After a slow couple of weeks, business has picked up for the Jasper County Board of Supervisors. Several department heads, a representative of the Newton Booster Club and votes on other county business are all Tuesday’s meeting agenda.
Jasper County Community Services Director/Central Point Coordinator Jody Eaton will present the board with updates on the county’s progress with the regionalization of mental health services with the other members of the Central Iowa Community Services Region, which the county joined on June 25.
Most recently, Warren County has requested to join the region as the ninth member. Current members of CICSR include Boone, Franklin, Hamilton, Hardin, Madison, Jasper, Marshall and Story counties.
County Sanitarian Kevin Luetters will try to get the board to set a public hearing on Sept. 10 on a hog confinement expansion.
The board received a request from Judson Vos of Lynn Grove Township to expand his hog confinement facility. His proposal would create two new 1,200 hog finisher barns. The public is allowed so submit comments to the Jasper County Environmental Health Office located at 115 N. Second Ave. E. in Newton, until Sept. 9.
The public is also allowed to request an inspection of the site from today until Sept. 9 between 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
A vote on whether to approve transfer orders 1306, 1307 and 1308 will be held. All three would transfer funds from the local option sales services tax fund to various other funds. 1306 would transfer $498,668.32 to the county’s general basic fund.1307 would transfer $575,483.39 to the county’s general supplemental fund. 1308 would transfer $185,111.73 to the rural services basic fund.
If approved, the three transfers would provide property tax relief for the 2013-14 fiscal year and would stem from a cash balance that was available from the 2012-13 budget.
In other business:
• Jasper County IT Director Ceilia Robertson Jasper County Information Systems Network Administrator Ryan Eaton will present bids on a new county-wide phone system. Pleasant Hill-based Communication Innovators placed a low bid of $72,656.33.
• Jasper County Maintenance Supervisor Adam Sparks will present two bids to the board. The first bid will be for painting the outside of the Jasper County Community Center. The low bid of $4,600 was submitted by Indianola-based Labertew Painting.
• Sparks will also present bids on upgrading the sidewalks and driveways at the county maintenance building. The low bid of $4,200 was submitted by Newton-based Plumb Construction.
• The board will vote on whether to approve 2012 tax levies that are payable to 2013-14 tax levies.
• Newton Booster Club representative Wendy Jenkins will ask the board for permission to use the courthouse grounds for a homecoming taco feed on Sept. 12.
• County Engineer Russ Stutt will be seeking permission to purchase 2.42-acres of emergent wetland and 0.55-acres of forested wetland from HUC 8 Inc. for $120,000.
• If approved, the purchase would allow the county to satisfy mitigation offset requirements for unavoidable disruption of existing or emergent wetlands.
Staff writer Ty Rushing may be contacted at (641) 792-3121, ext. 426, or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.