3-2 vote approves news JETS facility

     Jones County JETS could soon see a facility of its own.

     The Jones County Supervisors authorized ECICOG to proceed with issuing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for architectural and engineering services for a proposed new JETS facility in Monticello.

     The vote passed 3-2, with Supervisors Wayne Manternach and Lloyd Eaken opposed.

     “I’ve been doing this for 23 years,” said Kathy Koerperich, JETS manager. “Our vehicles sit outside and are at the mercy of the weather and the Monticello School District.” Koerperich said the district is generous enough to allow her to wash her JETS vehicles at no cost.

     “The bottoms (of the vehicles) are rotting out from sitting outside,” continued Koerperich. “I’m ashamed,” she said of the condition of the vehicles. “I want our people and vehicles to be safe. They need to be under cover, I don’t care where; just under cover.”

     Koerperich said the oldest JETS vehicles almost 12 years old, and all of the JETS vehicles run 24/7.

     “I Medicaid standards I have to live up to,” she informed the board. “And I’m affraid I’m not going pass if we don’t do something.”

     Koerperich said having all of the vehicles indoors would eliminate drivers having to start the vans/buses 45 minutes early every morning in the winter.

     The board’s previous concern was protecting the county’s 20 percent investment in the project. Brock Grenis with ECICOG said language was added to the agreement to make sure the county’s funds were recovered in worse case scenario.

     However, if the project runs over the allotted grant, Jones County would be responsible for excess spending.

     “Do we only spend so much money or start trimming back the project?” questioned Supervisor Joe Oswald. “We need to stay within a budget ourselves.”

     Grenis said when the plans and cost estimates come in, the county could always scale back at that time.

     Manternach said despite all of his questions getting answered by either ECICOG or the DOT, he is still not comfortable with the scope of the project.

     Supervisor Ned Rohwedder said if her were looking at this project as a personal business investment, he doesn’t think he could say no.

     “It’d be awfully hard to pass up with the terms being offered here and having the grant available,” he said. “It fills a need and the general purpose for what it’s designed for at a relatively decent price.” (The county’s investment is roughly $57,000. The total project cost is $281,257.)

     “I see minimum expose to the county. I don’t think the county would even entertain spending this amount of money if we didn’t have access to the grant,” concluded Rohwedder.

     Eaken said what bothers him is the county’s responsibly for the building without even owning it for 30 years.

     Rohwedder countered, saying the county and JETS have “adequate insurance to cover losses.

     “We would incur expenses whether we owned the building in its entirety,” he added.

     Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach said the project is different than others in that the grant was already been approved and awarded.

     “Now we need to move forward,” he urged the board. “I know there some unknowns, but the pros outweigh the cons.”

     Zirkelbach said he understands the uncertainty by some board members because a project like this has not been done before.

     Grenis said the agreement also has to be approved by the ECICOG board of directors at their regular meeting; however, he did not see an issue.

     The deadline for RFQs was set for late April.