New political boundaries for the three supervisor seats in Tama County have been drawn and approved for the next 10 years.

The county-level redistricting process comes as a domino effect from the information drawn by the 2020 census and the state and federal redistricting maps approved by the state legislature in the fall of 2021.

In previous census cycles counties held the authority to draw their own supervisor district boundaries. This year that process changed and the final authority was given to the state Legislative Services Agency (LSA) that coordinates and proposes the state and federal redistricting maps.

The Tama County Redistricting Committee submitted a suggested district proposal to the LSA in December at the conclusion of their voting precinct redistricting process.

Supervisors learned at their Jan. 31 meeting that the local proposal had been accepted by the LSA and would be able to be adopted by vote from the board.

The board unanimously approved the new boundaries that will take effect in the most practical sense with the next supervisor election.

The most notable change in supervisor districts comparing the outgoing map with the newly approved 10-year map is the increase in size of supervisor district 1.

District 1 currently encompasses the cities of Traer, Dysart, Clutier, Elberon and Vining, the townships they reside in and Grant, Buckinghamp, Geneseo and Carroll townships.

In the new plan District 1 loses Grant Township to District 2 but gains the city of Chelsea, Salt Creek Township and half of Highland Township, stretching the district the entire length of the county.

District 1 supervisor Larry Vest’s seat will be up for election in November and will provide the first opportunity to see the new supervisor districts in action at the ballot box.

Vest is in his seventh term as a county supervisor and won the 2018 general election unopposed. He did however face a challenge in the 2018 primary from Curt Kupka from Elberon, but won out by more than a 50 percent margin of victory.

In other business…

Jennifer Fencl, Environmental Services Director with the East Central Iowa Council of Governments was before the supervisors during their Jan. 31 meeting to discuss a financial support request being made to Tama County from the Middle Cedar Watershed Management Authority. Fencl explained the Middle Cedar Watershed organization was established by 28E agreement in 2016 to address water quality and environmental issues along the Cedar River in northeast Iowa and out to the various watershed areas the river extends to. Grant funding for the organization is set to expire at the end of 2022 and a financial support request is being made to all of the public entities that signed on to the 28E agreement in 2016 to help extend the program long enough to identify and acquire additional grant funding. Tama County is one of 18 public entities in the Cedar Valley the organization is approaching which include both municipalities and county governments. The one-time requested amount from Tama County is $2,903 and goes toward a budget of $50,000. The largest requests are being made to the City of Cedar Rapids ($9,324) and Benton County ($8,360). The supervisors took no action on the request at their Jan. 31 meeting.

The Tama County Board of Health recently accepted a resignation for a member on its board and were recently called to fill the vacancy of another seat after a second member did seek reappointment to their office. Former board member Phyllis Dunlap of Dysart resigned her seat in the middle of her term, one that was set to expire at the end of 2023.

Former board member Duane Backen did not seek reappointment to his position when his board seat expired at the end of 2021. At their Jan. 31 meeting the board of supervisors approved Sally Custer of Toledo to fill the board vacancy made from Backen’s departure. Dr. Polly Hineman was also reappointed to her seat on the board. Custer and Hineman will serve two year terms that will be up at the end of 2024.

Bids for rental of the county’s pasture land were opened at the Jan. 17 regular board meeting. Supervisors accepted a high bid from Annette Kotouc at $2,080 per year for 3 years beginning March 1, 2022. One other bid was received from Arion Schnabel at $850 per year for 3 years.

Bids for rental of the county’s farm ground were opened at the Jan. 17 meeting. A high bid of $46,625 per year for 3 years from Rick H. Hopper was approved and will begin March 1, 2022. beginning March 1, 2022. Other bids came from MnM Properties at $36,542 per year for 3 years and Joel Ehrig at $31,097 per year for 3 years.

Carolyn Adolphs of Traer was re-appointed to the Tama County Conservation board for another five-year term. Adolphs remains on the five-member board along with Allan Atchison of Toledo, Bryan Wacha of Tama, John Keenan of Tama and Nathan Wrage of Gladbrook.