×

County ordinance changes approved

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO – The county ordinance on Class “C” roads is one of five getting amendments from county officials. One example of such a road is shown here at the intersection of Yates Avenue and Three Bridges Road in eastern Marshall County.

Words matter, and that’s why the Marshall County Board of Supervisors approved changes to five county ordinances Tuesday.

The changes were made to ensure the county’s set of rules are keeping up with Iowa Code, to update contact information and to better organize some ordinance language. Public hearings on each amendment saw no written or oral comments, questions or objections.

“We’re just kind of doing a clean-up here,” said Board of Supervisors administrative assistant Lisa Gassman, who helped work on the language changes.

The only discussion on the changes had to do with the county’s Class “C” roads ordinance. At the board meeting earlier this month, the board decided to vote down a proposed ordinance on smoking and vaping because it closely mirrored existing Iowa Code language and was deemed redundant.

The Class “C” roads ordinance language change, as proposed, also closely mirror Iowa Code, prompting board Vice Chairman Dave Thompson to question whether the ordinance was needed in the first place.

“We did that on one other thing, and I’m wondering if we’re going to apply that same logic to this,” he said, referring to the smoking and vaping ordinance proposal. “I’m fine with either adopting it or eliminating it.”

County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt said keeping the ordinance would be a good idea in this instance.

“When there’s a Class ‘C’ road declared, then it’s gated, and some counties put in ‘this will be the gate, this will be who pays for the gate, this will be the policy,'” he said. “Having the ordinance would give us room to put those details into it if we chose to … We could amend it later, but it’s still there.”

The roads ordinance ultimately got the board’s approval, along with ordinances on hazardous waste, recyclables, burning and parking on county-owned property.

Gassman said the amendment process is over, but there is still some work to do to finalize the changes. Next, the amendments will be officially published and recorded.

“Once they’re recorded, we do the final step and that is where we re-adopt ordinance No. 20, which lists all of our ordinances currently and their amendments,” Gassman said. “So, we’re like 80 percent done.”

To read the full ordinance amendments, visit http://www.co.marshall.ia.us/departments/bos and click the “Next Board meeting agenda” link.

The next Marshall County Board of Supervisors meeting is set for 9:05 a.m. June 11 on the second floor of the Great Western Bank building, 11 N. First Ave.

——–

Contact Adam Sodders at

641-753-6611 or

asodders@timesrepublican.com

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today