County vows to support 2010 Census
With a census year coming up in 2010, the Jasper County Board of Supervisors has been asked to support efforts of the federal government in assuring that everyone in Jasper County will be accounted for.
Tom Connor, a partnership assistant with the U.S. Census Bureau, asked the supervisors Tuesday for their support of the 2010 Census. Connor said the goal of such a partnership is to increase census awareness and participation.
“There are only 10 questions on the form, and it only takes about 10 minutes to fill out,” Connor said.
The importance of ensuring an accurate count is reflected in the fact that more than $300 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities, and decisions are made on matters of national importance based on census data, including healthcare, community development, housing, education, transportation, social services, employment and much more.
Connor emphasized that no personally-identifiable information is shared with any other branch of the government, in fact, Census Bureau workers are required to take a lifetime oath to protect confidentiality.
Connor said the Census Bureau will be hiring local residents in the spring to help with the census and urged the supervisors to form a county-wide committee to help increase census awareness.
The supervisors approved a resolution in support of the census and will form a committee at a later date.
Naming bridges
Last August, the supervisors heard a request from the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War to honor Civil War veterans by naming two bridges in Jasper County after them. Local historian Larry Hurto suggested that those men, Brigadier General Charles L. Matthies, and Brigadier General James Williamson, had no real ties to Jasper County. He suggested the bridges, on Highway 6 over the North Skunk River, and over the South Skunk River on Highway F-48, be named after General James Wilson and Brevet Brigadier General James B. Weaver, respectively.
The Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, however, would have no substituting of Civil War veterans other than those they had chosen for the bridges, and, in a letter to the county called the county’s plan “irreconcilable” with their own.
Hurto, meanwhile, received widespread local support for Wilson and Weaver, including the Colfax City Council and Colfax Historical Society, the Jasper County Historical Society and the Kellogg Historical Society, as well as the governing board of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, of which Wilson was a member until his death in 1888.
The Iowa Department of Transportation has indicated that it will work with a local historical society on the bridge naming project, but that it wanted consensus between the Sons of Union Veterans and local groups first.
Although Hurto received quotes for signage for the bridge naming, the supervisors balked at using taxpayer money to sponsor the signs.
“”I don’t disagree with the idea, but in these tight budget times, I’m not sure I want the county to spend money to name bridges,” board chair Rick Tiedje said. Hurto said he will look for other funding sources.
In other action Tuesday, the supervisors:
• Approved the single bid of Van Maanen Electric of $17,500 for installing the Christmas lights on the courthouse. Maintenance director Doug McClun told the supervisors that no one else will bid on the project, and the cost is the same as last year. McClun also indicated that brackets have been installed along the parapets, and at the garland archways on the lawn, so there will be no need to drive heavy equipment on the courthouse lawn.
• Approved the low bid of $4,044 from Henderson Truck Equipment of Manchester for a truck-mounted snow plow for use by the county maintenance department. The plow will be mounted on a Secondary Roads Department pickup, to clean up the parking areas at the jail, community center and elsewhere.
• Human Resources Director Dennis Simon told the supervisors that he will re-advertise for the county engineer position. With only one candidate still in the running, former Cass County Engineer Ken Coffman, Simon said he felt the supervisors needed more candidates from which to choose.
“Maybe he’s the one you want, but you should probably open the search back up,” Simon said.
Advertisements for replacing County Engineer Jim Christensen, who will be retiring at the end of the year, will be placed in the usual sites, with a deadline for applications of Dec. 4, and interviews to take place the following week. Assistant County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt will be leaving his post on Nov. 13, to take a new position in Marshall County.
