Duckworth gives farewell at final EMA meeting

Times are changing at Union County Emergency Management. Union County EMA Coordinator Jo Duckworth attended her final meeting as coordinator on Wednesday.

Duckworth will officially retire on July 15, passing the baton to a new coordinator to be hired in a special meeting on July 8. Her service to Union County will end with over 47 years contributed across multiple roles.

“I feel very fortunate to have worked in the county I grew up in and have loved all my life,” Duckworth said. “It’s a little bittersweet.”

On the emergency management side, Duckworth said she enjoyed good and supportive commissions throughout her time at EMA.

“They’ve provided great leadership, great direction,” Duckworth said. “I can’t complain. It’s been important and I hope I’ve left a legacy for this county and this building.”

Part of Duckworth’s legacy is the Union County EMA building, which has been operational since 2018. The building has been a resource through storms and the COVID-19 pandemic.

As she looked ahead to the future of EMA, Duckworth’s final input to EMA operations as coordinator was on reserve funds being used for a radio tower project.

As a part of regular maintenance and repainting done by Southern Iowa Rural Water Association on each of their water towers, Lorimor’s water tower is scheduled for repainting in the fall starting in August. However, this water tower is also used by Union County EMA as a radio tower.

In order to avoid damage, Union County EMA will have to temporarily remove their radio tower equipment. This will cost the county $70,000, with $40,000 to be paid through the EMA reserve funds.

“We don’t really have a choice,” Union County Sheriff Brian Bolton said. “We’re at the mercy of SIRWA a little bit, if they want to paint the tower. ... We save some money not having to put up our own tower because we installed it on the side of the water tower. When they paint the tower, we have got to do all of this stuff.”

Creston Police Chief Paul Ver Meer broke down how the costs will be paid. Law enforcement will pay $15,000 from their capital fund, Union County will pay $15,000 from their general fund and $40,000 from EMA’s reserve funds.

Ver Meer also noted how the Creston water tower, which also has a radio tower installed, will undergo the same process scheduled in a couple of years. That project will cost $100,000.

Duckworth was worried the trend of using reserve funds to pay for the projects would continue, especially in regards to planned programs. She said one planned program, a hazmat emergency preparation program, was in the works to be paid with the reserve funds. Now, it’s unlikely.

The soon-to-be-retired coordinator said she didn’t want to leave EMA in a bad position, calling the trend a “slippery slope.”

“After tonight, it’s really not my work,” Duckworth said. “But, I’d hate to leave the agency without any operating funds; that’s basically what we’re going to do.”

She said there were times she was unable to receive funds from the Union County board of supervisors for EMA projects, including for partial reimbursement for other radio tower projects.

Bolton and Ver Meer agreed with Duckworth in realizing tightening funds across Union County. Both law enforcement officials mentioned times their departments were unable to afford other projects due to other issues.

“I don’t know if anybody has that money right now,” Bolton said.

“Everybody is feeling the pain,” Ver Meer said.

Even while saying she supports and understands the project is necessary for the county, Duckworth disagreed with how EMA was primarily funding the radio tower project.

“It’s a county project,” Duckworth said. “It’s county property, not EMA’s property. Do I think it’s an important project? Absolutely, I wouldn’t have pushed so hard to begin with. I worked in that field for 30 years. I know how important it is. I need you guys to understand that our funds are there for a purpose.”

In the search for Duckworth’s replacement, the EMA hiring committee will interview four candidates next week and make their recommendation during a special meeting on July 8.

In other EMA news...

Duckworth’s letter of training hours was approved. By June 5, Duckworth underwent the required 24 hours of annual continuing education, with 12 hours of training specific to emergency management and 12 hours approved by the local emergency management commission. Over the past year, Duckworth attended 28 hours of training.

A clarification on the coordinator’s salary was approved. Despite the commission approving the salary of the coordinator last fiscal year, the paperwork submitted had a different salary. The filings for the next fiscal year were updated to reflect this.

The commission approved ESF 10 and RSF Infrastructure. These guidelines outline how the county will handle responding to oil and hazardous materials incidents and the recovery to infrastructure after a disaster, respectively.