The Warren County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on a slate of routine and administrative measures at its Jan. 7 meeting, including personnel changes, claims payment and a $3,000 contract for underground fuel-tank inspections, and heard public comments urging cemetery funding changes and tighter building permit enforcement.

The votes closed a fairly short meeting in which the board also received a presentation on the county’s Certified Local Government annual report and set its next meeting for Jan. 21.

Key approvals included the consent agenda — which bundled multiple payroll additions, removals, step increases and alcohol licenses — and a claims packet totaling $238,334.98. The board also authorized the county to sign the 2024 Certified Local Government (CLG) annual report prepared by the Warren County Historic Commission and approved a personnel change moving the general assistance coordinator position into a new Public Health Navigator role funded through opioid resettlement dollars; the board approved the candidate selected for that post.

During a presentation, Skip Phillips, president of the Warren County Historic Commission, briefed the board on the commission’s 2024 activities and outreach plans for 2025, including a building photo contest for the county fair, collaboration with local townships on preservation and work on historical features such as cemetery fence repair and a log cabin at the fairgrounds. “We’ve been working with several other townships,” Phillips said, describing plans to offer advice and help with funding for repairing historic buildings.

On emergency planning, the board passed a resolution joining a multi-county Local Emergency Planning Committee; the resolution identifies the body as the Southern Iowa Regional Emergency Planning District and will make Warren County the 10th county in the regional group.

County staff described and the board approved a one-year agreement with Unified Contracting Services Inc. to perform required inspections of the county’s underground fuel tanks and to handle related reporting. Staff characterized the $3,000 contract as the county’s annual inspection arrangement; staff added the county expects to move to above-ground tanks over time and said above-ground equipment requires different, typically less intensive, inspection procedures.

During public input, three speakers addressed separate community concerns. Marilyn Alderman, a resident, urged the board to reconsider moving cemetery funding to a grant model and argued veterans’ graves should continue to receive consistent per-grave funding rather than limiting support. “This is not fair, it is not right to only acknowledge certain veterans,” Alderman said, citing rising maintenance costs and limited local grant-writing capacity among smaller cemetery associations.

Alfonso Lanceola Gumusio, a local realtor, described discovering buildings constructed without permits on a property that later returned to the market and recommended the county consider hiring additional inspection staff funded by permit fees; he also raised concerns about a contracted assessor representative entering private property without clear identification. “The buildings were actually done without any type of permits,” he said.

Amy Duncan, publisher of The Record Herald and the Indianola Tribune, thanked the board for designating county newspapers for public notices and urged the board to have made the recent swearing-in of the board a public celebration rather than a private ceremony. “We had a missed opportunity,” Duncan said, saying a public ceremony would have highlighted the county’s growth and the recent governance change.

Votes at a glance

- Consent agenda (personnel changes, licenses, payroll adjustments, and related items): approved (unanimous). The consent agenda included payroll removals (Darren Heater, Mark Snow), payroll additions (Brian Arnold, Aaron DeCook, Travis DeWitt, Stephanie Erickson), step increases and hires; it also approved liquor licenses for Somerset Winery and The Hive at Busy Bee Inc. and set a Jan. 21 public hearing for a rezoning request (Steven Jorgensen, A1 to M1). Vote: aye by Supervisors Erickson, DeWitt, Arnold, McIntyre and DeCook.

- Claims packet ($238,334.98): approved (unanimous). Vote: aye by Erickson, DeWitt, Arnold, McIntyre and DeCook.

- Authorization to sign the 2024 Certified Local Government annual report (CLG): approved (unanimous). The report was presented by Skip Phillips, president of the Warren County Historic Commission. Vote: aye by Erickson, DeWitt, Arnold, McIntyre and DeCook.

- Personnel change: convert general assistance coordinator to Public Health Navigator and approve appointment of Sarah Donard (selected from multiple applicants) to the Public Health Navigator position: approved (unanimous). Vote: aye by Erickson, DeWitt, Arnold, McIntyre and DeCook.

- Resolution of support to join the regional Local Emergency Planning Committee (Southern Iowa Regional Emergency Planning District): approved (unanimous). The county will be the 10th member. Vote: aye by Erickson, DeWitt, Arnold, McIntyre and DeCook.

- Agreement with Unified Contracting Services Inc. for underground fuel-tank inspections, Jan. 25 to Dec. 25, $3,000: approved (unanimous). Staff explained the vendor will perform monthly inspections and required reporting. Vote: aye by Erickson, DeWitt, Arnold, McIntyre and DeCook.

- Receive and file reports from the Recorder, Sheriff’s Office (quarterly) and Veterans Affairs: approved (unanimous).

What happened next

Supervisors noted the budget cycle is starting soon and encouraged public input during workshop meetings, which staff said will be published and will include opportunities for comment. One supervisor also reported meetings with Norwalk city officials about large proposed annexation plans, describing the annexation as several thousand acres.

The board set its next meeting for Jan. 21, 2025, at 6 p.m. and adjourned.

(Report prepared from the Jan. 7 meeting transcript of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.)