March 28, 2024

Supervisors approve amendment to Jasper County mitigation plan

The Jasper County Board of Supervisors adopted an amendment to the county-wide mitigation plan for the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The federal act requires planning efforts if a community requests federal funds for disaster relief.

The county’s community school districts were left out of the original plan, Jasper County Emergency Management Coordinator Jim Sparks told the supervisors Tuesday.

The resolution approved by the supervisors includes all county schools within the county’s Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, with the exception of Lynnville-Sully School District. Sparks said he had tried several times to include Lynnville-Sully in the plan, but could not receive a response from the school district. The exclusion means that the school district may not be eligible for federal funds in the event of a disaster.

In other action Tuesday, the supervisors:

• Set Nov. 6, Nov. 13 and Nov. 20 as the date for a public hearing to amend the Veterans’ Affairs ordinance. Veterans Affairs Director Chris Chartier told the supervisors that the amendment revises and updates the ordinance pertaining to veterans, streamlining the document from seven pages to one, referring to Iowa Code rather than including the same material, and removing outdated material.

• Approved the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau grant for the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff will receive $3,480 to provide overtime for a variety of projects, such as seat belt surveys, and the sTep Program searching for drunken drivers.

• Approved the low bid of $6,497.60 from Recycled Plastic Materials of Frankfort, Ill. for 160 pallets for storage of materials in the Jasper County Courthouse basement. County Maintenance Director Adam Sparks said the storage cages have been installed in the basement, and it is believed that the moisture issues that have plagued the courthouse basement for years have been solved.

The new pallets are 48 inches by 48 inches, and 6.25 inches high, with a dynamic capacity of 4,000 pounds, and will not discolor items stored on them.

• Approved the hiring of Krista Lewis as Auditor’s Clerk in the Auditor’s Office at a pay rate of $16.03 per hour, effective Oct. 15.

John Jennings can be contacted at (641) 792-3121 ext. 425 or via email at jjennings@newtondailynews.com.