South Central Reporter

Washington County Board of Supervisors met October 2. 

Here is the minutes as provided by the board:

Chairperson Abe Miller called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. in the Courthouse chambers in regular session. Items on the agenda included the following: public hearing regarding vacation and closing of a portion of Road #13 (240th Street) in Sections 10 and 15, Township 75, Range 8, Franklin Township; personnel change request – Sheriff; personnel change requests – Secondary Roads; appointment of Marion Hayes as a Washington County Medical Examiner Investigator; application for Class C Liquor License (LC) (Commercial) from Riverside VFW Post #6414; discussion and action regarding remaining concrete work at Washington County Recycling Center; discussion/action regarding the following items related to proposed Washington County Communication Center which include topographic survey, request for proposal from Neumann Monson Architects to provide information and perform activities related to site topography, survey description and location of utilities, illustration of the extents of the survey, bond closing certificate; reappointment of Dr. Trevor Martin to three-year term on the Washington County Board of Health Board. Supervisors Stan Stoops, Jack Seward, Jr., Richard Young, and Bob Yoder were also present.

Others attending were: Mary Zielinski, The News; Dave Hotle, Washington Evening Journal; Sally Hart, KCII Radio; Cyndie Sinn, County IT/Budget Director; John Gish, County Attorney; Chauncey Moulding, Asst. County Attorney; Jeff Garrett, County Treasurer; Jacob Thorius, County Engineer; Jo Greiner, County Recorder; Danielle Pettit-Majewski, County Public Health Director; Marissa Reisen, Emergency Management Director; Jared Schneider, County Sheriff; Lynn Whaley, WEMIGA Waste Systems; Amber Williams, Board of Supervisors Administrative Assistant; and citizens Bill Miller, Karyl Miller, Jeff Thomann, Tom Duwa, Bette Brant, Charlotte Stalder, Denny Stalder, Michael Driscoll, Tom Dayton, Ken Kiene, Duane Kiene, Greg Kiene, and Les Zickefoose.

All motions were passed unanimously by those Supervisors in attendance unless noted otherwise.

On motion by Seward, seconded by Stoops, the Board voted to approve the agenda after it was amended to include the following: proposal for Geotechnical Engineering Services to be provided by Terracon Consultants Inc.

On motion by Young, seconded by Yoder, the Board voted to open a public hearing regarding vacation and closing of a portion of Road #13 (240th Street) in Sections 10 and 15, Township 75, Range 8, Franklin Township. County Engineer Jacob Thorius stated that Road #13 had been closed for at least 20 years and the bridge that is part of the road was deemed unsafe by the County’s bridge consultant and closed approximately 25 years ago. Since that time the County has performed minimal maintenance on the road and Thorius shared that he had been approached by area landowners about the possibility of vacating the road. As a result of those conversations Thorius has spoken with neighboring land owners with only one individual objecting to a road vacation. Thorius added that currently he has no plans to repair the bridge and added that vacating the road would help to prevent people from traveling along the road to dump trash and to hold parties. Thorius stated that further consideration is needed regarding the future of the bridge that is located on the road. Citizen Ken Kiene stated that he had only learned of the plan to vacate the road earlier in the day and added that he was opposed to vacating the road. He stated that Duane Kiene and Greg Kiene were handling negotiations with Thorius. K. Kiene continued by stating that he owns 40 acres of farm ground on the south side of Road #13 and he maintained that the proposed road vacation would limit access to his property from the east only. While the 40 acres has been in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for approximately 29 years K. Kiene expressed concern that if the CRP program no longer becomes available in the future the ground would very likely be returned to crop production. If that occurred the road would likely be used for, among other things, the movement of farm equipment which would be problematic. Despite periodic repair and restorative efforts K. Kiene maintained that the estimated 70 year-old steel culvert in place underneath the road needed to be replaced. K. Kiene also opined that the value of the ground, in terms of rental rates, would be diminished if access were limited by way of road vacation. He questioned what would occur if the road was vacated and a border fence was constructed in the middle of the vacated road. Thorius stated that he is only required to provide notice of hearing to the land owner of record which is D. Kiene. K. Kiene suggested that a low water crossing be installed at the current location of bridge and in turn again voiced his opposition to the proposed road vacation. D. Kiene questioned the need for anyone to travel the road and stated that he is in the process of purchasing K. Kiene’s share of the property and thus he has a long-term interest in the property. G. Kiene stated that K. Kiene did indeed know about the vacation process. G. Kiene expressed a desire to keep the public off of the road and expressed agreement with the comments made earlier in the meeting by Thorius regarding problems with illegal dumping and parties. He also expressed that the ground is hilly and thus it is quite difficult for machinery to utilize the road. Finally, he stated that the value of the ground has already decreased due to two nearby hog confinement buildings. G. Kiene made it clear for the record that he has no issues with hog confinement buildings despite their odor. He also stated his viewpoint that there are not issues with the culvert as it was possible to see completely through the culvert from end to end. In response to Yoder’s suggestion that the road be reclassified as a Class C road Thorius explained that such a classification would result in minimal maintenance and private access. However, Thorius added that under such a classification the county would still have a liability exposure. He also stated that a Class C classification would keep the road off of the tax rolls. Yoder opined that there would be minimal tax revenue implications should the road be vacated and instead advocated for a Class C designation for at least the short term in order to evaluate. G. Kiene responded by saying that such a designation was worth considering as his main desire was to prevent public travel. Gish cautioned that designating the road as Class C would still leave the County with a public right-of-way and with a public bridge. With regard to replacement of the bridge with a low water crossing, Thorius estimated the cost to be in excess of $25,000.00. Each of the Kienes responded favorably in response to a question from Gish as to the possible reclassification of the road to Class C, even if the result was the bridge being completely closed and inaccessible. G. Kiene responded that plank decking had already been removed from the bridge and thus it was already impossible to cross the bridge. On motion by Yoder, seconded by Seward, the Board voted to close the public hearing.

