Wednesday morning’s regular meeting of the Marshall County Board of Supervisors was a quick one as they conducted their business in just over 20 minutes, including the tentative approval of the use of the courthouse grounds near the new Veterans Memorial for Veterans Affairs (VA) outreach during the upcoming Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) festivities on July 22.

Herschel Edwards, the newest member of the Marshall County Veterans Affairs Commission, explained that the organization hopes to do some outreach during the annual event that is expected to draw thousands of riders and visitors into the community, and the area around the memorial felt like the perfect place to host it.

“All we’re really looking for is, you know, if everybody has a plan, if you build it, they will come, so right now we’re just looking for the space, to be allocated the space. Once we have that space, then we’ll be able to decide what we want to put in there,” Edwards said. “What we’re thinking right now is a few tents with some cooling cells, some refreshments, stuff like that to do outreach.”

He added that the Army, Navy, Air Force and National Guard all have teams that will be riding RAGBRAI, and he plans to speak with members of the Marshalltown RAGBRAI committee and RAGBRAI officials to finalize arrangements, and he hopes Marshall County veterans and anyone who wants to talk with veterans will stop by the stand.

“It’s a good community outreach for us and (opportunity) to be able to talk about benefits or just have good fellowship during RAGBRAI,” Edwards said.

What the county VA team is asking for, he noted, is the area just north of the monument and a few parking spots within the horseshoe and possibly a few spots on Center Street if the road is closed off for the day. Marshall County Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke recommended coordination with the RAGBRAI committee to avoid portable restrooms being placed on the sidewalk there, and he told the board there had been no decisions about whether regular courthouse operations will be conducted that day.

“We might see some stuff evolve there, but I don’t see any issues. It should be fine,” Baedke said.

Board Chairman Jarret Heil said details were still “up in the air” regarding the use of the courthouse grounds during RAGBRAI, and they would likely be worked out in time for the festivities. Supervisor Carol Hibbs added that she liked the idea of coordinating with the other armed forces to see what their space needs are.

Edwards agreed that plans could change once conversations begin with points of contact, but they wanted to get their intentions to reserve the space on the agenda. Hibbs recommended communicating with Marshalltown RAGBRAI Co-Chairs John Hall and Kyley Leger to further crystallize the plans.

Hibbs and Heil expressed their support for the idea of connecting veterans at a big community event on the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, and fellow Supervisor Christian Goodman motioned to allow the use as requested. It passed by a unanimous 3-0 vote.

In other business, the board:

• Recognized Chief Deputy Ben Veren for 20 years of service and jailer Kibby Collins for 25 years of service to Marshall County.

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved the appointment of Goodman to all of the supervisor department head liaison and Board of Supervisors representative assignments that his late father Kevin previously held when he was on the board.

• Approved a resolution confirming an amended 28E agreement for the Solid Waste Management Commission of Marshall County with the addition of two Story County municipalities, Roland and McCallsburg.

• Approved paying the materials inspection costs for Project BROS C064(146)-8J-64 from the Marshall County Farm to Market Account.

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

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.