More than 20 people pleaded with the Mower County Board of Commissioners to let them keep their adult mental health case managers at a board meeting Tuesday.

The county cut case management providers for Mower County residents who get mental health services from six to two earlier this year and the decision goes into effect next month.

County officials say the move followed legislative recommendations to reform health care services and to enhance service quality for Mower residents, but many who receive mental health services are concerned with the move. Case managers essentially coordinate a team of specialists to help mental health patients, and a switch in case management could disrupt the routine and set patient care back, according to Ronnie Rosenberger, an Austin resident who receives mental health services from Mower County.

“We fell that our input should be considered,” Rosenberger told the board.

According to Rosenberger and other adults, switching case managers could be detrimental to their health. Case managers in effect coordinate care plans for adults using mental health services, and the schedule to change case managers is too quick for many of the residents.

“Quick changes are not good for the safety and well-being of the patients,” Rosenberger said.

Others spoke to the board about how the changes would likely cause them setbacks. One resident said he had no choice but to change to an unknown case manager and “start from square one” if he wanted to keep his job as a custodian at Cedar Valley Services.

“It just seems there are so many questions about this,” he said.

Many residents questioned the county’s timing with the decision and wondered why the Local Advisory Committee, an advocacy group composed of adults who use mental health services in Mower County, wasn’t consulted during the latest contract selection.

Health and Human Services Director Julie Stevermer said she understood such a switch can be difficult but pointed out the changes came from recommendations to the state for human services reform, and that county officials made the move to enhance quality of care.

Rosenberger delivered a petition signed by about 72 mental health patients to the county asking the board to keep case management services as is. She said she hopes the board considers the proposal and at least gives residents longer than a month to choose a new case manager.

Board Chairman Tony Bennett referred the issue to the finance committee, which will report its suggestions to the board on Feb. 25.

Board to consider flood zone property buyout

The Mower County Board of Commissioners is hesitant to buy out more flood property.

County commissioners tabled discussion on a potential flood buyout of three properties north of Austin and one property in Adams during their meeting Tuesday.

All property owners in question recently came to the county asking for a buyout bid, according to County Engineer Mike Hanson.

Though the county has bought out property in the past, county officials recommended the board’s finance committee examine the buyout process. About 75 percent of the funds necessary to buy out property come from federal grant money, but the county is expected to kick in 25 percent of the cost, according to County Coordinator Craig Oscarson. In the past, the state Department of Natural Resources has covered half of the local cost.

Oscarson said in the past property owners would willingly discount flood zone property to make up the county’s portion of the buyout since a county appraisal of flood zone properties can’t take into account their flood zone status, thus marking property appraisals up. County officials didn’t know whether property owners would do that again, or if the state would allow such a move in the present. In addition, one of the properties in question is commercial land, which the county board previously decided not to purchase using flood zone dollars.

In other news:

—Mower County will spend about $85,000 for new aerial photos of the county this year.

The Mower County Board of Commissioners approved a $102,000 contract to have overhead photos taken of Mower County in 2014. The photos, which are used by several city and county departments, haven’t been updated since 2006. The recommended time a county needs to take aerial photos is about five years, according to County Coordinator Craig Oscarson.

The city of Austin will contributed about $16,500.