Loss of LOST could impact county, auditor reports

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Thursday?s Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting was a packed house as department heads came together to give their monthly reports.

Shelly Barber, Henry County auditor, gave her monthly report surrounding news related to the recent elections. One major vote that did not pass surrounded a local option sales tax for Mt. Pleasant and New London. The tax could be put up for another election six months from the first election date. Barber said that she hopes another election does take place as the tax is of major importance to Mt. Pleasant and New London.

?The tax is not an additional tax. We have had this tax for years. Many of the things that the county does will be affected because we won?t see nearly as much money as we have in the past if the tax is not in place,? Barber explained. ?Without the tax passing, we probably won?t even have enough money to do 100 percent of our garbage collection, so it will be of vital importance to both New London and Mt. Pleasant to have another election regarding the tax and pass it.?

Besides the local option sales tax, Barber also announced that a canvassing of votes would be taking place on Monday.

Sheriff Rich McNamee shared some vital news with the board regarding a recent issue with the sheriff department?s radio system. Last Saturday night, the power supply on the radio system went down for a few hours. The office is currently using temporary services until the system can be upgraded, as the current system is beyond fixable.

McNamee also addressed two recent vehicle thefts that have happened this past month in Mt. Pleasant. So far, McNamee and his team have been able to apprehend one individual linked to a single ATV theft. Another theft, according to McNamee, is still ongoing, but progress is being made.

?Last week, a truck was stolen from a cornfield just north of town and we do have a suspect in custody in Missouri. Whether or not the individual is guilty is still being investigated,? McNamee said.

As the investigation is still ongoing, McNamee was not able to elaborate too much regarding the stolen truck. However, the suspect in question is currently in custody in Missouri on unrelated charges. Five different law enforcement agencies are currently collaborating on the investigation and McNamee expects the case to be solved soon.

Ana Lair, county treasurer, has now sent 670 pieces of mail regarding Nov. 1 delinquent notices for tax payment. As Lair?s office has been getting many calls concerning the notices, she took a moment during her report to clear the air regarding the mailings.

?It is required by law that our office sends notices at this time so that people know sooner rather than later that they forgot to pay their taxes. We used to send these types of notices in February, but laws have since changed the date to November,? Lair explained.

Lair, along with Walt Jackson of Henry County Emergency Management, also approached the board and the other department heads about reviewing contingency plans in the event that the courthouse or other government buildings in Henry County were to be rendered unusable as a result of a natural disaster or other major emergency.

?We need to have a county-wide plan for offices in case we would have to vacate our current offices,? Lair said.

Jackson suggested that all offices back up important files on computer drives that can be accessed from anywhere and also suggested that each department come up with a specific plan that would allow them to work out of a temporary space with as little equipment as possible in case of a disaster or emergency.

Other topics discussed during the department head meeting included:

Veteran?s Affairs reported an uptick in client walk-ins last month with 56 in total. The V.A. will also start using a new digital registration system.

Henry County Conservation will install handicap accessible hunting blinds in county hunting areas soon.

The county clerk is in the process of adopting an electronic data management system.

Sarah Berndt, disability services coordinator, reported that the county management plan should be approved soon by the state. Berndt also updated the board on a remodeling project at the Southeast Iowa Link Access Office.

Additional panic buttons were installed in the courthouse.

Besides the department head meeting, the board of supervisors moved to appoint Brad Miller as Trenton Township Trustee. They also reviewed the Oct. 1 decision of the board of adjustment concerning a quarry request in Marion Township. The board of adjustment denied the request.

Lastly, Greg Moeller also gave an overview of the recent RUSS meeting.

?There will be discussion among counties that wish to leave RUSS with the RUSS executive committee to see if some financial solution can be made so that those counties wishing to leave RUSS may do so, but there is no guarantee that that is going to happen,? Moeller said.

In other RUSS news, the rehabilitation project in Argyle is about one week from completion with seeding to take place in the spring. A check was also issued to Randy?s Plumbing for the company?s work on the Argyle project. Payment amounted to $25,831.55.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be on Monday, Nov. 10, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse. The regular date was moved to accommodate the observance of Veteran?s Day