Board approves claims, contracts, township loan and zoning ordinances; schedules budget hearings

Black Hawk County's Board of Supervisors on March 11 approved a bundle of routine and substantive items including claims and payments, a county contract to digitize historic minutes, a township loan, reductions to a substance-abuse contract, and two rezoning ordinances. The board also set public hearings on the county property tax levy and multiple proposed capital loan notes.

The board unanimously approved a claims-and-payments resolution authorizing bills for March with a total presented in the meeting of $361,417.07; the payment list noted vehicle purchases for public health (three Trail Blazers) and a hydroseeder for road work. The motion was adopted by roll call.

The board approved a contract with ArcaSearch to digitize minutes books and host them online; meeting discussion referenced a one-time scanning/indexing charge and an annual hosting fee that “runs with the contract.” The board also authorized acceptance of the vendor-hosted copy of scanned records, and staff said the county will retain its own copy for transfer if it later moves hosting providers.

Supervisors approved reductions related to county substance-abuse programming and contractor amounts. The board accepted an amendment to the county substance-abuse program reducing the county match (amount given in the meeting as 19,344) and then approved a related amendment to a contract with Pathways Behavioral Services Inc., lowering that contract from $39,412 to $25,204; the Pathways contract was identified as being funded with opioid settlement funds. Meeting remarks said the program runs through June 30 and that late startup meant the full award could not be spent before the grant end date.

The board approved a loan of $94,800 to Fox Township to cover that township’s share of a jointly owned fire truck. The county will disburse funds shortly so Fox Township can meet a vendor payment deadline; the loan carries the same 3.5% interest and up-to-nine-year term structure previously agreed with another participating township, and first payments were scheduled for May 2026.

Administering board business on civil-rights and accessibility, supervisors approved adding nondiscrimination language to the Board agenda referencing compliance with Title VI review recommendations from the Iowa Department of Transportation; during discussion a supervisor moved and the board accepted an amendment adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the listed protected classifications. The amended language was adopted by roll call.

The board set a public hearing on the proposed Black Hawk County property tax levy for April 1, 2025, at 9 a.m. in Boardroom 201 and approved related advertising and notice steps. It also set numerous public hearings to consider authorization of loan agreements and issuance of general obligation capital loan notes for multiple projects (dates set as April 1, 2025) — notices will be published as required by the Code of Iowa. Specific project descriptions were included in the published notice packet; amounts and project details were discussed in the work session portion of the board meeting.

On land-use matters, the board unanimously adopted two rezoning ordinances. Ordinance 77-291 amended the county Agricultural Preservation Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance 36 as amended, adopted Feb. 2, 1999) to rezone 0.75 acres for Health Properties LLC; county staff described the request as cleanup of surplus land from an IDOT acquisition and said no project is imminent. Ordinance 77-292 rezoned 2 acres for Philip Toma from agricultural to agricultural-residential to allow construction of a single-family home; the planning and zoning commission had recommended denial (5–1), but the board approved the rezoning after public testimony emphasized family-farm succession and the applicant’s active farming involvement.

Other approved items included: advertising for public bid opening for veterans affairs furniture on April 8; authorization of travel for a county employee to the ISAC Spring Conference; approval of personnel requisitions for maintenance and property-maintenance assistant positions; and approval of multiple capital and vehicle-equipment plans discussed in the work session (maintenance capital plan, engineering, conservation and vehicle/equipment replacement lists). Where grants or other funding sources were mentioned (for example, opioid settlement funds for Pathways, commissary funds for sheriff purchases), the board recorded funding sources during the motions.

Votes were recorded by roll call for the formal resolutions and ordinances; where the planning and zoning commission had recommended denial, the county attorney and staff explained that a minimum of four supervisor votes was required to allow the change, and the board's votes met that threshold. No litigation, contract novation, or final project financing beyond the public-hearing notices was approved at the meeting; many capital projects were discussed further in the board work session and may return for separate procurement or bonding actions.

Votes at a glance (items approved, outcome: approved unless otherwise noted): - Claims and payments resolution (total presented $361,417.07) — approved (roll call). - Contract with ArcaSearch for digitization and hosting of minutes books (one-time scanning/indexing charge; annual hosting fee) — approved (roll call). - Amendment to county substance-abuse program reducing county match — approved (roll call). - Amended contract with Pathways Behavioral Services Inc.: amount reduced from $39,412 to $25,204; funding: opioid settlement funds — approved (roll call). - Loan to Fox Township, $94,800, to purchase township share of a fire truck; first payment scheduled May 2026; interest noted at 3.5%, up to nine-year term — approved (roll call). - Addition of nondiscrimination Title VI/ADA language to Board agenda with amendment adding sexual orientation and gender identity — approved (roll call). - Motion to advertise public hearing on proposed county property tax levy, April 1, 2025 at 9 a.m. — approved. - Multiple resolutions fixing April 1, 2025 as the public hearing date for authorization and issuance of various general obligation capital loan notes (publication directed) — approved (roll calls). - Adoption of Ordinance 77-291 (rezoning request for Health Properties LLC) — adopted (roll call). - Adoption of Ordinance 77-292 (rezoning request for Philip Toma) — adopted (roll call). - Authorization to advertise bid opening for Veterans Affairs furniture (Pinecrest campus) — approved. - Travel authorization for Justin Branch to attend ISAC Spring Conference — approved. - Approval to conduct and distribute website user surveys (internal and public) — approved. - Personnel requisitions and routine department capital/vehicle plans reviewed and approved during the work session (maintenance, engineering, conservation, sheriff vehicle and equipment lists, etc.) — approved.

Notes: All vote outcomes reported in this article reflect the roll-call results or unanimous voice votes recorded in the meeting transcript. Where a numeric dollar figure or a contract line in the transcript was unclear, the article reports amounts only where the meeting transcript explicitly provided them. The board’s work session reviewed capital-improvement priorities and debt-service planning in preparation for the April public hearings on loan authorizations and the FY 2026 budget; those items will return for further action or procurement as required by law.