Author: Kadie Johannson

The Henry County Board of Supervisors held their regular weekly meeting this morning at the Henry County Courthouse. After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, Chair Greg Moeller called the meeting to order at 9 o’clock. The agenda, minutes, and claims were approved unanimously, and Sarah Berndt’s General Assistance monthly update was moved to next Thursday.

Lynn Whaley discussed recyclables in Henry County with the Supervisors. The county averages about 6.08 tons per month at the Henry County Recycling Center. Currently, Whaley hauls the recyclables to Fort Madison where they get repackaged and hauled further to Pekin, Illinois. Whaley believes this process includes extra steps and extra hauling that could be eliminated. He suggested the county investigate the costs and potential savings associated with switching to hauling their recyclables to a recycling center in the Davenport area, eliminating the repackaging and extra mileage to Pekin, IL. Supervisor Marc Lindeen plans to look at this possibility and bring it back to the board later.

Henry County has also agreed to a contract with Ahlers & Cooney to represent Henry County, Iowa on the Henry County LMI Residential Urban Renewal Plan & Development as they work with the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission and other parties involved.

The last big item of discussion before public comments was the Alternative Energy Ordinance in response to the potential commercial wind turbine project in northern Henry County. The Henry County Planning & Zoning Commission had tabled the ordinance but had not set any dates to resume discussions on it. All three Supervisors agreed that the Henry County Planning & Zoning Commission should revisit the ordinance and go through the process again to get an ordinance back to the Supervisors for review with assistance from the Henry County Attorney’s Office.

Public comments were made by various citizens in attendance regarding the alternative energy ordinance, posted meeting dates and times, and the efficiency in different departments at the courthouse. The meeting adjourned just before 10 am. The next regular meeting of the Henry County Board of Supervisors will be on Thursday, October 31 at 9:00 am. These meetings are open to the public.

It was business as usual at the Mount Pleasant City Council meeting yesterday evening. All council members and department heads were present except Ward IV Councilman Kevin Glaha. Mayor Steve Brimhall called the meeting to order promptly at 5:30 and the council moved through the agenda items swiftly and unanimously.

There was a second reading to a city ordinance amending Chapter 12, Article II prohibiting stopping, standing, or parking on Eugene Way. Eugene Way is a street improvement project completed this year. This road connects to Roosevelt Street and heads west about 1200 feet, opening access to six more industrial lots.

Other items to note include approval of sidewalk replacement and curb construction bids to continue work on the 600 and 700 blocks of West Washington Street and the council is taking advantage of TIF districts (tax increment revenue fund) for various projects and properties throughout the city.

Lastly, congratulations to RaeAnn Burns as the council approved her to serve a second term on the Parks & Recreation Board. As the council and department heads each had an opportunity to comment, Councilman Matt Crull praised the Mount Pleasant Police Department for their help and partnership at the Midwest Haunted Rails this year, noting their professionalism and assistance has been top notch.

The next regular board meeting of the Mount Pleasant City Council will be Wednesday, November 13 at 5:30 p.m. Citizens of Mount Pleasant are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The Henry County Board of Supervisors held their regular board meeting on Thursday, August 22 at the Henry County Courthouse. The first item on the agenda was discussion on the TIF rebate and incentives for the developers of the Hershey Apartment Project located on the former Iowa Wesleyan Campus. The plans for the project include reconstructing Hershey Hall into a 22-unit apartment complex. Mike Norris from the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission (SEIRPC) explained the process and next steps in coordinating the TIF rebate, which include establishing the area as an Urban Renewal Area (URA). While there is ongoing litigation between the Henry County Assessor Board of Review and the developer on the valuation of the property, the Henry County Supervisors have asked SEIRPC to draw up a contract to complete the URA work on their behalf. The contract will be presented to the Supervisors at their regular board meeting on September 19, 2024.

Supervisor Marc Lindeen gave his subcommittee report on the most recent meeting of the Great River Regional Waste Authority. He noted the county is allowed to dump up to 50 tons at no cost to the county. He suggested if there were no major construction projects that needed to haul waste, the county should allocate those tons to Jake Hotchkiss, Henry County Engineer for cleanup on county roads.

