County seeks animal control officer

Creation of an animal control officer position, the resurvey of a county intersection and memorandum of understanding were among the many items approved by the Jasper County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, June 16.

At the start of the weekly meeting, the board amended the agenda to include action on the animal control officer position and permission to go into closed session. Brandon Talsma, chair of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, apologized for not having the position on the agenda sooner.

Still, creation of the animal control officer position was time sensitive and was a direct response to the closing of the Jasper County Animal Rescue League. Earlier this month, the JCARL board announced in a press release it would be dissolving the organization and its services by June 30.

Jasper County was in a time crunch, prompting the board of supervisors to approve the animal control officer position. The full job description and other details would be considered at the next meeting. Talsma told Newton News the county wanted to get the position created and advertised for two weeks.

“At this point in time now we’re down to about two weeks until JCARL closes,” Talsma said. “We don’t have a formal job description yet. We’ll be passing that next week. This is just to simply … take the first steps to get the job created, start getting advertisements out, start seeking applicants for the job.”

Supervisors gave Jasper County Community Development Director Nick Fratzke approval to move forward with the resurvey of an intersection of Lodge Street, Railroad Street and Highway T-22 near Killduff Supply Co. Fratzke said the existing right-of-way for the property owner was far off from where it ended up.

“That really cut into the property that they purchased that they wanted to expand to showcase some of their equipment and stuff like that,” Fratzke said, adding that he spoke with the county engineer, who was OK with the proposal to resurvey the intersection.

A memorandum of understanding between Jasper County and Central Iowa Community Services (CICS) was also unanimously approved. This memorandum ensures Jasper, Polk and Marion Counties share the expense of judicial advocate services funded by mental health and disability services regions.

Jasper County agrees to ensure the delivery of judicial advocate services for its residents in accordance with Iowa Code. It must also submit claims to CICS for reimbursement of services based on the county’s share of expenses. CICS agrees to fund Jasper’s share of judicial advocate services.

In other action Tuesday, the board of supervisors:

• Approved a budget amendment for the fiscal year ending in 2020, which mostly included pipeline pass thru money and extra grant money for a few departments.

• Approved the $3,751.76 replacement of a copier shared by CICS, general assistance and veterans affairs. VICS

• Approved the county recorder’s monthly report.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com