T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Jailer Matias Sanchez, second from left, was honored for 25 years of service to Marshall County during Wednesday morning’s regular Board of Supervisors meeting. Also pictured are Sheriff Joel Phillips, left, Supervisors Chairwoman Carol Hibbs, second from right, and Jail Administrator Patrick White, right.

Wednesday morning marked another brief regular meeting for the Marshall County Board of Supervisors as they quickly moved through a light agenda and adjourned in about 20 minutes.

The meeting kicked off with a 25-year recognition of jailer Matias Sanchez, who Jail Administrator Patrick White noted started with Marshall County just 10 months after he did. White described Sanchez as a reliable employee he wished he could clone and one who is a great mentor for younger members of the staff.

“He’s just got another 25 more years to go,” White said to a chorus of laughs around the room.

For the past few years, the board has contributed $2,000 to the annual Marshalltown fireworks show, and Supervisor Jarret Heil said they have again received a similar request — albeit without a specific dollar amount attached. He subsequently motioned to proceed with the same $2,000 donation, and after Board Chairwoman Carol Hibbs clarified with Assistant Auditor/Recorder Maria Vargas-Gonzalez that the county still had ample money remaining in its economic development fund, the board voted unanimously to approve the contribution.

The board then briefly discussed the appointment of board liaisons to various department heads, which Hibbs felt would facilitate more direct communication beyond having a single supervisor attend each department head meeting. No official action was taken, but Hibbs said there would be an expectation for department heads and board members to meet by phone or in person at least once a month to talk about what is going on in their departments and update the board on “anything they should know about.”

Heil said he liked the idea, and Supervisor Kevin Goodman opined that he preferred the current system until Hibbs clarified that he would still attend the meetings as he currently does. Another suggestion Heil presented was to make the department head meeting open to the public so that all supervisors could attend.

The zoning variance before the board was for the John and Marvis Landon Trust at a property between Melbourne and State Center about two miles north of Highway 330. County Zoning Administrator Tyler Kelley explained that the landowner was going to have a manure pipeline installed on his property and didn’t want to go through the easement process. Instead, he suggested zoning off 0.98 acres of his farm ground where the manure pipeline would be installed and selling it to the farm doing the manure transportation.

“Normally, this wouldn’t be allowed under our zoning codes. We require at least 25 acres for this, so this is a variance,” Kelley said.

The Zoning Commission approved the request on May 13, and the Board of Adjustment followed suit on June 10. Kelley added that the only questions thus far have come from neighboring landowners who wanted to know what is being transported, and all of the digging will be completed by a licensed contractor through rural water.

“So all the neighbors are good with this?” Goodman asked.

“Everybody is good with it, yes. As good as you can be, I guess,” Kelley replied.

The variance request passed by a unanimous vote.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the final quarterly transfer of $750,000 from the rural services fund to the secondary roads fund of the current fiscal year.

• Approved a one-time transfer of $619,200 from the general basic fund to the general supplemental fund to “help with general supplemental required expenditures and to maintain the appropriate fund balance.”

• Approved a resolution authorizing the advance issuance of payments for FY2025-26.

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved the appropriation of 58.3 percent of the total funds for FY2025-26 in the amount of $21,323,247.35, which Heil said will provide the county more flexibility to review departments at midyear and gives the board a “jump” for doing amendments at budget time.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.