The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday.

The Board approved a payroll change notice for Transfer Station employee Roger Willms, and two new hire payroll changes for jailer positions with the sheriff’s office for Jason Hemann and Kaylin Small. They then approved the 2023-24 Guthrie County annual salary for elected officials in a 3-2 vote, with Supervisors Mike Dickson and JD Kuster voting no.

The Board then approved a new public hearing date for setting the maximum property tax levy rates. Originally the public hearing was scheduled for March 23rd, but the Times Vedette was unable to publish the information in time to have it out for public notice. A motion was approved to cancel the original meeting, and then a motion to approve the new date of March 28th was approved as well.

Guthrie County Conservation Director Brad Halterman then gave an update to the Board, in which he let them know that the Conservation Board is looking to apply for some grant money to replace ash trees that had to be removed because of emerald ash borer beetles. He added that the conservation department would be looking to replace those trees with sugar maple and autumn blaze maple trees, and that they wanted to work with local nurseries.

The Board then heard a department update from County Engineer Josh Sebern. During the update, they approved two temporary easements and a resolution pertaining to bridge postings. After that the Board approved the newly revised Guthrie County Employee Handbook after a presentation by Human Resources Director Jamie Lindsay, and to join a national opioid settlement.

The Board then discussed a proposal from Guthrie Center about some needed repair work to Grand Street, which is the street on the north side of the courthouse. In the proposal, the City would like the County to redo the entire block of the street, while there is only a portion by one of the driveways for the new jail that needs to be worked on. The Supervisors agreed that this was not an option, as they legally are not responsible for the road. A counter proposal was approved in a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Dickson voting no as he believed that the price the county would pay was still too high.