Reports Make Up Bulk Of Supervisor Meeting

Mahaska County Supervisors for October 15, 2012

Oskaloosa, Iowa – On Monday, representatives from the various departments within the county gave their reports to the Supervisors.

MCARD representative Deann DeGroot informed the board about various projects and meetings she has been involved with.

DeGroot told the board about a fundraising drive being developed for the Oskaloosa Area Chamber and Development group. A postcard booklet containing photographs of scenes from within Mahaska County will be printed. The photos used would come from public submissions.

If your interested in having one of your photographs used in the upcoming postcard booklet, contact Deann DeGroot at 641-673-7629 ext. 221 or by email: ddegroot@oacdg.org

Approximately 28 local businesses will be taking part in this years Christmas Walk that is scheduled for November 24th from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The winner of the Osky Cash will be chosen on November 26th with Oskaloosa Mayor Dave Krutzfeld drawing the winner.

The Capri Theater in New Sharon is seeking assistance in purchasing new digital projection equipment for their community theater. They have sought out the assistance from the George Daily Trust to help them reach their financial goal. Without assistance, small town theaters like the Capri will be forced to close due to the movie industry soon going completely digital, making the traditional film print obsolete. New digital equipment costs can be more than $70,000, more than the all volunteer community project may be able to fund by themselves.

Mahaska County Sanitarian Eric Dursky distributed pictures from a contaminated site in the Oskaloosa area. The contamination possibly stems back to an old coal-fired power plant, and the homeowner in question has contacted Dursky on occasion in regard to environmental concerns. Dursky says that the DNR is handling the situation. Dursky says, “nothing of concern to my knowledge at this point,” about the site.

Dursky said that the West Lake project is moving forward with Mahaska Rural Water now managing the septic needs of the development. Mahaska Rural Water tapped into the Oskaloosa City sewer system to alleviate problems encountered by a lagoon that wasn’t able to handle the needs.

Dursky also updated the board about the Carbonado Road project, which consists of updating septic systems. Dursky says that 8 new systems have been installed, with 2 additional systems being modified.

Those along Carbonado Road have until 2013 to have their septic systems brought up to code if needed.

Another concern Dursky has been working with the DNR on is appliance dumping and de-manufacturing.

Dave Sedevic, Mahaska County Conservation Director reported that county campgrounds will remain open two more weekends. Sedevic says that he will then report totals for the camping season. “I think we did pretty good this year, the preliminary numbers look good considering we had no water in the river,” Sedevic said.

The Mahaska County Conservation had been sponsoring walks and other activities to coincide with the “Live Healthy Iowa” program. Those will be suspended during hunting seasons to help maintain a level of safety.

Sedevic said that the work at Maskunky Marsh should be completed this next week. New tubes were put into place to help control the water level at the marsh. The program was started after the old tubes were discovered to be silted in.

The discussion on the new nature center at Caldwell is continuing, but with inflation factored in, the center cost has risen from an estimated 3 million to 3.23 million. Unless the group is able to raise the additional funds, some features of the center may need to be cut in order to stay within the proposed budget.

Also discussed was the resolution providing funding for the U.S. 63 Corridor Study allowing continuation and completion of the project.

The US 63 corridor study will help identify and document the location for upgrades necessary to build and maintain safe and reliable transportation that would be essential for economic growth within the corridor located from Iowa 163 to US Hwy 6.

An additional $171,822 of STP “bridge funding” is needed to show the Iowa Department of Transportation that Mahaska County and its partners are committed to seeing the project through completion.

Mahaska County’s portion of committed STP funds will be reduced upon the receipt of funds from other partners from the $171,822 to $85,911.

“We’re back to our original scope of work,” says Mahaska County Engineer Jerry Nusbaum after some recent meetings with Iowa DOT.

This is a change from a month ago, when there was a possibility that the environment impact study would also play a factor into funding needed. At this juncture, just the original studies are needed. Those include archeological and historical assessments that have begun in the areas defined to be in the study area for possible routes of 63.

The resolution passed by unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors.

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