(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, received Quarterly Reports from County Veterans Affairs Director Mitchell Holmes and Conservation Director Micah Lee.
Holmes said he only had one request for emergency assistance. That came from the widow of a veteran, whose thermostat on her furnace stopped working.

Holmes said his office filed 13 claims for federal disability benefits.

For the quarter, Holmes said his office assisted 210 individual veterans. They received 150 office visits and held 12 home visits. Conservation Director Micah Lee discussed maintenance activities from the past quarter. He said at Cold Springs State Park, they are planting trees to replace the 100-year-old Oak Trees that had to be removed due to Oak blight.

He said they’re planting more diversified trees in some places.

At the Nodaway Wildlife Area…

At the West Nodaway Wildlife Area, Micah Lee says they installed Winter Rye cover crops in their food plots to control erosion. Cover crops were also put in-place at the Hitchcock House near Lewis. And, at the Outdoor Classroom near Massena, they winterized the outdoor shelter. He said also, they applied for a Fish Habitat grant.

The fish that inhabited the pond were killed-off last year, due to an invasion of the common carp and some lesser desired species. The pond was treated under the ice to kill what Lee said were “thousands” of carp. He said they don’t know where the invasive carp came from. If the grant is approved, they hope to construct another silt pond with an inlet, making it about 5-to 6-feet deep, and eventually restock the pond with desirable fish.

The Supervisors also received a Monthly report from County Mental Health/General Relief Coordinator Debbie Schuler.

She also provided a report on her January data.

Schuler and the Board discussed proposed new legislation coming out with regard to the consolidation of mental health regions into districts. If approved, the 16 current regions would shrink down to seven districts, “Making the State as the payer of last resort,” according to Schuler. She says “That’s crazy…it will be interesting to see…” [what happens]. She says “It feels like we are reinventing the wheel.”

She says there are still many unknowns as to how the whole thing will “shake out.”