T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshall County Assessor Blaze Wurr, addresses the Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday morning while Maria Vargas Gonzalez of the Auditor/Recorder’s office and Supervisor Steve Salasek listen.

The Marshall County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to sign a new five-year contract with DevNet for real estate software services and approved more courthouse change orders during Wednesday morning’s regular biweekly meeting.

After Board Chairman Jarret Heil provided a brief summary on how DevNet is utilized by various county departments, County Assessor Blaze Wurr stepped forward and recapped a recent department head meeting. When Supervisor Steve Salasek asked him if he was pleased with the system, Wurr responded that he “had some concerns.”

“There are some things that I think aren’t fixed in a timely manner,” he said. “There are some other concerns, but I feel like that should be discussed at a different time.”

Marshall County IT/GIS Director James Nehring told the board he didn’t have much to add, calling the five-year contract “standard” and noting that both County Attorney Jordan Gaffney and Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson had a chance to thoroughly review it.

Benson, communicating via Zoom, said that while the costs had gone up, the increase wasn’t as steep as some other IT-related expenses, and there is an out clause if the county wishes to go in a different direction before the end of the contract.

“I recommend approving this and signing this and going forward as we have been with DevNet,” Benson said.

According to a copy of the agreement attached to the agenda packet online, the county will pay DevNet $42,942.44 annually for each of the five years for a total of $214,712.20 over the entire period. Recalling his tenure as the county treasurer, Heil indicated that DevNet had done a lot of work to customize its program to Marshall County and wondered if the company “bending over backwards” had contributed to some of the issues now being raised.

“I do appreciate our programmers (being) willing to do that because I know that some of the timeline things that Blaze shared, we dealt with some of that in the treasurer’s office too, but we always seemed to make it right on time on our deadlines,” Heil said.

He added that he had generally been happy with DevNet, and fellow Supervisor Carol Hibbs asked Wurr for more detail on his concerns.

“I think some of it’s just reading the email fully with some deadlines and stuff like that. There’s also been some issues with the state changing laws that we all run into, so I understand that with those, those take time, but there have been some things like where I’ve requested a report to be fixed and it just doesn’t hit the certain deadline that I want it to,” he said.

A motion from Salasek to approve the contract passed by a unanimous tally. The board then moved on to a familiar recurring agenda item, another courthouse change order from Breiholz Construction.

Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke called the changes “housekeeping items” and noted that the county actually has a substantial credit of about $18,000 coming back after deciding to reseed the lawn rather than re-sod it. In addition, there are a few window replacements needed and other small improvements in the courtrooms. The net credit is around $12,000.

“It’s all pretty generic, easy stuff,” Baedke said.

Hibbs asked how they’re coming as it relates to punch list items and substantial completion, and Baedke said it was “really close.”

“There aren’t a lot of items left, but the things that are left just kind of take time to dig through. But they don’t really require a lot of manpower,” he said.

Going into further detail, he said there were still some issues with doors and clearing out “odd errors” that would require contractors to come back in and rectify. Hibbs then made a motion to approve the change order, but before the item could be voted on, Wurr returned to the podium and reiterated a previous request for a secure door instead of a half swing door in a 41 ½” space.

Wurr said Gaffney and Sheriff Joel Phillips had expressed their support for the idea for security reasons, citing the fact that the assessor’s office is the only one without a secure door to protect employees.

“In case there was a shooter or anything like that, I have advised my office to contact their attorneys if anything did happen behind our counter… because I think it’s a little unfair that our office is the only one that does not have a secure door during business hours. I just want to bring that up,” Wurr said.

Baedke responded that it was a bit of a challenge because the largest door they could fit in the space and still meet all of the requirements and regulations was 28 inches, which he described as “very, very small.” Phillips characterized the assessor’s office as one of the more contentious places in the courthouse, especially during tax season, and said he supported the idea of a secure door.

“That’s one of those areas where the rest of the facility, we’ve got those upgrades and those security processes in place. It only makes sense to move forward with that. Not knowing what all the construction and ADA issues would be, obviously I think it probably needs to be evaluated,” Phillips said.

Because the door was not part of the change order on the agenda, Wurr’s request could not be acted upon, and the supervisors agreed to do more research on potential options. Baedke felt that in the event of an active shooter situation, the door wouldn’t make a huge difference other than serving as a “visual blocker.”

“If we’re talking about security to that level, we’re never going to achieve that,” Baedke said.

In Heil’s view, individuals who are angry about assessments would be more likely to “take a swing” than bring a gun, and he thought some sort of barrier could be beneficial in helping employees feel safer.

Baedke agreed with Heil but conceded that it would be difficult to add a door at this stage.

“I’m not saying it’s not possible, but it’s not gonna be cheap either,” Baedke said.

Hibbs asked Baedke if he could provide cost estimates, and he responded that he thought he had the information available but would double check.

In other business, the board:

Removed the contract discussions with OPN on completing designs for the sheriff’s office and jail upgrade project from the table, agreed to meet with OPN representatives over Zoom sometime soon about services they can provide in terms of marketing and messaging before a potential bond vote, and then tabled the item without taking action on the $847,983 proposal for services with the firm.

Approved the following reappointments to the county’s Board of Public Health: Dr. Kenneth Lyons, James Goodman and Kim Elder through Dec. 31, 2026, and Dr. Kerri Metzger through Dec. 31, 2025.

Approved the consent agenda as listed.

Heard an update on the siren project from Elder during the public comment period.

Heard an update on the courthouse Veterans Memorial fundraising efforts from Marshall County Veterans Affairs Director Kevin Huseboe. Huseboe has been speaking to local civic and philanthropic organizations and said he has received “a lot of positive feedback” so far. He also explained the silver (up to $5,000), gold ($5,000 to $10,000) and platinum ($10,000 and up) donation tiers and thanked Dave and Kathy Thompson for their $5,000 donation and Dan and Tina Nelson for their silver level contribution. He has also been reaching out to other local philanthropists and has a funding request with the Iowa Veterans Trust.

“Everybody’s so impressed with it, and Mechdyne did an incredible job bringing it to where it is,” Huseboe said. “So a lot of positive feedback. Everybody really loves it and loves the concept of it.”

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.