Week-long county budget 
workshops end

After nearly a week of budget workshops, the Jasper County Board of Supervisors is set to wrap up the county budget with one more meeting, scheduled for Feb. 16.

Talks resumed Thursday morning with the Jasper County Fair Board leading off the morning. Doug Woebbeking, Jasper County Agricultural Society secretary, updated the supervisors on work that has been completed at the fairgrounds following the 2010 flooding.

“It’s been a tough year,” Woebbeking said. “But we’ve completed all the restoration except for the 4-H Building, but we’ll be ready for the fair this year.”

He praised the outpouring of support for the fairgrounds clean-up, including many Newton Senior High School students. He said nothing can probably be done to control future flooding at the fairgrounds in Colfax, but buildings have been repaired using much more flood-resistant materials, and wiring has been replaced in waterproof conduit, to minimize the effects of flooding.

A loan will probably be required to finish work on the 4-H building, perhaps $25,000, with fundraisers likely to follow.

The supervisors will pencil in $5,000 funding for the fairboard and another $5,000 toward 4-H programs.

Maintenance

Maintenance director Adam Sparks told the supervisors that following nearly a year of renovation work at the courthouse and other county buidlings, only a few projects remain, including a tuckpointing project for the courthouse and repair of the clocks in the clock tower. The loading dock at the Annex Building needs repair and the Community Center could use a new coat of paint on the interior walls.

Sparks turned in a maintenance budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year that is approximately $42,000 less than this fiscal year. In addition, after all the renovation work last year, there is expected to be approximately $340,000 left from the $750,000 the county borrowed for renovation work.

Contracts are expected to be ratified with AFSCME and PPME next week, and the auditor’s office will then plug in wages and benefits into the budget in time for a final budget hearing on Feb. 16.