By Jim Magdefrau

VINTON – It was the first meeting of the new year for the Benton County Board of Supervisors and they approved several appointments at their Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, meeting at the service center in Vinton.

Supervisor Richard Primmer was appointed chairman for 2024. He pointed out he will miss a few meetings, but he usually calls into the meeting. “I have no problem taking it on,” he told his fellow board members. 

Vice chairman is Gary Bierschenk for this calendar year.

Other business

Grace Schmidt, public health director, talked with the board about out-of-state training. It is a convention for health care. This is reimbursable by a grant. It is March 25-28. 

Human resources

Sue Wilber, human resources, met with the board on a variety of topics. These included:

Approval of an amended early retirement policy, dealing with health insurance.

Approval of hiring a collections officer, Angie Becker. The salary is $35,750.

Approval of Wellness Day and Health Insurance incentive. This is requested every year. The incentive was raised from $15 to $20 a month in savings. 

The board acknowledged Scott Hansen’s retirement. He is director of emergency management. 

They approved out of state training for Wilber for the national labor relations and human resources. This is April 7-10 in Savanah, Ga.

Annual work

The board opted out of the Construction Evaluation Resolution for 2024 

The board established schedule for supervisor meetings for 2024. This is set for Tuesdays at 9 a.m.

The board designated supervisors to represent Benton County on county and regional boards.

The board signed a new Statement Of Non-Issuance Of Certificate Of Occupancy (2024).

ADA Coordinators for 2024 are Hayley Rippel, auditor, and Myron Parizek, engineer.

Benton Development Group members were appointed. 

The board appointed Doug Stein to a five-year term on the Benton County Land Use Adjustment Board.

Appointed to the Conservation Board was Samantha Hunter.

Bruce Visser, Atkins mayor, was appointed to replace former Belle Plaine Mayor Dave Fish on the ECICOG board. 

Eminent Domain Commission for 2024 members were appointed.

Members were appointed to the Benefited Fire Districts.

Brenda and Clint Sandburg were appointed to the Pioneer Cemetery Commission. 

Mike Seeck, Keystone, was appointed as a member at-large for the Solid Waste Commission. 

Members were appointed to zoning commission. 

Members were appointed to Airport Eastern Iowa Zoning Board. They are John Stiegelmeier and County Engineer Myron Parizek. 

Members were appointed to Airport Vinton Adjustment Board. Deb Christiansen and Dave Cornell were appointed.

A member was appointed to Airport Vinton Zoning Board. John Stiegelmeier was reappointed. 

Appointed as Civil Rights Coordinator for 2024 was John Lindaman, sheriff’s deputy.

Established as official newspapers for 2024 was the Cedar Valley Times, Vinton Eagle and Cedar Rapids Gazette. 

Primmer and Rippel were appointed as trustees for Heartland Insurance Risk Group.

Heartland Safety Coordinators for 2024 are Myron Parizek and Doug Kearns. 

Myron Parizek was appointed county engineer pursuant to Iowa Code 309.17 

The board approved the FY 24 Second Budget Amendment Hearing Date for Feb. 13.