The Wright County Board of Supervisors held the bid letting for work on drainage ditch 107. This is an open ditch a few miles south of Kanawha. Dan Wiedmeier of McClure Engineering noted that the work will include removing silt, widening side slopes, replacing outlets and controlling trees and stumps. All the work will take place in Wright County though it is a shared district. There were six eligible bids received for the project. The low bid was from Reutzel Excavating out of Burt, Iowa for $413,297, well below the engineer’s estimate of $589,660. Wiedmeier said he was comfortable with that company, having worked with them in the past. The board will make the final decision and grant the contract at next week’s meeting.
Sandy McGrath gave the weekly COVID update. She reiterated that the recently detected statewide data glitch had lowered Wright County’s 14-day positive case average. As of Monday, the average is 6.2%. She added that there were also 495 positive cases as of Monday, a number which had also been adjusted due to the glitch. McGrath reminded everyone that now that there is ample access to testing, do not hesitate to get tested even if you have mild symptoms. It could protect those around you.
The County Assessor’s office reported that there had been a data entry error on taxes for around 240 parcels regarding slough bills and forest reserve exemptions amounting to around $26,647 in extra taxes being charged. The board approved a correction and tax abatement order for those parcels. Affected landowners should have received a letter informing them of the situation. In addition, 9 dwellings were undercharged. This was also corrected. Assessor Shari Plage noted that all questions should be directed to her office.
Adam Clemons, Wright County Engineer, gave an update on secondary roads. Three bridge replacements have been completed since the beginning of the month. Two more around Nelson Ave. will be completed in the next few weeks.
The board also approved moving forward with an application for membership to Prairie Energy Cooperative who will be providing electrical service to the water plant at the Agribusiness Park, as well as approved an abatement on a missed military credit.
