The Dallas County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday.
At the meeting, payroll change notices were approved for the Attorney’s office, Emergency Medical Services, Secondary Roads and Sheriff’s office.
A Roadside Vegetation Management five year plan for the weed commissioner was then approved. This makes the County eligible for funding. The commissioner stated that there are several invasives that are knocking on the County’s door but nothing new that has come up as an issue over the past year. A weed notice for all property owners and managers was also approved. This outlines control measures that the County will be taking in the coming months.
An F31 curves project right-of-way purchase agreement was then approved. This is for land at 27515 195th Street in Dallas Center, owned by Earl, Paul and Mary Royer. The cost for the 4.72 acres is $170,000. Supervisor Mark Hanson commended the roads department for the work they put in to work with the property owners and come to this agreement. The purchase was approved on a 2-1 vote with Supervisor Kim Chapman voting no, citing he has been against the project as a whole.
The Board then discussed the emergency activation ordinance. County Attorney Wayne Reisetter said this is in regards to the presence of avian influenza in several area counties. He says he and several attorneys have come to the conclusion that for the County to take any meaningful steps toward restricting movement into the County, an ordinance is required. Reisetter says the resolution that was approved at a meeting last week does not have power in the court of law. He presented the Board with several documents, including a copy of the ordinance that was proposed in Wright County in regards to avian influenza. Reisetter says this is uncharted territory and a new circumstance that hasn’t been seen for emergency management before. Following some discussion, the Board expressed the desire to work with Reisetter to come up with an ordinance to be considered for approval.
A public hearing in regards to the drainage district 19 completed construction report was then held. Engineer Jim George says the maintenance work has been completed. The project started last fall and was completed this spring because winter set in early and froze ground in the area. George said the work was done within the bid price. Resident Charles Hines said the last time that ditch was cleaned out was in 1965 but he’s wondering if the ditch south of F31 will be addressed. He expressed concerns about the lack of outlet in that area, which creates blockage. Nate Bandy with the roads department said the area in question is out of jurisdiction because drainage district 19 ends at Highway F31. Supervisor Chapman asked how drainage districts are established. Bandy said they were formed many years ago by farmers who worked with engineers to come up with solutions to reach a proper outlet. Following the hearing, the Board accepted the engineer’s report on the project.
The Supervisors then discussed the card access system for the human services campus renovation project. Todd Noah presented plans for the locations of the readers in the building. So far only one bid has been received for the project, Noah says the second company that was looking into the project was told to have their bid in before the meeting Tuesday. As a result, the Board approved the $37,900 bid from CEC for the card access system.
Eric Rose then told the Board that failures have been found in the lines of the floor at the human services campus, primarily in the old laundry room. They will be addressing the issue in the near future.
The next discussion was in regards to ballot language and timing for a public safety building bond referendum. Supervisor Chapman says if they do not have an election this August, the next available opportunity to go to voters is March 8, 2016. Auditor Gene Krum says Polk County has a City election already set for November, which provides a conflict and prohibits a county-wide bond issue in Dallas County that same day. The deadline to have ballot language to the auditor for the August election would be June 19th, while if they waited the ballot would have to be finalized by January of next year. At last week’s meeting Supervisor Hanson expressed concern with time constraints for an August election, though given the new information that November is not an option, Supervisor Chapman says he’s still in favor of bringing the issue to voters this year. Board Chairman Brad Golightly says the needs have not changed and he feels the public is more informed now than they have been before past elections. Sheriff Chad Leonard said if the Board goes ahead with the August election, he’d like around $20,000 to be able to send mailers of information out to residents to raise awareness. He said the County has until March of 2018 before the extra beds they have been allowed to use in the jail are taken away from them, which would leave just two dozen. County Treasurer Mitch Hambleton and Recorder Chad Airhart encouraged the Board to put together ballot language as soon as possible. The goal is to have ballot language up for consideration at the Supervisors meeting on May 26th, along with an agenda item to consider providing funds to educate the public prior to the election.