The Wright County Supervisors meeting started with the board hearing from Eagle Grove City Administrator Bryce Davis. Davis appeared to ask the board to sign two letters of support for grant applications. The first application was for a water quality initiative grant for the Eagle Grove’s Downtown Streetscape Improvement Project. They will be undertaking a $3 million project for improvements like building façade improvement and beautifying streetscapes. There is also a green infrastructure and water quality improvement portion of the project. To help fund that part, EG is applying for a $100,000 grant through the Iowa Department of Ag.
The second grant Davis asked for a letter of support on was for a renovation and expansion project for Eagle’s Wings Preschool and Daycare in Eagle Grove. The city who owns the facility will be applying for a competitive grant in early 2020 that would help fund upgrades and various additions like extra outdoor space and an indoor play area. Such additions will allow Eagle’s Wings to increase enrollment size. The supervisors signed letters of support for both grant applications.
The board passed a resolution setting the date for a special election on the Local Option Sales and Service Tax for March 3, 2020. This tax generates money for rural areas such as Galt, Goldfield and the unincorporated areas of the county. Auditor Betty Ellis noted that this tax generates around $450,000 annually. Ellis added that the March ballot question will specify this tax will have no sunset in the future, so the county will not have to do an election on it unless the terms or allocation preferences change.
In other action, the board approved the hiring of a new patrol operator for the Clarion Maintenance Facility employee to replace someone who moved. Chairman Rick Rasmussen announced that county employees Shari Plagge, Jeremy Abbas and Dean Kluss will be taking over the Wellness Committee which will no longer be affiliated with the Safety Committee. The board reviewed the Wright County Annual Urban Renewal Report for fiscal year 2018-2019. Annually, the county has to report all debt that will be paid with urban renewal dollars.
The conference call with Reilly Construction regarding the Agri-business Park progress revealed more of the same. They continue to work on filler and pipes. Reilly noted that the sanitary sewer crew may be delayed a week because of other projects so it may start the second week of December instead of the first.
