In the Monday meeting of the Wright County Board of Supervisors, Sandy McGrath with Public Health noted that the COVID case count in the county stands at 1,413. She also gave updated information about the COVID vaccines that the county will be receiving. (See the adjacent story for more information on that.)
Members of the Wright County Library Association were present at the meeting to give their annual update and request continued funding. Chad Chapman of the Clarion Library Board read a statement on behalf of the five county libraries. They noted that they have been doing a great job adapting during COVID. Chapman added that the libraries have stayed busy even as they have had to be partially closed, offering adapted programs, in addition to taking care of behind-the-scenes work. The statement assured the public that the county libraries have been using taxpayer dollars in a good manner. In the end, the libraries asked for a 5% increase in the amount they received from the county last year, which would be about $138,000, plus $1000 for each library to use for technology. The board noted that they will consider that come budget time.
The board received bids for work to be done to drainage district #117 which is southwest of Belmond in Grant Township. The repairs call for creating an open ditch. The low bid was from Reutzel Excavating out of Burt for $83,782. Considering that bid was substantially below the next lowest bid, Engineer Lee Gallentine will be checking the bids over again and the board will reassess next week.
Peggy Schluttenhofer, Wright County Treasurer, asked the board to consider the City of Clarion’s abatement of taxes for Lot 7 in the Gates addition. This was a matter that was brought before the board a few months ago regarding a property that the city sold but was never developed and taxes were not paid. The city has since taken the required steps to reclaim the property, including filing a special warranty deed. The board approved the abatement of $304,888.
In other business, the board signed a resolution acting on signing an engagement letter with attorneys to represent Wright County in the Opioid Lawsuit. This was voted on last week and moving forward requires a resolution. The chairman signed a 28E Agreement to officially join the Central Iowa Community Services (CICS) mental health region starting July 1. The county is still part of the County Social Services region until that time.
In the open forum portion, Bob Ritter brought up a 911 communications concern in the county. He cited a couple Dows residents who had recently called 911 within Wright County. Though the people had used landlines, the calls went to Butler and Marshall Counties and then bounced around for a while. Ambulance calls in Dows are typically responded to by Franklin County, per contract. The board said they would look into this as communications within the county is overseen by the supervisors.
