The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors met for their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning at the Mahaska County Courthouse.
The major discussion came from an item added by Supervisor Mike VanderMolen regarding uncontrolled intersections in Mahaska County. According to VanderMolen, there are over 500 uncontrolled intersections in Mahaska County, in comparison to less than 50 in Marion County. He believed there should be some sort of signage to avoid safety issues with traffic on the rural roads. Dave Shanahan of Mahaska County Secondary Roads said there’s limited enforcement of signage in rural areas, although there are several intersections that come to a T that likely should be addressed. Vice-Chair Willie VanWeelden believes there are less people and less traffic in those rural areas these days. VanderMolen stated that he felt as though the Board was pushing the issue under the rug, and exclaimed that it was necessary to start taking action to help protect people with proper signs. VanderMolen made a motion to control all cross intersections in Mahaska County, and Chair Mark Doland agreed, winning the vote, 2-0. VanWeelden did not vote.
In other action, the Board discussed their options regarding a hazardous materials site in Mahaska County. The county landfill isn’t quite sold on the idea of them housing it, and suggested the site be somewhere in the city of Oskaloosa. After further investigation, the Board agreed that wasn’t a wise idea, and will look to have a presentation from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources about the hazardous materials sites and plans to continue to pitch the idea to the landfill board.
Also in the meeting, Chair Mark Doland said that the Board expects a decision sometime this week regarding their appeal of the decision to disband the Mid-Iowa Behavioral Health Region and force Mahaska County to find a new mental health region.
In other news:
– The Board approved Steve Weller as the auctioneer for the Country Life Health Care auction
– The Board heard from Dave Sedivec, Director of Mahaska County Conservation, and he stated there was some land that was adjacent to the current land owned by the department that he would like to purchase to use for recreation. It will be discussed by both the Conservation Board and the Board of Supervisors before coming to a vote.
The next meeting of the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors is scheduled for Monday, September 21, at 9 AM at the Mahaska County Courthouse in Oskaloosa.
