Board hears department updates, approves pickup purchase

   Jones County Secondary Roads is looking to purchase a new pickup truck for their fleet.

   During the April 15 Jones County Supervisors meeting, the board approved the purchase via the state bid at a not-to-exceed amount of $12,500.

   Chief Inspector Wes Gibbs told the board that Secondary Roads looks to replace a pickup with roughly 210,000 miles on it.

   “It’s getting to the point that we need to replace without paying a whole lot (on repairs),” Gibbs said.

   They’ve been watching the state bids online for two 2020 Ram 1500s. If they don’t want to go through the bidding process, Gibbs said an offer of $12,500 would also allow them to purchase one of the trucks “outright.” He said the online bidding process might be cheaper.

   County Attorney Kristofer Lyons also met with the board regarding the opioid litigation.

   Late last week, after consulting with their lawyers who were hired to secure funds from the various defendants involved in the litigation, Lyons shared that a new defendant was added to the case: Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM).

   “They think PBM could be a good source of additional revenue for all of the ppl they represent,” Lyons said.

   He said PBM is being “more aggressive in their defense than the other defendants were.” Due to that fact, the lawyers’ recommendation is for smaller counties and cities, like Jones County, that they represent should opt out “of the motion to amend the lawsuit.

   “Because we’re so small and it’s less likely that us as an entity had any contact with PBMs, us being involved could potentially hurt the lawsuit just because we’re a defendant,” Lyons explained. “If a small county like ours became involved and didn’t have particular damages against this particular PBM, it could affect things going forward.”

   By opting out, Lyons noted that this action would not affect any of the money the county has already received from the opioid lawsuit, nor any of the funds that have been promised to Jones County.

   “It’s a new class of defendants,” he said.

In other county business:

   • Lisa Tuetken was present at the board meeting concerning the preliminary plat of Shorey Acres, a subdivision in Lovell Township. It contains one lot. Amos said it was the recommendation of the Jones County Planning & Zoning Commission to label the out-lot as “unbuildable.”

   “She went through the rezoning process to be rezoned from Ag to Residential to be able to possibly do a subdivision in the future,” explained Amos.

   Tuetken sought permission to possibly build a shed on the adjoining lot that is unbuildable, and argued that there is already a cul-de-sac on her road.

   Amos said a shed would not be permissible because P&Z said the property is over a half-mile off of a hard-surface road.

   “Since then, I learned that this roadway, 150^th Avenue, has dust control, so it can take the extra traffic,” Amos offered. “The other thing is that it’s a 23-acre parcel. She’s keeping three acres and selling off the 20. If somebody wants to build a house on that 20, I can’t say no. It meets the requirements in the district.”

   “I just want to put a storage shed or a garage up. It doesn’t make sense,” voiced Tuetken.

   “It’s clearly a residential area,” commented Supervisor John Schlarmann. “A lot of people have shops next to their houses anymore.”

   The board approved the preliminary plat, without restricting the out-lot, allowing Tuetken to build a shed if she so desired.

   • The board approved a mutual aid agreement with the Jones County EMS Association.

   • The board approved a letter of support for the East Central Iowa Housing Trust Fund’s HOME application. This is a program for first-time homebuyers.

   • The board amended the public hearing date for the courthouse roof replacement project. The hearing will take place at 9 a.m. on April 22.

   • The board appointed Marcy Summers to the magistrate commission, due to a vacancy.

   • The board approved refunding a portion of the property tax collected for tax years 2022 and 2023 due to an incorrect taxing district applied to the property. The total refunded is $100.

   The board approved a refund at their previous meeting on April 8, associated with the same issue.

   • The board approved the hiring of Denny Folken as a part-time JETS driver, effective April 10, at $16.66 an hour.

   • The board made of record the Treasurer’s hiring of Candice Williams as a deputy treasurer, effective April 21, with an annual salary of $47,527.92.

   • The board held a public hearing and approved a construction permit application for a confinement feeding operation for Manternach Land & Cattle in Richland Township. No comments were received.

   This is for a 1,200-head facility.

   • The board approved the preliminary plat of Barner’s Third Addition, a subdivision in Fairview Township. It contains two lots.

   • County Auditor Whitney Hein updated the board on the courthouse bathroom project.

   Shive-Hattery was expected onsite on April 15 to review the project.

   The contractor, Peak Construction, planned to do their final cleaning on April 24 and 25. A walk-through is planned for April 28.

   “The earliest the restrooms would open to the public would be April 29,” Hein said. “It’s a little longer than what we anticipated.”

   • Gibbs updated the board on a bridge rehabilitation project on 95^th Street.

   This is located approximately 300 feet west of 170^th Avenue.

   The project was expected to start on April 15 and take one to two weeks.

   “It was posted at 3 tons a few years ago,” noted Gibbs. “The center piling was failing, but we can fix it. It has to be done from underneath.”

   • Secondary Roads was successful in being awarded a $10,000 grant from the Sign Replacement Program via the Iowa DOT. The program is funded through the Traffic Safety Improvement Program.

   • Placement of contract rock on gravel roads throughout Jones County started on April 15.