Benton supervisors cover many topics at their February 6 meeting

By Jim Magdefrau

Vinton – The Benton County Board of Supervisors heard a proposal to have Benton County Conservation take over the weed department, as well as integrated roadside vegetation management at the supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the service center in Vinton.

The board also learned of the end of the investigation on wolf dogs.

Weeds

Benton County Human Resources Director Sue Wilber state the weed commissioner position is now vacant. In talks with Shelby Williams of Benton County Conservation about having this fall under the conservation department. Wilber received information from other counties on job descriptions and how they handle this. Williams presented a job description.

Also at the meeting were three members of the conservation board, Samantha Hunt, Randy Scheel and Becky Van Wey, and conservation employee Cecilia Dirks.

There are 10 other counties in Iowa that do this, according to Supervisor Chairman Richard Primmer. He said he could see a lot of good potential in combining the two. He felt this fell under the conservation umbrella.

Primmer pointed out spring is around the corner and weeds will start sprouting out, so something needs to be done sooner than later on weeds. Roadside management can wait. He felt that conservation and roadside management went hand in hand.

Williams stressed she needs support from all departments in the county, as well as patience and understanding. 

Supervisor Tracy Seeman was concerned they might be biting off more than they can chew. It’s a big undertaking. It didn’t mean he was against it. Seeman is a liaison member of the conservation board.

Primmer stressed they have to get staff in place. The plan is to hire a roadside manager and two more staff. 

The conservation board will meet Monday to consider this.

Primmer told Williams and the conservation board members that he appreciated that they were considering this, adding that the county was in a tough spot. 

Williams added she has met with Engineer Myron Parizek. There was also discussion on how this affects the budget for this year and next year. This will be on the agenda for Tuesday, Feb. 13. 

Dogs

Benton County Sheriff Ron Tippett met with the board regarding the county’s vicious animal ordinance and how it related to hybrid wolf dogs outside of Belle Plaine. Tippett said he started the investigation by looking into rumors of an attack on a neighbor’s livestock. DNA testing was done, which was below the threshold of what qualifies as a wolf dog. However, he couldn’t find anything in the state code or the county’s ordinance that addresses this. 

Tim Dille of the county attorney’s office said he didn’t think the current statute covers this. He added that a vicious animal is one that attacks livestock twice in a 12-month period. He said the dogs do not meet the definition of a wolf hybrid or a vicious animal under the current ordinance. The dogs’ owner, Elana Janss, submitted a formal apology to the supervisors about misinformation given at their first meeting on this. She said the dog in question is now housed in Urbandale. 

There are no plans to bring that animal back to Benton County. Tippett said this will close the investigation. They discussed getting DNA tests for the other dogs. Tippett said another concern is having a daycare at the same site.

Human Resources

Human Resources Director Sue Wilber discussed her job description with the supervisors. During her job review, Primmer said the board asked her to get them an updated version of her job description. He recommended the description be emailed to the board so they can look it over. While there was a job description when she was hired, Primmer said there were some things they wanted to “tweak.”

Wilber said there were things in the description that she wanted clarification, as well as updating items. “I want to make sure I know what I’m supposed to be doing,” Wilber told the board. She wanted clarity on other items. 

Auditor Hayley Rippel asked if this would be shared just with the supervisors or with all of the department heads. “Why should she do that?,” Primmer asked. Rippel said she didn’t understand what Wilber was told in her interview, like trying to take duties away from other departments. Specifically, Rippel said payroll is a big topic for the auditor’s office. 

“I’m not trying to take payroll out of your office,” Wilber stressed. 

Primmer stressed he didn’t think it was necessary to send the job description to other departments. He said the board will look it over and then it will be shared. He said it’s going to be shared, but he thinks he have the right to look it over first.

Other business

A land use hearing was set for Tuesday, March 5, at 9:15 a.m. for Zeb and Tamara Reardon, Section 7, Benton Township.

A land use hearing was held for Michael and Kristine Rommel, for land in Section 17, Florence Township. This is immediately north of Norway. The land use change was approved. They will hook up to Poweshiek Water. Driveway sight concerns were addressed. They will go with a septic system instead of hooking up with the city’s system.

Kristine Bullock met with the board regarding the budget request for the Kirkwood Learning Center. They work with school and business liaisons. They also set up apprenticeships, speakers, job shadows, tours, meetings with businesses and internships. They cover seven counties. Their request was $2,575, based on per capita for Benton County.

Bruce Gapstur was appointed to the Belle Plaine Airport Regional Zoning Board.

The board approved the wage and classification change for Cody Jones, secondary roads, at an hourly rate of $26.85. The board also hired David Eilander as a full-time dispatcher at the sheriff’s office, at an hourly rate of $21.08.a