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Black Hawk County supervisors approve expenditures, extend cybersecurity services and accept Pinecrest renovation closeout
Summary
The Board of Supervisors approved routine county expenditures and transfers, extended a no‑cost CrowdStrike EDR/SOC MOU for one year, accepted Phase A closeout for the Pinecrest Veterans Affairs renovation with release of $116,861.11 in retainage, and approved dates for a county mobile clinic.
Chair Linda Laylin and three fellow supervisors met in person and via Microsoft Teams on July 14, 2026, and approved a series of routine and project-specific actions affecting county operations and public services.
The Board voted to approve expenditures across multiple county funds, authorizing the County Auditor to issue payments to a long list of vendors and payroll-related disbursements. The resolution was adopted with AYES: Tavis Hall, Ritch Kurtenbach, Chris Schwartz and Linda Laylin; Justin Brandt was absent.
County Engineer Catherine Nicholas reported that county roads are open and showed photos of recently completed bridge projects. Human Resources Director Amanda Fesenmeyer updated the Board on the county’s strategic plan and said the Culture Team plans to present at next week’s meeting.
In separate actions, the Board approved several consent items. It authorized intergovernmental journal transfers totaling $295,752.22, including $281,730.00 moved from RURAL BASIC‑SHERIFF to CONSOLIDATED COMMUNICATIONS CENTER and $14,022.22 from RURAL BASIC‑BOARD AGENCIES to EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY. The Board also approved a new Class “C” 5‑day alcohol license application for Wine on Wheels Iowa LLC and directed the Chair to sign.
On cybersecurity, the Board approved a one‑year extension of a memorandum of understanding with the Iowa Department of Management to provide CrowdStrike endpoint detection and response (EDR) software and 24/7 Security Operations Center services to the County at no cost, following a recommendation from IT Director Al Yu.
The Board accepted the Certificate of Substantial Completion and project closeout documents for Phase A – Veterans Affairs of the Black Hawk County Pinecrest Building renovation, completed by Peters Construction Corporation, with a final contract amount of $2,337,222.87. Final retainage of $116,861.11 was released and the Chair was authorized to sign closeout documents on the facilities director’s recommendation.
Supervisors also approved use of county grounds for the Black Hawk County Mobile Clinic on July 30 (5–8 p.m.), Aug. 16 (7–11 a.m.) and Sept. 30 (5–8 p.m.), and approved travel for Supervisor Ritch Kurtenbach to attend the ISAC Annual Conference in Des Moines, Aug. 18–21, 2026, at an estimated cost of $1,195.
During public comment, Stacey Roberts of Waterloo asked elected officials and department heads, including the sheriff and county attorney, to take action regarding an alleged sexual assault of his daughter; no board action on that request is recorded in the minutes. Later, Supervisor Kurtenbach raised a constituent inquiry about blacktopping roads in the Washburn area; County Engineer Catherine Nicholas said seal‑coating schedules and design work are required and will follow up with the resident.
Votes at a glance: - Resolution to approve expenditures and authorize payments: Adopted; AYES — Hall, Kurtenbach, Schwartz, Laylin; Absent — Brandt. - Intergovernmental transfers (total $295,752.22): Adopted; AYES — Hall, Kurtenbach, Schwartz, Laylin. - Class “C” 5‑day alcohol license for Wine on Wheels Iowa LLC: Approved; AYES — Hall, Kurtenbach, Schwartz, Laylin. - MOU extension for CrowdStrike EDR/SOC services (one year, no cost): Approved; mover Tavis Hall, seconder Ritch Kurtenbach; AYES — Hall, Kurtenbach, Schwartz, Laylin. - Certificate of Substantial Completion, Pinecrest Phase A (final contract $2,337,222.87; retainage $116,861.11 released): Approved; mover Ritch Kurtenbach, seconder Tavis Hall. - Black Hawk County Mobile Clinic use of county grounds (three dates): Approved; mover Chris Schwartz, seconder Tavis Hall. - Travel request for Supervisor Ritch Kurtenbach to ISAC: Approved; mover Chris Schwartz, seconder Tavis Hall.
The meeting minutes show routine unanimous approval of the listed items by the four supervisors present. The Board did not record any formal action in response to the public comment about an alleged sexual assault; the minutes note the request and do not document follow-up steps.
