Supervisors consider storm damage, also courthouse parking

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County supervisors discussed weekend storm damage at a planning session Monday morning and are scheduled to approve a disaster proclamation for the county at a regular meeting today (Tuesday).

The board discussed an email from County Conservation Director Adam Sears regarding  the Fossil and Prairie Park near Rockford, describing “significant damage to the roofs and siding.”

Sears said there were a few wet areas in the center, but the roof and top quarter of the walls of the old log cabin were torn completely off and the enclosed shelter had window damage and a skylight was blown off.

“The new shop (built in 2014) had its roof peeled back like a smoked oyster can,” Sears wrote. There was also extensive damage to trees. (See related story on this page.)

Lezlie Weber, Floyd County emergency management director, said the latest damage estimate from Rockford, which was hit by heavy wind Saturday night, is that there are 300 to 350 trees down.

Electricity was out to the entire community after the storm passed through, but was restored to the east side of town by Saturday night and to most of the rest of the town Sunday.

Weber said there were still about 50 homes that were without power Sunday evening, but all those were expected to be restored on Monday.

Most of the downed trees had been moved off city infrastructure by Sunday, she said, but there was still a lot of private cleanup to do.

“Best estimate guess of total damage to the city was $65,000 to $70,000,” she said.

Weber said the Cedar River level will be rising and falling all week as water flows in from the watershed, but it isn’t predicted to rise much above minor flood stage, which is 12 feet.

“It will fall and rise between near flood and minor flood stage,” Weber said.

Supervisor Mark Kuhn, who farms south of Charles City, said damage in rural areas is extensive.

“People really need to be careful,” he said.

The disaster proclamation which the supervisors are expected to approve Tuesday morning states that “Floyd County has suffered from tremendous damage due to high winds, heavy rains and flash flooding.”

It says the county suffered “severe damage to public and private property, disruption of utility services, and endangerment of health and safety of the citizens of Floyd County within the disaster area.”

“Therefore, … the Floyd County Board of Supervisors has declared a state of emergency, finding it necessary to seek funding resources and services from outside its jurisdiction, including but not limited to state, federal and other mutual aid, to remedy damages to public and private sectors.”

Also at the planning session Monday, the supervisors got into a discussion on courthouse parking after an agenda item on county employee parking was brought up.

Supervisor Kuhn said he was disappointed that the proposal did not address public parking, but Supervisor Tjaden, who had worked on the policy with County Auditor Gloria Carr and others, said the issue of public parking had not come up in previous talks about where county employees should park.

Carr said the parking issue was raised by employees who wanted some changes, and Tjaden said she hadn’t heard from members of the public about parking concerns.

“The public doesn’t know where to park,” Kuhn said. “They see all the empty spots out here and they say ‘what’s wrong with any of these’ because they’re not used, ever, and they don’t really understand where the public parking spots are.”

Carr said one issue with letting the public park in an upper lot on the west side was that the west door is accessible only by employees. She said it would be a safety issue for people to be expected to walk down a grassy hill to the north door which is the public entrance.

Kuhn suggested a sidewalk could be put in, but Tjaden said that entire side of the courthouse will be changed next year when construction begins on the new law enforcement center, and she didn’t want to spend money on a sidewalk that would be used less than a year.

Supervisor Doug Kamm said one solution would be to make all parking public except for a row of stalls for the Sheriff’s Office vehicles.

“Make it first-come, first-served,” he said, but added that that would probably mean courthouse employees would grab the best spots since they are the first to arrive each day.

Supervisors don’t take any official action during a planning session, but the employee parking policy is listed as a possible action item on the agenda for today’s (Tuesday’s) regular meeting.

Also Monday, the supervisors discussed:

• Changes to a proposed contract with Prochaska & Associates of Omaha, Nebraska, for architectural services for the new law enforcement center and updates to the courthouse.

A number of changes were made to include within the basic duties expected of the firm items that had originally been listed as causing additional charges, Tjaden said. The supervisors are expected to approve the contract at the meeting today.

• A request by Sheriff Jeff Crooks that the positions of sergeant and lieutenant be created within his department. Two deputies currently hold those titles, but those positions don’t formally exist within the civil service job descriptions for the Sheriff’s Office.
• Changes to county employee wellness policy and changes to the employee handbook.

The meeting today (Tuesday) begins at 9 a.m. in the second-floor boardroom in the courthouse.