The Nodaway County Health Center Board of Directors tabled the fourth reading of the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation,
or CAFO, until the May 20 meeting when hopefully a full board will be present.

It will also be after the April 7 election. The board is looking at pending court actions in other parts of the state against SB391. By postponing the fourth reading of the county CAFO ordinance, they are hoping for resolutions of the court actions and a clearer path for the board to follow.

Administrator Tom Patterson reviewed changes he had made in the ordinance from the January meeting. The definitions for livestock feedlots and lagoons were deleted and the references changed to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
language of production areas.

The DNR production areas definition is broader in scope than the feedlot and lagoon definitions the ordinance had used. Process
wastewater was inserted were just the term wastewater had been used. It also broadened the definition.

The board approved the 2018 and 2019 audit bid by Beard, Boehmer and Associates, PC, Columbia. The bid was for $7,200, the
only bid received. Beard, Boehmer completed the audit two years ago at a cost of $6,900. Patterson is requesting a report from the company in July for the board to review and approve. The 2020 health center inventory was approved.

Nurse Tabitha Frank reported participating in conference calls with the CDC, DHSS and MHA on the novel coronavirus. The CDC call was on monitoring and preparedness. The DHSS was information for higher education student health and local public health partners. The MHA was guidance for hospitals, health systems, EMS and local public health agencies.

“Public health in the US has been preparing for pandemic flu for years, so should be well equipped to respond to the respiratory disease coronavirus,” Patterson said. “Monitoring at airports continues. High-risk patients are being quarantined for 14 days. Local health departments are to be notified of travelers who are medium-to-low-risk returning home. These will be contacted and observed for two weeks and educated on self-assessment, precautions and self-reporting of symptoms. Testing is being completed on case-by-case basis by DHSS and CDC.

Frank had given three adults and seven children flu vaccinations in January. The disease case reports
for January included 60 of Influenza A, 37 of Influenza B and four untyped influenza cases.

“Flu activity is widespread throughout the US,” Patterson said. “There has been a recent wave after an
earlier lull.”

Patterson said only 35 to 40 percent of the population gets flu vaccinations.

Patterson will start on a five-year plan to replace the concrete parking and driveways around the health center. He is hoping to replace the same square footage this year as last as the board has budgeted a similar amount. He plans to have bids and the location defined for the board to approve in March.