Supervisors approve both the RAGBRAI® Ordinance and updated ATV Ordinance on split votes; Public hearing on ATV Ordinance scheduled for June 5

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, May 22 to address a full agenda of items, including a Public Hearing for the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI®) Ordinance, consideration of bids for paving a portion of Breezy Corners Road and the consideration of language for the updated ATV ordinance. Chairperson Larry Schellhammer called the meeting to order with the current agenda and the meeting minutes of May 15 being approved.

During Public Comments, Executive Director Val Reinke with Allamakee County Economic Development advised that CBS 2/Fox 48 will be doing a "Road Trippin'" television segment on Allamakee County that will include Yellow River Forest, Effigy Mounds, Lansing, WW Homestead Dairy and other locations.

The Public Hearing for the RAGBRAI Ordinance LVI was opened without any verbal or written comments from the public. The hearing was closed and the first reading of the ordinance was approved by split vote with Supervisor Dan Byrnes voting against. Byrnes shared that he still believes that alcohol sales during the RAGBRAI ride should not be allowed outside of city limits, but the split vote approved the ordinance allowing such sales to move forward. Supervisor Dennis Koenig motioned to allow the second and third readings to be waived due to the lack of comment on the matter, either positive or negative. That motion was also approved, with the Tuesday, May 30 meeting set for approval of the ordinance.

Reinke discussed that the ordinance will be posted on the Allamakee County Economic Development website and that she will be following up with any vendor questions regarding the matter. Jake Simmons with Backpocket Brewing Company briefly questioned the board about the ordinance and whether there were any changes since the May 8 meeting he attended, which the Supervisors indicated it has remained unchanged. Coordinator Ardie Kuhse with Waukon Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) thanked the Board of Supervisors for its work on the ordinance.

The Supervisors moved into discussion and consideration of the language for the updated ATV Ordinance. Allamakee County ATV/UTV Club President Chip Lamb discussed his interpretation of the ordinance and updates. Lamb advised that he has been working with communities to establish the best route in and out of towns for ATV use and that several communities are working on maps to display the route within town to include entrance and exit. The Supervisors approved the updated language for the ATV Ordinance by split vote allowing the use of County pavements to access the nearest secondary road.

Byrnes explained his voting against the measure, indicating his concerns with ATV usage on gravel and paved roads. The Public Hearing date on the ordinance was set for June 5 at 9:40 p.m., which has been scheduled for the meeting to be held at the New Albin Public Library.

Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour discussed the paving of 850 feet of Breezy Corners Road south of Waukon and that a letting date set late last fall resulted in bids that were too high. Ridenour advised that there are a few minor changes that have been made but essentially this is the same project. Byrnes read aloud bids received from Tschiggfrie Construction of Dubuque, Croell and Subsidiary of New Hampton and Wicks Construction of Decorah. Ridenour will be reviewing the bids and providing a recommendation at the next meeting. He commented that these bids look good and are significantly lower than the bids received last fall.

Ridenour also discussed the next agenda item involving the consideration of bids for box culvert projects at Four Mile Drive and Farm Drive. Bids had been received from Tschiggfrie Excavating of Dubuque, Skyline Construction of Decorah, Reilly Construction of Ossian, Brennan Construction of Lansing and Riehm Construction of Waukon and had been read aloud at the May 15 Supervisors meeting. Ridenour provided his recommendation of Skyline Construction's low bid at $223,224.32 for the two connected projects, which the Supervisors approved.

Ridenour also discussed a recommendation for the hiring of a temporary part-time employee for the Secondary Roads Department. Ridenour indicated that Trey Mueller is his recommendation for the position as a temporary part-time scale person for the summer at $10.75 per hour to start May 23, which the Supervisors approved.

Ridenour went on to discuss the next agenda item involving the setting of a letting date for concrete pavement full-depth patching which involves 540 square yards of pavement throughout the County. Ridenour recommended 9 a.m. June 5 as the letting date, which the Supervisors approved.

The employment agreement for the County Engineer was discussed by the Supervisors and Ridenour with the five-month written notice requirement for termination being changed to a 30-day written notice for either party and the unanimous vote requirement for termination being changed to a majority vote as discussed at the May 15 Supervisors meeting. Ridenour provided a signed copy of the agreement and advised that Attorney Richard Zahasky of Anderson, Wilmarth, Van Der Maaten, Belay, Fretheim, Gipp & Zahasky Law Office has reviewed the document. The updated employment agreement was approved.

The notification of name change on the Klotzbach plat approved at the May 15 meeting was discussed by Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake, who advised that due to the spouse being deceased, this has been changed to a survivor's trust rather than a revocable trust.  Blake moved on to the next agenda item involving a plat approval for Michael F., Gary R., Scott F., Stanley P. and David S. Hemesath and Anne K. Meyer. Blake described this matter as the severing of a residential area from the rest of the property, which the Supervisors approved. Blake then discussed the Barton D. and Marilyn J. Hamm plat approval which involves the sale of a nine- to 10-acre parcel, which the Supervisors approved. The Ronald L. Marovets plat approval and the Reginald Freilinger plat approval were both individually reviewed and approved by the Supervisors.

Allamakee County Auditor Denise Beyer discussed sexual harassment training options for external boards and part-time employees. Beyer advised that the process is ongoing to get participants set up online with passwords through EMC Insurance for this training. The Supervisors approved requesting all external boards and part-time employees participate in sexual harassment training by video.

Under Depart Head Updates, Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker advised that he will be moved into his new office location in the Allamakee County Public Safety Center Thursday of this week. Snitker discussed working with RAGBRAI on shelter areas in case of inclement weather during the late July event and discussed recent storm damage within Allamakee and the surrounding counties.

Engineer Ridenour discussed that the Six-County meeting is scheduled for Thursday. He also advised that John Deere has been in contact and has tentatively scheduled a facility tour for July 11, which the Supervisors agreed would need to be rescheduled for the second week of August. Ridenour further advised that he has submitted a traffic study request for the Volney Hill area. This was a matter discussed at the May 15 meeting regarding the May 8 Innovative Ag Services (IAS) fertilizer truck accident near the intersection of Highway X26 and Bigfoot Road.

Auditor Beyer discussed that a new payroll process is about to be implemented regarding deductions for insurance and that she will be attending training in Ames involving real estate.