(Spirit Lake)– The man that’s been overseeing construction of Dickinson county’s new courthouse on behalf of the county is stepping down. Bob Schlager announced at Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting he’s submitted his resignation, to be effective in 30 days. Schlager sited personal reasons, saying he’s been guaranteed a job until he’s 70…when he plans to retire. His job with the county was strictly temporary…until the courthouse project is complete. Schlager added he’s willing to help train a successor. Schlager was hired as the county’s Owner/Representative on the courthouse project about a year ago.
In other business, supervisors held a public hearing on a manure management plan for Duane Drost in Westport Township. Iowa law doesn’t require counties to hold hearing on management plans, but the supervisors have taken it upon themselves to do that in an effort to let the public know what’s going on. Tuesday’s hearing was attended by some concerned neighbors, including one who said manure would be applied to land less than a mile from his home. After listening to the concerns, county officials said there’s little they can do, since the power to approve or deny such permits lies with the Department of Natural Resources. The only thing the county can do is write a letter to the DNR relaying any concerns, which they agreed to do in this matter.
The issue of whether to increase membership on the Planning and Zoning Commission to nine members came up again, but there was no action. It did serve as a sounding board for some concerned over a perception the commission is pro-development; and that some in the general public are perceiving there’s a conflict of interest with atleast one current P & Z member…something county officials deny.
The supervisors also set August 16th at 7:00 p.m. as the date and time to act on the Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation to rezone land near Sandbar Beach. The meeting will be held at the Dickinson County Community Building.
They approved a recycling contract on a month-by-month basis with H & H Recycling of Spirit Lake for 3,800-dollars a month; awarded a bid for a telephone system for the new courthouse for nearly 138-thousand dollars from United Technology of Sioux Falls; and heard a request for a Tax Increment Finance District in West Sioux Estates west of Milford. Under the proposal, what’s currently a private road in that area would be upgraded to meet county specifications and dedicated to the county. The supervisors deferred any action on that to their next meeting.
