Property owner granted extension on nuisance clean-up

     Brad VonAhsen, the property owner at 20057 72^nd St. in Anamosa, was present at the July 6 Jones County Supervisor meeting to request an extension on his nuisance.

     Prior to this visit, VonAhsen was given a 9-day deadline to clean up his property, per Land Use Administrator Michele Lubben. That 90 days is almost up.

     VonAhsen told the board he is in the process of working with the Amish to build a 40-by-60-foot building to house his vehicles that were sitting, scattered throughout his property. Lubben asked him how long he had the materials for the structure, to which VonAhsen replied, “December.” He said he’s had trouble securing a solid timeline from the Amish in terms of when they plan to put the building up.

     VonAhsen said he signed the contract with the Amish in March.

     “They said they would get here when they get here,” he told the board and Lubben. “The materials are all here.”

     Supervisor Ned Rohwedder, who drove past VonAhsen’s property, asked whether the board was supposed to judge the nuisance in terms of what they could see from the roadway or in terms of an aerial photo.

     “There is a lot of tree cover,” noted Lubben. “But this started back in December (when there was no tree cover).”

     Supervisor Joe Oswald said during this time of year, tree cover will be an issue when it comes to detecting nuisances.

     “You can’t drop it just because you can’t see it,” urged Lubben.

     With VonAhsen’s extension request, Lubben informed the board that another 90 days would be an unusual circumstance.

     In addition to the nuisance, VonAhsen’s property also took on derecho damage, which took time and money to clean up as well.

     Rohwedder initially moved to give VonAhsen another 45 days to clean up his property.

     “Some of this is out of his control because he’s having trouble getting help lined up,” said Rohwedder.

     Supervisor John Schlarmann said he felt vehicles and construction equipment was not necessarily considered garbage or junk. Furthermore, he said lots of contractors are backed up right now, so it may take the Amish time to get here.

     The board approved a 60-day extension for VonAhsen. Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach abstained.

In other county business:

     • The board approved the FY 2021 financial report for Heritage Agency on Aging for Senior Dining.

     • The board approved the Union Contract Letter of Understanding, addressing sheriff’s deputies’ call-back time.

     • Two bids came in for a new 2022 all-wheel drive motor grader for Secondary Roads: $339,664 from Altorfer Inc., and $318,000 from Martin Equipment. The board tabled awarding a bid until County Engineer Derek Snead had time to review the bid specs.

     • The board approved Snead’s employment contract for a three-year period, expiring June 30, 2024.

     “Employing engineers via contract is commonplace to do,” stated Snead.

     Some minor changes were made to the contract, including spelling out specific determinations of cause for termination.

     • Snead informed the board that the RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) Grant application was submitted for funding for the Landis Road Bridge project.

     “I think we have a good chance,” Snead said of the federal grant. “We should find out next fall.”