County conservation director Tanner Scheuermann and county engineer Wade Weiss discussed safety issues at the county parks during the county board of supervisors Aug. 26 meeting.
Scheuermann reported recently receiving an email from someone with safety concerns at Squirrel Hollow park. The particular concern was a pair of railings near the picnic shelter at the top of a steep cliff. “The railings have been there for years, since I was a kid…. They’re not going to hold you back if you trip or something,” Scheuermann said.
Scheuermann said the conservation board is working on a master facilities plan for Squirrel Hollow Park, particularly the area near the picnic shelter. Temporary barriers and signage will be put up for the short term. Scheuermann also plans to work toward educating park patrons about possible hazards.
He said that when he looks at the various conservation board facilities, including the bike trail and river accesses, “there are a thousand things somebody could hurt themselves on…. Not that we’ve neglected any of these areas. We’ve pretty well kept up on maintenance. I look at it, ‘where do you start? Where do you stop?’”
“It’s the nature of the outdoors,” supervisor Pete Bardole said.
Weiss said he and Scheuermann would work together on the particular issue at Squirrel Hollow.
Regarding secondary roads, Weiss reported that pilings will soon be driven for the Grimmell Rd bridge. Residents who live nearby can expect more noise. He also said projects on county roads E-18 and P-46 will be ready for bid letting in February if funding is in place. Those projects are both included in the urban renewal plans written when the tax increment financing (TIF) was put in place for the MidAmerica wind turbines.
County attorney Thomas Laehn reported that new computer technology has been installed in the magistrate courtroom, noting there is now state-of-the-art equipment in both the main courtroom and the smaller magistrate courtroom. He offered to show anyone, including the public, the new equipment. “We really have, now, two of the nicest courtrooms in the state,” he boasted.
The new technology will allow court officials to hold hearings remotely and talk with persons all over the state. The magistrate court room is repurposed from other third floor space, but woodwork was matched to the main courtroom, “so it looks authentic, appropriate to the building,” Laehn said.
He also shared a draft of a job posting for a new assistant attorney. He said the Iowa County Attorneys Association job posting board has more than 30 postings for assistant county attorneys.
Mike Holden of Scranton talked with the board, noting that two years ago and one year ago he asked the supervisors to look at developing a long term strategic plan. “I haven’t seen or heard anything on that, so I know where we’re at on that. I’d encourage you again, for the benefit of the taxpayers and the county and the departments, to look again, with Thomas’s help, to develop a long range strategic plan so when we have capital projects like Sheriff Williams’ jail we can plan for that and have it done before we have to start cutting things because of inflation,” he said.
