Dickinson Co. Supervisors Looking At Establishing Committee To Establish IRVM Guidelines

(Spirit Lake)– The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors are considering a request from the county’s Conservation Board to establish a committee to oversee the county’s roadside vegetation management program. The committee would act in support of the program’s coordinator. Supervisor Steve Clark represents the supervisors on the Conservation Board. He says action taken last year to remove a stretch of 252^nd Avenue from the program after some nearby property owners complained may affect the program’s future…Supervisors 031601 

“That’s kind of set a precedent. Anybody that complains now is going to want to say well, look back at what you did for those people up there. We’ve already had some calls on the proposed A-34. From Milford west they sprayed it and burned it last fall and they’re going to do IRVM seeding in the ditches and they’re getting complaints about it. So they would like the county, you know, a couple of board members from the county, a couple from the Conservation Commission and probably Lonnie to set up a county right-of-way policy that includes IRVM. We might have to have the engineer in on it, too.”

The supervisors also today (Tues.) discussed an employee request to revise COVID restrictions in the courthouse break room, reducing social distancing requirements from six feet to three feet. Supervisor Jeff Thee said he feels county’s current policy has been working well and wants to stick with that…Supervisors 031602 

“I don’t know, I just think it’s smarter to keep the ship on a straight course right now rather than letting up on that and potentially having, you know, more infections and having to go back on it. So for the time being keep it steady, keep it what we’ve been doing, going with CDC, and ride the thing out.”

Supervisor Steve Clark said he would like to see the policy relaxed…Supervisors 031603 

“People go home and if the three gals that want to take a lunch break decide to go out for a Saturday afternoon luncheon together they probably go somewhere and don’t wear masks, you know. I lean a little bit toward personal freedom. If that’s what they want to do, I see nothing wrong with it.”

A motion by Clark to relax the policy failed for lack of a second.

The supervisors also today (Tues.) talked about plans for the upcoming Memorial Day program, which was scrapped last year due to COVID concerns. Organizers of the event requested some guidance from the supervisors for this year’s event. Supervisor Tim Fairchild had this recommendation…Supervisors 031604 

“The flags go up regardless. The only thing would be whether we ask them to take more strict guidelines that they would follow for their program outside.”

It was the consensus of the board to make that recommendation to the program organizers, which would be subject to change in the event there’s a surge in covid numbers once Memorial Day approaches.