At the Monday meeting of the Wright County Board of Supervisors, the group opened the bids for the county farm. They had received seven bids for the 262-acre piece of land for a 2-year lease period. The high bid was from Troy and Heidi Watne for $351/acre. The board decided to accept that bid.
In her weekly update, Sandy McGrath noted that the county’s COVID case count is now 2,333, an increase of 71 cases. She reminded people that booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine have now been approved for qualifying individuals including people aged 65 years and older, residents aged 18 years and older in long-term care settings, people aged 50–64 years with underlying medical conditions. She added that the county will eventually be offering booster dose clinics based on when people received qualifying vaccines. Public Health will publicize that in the county papers and on their website.
Nick Willwerth was on the board agenda to discuss a daycare closure in Eagle Grove last month. He explained that his family was caused hardship in late September when his child’s daycare closed after three children contracted COVID. The closure was recommended by Board of Health Director Sandy McGrath. He complained that the county and Board of Health has “no clear plan [for COVID mitigation]” and what they do have is “contradictory to logic and data.” The supervisors listened to Willwerth’s prepared statement. Ultimately though, they informed him that the County Board of Health would be the controlling body that he needs to speak to. He asked to be put on that board’s next meeting agenda.
In other board business, they approved a resolution on directing the filing of Certification of Debt in the Agribusiness Urban Renewal TIF area. They also discussed changes to the ISAC Health Insurance Policy and timing of premiums paid by employees. In the past, the policy has given an employee who quits or is terminated 30 days of insurance coverage. Due to changes at the state level, an outgoing employee will now have coverage until the end of the month only, even if that is less than 30 days. The board held a public hearing with Franklin County about claims for damages for Joint Drainage District 118-4. Both counties decided to continue the hearing later after seeking land appraisals.
Steve Smith of Clarion addressed the board during open forum regarding a variety of matters. He was concerned about the City of Clarion’s recent action to hire a rental inspector. He said that people are nervous about someone entering their home in the midst of a pandemic and said repeatedly that the supervisors should be able to do something about that as “the highest law enforcement authority in the county.” Chairman Karl Helgevold posited that rental inspections are not uncommon and that the board doesn’t really have authority over the cities in such matters. He did invite Smith to raise concerns about COVID safety at the Clarion City Council meeting and to the County Board of Health.
Smith also brought up a variety of other concerns about the City including about their attorney, Zach Chizek, noting that it is unethical for the city to employ an attorney who is involved in the real estate business. Smith explained several complaints he had about the city’s treatment of his property. Helgevold again noted that they don’t really have authority over such matters.
