Staff writer
Marion County Commission approved a rental agreement with Van Koppel for a street grinder on Monday.
The agreement is for $4,000 a week. The grinder is needed because the Road and Bridge Department grinder owned by the county needs to have a motor replaced. Work is set to begin on Remington Road and a grinder is a necessary tool for that job, Road and Bridge Superintendent Randy Crawford said.
The commission told Crawford to fix the old machine, which Crawford estimated would cost $6,000, and then sell it later.
“It’s kind of like investing in a dead horse,” Crawford said of the old machine.
Crawford said the Road and Bridge Department is about to begin overlaying 120th Road a mile west of Goessel today. The road will receive a half inch of asphalt.
In other business:
- Economic Development Director Teresa Huffman said there is an interested buyer for the former Holiday Motel in Florence who plans on fixing up and using the building as a motel. The owners of the building have been absent for some time, accruing about $30,000 in back taxes. Commission Chairman Dan Holub said the county could structure a deal for the motel that would include the payment of back taxes but the county would have to acquire the property first
- Planning and Zoning Director Tonya Richards said she has received numerous complaints about skunks and rodents gathering in an abandoned house in Canada. Residents have requested the county condemn and tear down the building as a public nuisance. The request is just one from many sources around the county, Richards said. Some have come from incorporated towns. The commission confirmed that is the individual cities’ responsibilities to condemn buildings in city limits.
- The commission approved a conditional use permit for a trailer in rural Hillsboro. The trailer is a temporary living arrangement while a house is built.
- Two bids were presented for fence removal and installation on the property line of Marion County Park and Lake. With a large disparity between asking prices, the commission asked Park and Lake Superintendent Steve Hudson to make sure both contractors planned to include employees’ worker’s compensation and liability insurance coverage.
- Hudson reported that an air conditioning coil had broken on the unit for the South Hall at Marion County Lake. Commissioners requested Hudson try to make a temporary fix on the air conditioner to make sure he can stay within the department budget for 2012.
- The commission repealed a previous decision and raised the speed limit of 330th Road between Tampa and K-15 back to 55 mph.
- The burn ban was extended for another week. It includes campfires except in specified areas.