The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors met for their regularly scheduled meeting Monday morning at the Mahaska County Courthouse in Oskaloosa. In a quick meeting, the major point of discussion became the possible position of County Administrator.

Supervisor Mike VanderMolen stated he believed that the role of county supervisor cannot be held by average people, because their schedules do not allow it.

VanderMolen said if there was a role created called a County Administrator to handle the day-to-day business from the county, it would pull back some of the responsibilities and the time needed to be a county supervisor and allow more people to seek the position.

Chair Mark Doland stated that he felt the position diluted the relationship between the county supervisors and the voters, as the supervisors would only likely be briefed on certain county happenings as they go through the county administrator first. Doland said the system has worked for many years and hasn’t needed adjustment.

VanderMolen countered that by saying that even though it has worked in the past, it may not be the way it needs to be done in the future. He also mentioned that he believes that the Board of Supervisors in Mahaska County could see a growth to a five member board over the current three member format.

Vice-Chair Willie VanWeelden said he would need to look into the idea more, and they will continue to discuss it at a later time.

In other business, bookkeeping was the theme of the meeting.

The Board of Supervisors appointed Maquetta Huffman the Mahaska County Mental Health Advocate. Huffman already works in ten counties in this position.

The Board also authorized a contract for a project on the Cordova Avenue Bridge. They also fixed the date of September 8, 2015, for the public hearing on the proposal to enter into a Development Agreement with The Welders Shield LLC and Co-Line Welding, Inc.

The Board also reported that nothing new has come up in the case for the Mid-Iowa Mental Health Region, and said that the appeal is scheduled to be heard on Friday, August 21st.

Doland mentioned in the committee reports that he spoke with the Mahaska County Landfill south of Oskaloosa about housing a site for people to drop off their hazardous waste materials, but they didn’t seem interested in their site being the place because they believe they are too far away from most of the county for people to bring their materials. The Board agreed that they should continue discussions, as the landfill seems like the best place for these collections to take place.

The next scheduled meeting of the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors is scheduled for Monday, September 7th, at 9 AM at the Mahaska County Courthouse in Oskaloosa.