Members of the Washington County Fair Board presented an annual report to the Washington County Board of Supervisors at the Tuesday Oct. 13 meeting. Jarrod Horning of Wellman and Jerome Vittetoe and Don Lewis of Washington expressed gratitude to the county for the financial support and asked for continued support. For the past year, the Fair Board received $17,300 and the Washington County 4-H received $16,000.
Horning reported that maintenance expenses increased for the past year and the current year's maintenance is also projected to be above the average as the Board of Supervisors attempts to be pro-active in upkeep of the buildings and grounds. The Fair Board plans the addition of a new bathroom facility and a new livestock building on the grounds and the installation of electricity to the campgrounds. Vittetoe stated that the Washington County Fair has the same number of cattle entered as the Iowa State Fair.
With the improvements to the campgrounds, Fair Board members anticipated an increase in the number of private event livestock shows utilizing the facilities throughout the year.
The supervisors formally acknowledged receipt of the Washington County Zoning Ordinance draft from the County Zoning Commission. The board members will evaluate the number of meetings, hearings and public information events to be held in conjunction with their consideration of the document and placed the ordinance discussion on the Oct. 27 meeting agenda.
To comply with State Code, the board appointed the firm of Honkamp Krueger & Co., PC as the certified public accountant for the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, LLC. The firm has been utilized by the Casino for the past several years and State Code requires the Board annually make the appointment.
Three personnel change requests from the Sheriff's Office were reviewed by the board. The appointment of Brendan DeLong to the Rescue Squad was approved by the board. The supervisors acknowledged the retirement of Ray Aitkins from the Sheriff's Office after 19 years of service. The board also acknowledged the termination of Nancy Hartsock from the Rescue Squad.
An issue regarding insurance coverage for a county employee under the county group health insurance or Medicare coverage was deferred by the board. The issue will be placed on the agenda for a closed session at noon on Friday Oct. 16 when County Attorney Barb Edmondson can be present. The issue has the potential to evolve into litigation and the urgency to resolve the issue necessitated the Friday meeting.
The board scheduled the regular meeting to begin at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 16 and the board agreed with Auditor Bill Fredrick to substitute the Friday meeting for the regular Tuesday, Oct. 20 meeting.
At the close of the meeting, the board received comments from the public. Jerry Anderson, territory manager for the Farm Bureau stated that the County Zoning Commission had received a large volume of comments from the public. He suggested that the board conduct a question and answer meeting about the rrdinance with the public and the county's planning consultant.