County discusses volunteer waivers, liability

Board of Supervisors
By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     Volunteers are needed and appreciated in many community aspects. Throughout Jones County, volunteers offer their time and services year-round.

     Wanting to make sure the county isn’t liable should something happen when volunteers are working, the Jones County Supervisors sought the expertise of County Attorney Phil Parsons.

     A recent situation involving volunteers place sandbags near Stone Bridge to protect it from run-off water brought the issue to light.

     Parsons told the board if they wanted to go the route of having every volunteer sign a liability waiver before any work begins, he’s not opposed. However, those forms tend to be quite comprehensive.

     “We’ve had hundreds of volunteers in the county up to this point,” Parsons said. “And we’ve not had them sign a waiver form yet.” He said it’s not too common across the board with other counties in Iowa.

     “The DNR does have a liability form for people who help out in the parks,” Parsons added. He said Linn County Conservation also has similar waivers as well for their volunteers.

     Parsons said if the county wanted to enforce waiver forms on all of its volunteers, they’d then have to designate someone to keep track of all the forms, making sure they were signed on time and kept on file. Parsons said he’s not sure who would take on such a role.

     When it comes down to it, Parsons, who also spoke with Historic Preservation Commission Chair Rose Rohr, didn’t see an issue allowing people to sandbag around Stone Bridge without a waiver.

     “I don’t see any risk here,” he said. “Because this is the way we’ve always done it.”

     Supervisor Wayne Manternach said the flip side to this scenario would be hiring a contractor who’s already insured.

     Supervisor Joe Oswald said the few times the City of Monticello asked for volunteers to help sandbag during major flood events, none of the volunteers who showed up to help signed a waiver.

     Parsons said if the board chose to require a waiver down the road, they could always look into it more.

     “Jones County is really built on volunteers,” he said.

     “In a volunteer situation,” said Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach, “ultimately you’re there because you want to be there.” He said it’s not as though volunteers show up and are forced to do something they’re not equipped to do.

In other county business:

     • The board set a public hearing for Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 9:30 a.m. At the hearing the supervisors will review a recommendation from the Planning & Zoning Commission for the 2017 zoning map amendments.

     • The board approved a contract with Ricklefs Construction for the removal of the Shaw Road Bridge over the Wapsipinicon River. The contract was in the amount of $36,808. County Engineer Derek Snead said the completion date is June 2018.

     • The board approved a contract with Taylor Construction for the Bluebird Road Bridge project. The contract was in the amount of $627,000. Snead said the project would start at the end of November/end of December.

     • Snead said his office was successful in acquiring $500,000 in safety funds for the County Road E-45. The money stem from the state’s TSIP (Traffic Safety Improvement Program) fund.

     “Half a million will go a long way,” commented Snead.

     E-45 is a farm-to-market project.

     The last time the county was awarded TSIP funds was for the County Road X-44/Amber Road construction project.

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