T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshall County Chief Deputy Ben Veren, front, flanked by Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke behind him, discusses parking enforcement at a county-owned lot near the courthouse during Wednesday morning’s board of supervisors meeting.

Two matters related to parking — the potential sale of a downtown county owned lot and the matter of enforcement for non-county employees parking in another lot across from the courthouse — dominated the discussion during Wednesday morning’s Marshall County Board of Supervisors meeting held at the courthouse.

Board Chairman Jarret Heil explained that the buildings and ground’s department’s garage sat at 121 E. Main St. before the tornado, and an interested party who owns an adjacent property had come forward to ask if the county would be willing to sell it. Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke then weighed in on the matter.

“After I put some thought into this, it would be my thought that we should probably keep (the lot). As of now, we have tight parking, and if it were used for overflow parking and a place for us to put snow in the winter so parking when we have a snowstorm isn’t an absolute nightmare, that would probably be the best case scenario for us,” Baedke said. “If we’re looking at potential expansion in the future of parking or something, we’re not gonna find a better, closer option for that. So it’d be my thought that we probably not sell this.”

When asked what the potential buyer’s plans for the lot were, Baedke and Heil said they were considering a green space, and Baedke added that the county could decide on a long-term plan later, but he would advise holding onto the lot for now.

“I don’t disagree with that assessment. I think maybe down the road we feel more comfortable selling it,” Heil said. “We’re in such an infancy stage of the readjustment of the new employees in the Annex and getting our parking situation figured out, but I’m under the inclination of ‘not at this time.'”

In response to another question from Supervisor Steve Salasek, Baedke said he has a few trailers parked in the lot now. County Assessor Blaze Wurr then asked about a sale of a portion of the parcel that was agreed upon but never completed. The board ultimately took no action.

Another parking related matter a few items down on the agenda generated a longer discussion related to enforcement in the county-owned 58-stall lot directly across the street from the courthouse to the east, adjacent Baedke brought the supervisors up to speed and said so far, a county employee has been leaving slips of paper on cars reminding the vehicle owners they are not supposed to park there. He has also been in contact with Zeno’s Pizza Co-Owner Aaron Buzbee about the matter as Zeno’s employees and patrons had been using the lot while the courthouse was closed.

“At this point, we just need some enforcement. There are what I would call placeholder spots in the parking lot. We basically have agencies and different jobs that we have to have those placeholders for, (so) the parking lot isn’t 100 percent full all the time,” Baedke said. “But I think it’s a good time to transition the other almost residents downtown and say ‘Hey, this isn’t your free for all parking lot.’ We need to have some sort of enforcement or just accountability.”

Currently, there are two signs that read ‘Permit Parking 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.,’ and two more that tell violators they will be ticketed or towed were recently added. The city of Marshalltown does not have a parking enforcement officer on staff and is working to hire for the position.

Chief Deputy Ben Veren joined Baedke at the podium and stressed the need for clear signage to eliminate confusion. County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt recalled that 28 years ago, a man employed at the courthouse had the authority to issue tickets, but he wasn’t sure of the process or what the current county policy was.

Veren urged the supervisors, if they do pursue their own enforcement mechanism, to designate a specific position rather than individuals so they aren’t required to update the policy every time someone new starts on the job. A member of the audience also suggested color coding the stalls to avoid having to put an individual sign in every stall.

The board ultimately took no action but agreed to revisit the matter at a later date.

Right after that conversation wrapped up, the board voted unanimously to award a contract to Heartland Asphalt Inc. of Mason City in the amount of $1,901,349.88 for four hot mix asphalt road resurfacing projects — 260th Street from Highway 146 to the Tama County line (one mile), three miles of Dillon Road, Zeller Avenue from Gilman one mile south to the Jasper County line and Main Street Road from Zeller Avenue one mile east to the Tama County line.

Geilenfeldt was surprised to receive four bids and said he believed the county got a good price. He did note, however, that the start date is Aug. 12 with 55 allowable working days, and Salasek worried it would bump up against harvest for local farmers, himself included, who utilize those roads, although he was happy to see they would be getting attention.

“We literally have no control over that at all, and we don’t get to control when harvest is gonna be,” Geilenfeldt said. “They could do this in October and still be within the working days, and we don’t have any contacts with the contractor until after the contract is signed.”

In other business, the board:

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved the Marshall County General Assistance Policy with updates.

• Approved the pre-award information sheet and grant signatures for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block grant for a potential total of $76,390.

• Set a public hearing on the proposed 2023-2024 Marshall County decrease in appropriations for the next meeting on July 19 at 9 a.m.

• Approved the annual publication of salaries for fiscal year 2022-2023 as required by Iowa Code.

• Approved the renewal of a contract with EagleView Aerial Imagery, with costs split between the IT/GIS Department and the Assessor’s Office. Geilenfeldt also indicated that because the information provided is also useful to his department, Secondary Roads would be willing to pitch in for the services.