08-01-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes--August 1, 2005 2934 11. JAIL, Amendment to correctional health care aareement Glenn Ellingsberg, Jail Administrator, was present to continue discussion from the last meeting on proposed nursing staff changes in the Cass County jail. Representatives from Fargo Cass Public Health, including Director Mary Kay Hermann, were also in the audience. Mr. Ellingsberg said the proposal is to add part-time nursing staff to dispense all of the medications to jail inmates, at a cost of about $12,000 for the remainder of 2005. This is in response to a determination that correctional officers would need training and licensing by the North Dakota Board of Nursing in order to continue delivering medications within the jail. Mr. Wagner said questions he had at the last meeting were answered earlier today by Mr. Ellingsberg, and he understands no other staff will be requested in 2006. Mr. Ellingsberg said there will be no additional FTE's (full-time equivalents) sought during 2006, other than this one position which will cost approximately $22,000 for 2006. As for funding the position in 2005, Mr. Ellingsberg said he would suggest allowing it to be an unbudgeted position, and that it be reviewed before the end of the year when budget adjustments for other county departments are considered. MOTION, passed Mr. Bennett moved and Mrs. Sorum seconded to authorize the chair to sign the Amendment to Agreement for Provision of Health Services for Cass County by Fargo Cass Public Health concerning staff changes for jail nursing care. On roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously. 12. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, Public access channel discussion Terry Schmaltz, Information Technology Manager, prepared a proposal on equipment that would be needed to provide a video feed to Cable One for a public access channel for the purpose of broadcasting county commission meetings, similar to the City of Fargo. He said the system would include three color cameras mounted in the commission room and an operator's station to control camera directions and to monitor the video feed to Cable One. In addition to the equipment costs, a video operator would need to be hired to operate the equipment during commission and social service board meetings, at an estimated cost of $1,500 per year. Mr. Schmaltz estimated it would cost $23,500 for equipment, installation and contracted labor to tape public meetings in the courthouse. The cost would increase to $52,500, if the board decided to follow the same procedure and tape meetings at the highway department also. Mr. Wagner said he would encourage the board to consider this as a budget request for 2006 because he believes it would be a valuable resource for citizens to monitor local government. Mr. Pawluk favors taping at both locations, if the board determines this is a good idea, because of the number of citizens also impacted by planning and water resource decisions. Board members discussed availability to other potential cable carriers and to the Internet; however, Mr. Schmaltz said the proposal today would be exclusive to Cable One at this time because the video feed will be transmitted over existing fiber optic cable to the City of Fargo where the interface to Cable One already exists. Mr. Bennett said this proposal is probably a lower priority than some of the requests the county will be considering in the budget process. Mr. Vanyo suggested that Mr. Schmaltz bring this before the board again at budget hearings for consideration at that time.