Board Of Supervisors Receives Road Improvement Petition
Mahaska County Board of Supervisors – 8-19-2013
By Eduardo Zamarripa, CRI Weekly News
Oskaloosa, Iowa – On Monday morning, the Board of Supervisors received a road improvement petition for 285th Street, and an update from Mahaska County Conservation Board Executive Director Dave Sedivec.
Ed Hoyt, who lives on 1649 285th Street across from the river in Eveland Access, presented a petition to the board and said that because of the increasing popularity of Eveland Access and camping, there has also been an increase in traffic. According to Hoyt, that traffic has caused excess dust and dirt. The petition requests Mahaska County to either resurface the road as a ‘black top’ surface, or to provide dust control on the road. Blacktop typically refers to asphalt concrete. The board accepted the petition from Holub and said it would discuss it with Mahaska County Engineer Jerry Nusbaum.
The board also received a conservation report from Sedivec. Sedivec said the camping revenues for the year are already ‘top five’ ever. Watch the full video from Sedivec’s report:
Leighton Mayor Dan Gleason spoke at the meeting in regards to the status of Mahaska County Agricultural and Rural Development (MCARD). According to its website, MCARD:
Helps promote the development of value-added agricultural products in Mahaska County, provides economic development assistance to smaller, rural communities in Mahaska County, and offers professional grant-writing expertise to help bring outside dollars to fund special economic development initiatives into Mahaska County.
Gleason said MCARD has updated its bylaws and has had a lot of recent activity. Supervisor Mike Vander Molen said MCARD “is a pretty important county function.”
In other items of the agenda, the board held a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. to reclassify the level of service from “B” to “C” on 340th Street (from Irvine Avenue to James Trail). The change in classification provides a reduced level of maintenance and restricts access. No comments were made by the public.
In addition to that, the board set a public hearing to vacate a level “B” road, section eight, for Oct. 7 at 9:30 a.m.
The board unanimously approved the removal of Don Hubbard (effective Sept. 6) and Brandon Slobe (effective June 28) from the payroll, and tabled the discussion for creating a capital improvement fund for the county for its next meeting. The board also unanimously approved a health plan reimbursement for Deputy Sheriff Trevor Wells.
In the committee reports section of the meeting, Vander Molen said the search for the Oskaloosa Area Chamber Development Group Director position is still ongoing. Jon Sullivan previously held that position before retiring two months ago.
The next Board of Supervisors meeting is on Oct. 7 at 9 a.m.
