The Marshall County Board of Supervisors got in and out in less than 15 minutes on Wednesday morning after approving a brief slate of agenda items including the extension of law enforcement contracts with 11 incorporated communities and a disaster declaration in response to the windstorms of June 17.

Sheriff Joel Phillips came forward to offer a brief explanation of the contracts with 11 of the 13 incorporated towns in the county — Marshalltown and State Center, the two most populated cities, have their own police departments — and said Ferguson was the first community to move to contract law enforcement with the county back in 1998.

The charges per community, he added, are “a little bit different but kind of standard” as cities are charged per water meter or taxed property plus $300 per liquor license. As a point of reference, the amount of the annual contract with Le Grand, the largest of the 11 communities, is $26,470, while the contract with St. Anthony, the smallest, is for $2,510.

In response to a question from Carol Hibbs, Phillips told her the rates have not been updated since 2022, but they will likely go up again soon due to input costs.

“Five years ago, I could outfit a patrol car for about $35,000. We’re north of $70,000 on a patrol car (now),” Phillips said.

Labor costs have also surged, and calls for service have generally increased with many of the same issues continuing to resurface.

“Each town is kind of unique and has their own problems. We address it according to what a community would like to see done,” he said. “I’ve been doing this long enough that you can see each community kind of goes in cycles and generations.”

Unlike some other counties, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) does not provide a set number of hours of service in a specific community per week because, as Phillips put it, crime is random, and they’d prefer to keep people on their toes while staying visible. Deputies also share monthly contract reports on their activities at city council meetings.

He encouraged concerned residents to contact the MCSO about concerns as they’re happening rather than waiting for a forum like a city council meeting to do so. A motion to approve the extensions passed by a unanimous 3-0 vote.

Later in the meeting, Marshall County Emergency Management Assistant Matt Vogeler came before the board to request approval of the A-3 Disaster Declaration from the June 17 storm, which hit north-central Marshall County particularly hard and caused extensive damage at the Marshalltown Airport.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has already signed the declaration for Marshall County, and Vogeler explained that the county now has to declare its own. The declaration is good for 30 days and allows the county to apply for assistance for 45 days from when the governor signed her proclamation.

Vogeler told Hibbs that there have only been a handful of aid applications thus far.

“We’ve got damages from a couple thousand (dollars) to six figures. In the county, the biggest one is the airport,” he said. “So far, we’ve referred three families or households to the Red Cross because they had to evacuate their house.”

The board voted unanimously to approve the declaration.

In other business, the board:

Approved the consent agenda as listed.

Approved a State of Iowa Beverage License for HOQ Wraps of Green Mountain during RAGBRAI.

Approved the purchase of a Schulte SRW800 Rock Windrower from Nessa Inc. of Zearing for $13,444.48.