The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Monday were updated on the County’s Continuity of Government (COG), and Continuity of Operations Plans. Rob Koppert, E-9-1-1 Coordinator and Assistant to Emergency Management Director Mike Kennon, explained why those plans are needed. He says both plans would spell out how government functions would continue, should members of the Board of Supervisors be wiped out in a disaster, and/or if any of the county’s physical facilities are destroyed.  The initiative began a number of years ago, according to Koppert, but is only now beginning to take shape across the State.

Koppert says Mike Kennon has been working with the State Planner with regard to the COOP/COG plans, and it appears the Emergency Management Department is ready to move forward with plans to meet with County government officials to discuss those plans.  He says Kennon has a list of functions each entity in the County will need to discuss and prioritize, with regard to the plan. That includes the various County Department heads, who will determine the needs for each department, before a disaster strikes, so those items can quickly be acquired if needed.

Supervisor Chuck Rieken asked if Kennon wasn’t “reinventing the wheel,” when it comes to the COG/COOP Plans, because the State or other agencies have something similar in place. Koppert said there are templates available with which to guide the process, but the COG/COOP Plans for each county, would be County Specific. That would include where the County offices would set up operations if the courthouse were to be destroyed or damaged to the point where normal functions would be impossible.

The County is also required to develop such a plan, according to the Federal initiative ordered by a Presidential directive. The recent purchase and installation this past Spring, of a new 175 kilowatt Emergency Generator, is part of the County’s COG plan.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – For the first time in nearly two years, the overall Business Conditions Index for a nine-state region of the Midwest and Plains took a negative turn.  Today’s (Tuesday’s) report on the survey of supply managers and executives says the index dropped to 49.9 in October, compared with 52.2 in September. Organizers say any survey score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor.

Creighton University economics professor Ernie Goss oversees the survey. He says one reading slightly below a growth-neutral 50 doesn’t signal a recession. But Goss says the October figure is evidence that the weakness in the national economy has hit the regional economy.

The states are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

ATLANTIC – Gronewold, Bell, Kyhnn & Co., P.C. CPAs have released an audit report on Cass County Memorial Hospital, Atlantic, Iowa. The auditors reported that the Hospital’s Unrestricted Funds revenues totaled $31,689,800 for the year ended june 30, 2011, a 3.6 percent decrease from 2010. The revenues included $27,909,900 in net patient revenue, $844,700 in other operating revenue, $1,989,600 from the county and $297,300 in interest on investments.

Expenses for the year totaled $31,057,600, a 3.3 percent decrease from the prior year, and included $5,976,800 for nursing services, $12,993,800 for other professional services and $8,077,000 for fiscal and administrative services. The decrease in revenues and expenses was primarily due to the Hospital discontinuing its home care and hospice services during the year.

There were no corrective measures indicated necessary for this audit. A copy of the audit report is available for review in the office of the Auditor of State and the Hospital Administrator’s office.

(Press Release from CCMH)