News editor
County Commissioners told Leroy Kraus on Friday that there would be a process he would have to go through in order to have a stretch of 180th Rd. closed, but they were agreeable to the idea of closing the road.
Kraus is seeking to have the eastern half mile of 180th Rd. between Upland Rd. and U.S. 77 closed. It is a minimum maintenance road, and about halfway through the mile is a mudhole that remains weeks after the last substantial rain, making it impassable to most vehicles.
There are no houses along that mile of 180th Rd. In fact, it is mostly pasture, with a single hay field and Fleming’s Mini Stor-All being the only exceptions. Kraus owns a quarter section of land south of the east half mile, all of it pasture.
“It’s a nothing road,” commissioner Dan Holub said.
Closing the road will require notifying other property owners along it and passing a resolution, commissioners told Kraus. In any event, they would only close the road without deeding the road back to adjacent landowners.
The main reason for leaving the western half mile open is to leave it accessible in case Garry Dunnegan completes plans to develop houses in that area, Kraus said.
Training trip approved
Commissioners approved sending Health Department Administrator Diedre Serene to disaster training Nov. 3 through 8 in Alabama. All expenses for the trip, except Serene’s time, will be paid for by the Center for Domestic Preparedness.
Commissioners also approved sending County Clerk Tina Spencer to the training, provided the cost is covered by the center, which Serene said should be the case. Serene said it would be good training for Spencer as the county’s public information officer.
Serene met with commissioners in closed session for 10 minutes to discuss personnel matters. On return to open session, commissioners granted Serene’s request to carry over 42.5 hours of vacation time she couldn’t use because of a busy work schedule.
August sales tax down 23%
General sales tax receipts for August were $55,463, down 23 percent from $71,568 the same month in 2012. However, sales tax collection for the first eight months of the year remained 23 percent ahead of 2012 levels, thanks to an unusually large collection in January.
Jail sales tax collected was $48,749, down 23 percent from $63,470 in 2012.