During a meeting that was light on formal agenda items, the Tama County Board of Supervisors, during their individual reports and comments, discussed the condition of the county’s roads and vowed to work toward ensuring better outcomes going forward.

As part of his report early in the meeting, County Engineer Ben Daleske told the board that County Highway V18 south of Chelsea was closed due to flooding over the road, but by Tuesday, it had been reopened according to the Tama County Engineer’s Facebook page. He also explained that a preconstruction meeting for the E43 bridge was set, and work is tentatively expected to begin the week of Aug. 18.

Supervisor Heather Knebel encouraged Daleske and his team to “get hittin’ em” referring to the roads during what seems to be a temporary reprieve from this summer’s heavy rains.

Later in the meeting during the individual reports, Chairman Mark Doland indicated that he’s been getting “a lot of calls and questions” regarding the roads amidst heavy rains, muddy conditions, ruts and washouts across the county. Supervisor Curt Hilmer, a former employee of the secondary roads department, noted that the county has lost four or five of its best blade men in recent years, and he felt it was time for a change with operators as Daleske is fighting “an uphill battle.”

“These guys get these things in their brains and it’s hard to change, but we know there’s a problem out there. Sometimes I get a little disgusted with people complaining after it rains because we know we need to find a way to fix this. And all we can do is try,” Hilmer said. “What we’ve done the last 40 years isn’t working anymore, so why not try something to change?”

He added that the quality of rock is “really poor,” and the size of the equipment is tough on gravel roads along with the roads getting wider, meaning jobs take longer than they did before. Supervisor David Turner said when he gets complaints from people who never complain, he knows the situation is serious and hopes best practices could be explored.

“For the folks who are running the equipment, they need to do it correctly,” he said. “I think we need to go down that path and figure out how we prioritize things and how we train folks and hold them to that.”

Hilmer encouraged Daleske and his staff to utilize a groomer tool the county purchased for secondary roads, citing positive feedback he has heard from people who own them. He also noted that a comparison to neighboring Benton County may be difficult as they have five or six quarries compared to a single one on the edge of Tama County.

“It just disgusts me when I see a ridge in the middle of the summertime. They do it, obviously, in the winter time, to save rock, but in the summertime, I still feel it needs to stay out in the middle of the road,” Hilmer said.

Doland advocated for “sitting down and figuring it out.”

“When people don’t feel like they’re heard, they get frustrated, and I want them to feel like they’re heard,” he said. “That’s kind of frustrating. A lot of people were trying to get answers, and we want to be responsive but also work within the structure given under the code… We hear you, and we’re going to address it the best way we know how. And it won’t get better overnight.”

As for action items, the board voted unanimously to mail letters to county land renters terminating agreements, approve authorizing Doland to sign the Notice of Withdrawal from a 28E agreement and approval of termination of region for mental health services and approved a letter of representation with Eric Updegraff from Hopkins & Huebner, PC. A closed session on the agenda was scrapped, and claims totaling $118,226.69 were approved.

During the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting, Karen Murty sought to clarify that many of the individuals who had lost their jobs with the county due to budget cuts had found other employment, and Berleen Wobeter, who formerly served as the board chair for the clinic’s board, took issue with a statement made by Doland about having “proprietary information” related to the closure of the Center Associates office in Tama County as the county looks toward a new agreement for services with Prairie Ridge Behavioral Health, formerly known as SATUCI.

Doland responded that he did not feel Center Associates had given the county proper notice of its plans to close.

State Rep. Dave Sires (R-Cedar Falls), who serves a portion of northern Tama County in the Iowa House, was on hand and discussed what he saw as corruption in the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) system. During the public comment section at the end of the meeting, Murty also asked several questions pertaining to the Salt Creek Wind project and potential long-term ramifications.