By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com
The Floyd County supervisors tackled a ton of issues in a packed 23-item agenda at their regular meeting Tuesday morning, including more discussion on drainage ditches, enforcing a county noise control ordinance, approving agreements for the Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement protection for county towns, and setting the public hearing date for an amendment to the current year county budget.
The supervisors spent a second week discussing what some landowners in Drainage District No. 3 say was an expensive drainage ditch repair project that was not completed satisfactorily.
The board, acting as trustees for the drainage district, approved spending $5,300 of drainage district funds for an aerial LIDAR mapping of the drainage ditch, which used lasers to capture millions of measurements to create a precise three-dimensional map of the terrain.
Nathan Eick, CEO of Aerial Services Inc., Cedar Falls, said the data can show the slopes of the ditch and other information in minute detail.
He said his company could extract and process the data and provide models for an additional estimated $2,560, but they could also give the raw data to the county and the county could use its own mapping software to create the models.
Tyler Conway, the engineer with Bolton & Menk in Algona who led the district ditch repair project, addressed concerns that were raised in last week’s supervisors meeting in a letter to the board.
He said the company responsible for seeding the ditch banks had agreed to redrag the side-slope and reapply a quick establishing seed mixture when the conditions allow, and company that was the general contractor for the project had agreed to do other work that had been identified.
For Drainage District No. 1 and Drainage District No. 3, the board approved a contract with Legge farms and Drains of Garner for $3,623 to spray DD1 for willow tree treatment and DD# for broadleaf weed treatment.
In Drainage District 18, the board delayed taking action on repairs for a plugged intake until the county Engineer’s Office can get more information on whether it can do the project or it will need to be contracted out.
Also at the meeting, the supervisors:
• Again discussed the county noise ordinance. Randy Jones, who last week had raised the issue of excessive “jake brake” noise by large trucks at the intersection of Underwood Avenue and 220th Street near his home, reported Tuesday that the sheriff had talked to the owner of an area quarry and the problem was significantly diminished.
He still urged the county to install signs advising truck drivers of the law.
County Engineer Adam Miller said he would order half a dozen signs and the supervisors could consider where best to place them. The signs cost $35 each.
• Renewed intergovernmental 28E agreements with county towns for the Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement services to those communities. The price for Colwell, Floyd, Marble Rock, Rockford and Rudd will increase from the current $7 per capita to $9 per capita annually, and the cost for Nora Springs, which has its own police officer, will increase from $50 per hour to $65 an hour when a county deputy is required in that city.
• Decided to not move forward on a suggestion to replace existing keyed locks on the first and second floors of the courthouse with electronic locks and fobs at a price of $31,734.20, after Auditor Morrigan Miller and Treasurer Jessie Holm raised concerns about the potential for the system to glitch, especially when staff might be in the building working after hours or on weekends, and Supervisor Gloria Carr wondered what problem the proposal was meant to address.
• Set a public hearing for 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 27, in the supervisors boardroom for a proposed county budget amendment. Such end-of-the-fiscal-year amendments are common to reconcile changes that have occurred in the budget over the year.