The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday) approved the appointment of Kristy Pellett, of Atlantic, as Clerk for the Pymosa Township, effective immediately. The position of Trustee for the Township has yet to be filled, however. The Board also approved the immediate appointment of LuAnne Beth Steffens, of Griswold, to the County Conservation Board.  Supervisor Chuck Rieken said Steffens’ appointment will help the County in its mandated efforts at Gender Balancing the various County Boards.

In other business, the Supervisors heard a report from County Veterans Affairs Commissioner Mitch Holmes, who said the number of claims filed for assistance in the 2^nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2011-2012 were down slightly less than 30 from the previous quarter, primarily due to the reduced number of applications for energy assistance, thanks to the warmer weather we’ve been experiencing. Holmes said there’s a positive sign for veterans who might be looking for work. He says his office has been receiving calls from local employers looking to hire veterans, and while he’s helped to put some vets in contact with those employers, he doesn’t know what the results of any interviews were. 

And, Joel Dirks, with West Central Community Action (WCCA) provided his agency’s Annual Report. The organization serves to administer several programs in the County as alternatives to General Relief, including Head Start, Child Care Resource and Referral, the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Program, and Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Programs. Dirks says WCCA provided a little more than $2-million in services to residents of the County last year. They worked with 750 households, made up to a little more than 1,700 individuals. Many of those persons include Single parent/female heads of households, and single-person households, which is attributed in-part to LiHeap – the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. 

59-percent of those households had an income below 100-percent of the poverty guideline. 32-percent have a household income between 101- and 150% of the poverty guideline. The annual federal poverty guideline (100%) during the reporting period for a family of four, was $22,350. Dirks said 22% of their individual clients in Cass County have no health insurance, and 20% are disabled. Last year, the Supervisors appropriated $3,000 to WCCA. When Dirks asked for the same amount from them for the upcoming fiscal year, his request was unanimously  approved by the Board.