The Wright County Board of Supervisors met Monday, December 26 to a relatively light agenda. Chairman Rick Rasmussen and Supervisor Dean Kluss were present, with Supervisor Karl Helgevold attending via Zoom.
The open forum for public input heard farmer Bob Ritter offering his thanks to the Wright County Secondary Roads and Sheriff’s Department for their handling of the bitter cold and blizzard weather event that descended upon the midwest on Wednesday, December 21. Also during the public forum, Jason Wessels asked questions regarding holiday pay and lodging for county staff who have to work over holidays during emergencies, and Chairman Rasmussen addressed those questions with the help of County Engineer Adam Clemons and Auditor Betty Ellis. Wessels ended his comment echoing Ritter’s expression of gratitude to all county staff who worked together to manage county safety during the event.
Adam Clemons, County Engineer, then gave his Secondary Roads update, much of which was county road management and cleanup during last week’s blizzard, as well as four work orders completed in the shop.
For new business, Wright County Public Health Director Sandra McGrath reminded everyone that it is not too late to get flu shots, and that the “triple threat” of COVID-19, Influenza A, and RSV are making for a lot of illnesses. Vaccines can help lessen the impact of the viruses.
The board gave updates on meetings in the prior week, with Chairman Rasmussen attending UDMO and State Training School meetings, Supervisor Kluss attending a Building Families meeting, and Supervisor Helgevold having none to report for that time period.
Chairman Rasmussen then called the meeting into recess until 9:30, at which time the meeting came back into session in order for the Wright County Fair Board, led by Fair Manager Tricia Rosendahl and supported by board members, to give their annual update and request continued funding. The Wright County Fair will take place July 12-16, 2023 with the theme of “Barn Lights & Country Nights.” During the recap of the past year, Rosendahl shared reports of growth and improvement to fundraising, facilities, marketing, and programming and state that “for 20 years, we have asked the Wright County Board of Supervisors for the same amount of assistance each year, but this year we are asking that if there is room in the budget for you to consider an increase” to help address cost increases and growth. This report was met with thanks from the Supervisors, and agreement to assess the funding request during budget time.
The meeting was adjourned, and the board agreed to call a new meeting to order at 11:30 as Drainage Trustees. This meeting, which was not started at submission of this article, was with Franklin County to review an agreement with the Franklin County Conservation Board to exempt the organization from drainage assessments for further maintenance done on an open ditch between Oakland Drive and the Iowa River. Decisions made at that meeting will be in next week’s report.
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