Caledonia Argus

County board approves new phone system

Posted: 7/23/02

by Jane Palen
Managing editor

The county will soon have a new phone system.

At its meeting of July 16, the county board approved the purchase of a $45,528 phone system from Ace Communications. An additional $32,677 will be spent on recabling.

Tim Comstock and Carol Hauser, who serve on the technology committee, told commissioners that the county phone system, which was installed in 1992, has many limitations, and employees experience many problems with it, especially internally. There is also no room left on the system to add extensions.

Comstock suggested the the board that $69,000 of the cost be taken from the technical equipment fund and another $26,000 from the Workers Compensation fund. The county is no longer required to keep Workers Comp funds in a separate account, Comstock explained.

It was noted that the county paid $47,000 for the last upgrade, which was in 1996.

The main switch for the phone system will be moved from the janitorís room to the data processing room.

ABLE continues to grow

In the human services meeting of the 17th, the board heard an update on ABLE from its director, Wade Welper, who told commissioners that ABLE continues to grow in the county.

ABLE, which stands for A Brighter Living Experience, began as Houston County Group Homes and its mission is to help the developmentally disabled live as independently as possible.

Currently, ABLE serves 126 people and has 230 employees, including 2 full-time maintenance positions and one half time. Some of the homes ABLE operates have a 1:1 staff to client ratio, while others have 1:4, depending on needs, Welper explained.

Waivers in the state have been frozen, so there will be no new clients until January of 2003.

Most of the clients, about 90 percent, are Houston County residents, said Welper. Those who are not receive waivers from their county of residence, said Welper. By the same token, some county residents live in other counties and their waivers come from Houston County.

Welper noted that the La Crescent School District has donated space for an office in an older building in La Crescent. The main offices remain in Caledonia.

In other news from Human Services, the board heard from supervisor Karen Meier-Wills that child protection intakes have decreased recently. There are currently 22 children in long term placement (six months or longer). Since May 18, 18 children have left placement. Five were short-term placements, five were adoption-type cases and eight reached the age at which they could live independently, she said.

Meier-Wills said that the department will be undergoing an audit of internal procedures later this month.

Financial service supervisor Bonnie Goetzinger told the board that there are currently 95 people receiving MFIP assistance in the county, which is down from the 102 cases several months ago. The numbers had gone as low as 58, but the tightening of the job market forced that number higher.

Goetzinger also told the board that the EBT system for food stamps has reduced food stamp fraud. Recipients are issued a debit card, and the approved items are automatically subtracted from the balance of the card. Recipients cannot trade or sell food stamps, and can no longer get change. In order for another person to use the card, they must have the recipientís PIN number, so if the card is lost or stolen it canít be used.

Goetzinger also shared the story of one of the MFIP clients who recently completed school and found a job that pays $9.94 per hour. She is now working her way off assistance,

Most MFIP clients, said Goetzinger, are attending school. The county checks the grades each quarter, and in some cases additional assistance is given for special circumstances, Car repair would be one example, said Goetzinger.

Other news from the county

In other news from the county, the board approved the appointment of Connie Meiners to the CHS Advisory Committe/Nursing Task force. She replaces Lyn Van Den Boom.

At its July 9 meeting, the board agreed to hire Duane Zenke as auctioneer for the county auction for 4.8 percentof sales. Other bidders were Kevin Mc Cormick, 8.5 percent of sales, and Sanden Realty and Auction, 8 percent.

The board also approved a request from the Houston County Historical Society for $34,000 to assist the society in its work. Of that amount, up to $5,000 will be in matching funds.

Commissioner Kevin Kelleher commended the society on its work and praised the quality of its volunteers.

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