By Jim Magdefrau

VINTON – The start of a new calendar brought a lot of appointments by the Benton County Board of Supervisors at their meeting on Jan. 6, 2026, at the Benton County Service Center Conference Room in Vinton.

MEETING VIDEO.

Appointments were discussed for the rural addressing board, board of health, historical preservation, ECICOG (East Central Iowa Council of Governments) boards and commissions, and land use adjustment board.

Dean Vrba and Don Markland were approved for rural addressing. 

Doug Boddicker, Newhall Mayor, was approved for ECICOG board. He takes the place of Bruce Visser, former Atkins mayor, who retired. 

Other business

A land use hearing was set for Feb. 3, 2026, at 9:15 a.m. for Ethan Henry, for land in Section 36, Cedar Township.

The board acknowledged the retirement of Barb Fetzer from the land use office and health department. She has been with Benton County for 40 years. The board thanked her for all she has done for Benton County. 

Deanna Robinson of the East Central Iowa Housing Trust Fund made a budget request for the 2027 program. They are asking for $5,986 from Benton County. It has not changed from last year. In 2025, they assisted four households in Benton County with rehab projects. Initiatives for 2026 include home down payment assistance. They are also working on lead abatement. Supervisor Ron Tippett said this is a good deal for Benton County when one looks at their asking and the return the county gets. 

Karen Kurt of ECICOG explained her program. She said, “A big part of what we do is

trying to identify and leverage state and federal resources for our region.” They also share technical services. They also helped a lot with recovery from the Derecho, and they are still helping with that. 

The Benton County Treasurer, Melinda Schoettmer, gave her budget presentation for the next fiscal year year. They discussed registration, titles, licenses and liens.

A resolution was approved to hire two full-time correctional officers for the sheriff’s office. Ethan Hepker was approved with a starting hourly wage of $22.80. The second is Dawson Frett, with a starting wage of $27.13.