The Cass County Board of Supervisors, during their meeting Tuesday morning, voted to appoint Mike Kennon to the Cass County Judicial Magistrate Appointing Commission. His term will expire Dec. 31, 2026. Kennon is the County’s Emergency Management Coordinator. The Supervisors are still looking to fill some positions on the Cass County Zoning Board. There are three seats open on the Zoning Board, and one position open on the Board of Adjustment. Supervisors’ Board Chair Steve Baier said he has some people who have verbally committed to joining the Commission. They simply need to turn in their paperwork for Board approval.
Baier said the Boards don’t meet that often, so it shouldn’t be too much of a burden on your time, if you are interested.
Auditor Dale Sunderman noted the Board of Adjustment position must be filled by a rural county resident. In other business, the Supervisors received a report from County Engineer Trent Wolken, who said the Secondary Roads Department is busy hauling contract rock. He reported also, there are two bridges on dirt roads in Cass County that are currently closed.
One bridge, on Fairview road (northwest of Atlantic, just west of Highway173), has a six-ton rating. Wolken said it was ordered closed after a State inspection last week detected some structural issues with the trusses.
Wolken was of the opinion that the damage was incurred by vehicles violating the posted weight limit. The second bridge, which is rated for 18-tons, is on 760th, 1.5-miles east of Massena. Last weekend, he said a farmer doing tillage work crossed the bridge with his tilling equipment in the lowered position. The Pony Truss bridge was damaged, and needs to have the wooden deck replaced. The structural steel was not damaged. The deck will be replaced with either wood, or corrugated steel topped by dirt.
The farmer has been contacted and is aware of their liability in the matter. Wolken said also, they are conducting interviews to fill four Secondary Roads Dept. positions. The interview process began last week. He’s offered an Operator 3 Excavator position to one of the applicants, and that person accepted. He hopes to have a recommendation for appointments by the time the Board meets next week.