First Prospect for 28E Counsel to Present Plan

Mahaska County Board of Supervisors – February 21, 2017.

By Hailey Brown

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Discussion continued Tuesday morning as the Mahaska County Supervisors hashed out ideas for fresh legal counsel pertaining to the 28E Agreement to build a regional airport with the cities of Oskaloosa and Pella. The original agreement was drafted back in 2012, in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The quest for legal counsel comes on the heels of a letter written by current Mahaska County Attorney Jim Blomgren requesting to be excused from the 28E discussion, disclosing a self-admitted conflict of interest. His wife, Pam, currently sits on the South Central Regional Airport (SCRAA) Board as a representative of the City of Oskaloosa.

According to the SCRAA website, the agency is “an entity that is responsible for ushering the evaluation, construction and operations of a regional airport forward on behalf of the City of Oskaloosa, the City of Pella and Mahaska County.” Although removed from this particular topic of interest, Blomgren will continue to serve as Mahaska County Attorney in all other regular aspects.

The first prospect up for consideration is not a new face to the Mahaska County Courthouse, according to Supervisor Mark Doland, as he has applied to be Mahaska County Attorney twice previously. During the Tuesday meeting, it was agreed 2-1 that Daniel Gonnermann of Story County would bring a proposal outline of how to proceed in terms of the agreement to a future Board of Supervisors meeting. His first visit will be at a flat rate, however if chosen for the job, he would reduce his usual $250 per hour rate to a discounted $175 hourly rate since the job would be a government contract. He would also require $100 per day for travel. The agreement to hear his proposal is not a binding contract that holds Mahaska County to his services. At this point the motion is purely to meet Gonnermann and hear his take on the agreement.

Reinforcing his opinion that this topic has already been agreed to and needs no further counsel, Supervisor Henry “Willie” Van Weelden again sat alone on his side of the issue when going up against Supervisors Doland and Mark Groenendyk. “Nothing has changed as far as I’m concerned,” Van Weelden said with crossed arms, reiterating the value the airport could potentially bring to the county and county businesses. “This is between you two.”

However, Doland noted that legal direction is needed due in part to the so-called “grey area” in the contract about who would pay to re-route the appropriate roadways, such as 220th Street, which is primarily used by farmers.

To learn more about the SCRAA Board, the public may attend the next SCRAA Board meeting on Tuesday, February 28 at 6 p.m. at the Pella Public Safety Complex, 614 Main Street, Pella.

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