KDSN RADIO News
Crawford County Supervisors Continue Search For Tower Sites
The Crawford County Board of Supervisors held their weekly meeting on Tuesday at the courthouse.
County Engineer Paul Assman mentioned a variety of road and utitlity projects set to take place over the course of the upcoming spring and summer months.
"The governor signed this proclamation connecting rural Iowa and it's resulting in a lot of utility work that's going to take place. We're starting to see these permits that are coming that are book volumes basically that we need to review for putting fiber in the ground and connecting everybody with fibers," said Assman. "The DOT is also going to be resurfacing Highway 141 from 59 over to Manning and so they'll mill that and they're going to put four inches of new asphalt on that. Highway from Denison to Deloit is also going to be resurfaced. You've got E16 where you've got a bridge out and pavement just north of Kiron into Ida County that's going to be torn up all summer long. There's going to be a lot of nice roadways when we're all done."
Assman also provided details on a local project involving historic bridges as well as a public auction set to take place at the end of this month. A proposed wind turbine ordinance as well as maintenance and safety on the Yellow Smoke Trail each featured several minutes of discussion. The board agreed to bring both of those issues back up at a later date. They also officially approved six resolutions including the appointment of John Lothrop to deputy medical examiner.
The board continues to search for new sites that would become a part of the land mobile radio tower system. That conversation lasted more than 30 minutes with input from citizens and the board about different options regarding location, cost, and other factors. The board addressed the latest details on actively seeking and consulting about potential sites in the Dow City, Charter Oak, and Vail areas. Supervisor Kyle Schultz, for example, says he doesn't want the public thinking they're exclusively looking to buy land for the project.
"It was interpreted by some that we're only looking for people to sell property and I don't want that to be out. We're just shooting ourselves in the foot if somebody does not want to sell because the best hilltop may be in the middle of somebody's field and they're not going to sell that," said Schultz. "We can come up with numerous spots that are going to work but at some point in time it needs to be pinpointed and figured out."
You can find full Crawford County Board of Supervisors meeting agendas and minutes here.
