs to begin and end,” Brock said. “We need to come in here and decide as a board what we want to look at and decide as a board whether we want to pursue that.”

The lease agreement was tabled at last Tuesday’s board meeting to give the Jasper County Board of Health and the supervisors additional time to tour the location. Prior to the meeting, no representative from the board of health, the governing body of the JCHD, had viewed the space.

Brock said he didn’t want to just do something “for the sake of getting it done” and have it be the wrong decision for the health department and the county. Supervisor Denny Carpenter said the board has been trying to figure a way forward with the annex building for almost 12 months and that, in his opinion, is too long.

The rental agreement with the owner of the building, VanDee, Inc., is for one year beginning on Dec. 1 and ending Nov. 30, 2018. Rent is set at $1,200 per month with VanDee paying for the electric, gas and water and sewage for the building. Since the board voted on the lease about halfway through the month, VanDee, Inc. is giving the county a pro-rated first month’s rent starting Dec. 12.

Prior to the vote, Julie Prendergast with Newton Elite Properties brought up the option of leasing the former Newton Manufacturing building. With a monthly cost of $1,008, Prendergast said it would be a less expensive option with more amenities including secured entry and ample parking.

“Part of the reason I think this is such a great idea is there is additional space there for more community things that work well with it,” Prendergast said. “I would just like to see you not have to move two or three times and get a better space for what you are paying for. We can save a lot of money in the long run and it is a better deal from a lot of different perspectives.”

Supervisor Doug Cupples, who brought the lease at 114. W. Fourth St. S. to the board at the previous meeting, told Prendergast he would not be changing his mind about moving forward with the property already on the agenda.

“I am definitely going to go with the lease we have now but that does not mean in the future that we wouldn’t consider your space,” Cupples said. “It is a little more money, but it is not that much more money.”

He said one of the biggest components of the move is getting everyone out of the basement and having the ability to begin the process of looking at the building and the basement for future work.

“I think it is time that we get the people in the annex building out for a temporary time and then we do a lot of exactly what you were saying, we start the process. We just don’t quite see eye to eye on that but it is something we need to do,” Cupples said. “Right now keeping them down there delays that process longer and longer. Now, to be honest with you, we have a year and we need to figure it out.”

Brock said he thinks the board needs to take a step back and figure out exactly what they want out of the health department. After touring neighboring county’s facilities, he feels Jasper County may be getting left in the dust.

“I am catching on with this, I’ve been to Marion County and went to Poweshiek last week, I think they are doing a lot of things with grants and they are probably smoking us with what they are doing,” Brock said. “I would really like to find out what we would like to do with public health and I think we have to educate ourselves on it before we can do yes or nos.”

Jasper County Board of Health Chair Margot Voshell said she appreciated members of the board taking the time to visit other health departments in the area and working to gain a better understanding of how important public health is.

“Moving forward, I hope we can continue to collaborate and have a vision for the future to meet the needs of the community by providing exceptional public health services to citizens of Jasper County,” Voshell said.

A timeline has not been set to move the JCHD to the new location. Three additional county employees who work in the basement of the annex building will be moved to the upper levels to vacate the space.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com