Final county ARPA committee member appointed

The final citizen representative for the upcoming Jasper County ARPA committee, which will determine how $7 million of the county’s federal stimulus funds will be spent, was appointed during the Feb. 22 board of supervisors meeting.

Thad Nearmyer was voted onto the committee and will be representing the southwest quadrant of the county. Nearmyer was the only candidate considered for the position by the board due to a lack of applicants from the southwest.

For several years, Nearmyer has served as the chair of the Jasper County Republican Party and as the president of the Jasper County Farm Bureau.

“He’s a really knowledgable and calm guy,” supervisor Denny Carpenter said.

Nearmyer is the final member of the 11-person committee to be appointed by the board.

The members of the committee are comprised of two groups: citizens who applied for the positions and elected county officials who were appointed by the board of supervisors.

The citizen representatives are: Susan Fortune for the southeast,Chris Herbold for the northwest, Nearmyer for the southwest, Julia Prendergast for the northeast and Larry Ladd as the at-large representative.

The elected officials are: county recorder Denise Allanl, county treasurer Doug Bishop, county sheriff John Halferty, county attorney Scott Nicholson, county auditor Dennis Parrott and supervisor Brandon Talsma.

Talsma will temporarily lead the committee until an official chair can be voted on during the committee’s first meeting, which is expected to be held sometime in mid-March when budget hearings are finished.

Before the first committee meeting, all members will be given copies of the federal rules for how the ARPA funds can be used and will be expected to have a working knowledge of the rules before the first meeting.

Contact Abby Knipfel at 641-792-4687 ext. 6531 or aknipfel@shawmedia.com