T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY During the regular meeting on Tuesday morning, the Marshall County Board of Supervisors finalized a contract with Breiholz Construction of Des Moines for the courthouse renovation and restoration project. Breiholz took over as the general contractor on Aug. 3.

The Marshall County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a contract with Breiholz Construction worth just shy of $8.5 million for the restoration and renovation of the courthouse during Tuesday morning’s regular meeting.

According to County Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke, the county will be responsible for approximately $2.5 million (the rest will be covered by insurance), and the contract will cover the entirety of the interior project.

After the county and previous contractor Perfection/First Onsite mutually agreed to part ways in July, the board approved hiring Breiholz — which had already done some work as a subcontractor — as the general contractor on Aug. 3.

Marshall County Auditor Nan Benson said that an as yet undetermined amount of money is still owed to Perfection/First Onsite, and she did not know exactly how much had already been paid to the company. She also estimated Perfection/First Onsite had caused a substantial amount in damages and said that would be factored into the final payoff.

A motion to approve the contract in the amount of $8,476,753 carried by a 3-0 vote.

In light of recent court decisions on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) vaccine or testing mandate for employers with at least 100 workers, the board reluctantly approved implementing the policy for county employees.

“There’s nothing about this, personally, that I like at all. I don’t agree with it, but you know what, that’s not my job,” Benson said. “My job is to keep Marshall County compliant, and I don’t want to pay these kinds of fines out of taxpayer dollars.”

The regulation, as currently written, requires an accounting of which employees are and aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 (at this time, boosters are not needed to be considered fully vaccinated) and stipulates that unvaccinated employees must submit to weekly testing and wear a mask at work unless they can provide a religious or medical exemption. Enforcement is set to begin on Feb. 9, and “willful” non-compliance can result in fines of over $136,000.

The U.S. Supreme Court is still scheduled to weigh in on the mandate sometime in January.

After a brief discussion, the board approved a third and final reading of the new voting precincts for Marshall County with a decision still to come on a polling place for the Liscomb/Albion precinct.

Later in the meeting, the board approved a motion to pursue a Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) grant funding match for the tornado siren project in the unincorporated areas of the county after discussing the matter with Marshall County Emergency Management Director Kim Elder. If the application is successful, FEMA would cover 85 percent of the $360,000 required to fund the project, and the county would be responsible for $54,000.

During an organizational meeting held on Monday, Dave Thompson was again appointed chairman of the board, and Steve Salasek was appointed vice chairman.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, the board:

• Set a public hearing on the proposed 2020-2021 budget amendment for Jan. 31 at 9:05 a.m.

• Approved the Board of Adjustment’s decision to issue a conditional use permit to RACOM/Whitaker Farms for the construction of a 250-foot self support tower in rural Clemons.

• Approved changing Baedke’s vacation hours to no limit through March 31, 2023.

• Approved a resolution relating to the taxable value of utility companies and a resolution adopting the Marshall County Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.