News : Change in policy for Minutes of Benton County Supervisor Meetings

As per the IPIB training received last week, the minutes that will be published in the newspaper, as the "official" newspaper for publication, will NOT include all of the details of a meeting.

Now you will only see, a remake of the agenda and whether or not action was taken. There won't be any extended comments as to what what said or discussed in meetings.

There will be no record of public comments that are made, or the topic of the discussion. Here's the official business that was conducted on Tuesday morning. The comments at the end of the meeting will be in a separate article.

Approval was granted for the following:

-Class C Retail Alcohol License for Kacena Family Tree Farm, Inc.

-Fireworks permit for Iowa Pyrotechnic Association for July 20, 2024, subject to getting a signature from the fire department

-Fireworks permit for Randy Nash for July 4, 2024, because it is allowed by State Law, Benton County Auditor believes that the state law supercedes the county for this permit. However, the information was submitted.

-Matt Even requested a Land Use hearing for Paul & Susan Phillips a part of the NW ¼ of the NW ¼, Sec 4, T84N, R9W4.

-Sue Wilber, Vacation Carryover until October 1, 2024

-Authorized Chairman to sign 30 day burn acceptance letter for E911 Radio Project

Scott Hansen of Emergency Management explained that Benton County is in charge of testing the new equipment and that the "30 Day" part of the acceptance letter really doesn't mean strictly 30 days.

There are three VHF systems operating in the county which are quickly. deteriorating. During the testing period, Conservation was added, Belle Plaine Police Department and Vinton Police Department were added because their system started to fail, so the county is adding more partners to the system. Hansen said that the system is working flawlessly. Departments will come in for training Tuesday and Wednesday and the new system will go live at 10:00 a.m. on Monday.

- Discussed and Approved the Excess Flood Policy

Robert Spangler spoke on behalf of the Benton County Historical Preservation Committee office/workspace in the Access Center. The information he handed out is at the end of this article. The department received notice that they would be removed from their location. Spangler said that there had been no prior discussion with the committee concerning the matter. He explained that their commission is to work on behalf of the county. They help citizens who have historic properties, and provide assistance to residents. The department needs a location where they can work on their projects without having to continuously pack everything up as well as have a place for meetings with property owners. They feel that they need an office location.

Some of the things that they deal with is the courthouse clock repairs, and the Sheriff Fry Memorial. He made the case for the need for consistent space to work.

Phil Borleski also spoke and explained that they held a national event in Benton County, but they had to plan it by juggling their records rather than having an office space to work out of. Some of the records have even been stored at homes just because they haven't had a central location of their own.

Wednesday through Saturday the group will be meeting with other historical organizations. Benton County is one of the most active historical committees in the state and need a place of their own to lay out plans.

Under Reports

Supervisor Tracy Seeman reported that he had a Housing Trust Fund meeting last Thursday with ECICOC. He reported that they have two projects going in Iowa County and they are working with the Eastern Iowa Trust fund.

Supervisor Rick Primmer reported that he met with Heartland (Insurance) where they reviewed the policy and summarized it. In that meeting they discussed Central Iowa Juvenile Detention.

Historical Preservation Information