JUDICIARY AND LAW COMMITTEE

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Administrative Center – Room B390

2:30 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Vicki Burke, Keith Belzer, Maureen Freedland, Joe Bilskemper, Jacie Gamroth, John Medinger, Bernie Maney        

MEMBERS EXCUSED:  None       

MEMBERS ABSENT:  None 

STAFF & GUESTS:  Keith Butler, Jeff Wolf, Mary Geske, Gloria Doyle, Steve O’Malley, Cheryl Stephen

CALL TO ORDER

Committee Chair Vicki Burke called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m. 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

MOTION by Maney/Belzer to approve minutes of August 7, 2007.  Motion carried unanimously.

APPROVAL OF JOINT MEETING MINUTES WITH LEC ADDITION COMMITTEE

MOTION by Bilskemper/Maney to approve the joint meeting minutes with LEC Addition Committee of August 28, 2007.  Motion carried unanimously. 

CONSENT AGENDA

MOTION by Belzer/Maney to receive and place on file the following Consent Agenda items:

• CJMC Minutes of August 15, 2007
• CJMC Executive Committee Minutes of August 22, 2007
• LEC Addition Committee Minutes of August 14, 2007
• LEPC Minutes of May 16, 2007
• Public Safety Communications Governing Board Minutes of April 30, 2007
• The Carey Group presentation on Evidence Based Practices was held this morning for County Board Members and interested others.  Committee Chair Burke distributed copies of the PowerPoint presentation to those committee members that could not attend the morning session.  The Carey Group are continuing with their workshops this afternoon and tomorrow for Justice Sanction’s staff and other law agencies.

Motion carried unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None requested.

UPDATE ON IMPACT/WORKLOAD RE RECENT FLOODING

Committee Chair Burke noted at the Monday night County Board meeting, Jay Loeffler and Keith Butler presented on the same topic.  She noted the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was used for the first time and asked how that worked.  Keith noted since its use, there were several things changed in order to make the room more user friendly and more flexible.  He noted the Regional Director came in on Sunday morning, but had to leave to go to a southern county; in her place, the Director from the Spooner area came to La Crosse County and assisted for approximately 1 ½ weeks.  A debriefing meeting will be held for those involved with the EOC.  On September 19^th at 1:00 p.m., the public assistance kick-off meeting will be held in La Crosse; FEMA will come and assist those who want to apply for reimbursement assistance; thus far over $.5 million in just County departments’ expenses.  Supervisor Medinger expressed concern for evacuation plans for the elderly and other vulnerable population as it relates to flooding.  Keith said these can be managed on an individual basis; his dept. has the registry of this population.  The Governor’s plan from a couple of year’s ago was to have a plan in place to evacuate the entire County; no planning information or guidance given in how or why this should be done, so this has not been pursued yet.

Committee Chair Burke thanked Keith, staff, and all others involved during this time of disaster.  She noted that Keith was also involved in several disaster informational meetings around the County and commended him for his interaction at these meetings.

UPDATE ON 2008 BUDGETS FOR THE FOLLOWING DEPARTMENTS:  FAMILY COURT COMMISSIONER, MEDIATION & FAMILY COURT SERVICES, SHERIFF, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, CLERK OF COURTS, EMERGENCY SERVICES, AND MEDICAL EXAMINER

Steve O’Malley gave an overview at the Monday night County Board meeting.  His prepared budget for 2008 is in print and will be handed by the end of the month.  The biggest issue that affects this committee is the LEC Addition.  The Sheriff Dept. has the shift vehicle issue which will be one of the twelve items presented to the County Board as separate items to vote on; in addition, an additional Jailer is in the Sheriff’s budget.  There is increase in hours for an Investigator in the District Attorney’s budget.  The balance of the departments’ budgets, under this committee’s jurisdiction, have no significant changes.  All the budgets are affected by wage and benefit increases.   Any Supervisors wanting more budget detail are welcome to meet with him.

ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDAS

Supervisor Bilskemper requested information on community service/work crews.

JOINT MEETING WITH LEC ADDITION COMMITTEE

September 18^th at 8:15 a.m.  Steve O’Malley noted a specific proposal will be brought before the two committees for direction.

OCTOBER COMMITTEE MEETING

Time changed to 3:00 p.m. to accommodate those returning from the WCA Conference in Wisconsin Dells.  

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION by Maney/Belzer to adjourn the meeting.  Motion carried unanimously.  The meeting adjourned at 3:09 p.m.

Disclaimer:  The above minutes may be approved, amended or corrected at the next committee meeting.

Cheryl Stephen, Recorder