T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshall County Planning and Zoning Administrator/Weed Commissioner Tyler Kelley addressed the Board of Supervisors on issues pertaining to both of those titles during Wednesday morning’s regular meeting.

The Marshall County Board of Supervisors swiftly moved through a host of agenda items during a regular meeting that lasted almost exactly a half hour on Wednesday morning, with a variance request for the potential construction of additional homes on a 40-acre agricultural plot north of State Center near the intersection of Canfield Avenue and Main Street Road garnering the most discussion.

County Planning and Zoning Administrator Tyler Kelley explained that the P&Z Commission gave its support for a subdivision variance request for John and Amy Hohnstein, which now came before the supervisors for final approval. The Hohnsteins intend to split up their parcel into three minimum one-acre lots to build residences for family members.

“The reason they didn’t want to go through with a typical subdivision was, in the future, they never knew, if they passed away, there would be some issues trying to put the parcels back together if it was a subdivision,” Kelley said. “So looking into the future, these two-acre plots here and there might end up switching acreages or switching size going forward. That was why we went with a variance instead of a typical subdivision.”

Supervisor Kevin Goodman asked if there was any chance of the area growing into a larger subdivision, and Kelley said it was unlikely because the Hohnsteins do not own the farm ground around them — the majority of their 40 acres is currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

“I was promised there would be no further splitting than what was required for the family lots,” he said.

“Sometimes promises are hard to enforce,” Goodman replied.

Goodman said there were some livestock operations near the area in question. Kelley added that there are already a lot of residential properties on Main Street Road, so he didn’t feel that a few more would constitute any major change in the status of the community.

“I did receive a few phone calls from area farmers, and (they) were concerned about this becoming bigger than just two or three houses,” Goodman said.

There have been calls, Kelley responded, about larger residential developments with condominiums in areas south of Marshalltown, but he said this request was “nothing like that.”

“We got a lot of these (that) come through where ‘Hey, we want to build a cabin for mom so she can move out there so we don’t (have) to put her in a nursing home. Hey, my uncle wants to split off a piece and put up a house by the pond.’ That’s pretty common,” he said.

Goodman’s concern was what happened after the family members pass away, and ownership of the property potentially changes. Kelley noted that it is common to hear from nearby farmers when a request like this one comes forward, but he said any further splitting of the property would require another subdivision variance and have to go through the same process all over again.

Ultimately, he reiterated his recommendation to approve the request, and it passed by a unanimous 3-0 vote. Kelley, who also serves as weed commissioner, then stayed at the speaking podium to offer a brief explanation of the county’s noxious weed plan before the board voted to approve it.

“This is something I’m very passionate about. I spent over 15 years in Story County controlling noxious and invasive plants, so it is something that I’m very happy about bringing some of my knowledge and experience over here to Marshall County,” he said.

Iowa Code requires each county’s board of supervisors to submit an annual resolution recognizing the state’s weed law and providing a public notice that landowners are responsible for controlling all noxious weeds on their properties. If county staff is required to remove the noxious weeds from a property, there is also a process to add the fees to a landowner’s taxes.

“Generally, we didn’t have to do it very often, but sometimes we did have to use either secondary roads equipment or conservation equipment to go on private property and then bill that labor back to the landowner,” Kelley said.

There have also been a few instances in the past before Kelley’s time, he added, where private contractors have been hired to do that work. The document he shared includes some of the most common problem weeds, and Kelley said that poison hemlock is an especially serious threat all over Marshall County.

“I’ve been seeing more and more of it. I’ve had a couple complaints that I’m currently dealing with about that,” he said. “It’s all over. I’m starting the process right now of mapping areas that I think are a concern.”

He has some GPS locations identified already and predicted a busy month and a half trying to get everything together. Supervisor Jarret Heil expressed his appreciation for Kelley’s work putting the document together and bringing his experience from Story County back to Marshall County, and Goodman told him he looked forward to the implementation of the plan.

A motion to approve it passed unanimously.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved the renewal of the Delta Dental insurance plan for county employees.

• Approved the transition from Avesis to DeltaVision for vision insurance effective July 1, 2025.

• Approved the general safety manual for Marshall County effective May 21.

Approved a memorandum of understanding between the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office and the Story County Sheriff’s Office for the housing of inmates without a per diem fee.

• Approved a motion authorizing the chair to sign a designation form allowing Emergency Management Coordinator Kim Elder to execute the hazard mitigation plan and file it with the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEMD) for the purpose of obtaining financial assistance. The board subsequently approved a motion authorizing a local match of up to $4,560 for the hazard mitigation assistance program.

• During the public comment period, Elder noted that she is currently in the process of hiring for a part-time emergency management assistant.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.