Supervisors Approve Agreements And Hiring An Economic Developer

A new Mahaska County Seal was approved at Monday’s meeting.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors met on June 17th at 3:00 pm in the 3rd-floor conference room.

The Board approved the replacement of the air conditioning unit that serves the Mahaska County Jail.

Payment of the new system is planned to fall onto the next fiscal year budget which begins on July 1st, 2019.

“I think we need the airconditioning there for the jailers,” said Mahaska County Board Chair Mark Groenendyk. “I feel like it can get awful warm and humid.”

The cost for the new system is $17,033.00, and passed unanimously, and is scheduled to be installed this week.

The Board approved a resolution setting a public hearing to allow Cedar Township Fire to borrow $355,000.00 from the county to pay for their new fire station located on the east side of Fremont.

Townships serviced by Cedar Township Fire will then be taxed, and those funds will be used to repay Mahaska County if approved.

The public hearing for the project will be on July 1st, 2019 at 9:00 am inside the 3rd Floor Conference Room of the Mahaska County Courthouse.

The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors approved a new seal for the county that will be printed on all ballots going forward.

The approval of 28E agreements with the cities of Eddyville, University Park, and Keomah Village was discussed.

Mahaska County Sheriff Russ Van Renterghem said he does take issue on the payment from those communities. His budget was developed this past fiscal year, believing that revenue would be spent on his office. The new agreement has the funds being deposited into the General Fund of the County.

The shortfall to his office is expected to be $13,000.00. “It’s kind of putting me behind the eight-ball if you will,” Van Renterghem said to the Supervisors in regards to his budget. “I’ll make it work.”

Supervisor Steve Wanders shared his thoughts that the new 28E agreements would “level the playing field” for all the communities in the county.

Van Renterghem said he wasn’t sure if he would approve the new 28E agreements the county is making.

“So what’s the hold-up. What are you pondering,” asked Supervisor Steve Parker of Van Renterghem’s comment.

“The hold up is I’m $13,000.00 shy in next year’s budget because of this whole issue,” responded Van Renterghem. “I’ll make it work.”

A series of resolutions were passed that reimbursed the County General Fund for expenses incurred for urban renewal, radio system, and more.

The Board of Supervisors approved offering a contract for a new position to Tom Flaherty as Economic Development Director.

Flaherty most recently worked for the Mahaska Community Development Group. During his time there, Flaherty was a supporter of the new regional airport and was a driving force behind the Mahaska-Marion Connect initiative.

Mahaska County and the cities of Pella and Oskaloosa are still tangled up in court over the 28E agreement that created the South Central Regional Airport Agency (SCRAA).

“The contract would be similar to the county road engineer,” said Groenendyk.

Groenendyk said that he’s spoken with businesses inside and outside the incorporated communities, “and they’d like to have an independent voice” that doesn’t have membership fees.

“I think this could be very inclusive,” added Groenendyk. “Which means there’s no boundaries here. This individual can be for all the cities, no matter the location. Or unincorporated area.”

Groenendyk said that he recently spoke with a Scott County supervisor about Flaherty, who encouraged him to vote no on the hiring of Flaherty. “He would like to for us to decline Tom because he’d like to put him on his payroll.”

The Supervisors agreed to draft a contract with Flaherty for the next three years, with a yearly review. Points of interest the Supervisors would like Flaherty to work on include workforce development, housing, among others.

Ann Frost, with the Oskaloosa Chamber and Development Group, shared a quarterly update with the Board in regards to recent activity.

Deann DeGroot spoke with the Board about the Synchronist visits with area businesses by MCARD. The software helps build knowledge and relationships to help retain business.

The Board also accepted the resignations of two jailers from the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office. Two staff members will be moving to a neighboring county facility where they will start their employment, earning three dollars an hour more than they currently make. After their probation period, they will be paid an additional three dollars an hour.

Also approved is the fireworks application for the City of Leighton. The celebration and fireworks will be on Saturday, June 28th, starting at 5:00 pm.

Posted by on Jun 19 2019. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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