Benton County makes board appointments

VINTON — The start of a new calendar brought a lot of appointments by the Benton County Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors approved Dean Vrba and Don Markland for rural addressing and Doug Boddicker, Newhall mayor, for the East Central Iowa Council of Governments board. Boddicker takes the place of Bruce Visser, former Atkins mayor, who retired.

A land use hearing was set for Feb. 3 at 9:15 a.m. for Ethan Henry, for land in Section 36, Cedar Township.

The board acknowledged the retirement of Barb Fetzer from the land use office and health department. She has been with Benton County for 40 years.

Deanna Robinson of the East Central Iowa Housing Trust Fund made a budget request for the 2027 program. East Central Iowa Housing is asking for $5,986 from Benton County, the same amount it received last year.

In 2025, The Trust Fund assisted four households in Benton County with rehab projects. Initiatives for 2026 include home down payment assistance. The agency is also working on lead abatement. S

Supervisor Ron Tippett said this is a good deal for Benton County when one looks at their asking and the return the county gets.

Karen Kurt of ECICOG explained her program. “A big part of what we do is trying to identify and leverage state and federal resources for our region,” she said.

The program also shares technical services and helped with recovery from the derecho, an ongoing project.

Benton County Treasurer Melinda Schoettmer gave her budget presentation for the next fiscal year year and discussed registration, titles, licenses and liens.

Supervisors approved a resolution to hire two full-time correctional officers for the sheriff’s office — Ethan Hepker, starting at $22.80 per hour, and Dawson Frett, with a starting wage of $27.13.