Government : Benton County Board of Supervisor Minutes 5/28/19

May 28, 2019

The Benton County Board of Supervisors met in regular adjourned session with Supervisors Primmer, Bierschenk and Seeman present. Primmer called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Unless otherwise noted, all actions were approved unanimously.

Seeman moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve the minutes from May 21, 2019. Motion carried.

Seeman moved/Bierschenk seconded: To set Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. for a public hearing for amending FY 19 Budget. Motion carried.

Seeman moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve a handwritten claim to be processed by May 31, 2019 in the amount of $1,340.95 for Social Services to use the Emergency Food Shelter Program (EFSP) money to pay the Food Pantry. Motion carried.

Bierschenk moved/Seeman seconded: To approve Class B Liquor License for Blairstown Sauerkraut Days for June 19, 2019. Motion carried.

Seeman moved/Bierschenk seconded: To appoint Bob Zeien for Bruce Township Trustee. Motion carried.

Seeman moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve the County Facility Application for Department of Human Services. Motion carried.

Discussion was had about the County’s current Recycling Ordinance #44 that was adopted in 2004. The growing cost of recycling was the main reason this was brought forward to the Board by John Watson, Chairman of the Landfill Commission. Other commission members in favor or repealing the ordinance who were also present: Bruce Cross, Newhall; Dave Fish, Belle Plaine; Loras Schulte, Vice Chair of the Landfill Commission; Eric Werner, Landfill Manager ; Mike Seeck, Keystone; Jared Vogeler, Van Horne; Bruce Viser, Atkins and Jennifer Zahradnik, member-at-large.

Supervisor Seeman brought up the recycling costs for rural residents that has been as high as $432 /ton in February and more recently in April approximately $378/ton. Some of that is trucking fees also. But the cost to keep it at the Blairstown Landfill is $50/ton. Watson talked about the progress at the landfill, and a goal for each month is to make recycling cheaper for the county’s citizens. Schulte said the Commission needs flexibility and to have the county repeal Ordinance #44 would help allow that. Commission member Zahradnik explained the ordinance was established when the Supervisors were in charge of the landfill and the Engineer overseen it. Now the commission takes care of the landfill and would like to have the ability to set policies and procedures based upon current market and trends.

With the representation that was present, it is obvious that the Landfill Commission is well represented and the Board agreed with those attending that this ordinance needs repealed and the commission would be able to explore other options. Proper procedure will have to take place in order to do so and give notice that the county is considering this. No action was taken.

Jackie and Loren Seitz, Darren and Crystal Stein, Ken Struve, Tammy Wagner, Kyle and Lori Wilton were all present to discuss the current status of 22nd Avenue Road. Seitz has been to numerous Board meetings requesting action to be taken. The Board previously agreed that they wanted to do a permanent repair not a temporary fix for this road which has a history of flooding problems for decades. Seitz reminded the board that after a meeting last fall, a previous supervisor said that after a current asphalt project was complete, they would get to it, obviously that didn’t happen. Well now currently the weather has obviously not been cooperative this spring and the water is now going over the North end where the residents could normally get out when the level is high, so currently they have no way of getting in and out. Mail can’t be delivered, no phone service and it has become a big safety concern for everyone. Stein’s have livestock that they are traveling 6 miles out of their way to tend to. In years past this portion of the road has never been affected, so the recent ice jam that passed thru could be the reason. The questions being asked were: can we come back on the county if someone gets hurt driving over these areas and if the farmers are able to get back in the fields, why can’t any work be done on this road? Conservation has already fixed the roadside park area.

County Engineer Myron Parizek also present for the discussion, he spoke up on the matter. The question at hand is if 22nd Ave. Road is a higher priority right now than 90% of the other roads in the rest of the county? Our first step is to protect the phone cable. The intent was to put a 1 foot buffer around it, bring in clay to fill in the voids and then load rock on top to build up the blacktop. Obviously this has far been a typical spring and we can’t predict the weather pattern. Currently we have 6-8 trucks out addressing frost boils and other things, but if the Board of Supervisors wants to take them off the spend 4-5 days addressing one area we will. In order to fix this area, the Board is in agreement they want it fixed properly, and not a quick fix and weather permitting. Seitz asked about liability being on the county since nothing has been done or attempted, she understands flood is an act of nature, but concerned that nothing other than setting signs has been done since her last visit in February. Chairman Primmer told the crowd we keep hammering the same thing over and over that the conditions need to be right and the consensus is that this will get taken care of when weather dries up and equipment can be safely brought in!

Seeman moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve Utility Permit for Linn County REC for Fremont and Florence Townships. Motion carried.

Bierschenk moved/Seeman seconded: To hire Brian Reeves part-time effective immediately at $19/hour during probationary period, after that will go to $20/hour. One of two rural access managers. Motion carried.

Seeman moved/Bierschenk seconded: To approve to pay Brian Reeves 40 hours for attending Critical Incident Training (CIT) in Iowa City. Motion carried.

Bierschenk moved/Seeman seconded: To adjourn. Motion carried.

_______________________________

Rick Primmer, Chairman

ATTEST: _________________________________

Hayley Rippel, Benton County Auditor