On motion by Stoops, seconded by Seward, the Board voted to acknowledge, and authorize the Chairperson to sign, a personnel change request from the Sheriff for a change in classification from fulltime to casual part-time for Angela Edwards, effective September 27, 2018.

On motion by Yoder, seconded by Stoops, the Board voted to acknowledge, and authorize the Chairperson to sign, a personnel change request from Secondary Roads for Dave Greiner whose last day of employment will occur October 10, 2018.

On motion by Young, seconded by Seward, the Board voted to acknowledge, and authorize the Chairperson to sign, a personnel change request from Secondary Roads for Cody Mellinger who will begin employment as a full-time Equipment Operator on October 3, 2018 at the rate of $21.49 per hour.

On motion by Seward, seconded by Stoops, the Board voted to appoint Marion Hayes as a Washington County Medical Examiner Investigator.

On motion by Yoder, seconded by Stoops, the Board voted to approve an application for renewal of a Class C Liquor License (LC) (Commercial), including outdoor services and Sunday sales, from Riverside VFW Post #6414, Riverside, for the period of November 10, 2018 through November 9, 2019. Sheriff Jared Schneider recommended approval of the renewal.

On motion by Seward, seconded by Stoops, the Board voted to acknowledge future concrete work scheduled to take place at the Washington County Recycling Center as budgeted.

On motion by Young, seconded by Seward, the Board voted to approve, and authorize the Chairperson to sign, an agreement with MMS Consultants Inc., Iowa City, for topographical survey work related to the proposed new Communications building. According to the terms of the agreement the County will pay MMS Consultants Inc. a fee of $3,150.00

On motion by Seward, seconded by Stoops, the Board voted to acknowledge the following items as listed on the agenda: request for proposal from Neumann Monson Architects to provide information and perform activities related to site topography, survey description and location of utilities, and illustration of the extents of the survey,

On motion by Seward, seconded by Young, the Board voted to approve a closing certificate for the sale of bonds and authorize the Chairperson to sign the certificate. The net bond sales proceeds of $3,568,419.70 will be used for the purposes of financing the acquisition of emergency services communication equipment.

On motion by Yoder, seconded by Young, the Board voted to appoint Dr. Trevor Martin to a three-year term as Medical Director on the Washington County Board of Health with such term beginning January 1, 2019.

On motion by Seward, seconded by Stoops, the Board voted to accept, and authorize Young to sign, a contract with Terracon Consultants Inc. to provide geotechnical soil survey services. The contract is related to the site for the proposed new Communications building and Young was designated to sign the contract on behalf of the Board due to his familiarity with Terracon Consultants and the fact that his name was listed on the contract.

Emergency Management Director Marissa Reisen shared that dispatchers in Washington County had recently completed training which qualifies the County to be designated as a StormReady County. StormReady is a community preparedness program in the United States that encourages government entities and commercial gathering sites to prepare for severe storms. The program, sponsored by the United States National Weather Service, issues recognition to communities and sites across the country that demonstrate severe weather readiness. The program is voluntary, and provides communities with clear-cut advice from a partnership with the local National Weather Service Office, state and local emergency manager, and the media.

At 10:12 a.m. on motion by Stoops, seconded by Yoder, the Board voted to adjourn.

http://co.washington.ia.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10022018-320