Winter weather hampering county road conditions

Board of Supervisors
By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     This winter season (and it’s not over yet) has been quite unusual. Every week, Secondary Roads and County Engineer Derek Snead has provided the Jones County Board of Supervisors with updates on the road conditions.

     The Feb. 26 board meeting was much the same.

     “The motor graders have been out scratching as much as we can,” Snead said. “We do the best as we can.”

     Snead explained they do not take any additional equipment out on county roads that a grader can’t access.

     “So many culverts are plugged, water is backing up,” he added of the thaw cycles. “We’re getting out to dig as best we can.”

     He said the extended forecast doesn’t look any better in terms of temperatures and precipitation.

     “We will run the scarifier all week and keep working on it (the roads),” added Snead. “It just takes time.”

     Mike Courtney, a Lead Mine Road resident, questioned whether private landowners could put sand out, even if it spilled out onto the roadways. Snead said it’s a practice his office does not promote.

     “You are doing a heck of a job with what you have to work with,” praised Supervisor Wayne Manternach.

In other county business:

     Manternach proposed an option for the mental health region (mental health fund balance) to reimburse the county (general fund) for psychiatric medications prescribed to jail inmates.

     “It’s not a sheriff expense,” commented Manternach. “It’s a mental health expense.”

     • The board approved a salary increase for Jail Administrator Tess LeMense at 98 cents an hour, from $51,000 to $53,035.

     • The Board approved a quote from Iowa Prison Industries to build a public counter for the Environmental Health/Public Health Office at $2,090. This price includes installation.

     The counter would also be handicapped accessible.

     • The board set a public hearing for Tuesday, March 19 at 9:45 a.m. to re-zone a portion of a parcel in Scotch Grove Township from Ag to Residential.

     • The board approved the preliminary and final plats of Tin City Acres subdivision in Washington Township.

 

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