The Cass County Board of Supervisors held their regular meeting Wednesday morning at the courthouse boardroom. Much of the discussion was in regards to vacancies on some local boards. There is currently 1 vacancy on the Magistrate Appointment Board, 1 vacancy on the County Board of Health, and 3 vacancies on the County Zoning Board.

The Magistrate Appointment Board consists of two attorneys, one representative from the judicial commission, and three appointed citizens. Those citizen spots are served in 6 year terms and only meet when a Magistrate Appointment is necessary. The Board decided that they will try to recruit for the open spot and hopefully be able to appoint someone at their next meeting on the 6th since a Magistrate appointment will be coming up soon and they need the board filled for that process.

They said for the Board of Health position, Public Health Director Beth Olsen would be searching for a suitable candidate to fill that spot and then the Board could act on that vacancy. They do not currently have someone lined up for that spot.

Board Chair Steve Baier said they have one person lined up to fill one of the openings for the Zoning Board but two spots still need filled. The Board will actively recruit for that spot, keeping in mind gender equity and county wide representation as factors.

Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren was there at the beginning of the meeting to explain a contract buyout for one of their new hire Deputies. The new Deputy came from the City of Audubon and they will paying 75% of his buyout for leaving that contract early. He will now be under contract in the same scenario for 3 years for Cass County. The Board discussed that this is pretty standard procedure and essentially covers the cost of training.

Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken reported that work continues to progress well on replacement of a bridge on M56 and should be completed in a couple more weeks. He also reported that bids for culvert sections have come back 42% higher than last year at this time so they are going to assess and prioritize those projects for the summer and perhaps put some off due to the high costs. A new road grader is expected to be coming in June.

Wolken also said they are working to fill three positions for secondary roads right now. He said they have had a strong number of quality applicants and have interviewed 13 individuals for the maintenance positions and 5 people for a technician position. He said they will likely be doing some second interviews and filling spots in the next couple of weeks.

Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon said they are working to allocate some COVID grant money and he has been working with public health to create a stockpile of PPE for the County. He also is looking to upgrade three different spaces for video conferencing including his office, the courthouse basement conference room, and the main boardroom. He said the upgrades would involve tv’s that could not only be used for video conferencing but also video presentations and so forth.

Members of the CAM School Board and the CAM School District’s Facilities Committee will hold a special meeting available by ZOOM, on Monday, April 5th. The meeting begins at 6:30-p.m.  On the agenda, is discussion with regard to:

• A review of current facility information
• Financial options to fund capital projects
• Next steps/meetings.

(Radio Iowa) – President Biden is unveiling a two-trillion dollar infrastructure proposal which the administration says will create jobs as it builds new roads and bridges, and improves broadband, water quality, schools and more. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who’s traveling in Iowa during the Easter Recess, says he’s only read about some of the basics of what’s being called the American Jobs Plan. “I only have a broad outline of it,” Grassley says. “It’s going to, according to the Post, it’s going to take until July to finally pass the legislation so there’s a lot of details that I’m going to have to see through.”

Early reports show the proposal includes 115-billion dollars to repair and rebuild roads and bridges, 100-billion to improve and build new schools, 100-billion for expanding high-speed internet connections, and another 100-billion to improve our power infrastructure. Grassley, a Republican, wants to know where the two-trillion dollars will come from in the budget.  “Paying for it is very, very important,” Grassley says. “The tax policy probably isn’t as important to me as the spending policy.”

The Biden administration says the massive measure includes a series of elements for infrastructure overhauls which are desirable to both Democrats and Republicans. “It really needs to be bipartisan,” Grassley says. “I think that we’ll see how seriously they take bipartisanship. They sure didn’t take it very seriously in regard to the 1.9 (trillion dollar) COVID package that they put together.”

Democrats control the U-S Senate only thanks to the tie-breaking vote of the vice president, while that same party holds a narrow majority in the House.

Police in Creston arrested a man early this (Wednesday) morning for theft of a motor vehicle. 18-year-old Hunter Patterson, of Creston, was arrested at around 6:15-a.m. in the 300 block of N Vine, for Theft in the 2nd Degree. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $5000 bond.

And, at around 12:30-p.m. Tuesday, 61-year old Kathy Irene Beemer, of Greenfield, was arrested in Taylor County, on a Union County warrant for Operating [a vehicle] without Owners Consent.  Beemer was transported to Union County Jail, posted a $2,000 cash bond, and was released.