Page 8 - Jacob Thorius News Today

The Washington County Board of Supervisors approved two easement-related items during their recent meeting. The first item was to release an easement on Sockum Ridge Road in Marion Township to the Dale Gonterman Estate. County Engineer Jacob Thorius commented that they no longer have use for the easement, and the item was tabled from last week citing concerns of any use from the conservation department. Conservation Director Zach Rozmus commented that after talking with Thorius they may arrang...

Washington County Receives State Funds to Install Centerline Rumble Strips on Riverside Road

Washington County Engineer Jacob Thorius gave an update on snow removal during the recent Board of Supervisors meeting. During the department head comment period, Thorius spoke about the brunt of winter weather the county has faced the last couple weeks, “We’ve been out every day for about the last week and a half now trying to open stuff up. The wind has not been our friend. We spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday going over a lot of the roads the same time, over and over again. Jus...

The Washington Economic Development Group is receiving an award for a project conducted with the county and a local business. The Professional Developers of Iowa annually sponsor the Business Expansion & Retention (BRE) Awards, which will be presented on March 18th. WEDG is receiving a BRE award for their work with Washington County and Premier 1 Supplies to obtain a Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy (RISE) grant to help build 2.8 miles of paved road to their facility located southwest of the c...

Several hours of discussion took place regarding changes to the employee handbook at the Washington County Board of Supervisors’ meeting Tuesday. For a few weeks the board has discussed revisions to the handbook with Human Resources Administrator Amber Day, and at Tuesday’s meeting County Engineer Jacob Thorius presented two options for the board to consider for overtime and holiday pay. Option A states that employees who work on a holiday will receive two times their regular hourly rate fo...

The Washington County Board of Supervisors awarded the contract for a pavement widening and resurfacing project on Riverside Road during their meeting Tuesday. County Engineer Jacob Thorius presented seven bids to the supervisors to overlay and widen a six-mile middle stretch of County Road W61 from County Road G26 north to Spruce Avenue. The board approved awarding the contract to the lowest bid of about $3,540,988 from Flynn Co., Inc. of Dubuque. Thorius says he was satisfied with the bids th...

Salt Supply and Washington County Roads Employees Ready for Wintry Mixes

Snow and ice removal was an arduous process in Washington County Wednesday as the area received a mix of snow and freezing rain Tuesday night. KCII and the Washington Municipal Airport both measured 6.5 inches of snow, and the National Weather Service Quad Cities Office states that the highest freezing rain accumulations were along the State Highway 34 corridor from Fairfield to Illinois. The Washington County Communications Center received over 30 calls for vehicles stuck on roadways, ditches,...

The Washington County Board of Supervisors continued discussion of the compensation board’s fiscal year 2022 salary recommendation and took action during their recent meeting. The compensation board recommended a 3% increase for all county employees, excluding the Board of Supervisors, and the Supervisors decided to table action on elected officials’ salaries until the next meeting. The Supervisors discussed whether to give county employees a percentage or dollar amount increase for next ye...