The Page County Sheriff’s Office released details on an accident that occurred on Monday, August 14th.  At 11:51am that day an accident was reported at the intersection of 314th Street and Teak Avenue about 1 mile east of Braddyville.

The investigation indicated that 29-year-old Mathew G. Herzberg of Clarinda was the driver and only occupant of a 1997 Ford F-150 pickup traveling north on Teak Avenue south of the intersection. 73-year-old Edward H. Burch of rural Braddyville was traveling west on 314th Street in a 2005 Chevy K2500 pickup. Burch was following the long 90 degree curve to the south while Herzberg was crossing the curve and failed to yield when crossing the center line of the curve. Burch’s Chevy struck Herzberg’s Ford in the passenger side. Herzberg then ended up in the west ditch and flipped onto the driver’s side of the truck. Burch’s Chevy remained in the traveled portion of the curve.

Burch refused treatment at the scene of the accident but Herzberg was transported to a hospital in St. Joseph, MO by LifeNet Helicopter Ambulance Service with unknown injuries.

Herzberg’s vehicle sustained an estimated $7000.00 in damage. Burch’s vehicle sustained an estimated $10,000.00 in damage. Both vehicles were towed from the scene. At this time no citations have been issued.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by Braddyville Fire and Rescue, Clarinda Fire Department, Clarinda Ambulance Service, Page County Secondary Roads Department, & LifeNet Helicopter Ambulance service.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday discussed the process of finding a new County Attorney at the end of their meeting. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman informed the board that there are two options to fill the vacancy.

If the board decides to appoint a replacement to fill out the term until the next election, they won’t be able to officially appoint that person until the office is vacated January 1, 2018. Current County Attorney Dave Wiederstein submitted his resignation effective on that date in response to the county changing the position to full-time. The board plans to get an official signed resignation from Wiederstein to approve at their meeting next Thursday.

If appointment is the route the board takes, then the public would have a 14-day window after appointment to submit a petition for a special election to fill the position.

The other issue that will need to be dealt with if they do appoint a replacement will be to change their status to full-time once they begin. When the decision was made to change the position to full-time the effective date was January 1, 2019 because that would line up with the next election cycle.  Auditor Sunderman said he believes an effective date would have to be agreed on with the new Attorney and officially changed by the board.

Board Chair Gaylord Schelling said they do intend to take up decision on appointment or special election at their next meeting on August 31st.

A woman from Cass County was arrested Monday night on a burglary charge. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports 22-year old Marin Dawn Karns, of Anita, was taken into custody at around 8:50-p.m., for Burglary in the 1st Degree. The woman was arrested after a Deputy was dispatched to the Motel 6, near Avoca, for a reported incident of assault. The victim of the assault was a 50-year old woman from Avoca. Karns was taken into custody without incident. The report said Karns suffered an apparent minor injury during the incident.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors held their regular meeting on Wednesday in the board room at the Cass County Courthouse. Among the items the board discussed was contract bids for the gray water transmission project for the Elite Octane Ethanol Plant site. Dave Sturm of Snyder and Associates informed the board that out of six bids taken on the project the low bid came from Crow River Construction out of New London, MN. Their bid came in at $884,020 which was under engineers’ estimates of $900,000.  Board member Mark Wedemeyer questioned if they would be able to go with the next bid because it came from a company in Iowa and was just $6,000 more. Sturm stated didn’t see any reason to not go with the low bid.

He said they haven’t worked with Crow River before but his discussions with other communities brought nothing but positive comments on them. The board eventually all agreed and later unanimously approved a resolution awarding the contract to Crow River Construction. A timeline for the project will be determined soon.

The board also approved changes to the Glacier Road paving project that is currently underway. Sturm stated that the road culverts that they were intending to salvage or extend are not in proper condition to be saved. During work it was discovered that a number of them were cracked and don’t match up properly with the intended extensions. The board unanimously agreed to approve the changes to order new culverts for the project which will increase the cost by $20,188.

In other business the board agreed to change the speed limit on the county’s portion of Troy Road and Cass Street south of Griswold city limits to 25mph. The City of Griswold already approved the change on their portion of the road and the board had agreed to follow suit with their decision on their portion.

The board also approved plans for a bridge replacement for bridge #433 on north Olive Street over a tributary to Buck Creek, about a mile south of I-80. The project hasn’t been put on the DOT’s short list for bid letting but Cass County Engineer Technician Dennis Vogl said the county wants to have the plans shelf ready for whenever that happens.  He said they hope to have the project completed before they do an overlay project.