GRAPHIC PROVIDED A rendering completed by Mechdyne shows the proposed veterans memorial at the southwest corner of the courthouse property near the intersection of Center and Church streets in Marshalltown. County VA Director Kevin Huseboe presented on the project during Wednesday morning’s board of supervisors meeting.

It’s rare that an agenda item at any government meeting garners universal support almost immediately, but that seemed to be the case at Wednesday morning’s Marshall County Board of Supervisors meeting when County Veterans Affairs Director Kevin Huseboe and Mike Hanken of the Marshalltown Combined Honor Guard stepped to the podium to present on a proposed veterans memorial that would be located on the southwest corner of the courthouse grounds.

Huseboe explained that during a conversation with Board of Supervisors Chairman Jarret Heil over the summer, he expressed his frustration that Marshall County has never had any sort of specific tribute to veterans on the courthouse property. The renovation and reconstruction of the historic facility provided a perfect opportunity to revisit that possibility, and Heil suggested the southwest corner near the intersection of Church and Center streets as it isn’t used for much else.

From there, Huseboe arranged a design team comprised of himself, Hanken, Vic Hellberg, Marshalltown Central Business District Executive Director Deb Millizer and Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall before coming up with “an excellent concept.”

“Deb said we’ve gotta come up with something with a wow factor when people come into town and see this on that section of property,” Huseboe said.

He showed a rendering with seven tablets — one for each military entity, including the newly formed Space Force — and on the back side of each tablet, a design specific to each branch, along with two black granite park benches with the messages “Thank you Marshall County veterans for your service” and “Some gave all, all gave some.” There will also be three flagpoles, and in the center post, a 36 inch diameter, eight foot tall eagle that will be lit up from dusk to dawn.

The total cost, in Huseboe’s estimation, is around $150,000, and he expects it to be privately funded with “a big portion” coming from the Iowa Veterans Trust. The members of the committee plan to reach out to other potential donors in the community about making contributions.

“I think it’ll be great having something like that on our property. It’ll really highlight everything that’s done here, and I spoke with Lucas (Baedke) earlier this year, and he had no problem with that piece of property and he said they would maintain it or whatever,” Huseboe said. “So hopefully when this is all said and done, we’ve got about a $7,000 or $8,000 carryover of money for maintenance going forward, for flags and anything that needs to be done, lights burnt out, whatever.”

With the first step of the process out of the way, Huseboe asked the board for its blessing to place the memorial on the southwest corner of the property as previously mentioned. Supervisor Steve Salasek wondered about lights, and Huseboe responded that the flagpoles would include self-contained solar LED lights on top of them.

Huseboe was also happy to report that local company Mechdyne came up with the renderings at no charge to the county, and he was optimistic that they would make a financial contribution to the project further along in the process. The goal, he added, was to come up with something that was unique to Marshall County and hadn’t been seen anywhere else, and he felt it had been achieved through the current design.

He also stressed the importance of all of the materials for the memorial coming from within the U.S., and according to Huseboe, Rick Weitzell plans to do the concrete work and lay an eight-inch slab with rebar. Baedke, the county buildings and grounds director, didn’t have much to add other than asking for “quality flagpoles.”

“They will be. They are. The flagpoles are about $3,500, and then they will all be able to lock so nobody can mess with them,” Huseboe said. “There won’t be anything cheap on it, Lucas.”

All in all, everyone involved was excited about the prospect, and Heil envisioned it as “something to showcase that entrance to the downtown.”

“This project is certainly gonna up the game on showcasing the courthouse,” Heil said.

After a brief discussion on insurance and a reminder of Thursday’s veterans food giveaway with Secretary of State Paul Pate and IVH Commandant Todd Jacobus, a motion from Salasek to approve the use of the land passed by a unanimous vote.

In other business, the board:

• Granted Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson informal authority to break the bindings on meeting minute books to allow for them to be scanned in and uploaded to the internet.

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Discussed the timeline for the upcoming budgeting process without taking any official action.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.