Brown County commissioners approve Rainbow fiber permit, right-of-way for bridge and several road hires

Brown County commissioners on the dais approved a set of routine actions including a utility permit, a right-of-way purchase for a bridge project and several road and landfill hires.

Chair (speaker 1) introduced a Rainbow directional-boring permit and invited a brief presentation. Commissioners pressed for a formal follow-up step to protect county roads after directional boring. Commissioner (speaker 2) urged that Road & Bridge be notified when work is complete so staff can inspect restoration and require cleanup if necessary; Agency official (speaker 4) confirmed Road & Bridge would check completed work. The chair then moved to approve "permit 2601 with Rainbow"; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. "I would make a motion, and we approve this permit, 2601, with Rainbow barrier, the fiber optic cable," the Chair said. Commissioners agreed to add a condition requiring notification to Road & Bridge on completion.

The commission also approved a right-of-way purchase tied to a planned bridge project. The Chair presented a "right of way agreement for FAS 51" to buy acreage from the Stephanie Family Invocable Trust for $3,500 and moved to accept and sign the contract. The motion was seconded and passed by voice vote. The Chair said the action will allow the bridge project to move forward and staff said they would distribute and complete signature pages by email.

In personnel business, the board created a Road & Bridge superintendent position and offered it to Jerry Heisel at a wage of $30 per hour, effective April 27. The chair made the motion and the board approved it by voice vote. The commission also approved two additional hires on the same agenda: James Lance will start in Road & Bridge at $20.50 an hour with an increase to $22 when he obtains a commercial driver's license, and Joshua Herman was hired as a landfill assistant at $22.50 an hour. "I would make a motion to hire James Lance... starting wage of $20.50 with an increase to $22 upon completion of the CDL," the Chair said; both hire motions were seconded and carried.

The meeting record shows these were voice-vote approvals; individual roll-call votes were not recorded in the transcript. No further formal actions were recorded on these items.

The commission also discussed related administrative items: staff will check whether notices to owners of impounded vehicles were sent (a statutory requirement) before scheduling an auction; staff reported roughly 17 vehicles are on the list and said an auction could be held if notices were already mailed. Commissioners set a tentative schedule to receive an alternative-bridge-technology presentation from a Netherlands vendor at an upcoming meeting.

The meeting adjourned after routine closing motions.