Mount Pleasant, IA- The Henry County Supervisors held their weekly board meeting at the Emergency Management Building in Mt. Pleasant last night with all three supervisors—Chad White the Chairman, Steven Dietrick the Vice-Chair, and Member Marc Lindeen—in attendance, as County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss gave his weekly update and County Attorney Becky Wilson provided Budget Amendments for the 2027 Fiscal Year.
Approval of Consent Agenda
The meeting started with an adjustment to August 6th’s Board Minutes. Last meeting’s minutes reflected that County Assessor Nathan Milks would split the cost of the county’s GIS Services, when Milks said that his department budget can absorb all of the cost.
With that change, the board meetings were approved along with the financial claims for payment.
New Business
This section of the meeting started with County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss’s weekly update. Hotchkiss started with the maintenance update, as the department completed rough dirt work on Rose Avenue along the Culvert Replacement.
Additionally, Preston Ready Mix continues their crushing operation at the country quarry and currently sit at 87,000 tons crushed to date. By the lease’s end, the quarry should have 110,000 tons crushed, although the recent rainfall has slowed down the process.
The 235th Street Bridge replacement is moving in the right direction, as the Contractor poured section of open rail on Monday of this week and is currently working on the next section. Hotchkiss expressed confidence that the project will be done on time in November.
The department will also be posting for a full-time equipment operator (motor grader positions) at two locations: the Mt. Pleasant shop and the Trenton Territory.
In conjunction with Emergency Management Coordinator Walt Jackson, Hotchkiss mentioned that he sent some members of his crew to help with the storm cleanup in New London both Wednesday, Thursday, and will be sending more for Friday.
Overall, Jackson stated that the storm that affected New London was officially called a “downburst.” Approximately, 90 mile per hour winds rushed straight down from the sky, resulting in the upper part of trees being damaged and for pieces being pushed underneath structures.
Jackson applauded the community’s response, as all roads are open and that the emergency side is over. More cleanup will be done on Friday with an expected 75% of the damage to be picked up by the end of the day. The supervisors adopted the proclamation to declare it a local emergency, allowing for the county to apply for state aid if funds reach $100,000—they are working on collecting data now.
On the second piece of business, the supervisors adopted Resolution #28-2026 to reallocate unused ARPA funds for Henry County Secondary Road Funds. The money equates to approximately $3,500 and would otherwise be absorbed by the Federal Government if unused.
After discussing the approval of agreement designating RUSS (Regional Utility Service Systems) to provide planning and zoning serviced to Henry County, Lindeen’s questioning of Request for Proposal had the supervisors agree to double check that everything had been done in proper order. The topic will be a part of next meeting’s agenda.
Lastly, Henry County Attorney Becky Wilson submitted Budget Amendments to the 2027 Fiscal Calendar. The budget, which was approved before the special election, allocated $122,692 less dollars than 2026’s budget. There were three main groups that Wilson presented that she was looking to amend.
Salaries (County Attorney, Deputy, Part-Time, and Assistants), general (stationary general office supplies, mileage, meals, and lodging, software service, and support, education and training services, legal and court related service, office equipment and furniture, and cleaning), and benefits (FICA and IPERS) originally equated to $467,937; the amended numbers totaled to $231,579 for a grand total of $699,516, which did not include an estimate for cleaning or non-amended accounts.
Deputy Carlos Lopez’s reimbursement will be coming out of the legal and court related service section, resulting in a $30,540 amendment.
The supervisors asked for Wilson and her office to get the final numbers and to make it official but wished they could move ahead with the changes now versus at the next meeting.
Unfinished Business
The supervisors discussed Resolution #24-2026, which delved into Precinct Election Official Compensation. The resolution will be voted upon at the board’s next meeting after wording was clarified and one figure was changed.
Precinct officials will be compensated $270 for the day of work with everyone participating in the training receiving $30. Partial day workers will earn $18 per hour, absentee and post-election audit team will make $21.43 per hour, reserve deputies will receive a $200 donation to their organization, and mileage reimbursement will be 50 cents per mile.
Vice-Chair Detrick added that he would like to see the ARPA Fund Balances.
Other Business
This section was headlined by the supervisors announcing that there will be no board meeting on August 20th, 2026, as the trio will be heading to Des Moines for the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) conference where only Chairman White will be taking a county car.
Additionally, the county supervisors were asking for visibility and specification on where the $12,000 to pay for annuities for the Henry County Sheriff’s Office originated. They did not disagree that the Sheriff’s Office did not deserve the money, but wanted more information, such as what part of the budget does the payment come from. Sheriff Rich McNamee stated that it was taken out of Payroll, which the supervisors were surprised about. Heidi Shilling said her and Henry County Auditor Robin Detrick will look further into it.
In a final notice of business, Vice Chair Detrick expressed a more detailed breakdown of the budget approved versus the new amendments to the budget to ensure the county is fiscally responsible.
Public Comments
Sheriff McNamee was granted permission to write a note of recognition to Doctor Richard Howie’s family for his 40-plus years of service as the Commissioner of the Civil Service Commission. He also mentioned that Deputy Lopez had receiving his reimbursement check.