Washington Supervisors make a hire and discuss roads

Patrick Curl has been hired as the Administrative Assistant of the newly formed Ambulance Department upon recommendation of Ambulance Director Jeremy Peck. The Washington County Board of Supervisors approved the recommendation at its regular meeting held Tuesday, April 14. Curl will be hired no earlier than April 27 at a rate of $32 an hour.

Peck reported that he is conducting interviews for other staff positions and is very encouraged by the quality of candidates he is finding.

Roads

County Engineer Jacob Thorius presented the county's five-year plan which had been discussed earlier during a workshop session with the supervisors. Much of the funding for the road projects in the county come from federal and state sources, he said. The sources include money swapped from federal dollars received but swapped with the state (SWAP), farm to market funds from the state (FM), local dollars from property tax funds, federal aid funds for special projects (FA) and special federal funding for unique projects (Special). The plan includes project funding from the following sources in the next five years:

2021

SWAP $3,023,715

FM $2,775,000

Local $ 425,000

FA $ 275,285

Special $ 500,000

2022

SWAP $ 300,000

FM $ 925,000

Local $ 475,000

2023

FM $2,090,500

Local $ 525,000

2024

SWAP $ 850,000

FM $ 500,000

2025

SWAP $ 500,000

FM $2,500,000

FA $3,000,000

The supervisors approved the plan.

June Primary Election

County Auditor Dan Widmer said the Iowa Secretary of State will soon be sending a request for absentee ballots to every registered voter in Washington County in an effort to minimize the number of people who show up at the polls due to a concern about the Coronavirus. The request for an absentee ballot needs to be sent to the Washington County Auditor's office. The deadline for voting by mail is to have ballots postmarked by June 1, he said. More details will be coming from the Secretary of State and from Widmer's office.

Other Business

In other business, the supervisors:

*Amended the Secondary Roads FY20 Five Year Road Plan;

*Approved the County Secondary Roads Department FY21 budget with total expenditures increasing from $7,753,989 to $7,963,293;

*Approved renewal of an agreement with Carosh Compliance Solutions to provide HIPPA compliance assistance to the county and

*Discussed a coronavirus update.