Salem road to be opened this weekend

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Salem motorists should be able to travel on W55/Franklin Avenue this weekend, according to Henry County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss.

Hotchkiss told the county supervisors during their regular meeting on Thursday that pavement markings will be applied shortly to Franklin Avenue, in Salem, and once the markings are placed, the road will be open to traffic.

?We should have the road open either Friday afternoon or Saturday morning,? the engineer said. ?There is still some work remaining, but they can work around traffic. People in Salem have been very patient.?

While one road is nearly ready to be opened, another will be closed for three-four weeks, Hotchkiss said. A portion of Benton Avenue will be closed for repairs in what Hotchkiss termed the last major project of the year.

The portion of Benton Avenue being closed is south of U.S. Highway 34 to 250th Street. Workers will be installing two new culverts and regarding the county road, Hotchkiss said.

Other tidbit during the meeting were that work has begun on repairs to the county-owned building at 106 N. Jackson St,. in Mt. Pleasant; and the county sheriff?s office has received nearly 17,000 phone calls for assistance since Jan. 1.

Roger Pittsenbarger, veteran affairs coordinator for the county, said that repair work has begun on the building at 106 N. Jackson St., the county-owned building in which his office and several other offices are located. The north side of the building was damaged Labor Day weekend when a vehicle backed into it and broke several panes of glass. The supervisors have opted to go with smaller windows and adding additional concrete to compensate for the difference in window size.

Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee had the longest report. In addition to mentioning the number of assistance calls his office has received, he said the jail is averaging 18-22 inmates a day. He said he has another meeting scheduled with an architect on Oct. 8-9 to discuss possible expansion of the county jail.

An opening on the deputy force should be filled within two weeks, he continued, and six new reserve deputies have been certified.

McNamee said the prescription drug take-back program, hosted Saturday in the county, went well. A total of 358 pounds of prescription drugs were received by the sheriff?s office and Mt. Pleasant Police Department.

Joe Buffington, county director of planning and zoning, said 2015 building permits issued by his office thus far this year have exceeded the total permits granted during 2014.

?We are also working on a large subdivision around Deerwood Golf Course (located on the south side of New London),? he added.

Supervisor Chairman Greg Moeller told the department heads that a couple of repair projects will begin soon at the courthouse. This month, a brick/masonry company will be doing some tuck-pointing and other exterior repairs. It is the first time tuck-pointing has been done in seven years, Moeller said.

November work includes a visit from Bix Basement System of Ft. Madison. The firm will be attempting to solve the seepage problem on the ground floor of the courthouse.

Work will be on the west and north sides of the building. ?If the first phase works well, we will be considering doing the east side of the building,? Supervisor Marc Lindeen noted.

Lindeen also told department heads that it is time to start planning their fiscal 2017 budgets.

In final reports, Gary Dustman, county assessor, said he has hired a new employee, and Shirley Wandling, county recorder, said she is searching for a part-time employee.

The supervisors will meet again in regular session on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse.