Supervisors approve more Grundy Road easements, chassis quote

GRUNDY CENTER- The Grundy County board of supervisors approved another round of easements for the Grundy Road project and a chassis quote from Don’s Truck Sales of Fairbank during its regular meeting on Tuesday morning.

The county received two tandem axle quotes, and the net cost of the quote from the GATR Truck Center in Waterloo for Volvo VHD 64F-200s was actually lower ($190,245.52) than the bid from Don’s. The GATR quote, however, did not meet the specifications outlined because it did not include the Allison Automatic transmission as County Engineer Gary Mauer had requested. The Don’s quote will come at a net cost of $198,000 with the trade-in allowance and includes the requested transmission.

The board voted unanimously to approve the quote, and Mauer plans to keep the truck boxes and have them welded where needed. The list of Grundy Road easement payments were approved as follows: Revocable Trust of Donna and Jerry Dufel, $11,960; Degener-Juhl Farm Partnership for a total of $31,466; Eugene Juhl, Richard Juchems and Jane Juchems $6,970; Thomas Furneaux and Fayeth Walton $3,820; Michael K. Harris and Connie S. Harris $8,612.65; and Suzanne and Marcus Sletten II $670.

The board later approved a low bid of $3,246,935.61 from Heartland Asphalt of Mason City for asphalt overlay on T-19 from Highway 20 north to the Butler County line and on County Road D-53. OMG Midwest Inc. and Mathy Construction also submitted bids.

Mauer told the board he currently has 12 private truckers lined up to haul rock, and he’s working on getting at least six more from PCI. Supervisor Barb Smith reported that she had heard Grundy County private truckers weren’t being paid as much as they were in Tama County, and Supervisor Jim Ross told Mauer that the roads in Grundy County were in much better shape than those in neighboring counties. It was also noted that Highway 14 would once again be closed for resurfacing beginning next week.

The board discussed the potential of hiring part-time help in the custodian’s office to assist head custodian Mark Jungling but did not take official action. Until a few years ago, Jungling had another employee on staff at 15 hours a week, but board members mentioned hiring someone at five or six hours a week.

Supervisor Chuck Bakker asked that a reopening date for the courthouse be put on next week’s agenda as Governor Kim Reynolds has moved toward completely reopening the state in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shutdown. Smith commented that if bars are open and the courthouse isn’t, it would send a bad message, and Ross responded that the county should move slowly and carefully.

“I think we’re in a position of leadership. I think we have to ere on the side of caution. For us to look at when the bars open, quite frankly, I’m not interested in that at all,” Ross said.

During committee reports, Smith noted that Operation Threshold in Grundy County had received an influx of calls about rent assistance, food insecurity and homelessness as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The local food pantry received a $20,000 from the Bayer Foundation.

Ross also encouraged fellow supervisors to get involved in working with local food banks.

“We’re supposed to be leaders in this community and county, and I think it would set an example if we all made an effort to do that,” he said. “It’s very fulfilling, very humbling, and it’s not really work. You feel good after you do it.”

IN OTHER BUSINESS, the board:

·      Approved an Interstate Power and Light Co. utility permit application.

·      Approved a commitment to continue membership in ICAP.

·      Approved a motion removing quarantine requirements for county employees who travel out of state.