County forms committee to discuss stimulus funding

     The Jones County Supervisors took action and voted on the formation of an advisory committee concerning the county’s $4 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act.

     During the June 1 board meeting, the board voted to initially start the committee off with just the elected county officials and two county supervisors, the chair and vice chair. Those people would include:

     • Chair Joe Oswald

     • Vice Chair Jon Zirkelbach

     • Attorney Kristofer Lyons

     • Sheriff Greg Graver

     • Auditor Whitney Hein

     • Treasurer Amy Picray

     • Recorder Sheri Jones

     Hein said the committee could always expand as needed.

     “We need to get some ideas rolling,” Hein urged of the board in terms of how to spend the funds. “There will be input from outside groups, providing recommendations to you.”

     Hein said Picray informed her that about half of the Rescue Act funds have already been deposited into the county’s account.

     Supervisor Jeff Swisher said he would also like to hear from the department heads, some not necessarily elected officials, on their ideas, too, perhaps inviting them to a committee meeting. However, he said the committee needs to remain small to start with.

     “Boards that are too big don’t work,” he said.

     “The bigger the committee, the harder it could be to get everyone to meet,” added Hein.

     She told the board that the department heads are aware of the receipt of the Rescue Act funds and how this funding could potentially impact their department.

In other county business:

     • The board set a public hearing for Tuesday, June 22, at 9:30 a.m. on a DNR construction permit application for an existing livestock facility in Castle Grove Township, owned by D&B Pork, LLC.

     • County Engineer Derek Snead reported that he received a reimbursement check from FEMA for derecho debris removal. FEMA covered about 75 percent of the costs at $283,000. The actual costs were over $300,000. He said Iowa Homeland Security would cover an additional 10 percent.

     • On an update concerning contract rock, Snead said Weber Stone finished their roads, Wendling Quarries had one road remaining, and River City started mid-week last week.

     “It’ll take them a little over a week,” he said.

     Snead was unsure of when Bard Materials planned to start placing their rock.

     • Secondary Roads recently replaced a posted bridge on 25^th Avenue off of County Road E-17, west of Canton.

     In February 2013, Snead reported that Jones County had 52 posted structures for various weight restrictions. This replacement brings the number of posted bridges into the single digits.

     “We do about four or five structures a year,” he said.

     Of the nine remaining, Snead expects to see about half replaced within the next two to four years.

     “It’s an uphill battle, though, because they’re constantly deteriorating,” he said of keeping up with maintenance.

     • The board approved an appropriation resolution transferring $12,000 from Senior Dining into Public Health.

     The Senior Dining budget will decrease from $186,243 to $174,243. The Public Health budget will increase from $237,301 to $249,301.

     Hein said the appropriation is to help Public Health get by with payroll and claims until the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30. She said a lot of Public Health’s additional expenses had to do with COVID.

     JCPH Coordinator Jenna Lovaas said staff spent additional hours working during the vaccine clinics, too.