Sandy McGrath with Public Health gave the weekly COVID update at the Monday Wright County Supervisors meeting. The county was at 1,466 cases as of Monday. McGrath sees the numbers leveling off rather than trending up, though she is still concerned about the holidays. She encourages people to quarantine before and after gathering with people outside your household.
Regarding the COVID vaccine, McGrath said with Moderna receiving the FDA emergency use authorization last week, she expects that vaccine to be in the county later this week. All vaccine distribution in the county is managed by public health. 200 doses are authorized for the county in the first shipment. McGrath says they are planning to vaccinate a priority group first, which she says will probably be more than 200 people. She expects that 1A priority group to be vaccinated in one month to six weeks. Next will be other high-risk groups. She predicts it will be around March when they will be gearing up for open vaccination clinics.
The board heard a presentation from Group Benefit Partners to go over the health insurance renewal. They also held the first reading of an ordinance that controls the water works enterprise at the Agribusiness Park, including establishing water rates, the collection of taxes and compliance with state regulations. The first reading was approved. (See the full ordinance in the legal notices). The chairman also signed an application for a water service excise tax, which is a 6% tax that Agribusiness Park water customers will pay quarterly.
They approved the employment of Jen Sheehan as Central Iowa Community Services (CICS) Service Coordinator and Lisa Leanhart as CICS Office Manager effective July 1, 2021. The county recently signed an agreement to move to the CICS region for mental health services from the County Social Services region. This required Sheehan and Leanhart to reapply for their positions.
Marie Boyd with Healthy Harvest of North Iowa gave their annual update. She noted that while many things had to be cancelled due to COVID, such as Clarion’s Meal on Main, the organization worked to adapt by amping up online resources. Boyd again requested $1,000 for the organization for the next fiscal year.
The board took action on the Drainage District #117 bids. The work is for converting 700 ft of the ditch into an open ditch and taking out a pipe. Reutzel Excavating out of Burt was the low bid at $83,782. They were awarded the contract.
Adam Clemons, Wright County Engineer, presented an Adopt-a-Highway application from Brigger Rental Properties. They applied to adopt a stretch of road beginning at the Clarion city limit located a half mile north of Clarion and ending at 175th St (C-25), which is approximately 4 miles. The application was approved.