Supervisor Greg Moeller led the discussion on a check request the county has received. The check in question was issued from the county to the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility on May 5, 2022, in the amount of $17, 822.50 for April 2022 meals for the Henry County Sheriff’s Department. The Superviors canceled the check on July 6, 2023, because it was not deposited by the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility. And, according to the Iowa Code, unclaimed checks may be canceled after a year has passed. While the time to request a reissued check has passed and the supervisors are not legally required to remit the payment, the discussion centered around whether they should pay the $17,822.50. There is a strong working relationship between the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility and the Henry County Sheriff’s Department which the Supervisors are considering. On the other hand, the money is not in the budget for this fiscal year and would cause headaches to adjust funds in an already tight budget. Supervisor Greg Moeller motioned they table this discussion until the next board meeting when Supervisor Chad White would be back and able to give input on it.

Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee presented a contract between the Henry County Sheriff’s Department and the New London Community School District for a School Resource Officer (SRO). The two parties had an agreement last year, however this year the school district requested a change in deputies and for the SRO to go to full time status versus part time. With the help of the Henry County Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff presented a contract to the Board of Supervisors for review. The contract has not been presented to the school district yet; that comes next. The Supervisors motioned to approve the Henry County Sheriff to present this contract to the New London School District and begin negotiations to place a full time Henry County Sheriff Deputy as a SRO in their buildings.

The meeting ended after the public comment portion, which included comments from citizens about the Hershey Apartment Project TIF rebate, overtime for deputies contracting out as SROs, and operational inefficiencies that can be found in the different offices of the Henry County Courthouse.

Here are the results from the 2024 Henry County Beef Show on Saturday judged by Shawn Varner:

For Market Beef your champion and reserve champions in each category are…

Champion Market Heifer – Zenlynn Lee | Reserve – Allie Wagner
Champion Purebred Market – Ehtan Graber | Reserve – Katie Miller
Champion Lightweight Market – Olivia Francy | Reserve – Natalie Francy
Champion Medium Weight Market – Grant Anderson | Reserve – Elyssa Graber
Champion Heavyweight Market – Libby Myers | Reserve – Kya Heaton
Grand Champion Market Beef – Libby Myers | Reserve – Ethan Graber
Champion County Raised Market Beef – Grant Anderson
Champion Returning Bucket Calf – Hagen Loyd, Reserve – Lincoln Garvey
Champion Rate of Gain – Brylor Lair

Now turning to the Breeding Beef portion of the show. Your champion and reserve champions in each category are…

Champion AOB Heifer – Morgan Meyer | Reserve – Tyi-Alicyn Alter
Champion Charolais Heifer – Silas Shepherd | Reserve – Caleb Shepherd
Champion Simmental Heifer – Alexis Francy | Reserve – Ehtan Graber
Champion Crossbred Heifer – Zenlynn Lee | Reserve – Kylie Loyd
Grand Champion Breeding Heifer – Alexis Francy | Reserve – Zenlynn Lee
Champion County Raised Breeding Heifer – Ethan Graber
Grand Champion Cow/Calf – Kylie Loyd | Reserve – Alexis Francy

2024 Henry County Rabbit Show Results

At the 2024 Henry County Rabbit Show, Mariella McClellan took Best Commercial Rabbit, while Allie Wagner won Reserve Commercial Rabbit. Best Breeding Pair went to Zenlynn Lee and Best Doe & Litter was given to Makynna Carpenter. Morgan Meyer took home Best of Show Rabbit as well as Best Fancy Rabbit while Hadley Freese won Best of Opposite Rabbit and Reserve Fancy Rabbit.

The Henry County Board of Supervisors held their regular board meeting on Thursday, July 18 at the Henry County Courthouse*. With ten agenda items and a full room of department heads and citizens, the meeting began at 9 A.M. and moved along quickly. Here are the highlights:

Henry County Engineer (Secondary Roads)

During the Henry County Road Department’s weekly update, the Supervisors approved the hiring of two individuals and signed fuel contracts with Cobb Oil. Makayla Kruse will begin a full-time position as Office Assistant on August 1, 2024, and Kyle Leichty will begin as a part-time Equipment Operator on July 29, 2024.

If you live in the northern part of Henry County, you might see the paint crews out painting lines on the roads this week. Also, drivers should remember that W55 between Salem and Mount Pleasant remains closed. And just like the rest of us, this last week has involved cleaning up storm damage and clearing debris and fallen trees throughout the county.

