T-R FILE PHOTO From left to right, Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer, Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend, Marshall County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jarret Heil, Marshall County VA Director Kevin Huseboe, Iowa Veterans Home Commandant Todd Jacobus and Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall participated in a ribbon cutting to celebrate Marshall County’s designation as a Home Base Iowa community on the IVH campus May 26. During Wednesday morning’s Supervisors meeting, the board officially approved a relocation assistance package of up to $2,000 per eligible veteran (capped at $16,000 between now and the end of fiscal year 2024) for those who choose to move to Marshall County.

The Marshall County Board of Supervisors moved briskly through a lengthy list of agenda items during Wednesday morning’s regular meeting and approved several key motions, including one to offer a $2,000 relocation package to veterans who move here as part of the Home Base Iowa initiative and some initial changes to the contract between the county and the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown after several previous discussions.

During a ribbon cutting at the Iowa Veterans Home last month, local leaders including Board Chairman Jarret Heil celebrated Marshall County officially becoming a Home Base Iowa community, and he indicated then that the county would be working on some sort of a package to complement what the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce is already offering for returning servicemen and women. On Wednesday morning, the item before the board was offering up to $2,000 per eligible veteran and a total program expense of $16,000 between now and June 30, 2024, if they choose to relocate to Marshall County.

The money would be paid from the county’s economic development fund, and Marshall County VA Director Kevin Huseboe will be responsible for receiving and considering applications. Heil said the package was only an “initial” offering, and he said the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce is also assisting with other incentives to encourage homeownership and business ownership.

“We’re open for business for veterans,” Heil said.

Huseboe then spoke about why he felt the package was a good step toward attracting veterans, especially as Marshall County is becoming more and more of a regional hub for veterans services.

“The entrepreneurship’s gonna be great. Working with the Central Business District, everything in town, wanting to start businesses downtown and help the town grow, I’m anticipating a lot of growth with this,” Huseboe said. “The nice part is it ties in all the little outlying communities. Presently, we have seven counties of veterans coming to our office filing claims. They’re always looking and asking. They’re so grateful when they come into Marshalltown and see how beautiful it is, and now the courthouse is coming to its final stages… There’s a lot of prospering and a lot of growth coming, I feel, for Marshall County veterans, and our crown jewel of Marshall County is the Iowa Veterans Home, so we need to capitalize on that.”

A motion from Supervisor Carol Hibbs to approve the incentives carried by a unanimous vote. Chamber President/CEO John Hall was also enthusiastic about the development.

“We are thankful for the Board of Supervisors continued investment into recruiting veterans to Marshall County,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “At a time when our employees are continuing to struggle with recruiting and retaining high quality employees, we know the incredible value that the veteran community brings, and we look forward to locating them here to Marshall County to work at our companies, send their kids to our schools and become incredible community members.”

Next on the agenda was an item the board had covered at several previous meetings, the ongoing renegotiation of the contract between the county and the ARL of Marshalltown for services. Heil detailed a few key changes, including allowing the ARL to directly contact the sheriff’s office instead of the board of supervisors to authorize an animal pickup, increasing the minimum payment per trip from $15 to $25, bumping up the mileage reimbursement rate up to the current IRS rate and clarifying that service would only be provided during the ARL’s regular business hours unless there is an emergency situation.

“We know that (emergencies) don’t happen very frequently at all, but this was a good mutual agreement between mostly our sheriff’s department handling those and the Animal Rescue League,” Heil said. “We’ll continue the communication with (the) ARL because we know that some of the contracts with the other towns in our county aren’t the most consistent, so we want to keep those consistent and there’s some other things we can maybe update in this contract later. But we thought this would be a good way to get things started.”

Sheriff Joel Phillips and Chief Deputy Ben Veren told Heil they did not have anything to add to his comments, and ARL Executive Director Rachel Buchanan was not able to attend the meeting in person Wednesday. When reached for comment, Buchanan said she was optimistic about the potential to strengthen the bond between her organization and the county.

“I’m excited to continue building on our relationship with the sheriff’s department and expand on our services as animal control for Marshall County. This is just the beginning of the changes we are looking to make to better the community,” she said.

A motion to approve the contract with the aforementioned changes carried by a unanimous vote. The overall value of the contract, which stipulates a $7,250 annual payment from the county to the ARL, was not changed.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the consent agenda and personnel changes as listed.

• Approved the transfer of no more than $700,000 from the Rural Services Fund to the Secondary Road Fund and the transfer of $680,317.13 from Local Option Sales Tax revenue in the Rural Services Fund to the Secondary Road Fund.

• Approved participation in the Iowa Byrne Justice Assistance Grant with a federal contribution of $82,000 and a local match of $27,333 to fund the Mid-Iowa Drug Task Force.

• Approved the DOT detour agreement for work scheduled in the 2025 construction season for two miles of Wallace Avenue from Highway 96 to the Grundy County line near Beaman.

• Approved the audit engagement letter and business associate agreement with Eide Bailly LLP for auditing services.

• Held a pre bid meeting for the storm siren project with two contractors present.

• Heard a presentation from Jacque Goodman, Neysa Hartzler and Val Ruff on the Iowa Valley Community College District’s business outreach efforts.

• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the State of Iowa Office of the Chief Information Officer used for various cybersecurity services provided to the county.

• Approved a $2,000 donation to the Marshalltown Fireworks.

• Adopted a resolution for the FY23-24 appropriation of funds.

• Adopted a resolution authorizing the county auditor and recorder to make advance payments for FY23-24.

• Adopted a resolution to enter into the Middle Iowa Watershed Management Authority agreement to encourage flood control and practices that will improve water quality.

VApproved a request to delete a quarter mile of Iowa Avenue East just outside of Marshalltown city limits from the farm-to-market system.

• Adopted a resolution approving the abatement of some real estate taxes.