At the weekly meeting of the Wright County Board of Supervisors, Sandy McGrath with county public health gave her weekly COVID update. She noted that Wright County is sitting at 1,142 cases as of Monday morning (number reflects cases since the beginning of the pandemic). McGrath added testing and labs may be dialing back over the holidays. The Test Iowa site in Belmond will be closed on Thanksgiving. She is concerned about numbers jumping after the holidays and reminded that the CDC recommends not gathering with people outside of your immediate household. Activities like carpooling, eating, and being in crowds without masks are particularly risky, McGrath emphasized.
Jamey Whitney with Upper Des Moines Opportunity Inc. (UDMO) joined the meeting via Zoom to give an annual update and request funding. UDMO provides programs that address the effects of poverty. Whitney noted that Wright County had received $218,000 worth of services provided for over 1,150 residents in the last year. The organization requested $14,062 in funding for next year, the same amount as last year. The board said they would consider that in January during budget time.
Joan Hill appeared before the board to ask for a late fee on her property taxes to be abated. She purchased a house in Clarion in June and explained she never received notice about the September taxes due. Now a late fee of $31 has been assessed. Chairman Dean Kluss cited Iowa code that says, “Failure to receive notice is not a defense to the payment of the total amount due.” Supervisor Karl Helgevold added that it is usually the buyer’s realtor’s responsibility to address those taxes in their closing statement. Ultimately, the board took no action on the matter.
Adam Clemons, Wright County Engineer, gave a secondary roads update. He noted that the department is prioritizing old work orders from 2014 to 2019. There are 49 such requests for smaller repairs like culverts, tiles, and suck holes. With the nicer weather, Clemons hopes to complete those before they move on to 2020 work orders.
In other business, the board approved results of the write-in candidate of David Vanderheiden for Woolstock Township Trustee. Auditor Betty Ellis explained that Candi Jones had received two write-in votes and Vanderheiden one. However, Jones declined the position.
Michele Lund was recognized for 20 years of service to the county in the treasurer’s office.