Henry County Public Health

The Henry County Public Health’s new director, Katie Rueter, was in attendance to introduce herself and give an update. Public Health as seen an uptick in immunizations this month as families register and get ready for the upcoming school year. Note they will be offering a Back-to-School Health Fair for families on Tuesday, August 13 from 4 to 7 pm at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Mount Pleasant. Tune into KILJ next Thursday morning for a breakfast club with Rueter and learn more about Henry County’s new Public Health Director.

Henry County Treasury

The Supervisors reviewed the Annual Treasurer Report and the wages paid to county employees for Fiscal Year 2023-2024. No action or discussion on these matters occurred. The Iowa code requires each county to publish the Annual Treasurer Report in the local newspaper. Citizens may also request a copy to review by contacting the Henry County Auditor’s Office.

Henry County Attorney

Steven Giebelhausen, Assistant County Attorney, discussed recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests**. He noted there have been several FOIA requests from news outlets and private individuals recently and explained while the FOIA allows each agency to manage their own FOIA requests, the county attorney’s office has, in the past, worked with agencies to ensure compliance. Giebelhausen wanted to make the supervisors aware the Henry County Sheriff’s Department is not working with his office currently on these requests, which could potentially open the county up to litigation if FOIA is not followed properly on these recent requests. He also stated the county attorney’s office would be glad to assist the Sheriff’s Department with FOIA requests in the future if they changed their minds. No action or discussion was held.

Public Comments

Following last week’s meeting discussion regarding public comments, remarks from individuals were taken at the end of the meeting as requested by meeting attendees.

One individual in attendance commented on a recent law allowing individuals to conceal carry weapons inside of public spaces with or without a permit. Public spaces like the county courthouse, for example. They went on to bring up a new law just enacted that allows county attorneys to conceal carry in courtrooms. The concerned individual wanted to know how the supervisors plan to keep the citizens and county employees safe under these new laws and what training county employees had to go through to conceal carry. The supervisors mentioned some ideas and consulted the Assistant County Attorney Giebelhausen on the legality of their suggestions or if they would be compliant with the new law. Giebelhausen was not 100% certain of the Iowa Code surrounding this discussion. He plans to research the topic and get back to the supervisors.

Steven Giebelhausen, Assistant County Attorney, reiterated the comments section is not a Q&A, discussion, or “back and forth between the supervisors and the spectators.”  He reminded everyone the Iowa Code did not require the county supervisors to hold public comments during their meetings at all but that the Supervisors and the attorney’s office both agreed they should and want to allow comments from the public. Please

Rachel Lindeen, Executive Vice President of the Mount Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance, updated the supervisors about Ragbrai coming to Mount Pleasant. She said, “We’re ready!” and thanked all the county departments who have been working hard and working together to make sure July 26^th goes smoothly. She mentioned there will be no street closures in town when Ragbrai comes through except around the downtown. Roads will remain open and parking around the square is permitted until 4 P.M. on Thursday, July 25^th. You may start to notice the set up for Ragbrai around town as early as Tuesday of next week.

Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee was the last to comment. He read a 3-page prepared statement explaining the ongoing disagreement between County Attorney Darin Stater and himself regarding a particular string of cases that took place in 2022 and early 2023 to explain why he no longer would be working with the county attorney’s office on FOIA requests.

No other public comments were made, and the county supervisors adjourned their meeting at 9:45 A.M. The public is invited to attend their next regular meeting which will be Thursday, July 25^th at 9 A.M. at the Henry County Courthouse.

*The Board of Supervisors meets regularly on Thursday mornings at 9 A.M. All meetings are open to the public unless, for purposes described in Code of Iowa Chapter 21, a closed meeting is necessary or advisable to protect the interests of individuals or the county. All persons are invited to take an active role in Henry County government. Agenda items need to be scheduled through Henry County Auditor’s Office. You may address the board without an appointment while they are in session during the Public Comment portion of the agenda.

**FOIA.gov explains the Freedom of Information Act as such: “Since 1967, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has provided the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government. Federal agencies are required to disclose any information requested under the FOIA unless it falls under one of nine exemptions which protect interests such as personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement.”