The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Friday) approved an employment contract for a person selected by a committee to replace County Engineer Charles Marker. The Board agreed to hire 53-year old Charles Bechtold, who currently serves as the Engineer for Osceola County, in northwest Iowa. Bechtold’s contract with Cass County runs from July 1^st, 2016 through June 30^th, 2017, with the option to renew his contract next year. He’ll be paid $105,000.

Charles Bechtold (Photo from the Osceola County Engineer’s web page)

A committee comprised of Supervisors Gaylord Schelling, Frank Waters and Charles Marker had reviewed nine applications for the Cass County Engineer’s position, and conducted six interviews. The top two candidates were picked and ranked before the committee made their final selection. Waters said the committee was very impressed with Charles Bechtold’s credentials. His sister, by the way, is Ginger Bechtold, librarian at the Atlantic High School, and teacher/librarian for the Atlantic Middle School.

According to published reports, prior to being hired in late 2012 for his Osceola County position, Bechtold served in Afghanistan for three-years, while on a deployment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He also owned a private engineering firm in Sioux City for 16 years.

Charles Marker announced in February he would be retiring at the end of June, after serving for 17-years as the County Engineer, and a total of 25-years as an Engineer in Iowa.