Government : Benton County Board of Supervisors Minutes 11/18/25

November 18, 2025

The Benton County Board of Supervisors met in regular session with Supervisors Seeman, Tippett and Volz present. Chairman Seeman called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. at the Benton County Service Center. Members of the public are invited to join in during open session or watch the livestream at https://www.youtube.com/bentoncountyiowa. Full Resolutions will be available in the Auditor’s office and at: www.bentoncountyia.gov

Volz moved/Tippett seconded: To approve the Agenda. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

Tippett moved/Volz seconded: To approve the minutes from Monday, November 10, 2025 and Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

Lori Siela along with other Wellness Committee members were present to provide an update. The county had 89 employees participate this year so that qualified the county with a 4% discount off the health insurance premiums through Iowa State Association Of Counties (ISAC). This money received for other incentives to reward employees for participating comes from wellness dollars. The County currently has $3,600. Last year those who participated received an added paid day off called “Wellness Day” and received $20 incentive toward the employees share of insurance premiums.

All the names of the 89 employees who participated were put into a drawing for $500 that will be paid through payroll in December. The $100 for getting the physicals will come directly to the employees from VOYA. The winners of the drawings: Alisha Stach, Dorothy Wild, Dan McKenna, Jerry Bascom, Richard Stallman, Damien Fairbanks and William Grimm.

Volz moved/Tippett seconded: To approve the County Wellness Day again and keep the $20/month incentive off the employees insurance premiums in 2026. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

Gina Edler, Deputy Auditor presented the TIER 2 Canvass results. These are for the school districts and The City of Walford who overlaps boundaries with other counties.

Volz moved/Tippett seconded: To approve Resolution #25-92, Approving Tier 2 Canvass of the City/School Election held on November 4, 2025. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

RESOLUTION #25-92

WHEREAS, the CITY/SCHOOL ELECTION was held as prescribed by law on November 4, 2025, and:

WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors and ex officio Board of Canvassers have canvassed the vote of said election in accordance with §43.49 and §50.24 of the Code of Iowa, now therefore;

BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned members of the Board of Supervisors and ex officio Board of Canvassers of Benton County, Iowa, do hereby certify the following RESULTS in the CITY/SCHOOL ELECTION for the 2nd Tier Canvass, held on November 4, 2025, and that no obvious clerical errors were identified during the canvass.

Walford Mayor-Randy Bauer

Walford City Council At-Large-Jesse Bergmeier, Amy Ellis

Benton School Director District 4-Scott W. Shaw

Benton School Director District 5-Aric Becker

Benton School Director District 6-Nate Klein

Vinton-Shellsburg School Director At-Large-Rachel Wayson, Jennifer Ann Birker

Vinton Shellsburg School Director District 1-Kimberly Schirm

Belle Plaine School Director At-Large-Scott E Frank, Valerie Coffman

Belle Plaine School Director At-Large to fill a vacancy-Andrew Neuhaus

Belle Plaine School Public Measure BJ-YES

APPROVED this 18th day of November 2025, with the vote thereon being as follows:

_____________________________________

Tracy Seeman, Chairman

_____________________________________

Ronald Tippett

______________________________________

Bruce Volz

ATTEST:

__________________________________

Hayley Rippel, Benton County Auditor

Volz moved/Tippett seconded: To approve Resolution #25-93, Abatement of Taxes on Parcel #s 660-22430 in the amount of $16.00 and Parcel #900-05775 in the amount of $1.00 pursuant to Iowa Code Section 445.63. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

Tippett moved/Volz seconded: To approve Resolution #25-94, Abatement of Taxes on Parcel #540-00810 in the amount of $148.00 pursuant to Iowa Code Section 445.63. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

The time of 9:15 a.m. having arrived, and this being the time and date set for a land use hearing for Dennis and Rachel Hearn in part of the NE1/4 of the NW ¼ Section 36-86-10. Dennis and Rachel Hearn were present. Matt Even presented the technical information with the Benton County Agricultural Land Use Preservation Ordinance. Hearn’s would like to change the use of one acre to allow for a single family dwelling, there is already an existing pole building there. The property is currently used as a hayfield. This site has a CSR of 55. The new driveway was reviewed and approved by Secondary Roads Department. This dwelling will require a new septic system which will be permitted by the department and they plan to utilize the current well. The surrounding area generally consists of agricultural uses with some scattered residences. Proper notices were sent out and published in the official newspapers with no comments in regards. Hearing no other further comments, the public hearing was closed.

Tippett moved/Volz seconded: To approve the land use change for Dennis and Rachel Hearn in part of the NE1/4 of the NW ¼ Section 36-86-10. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

Volz moved/Tippett seconded: To approve 68 hours of vacation carryover for Ben Turnis to be used by March 31, 2026. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

The time of 9:30 a.m. having arrived, and this being the time and date set for a land use hearing for Jay Cassill in part of the SE ¼ of the SW ¼ Section 29-83-9. Jay Cassill was present. Matt Even presented the technical information with the Benton County Agricultural Land Use Preservation Ordinance. Cassill would like to change the use of approximately two acres to allow for auto sales. The property is located on HWY 30 (73rd Street) and has an existing driveway which was previously approved by District 6 with the Department of Transportation. This site has a CSR of 48. This will not require an additional septic system or private water well. This request is located on a parcel not associated with a farm and is adjacent to an area with a moderate density of single-family dwellings. There is a shop and commercial storage facility on this parcel already, so this additional request would not interfere with farm operations in the area. Notices were sent out and published and there have been no comments in regards. Hearing no other further comments, the public hearing was closed.

Tippett moved/Volz seconded: To approve the land use change for Jay Cassill in part of the SE ¼ of the SW ¼ Section 29-83-9. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

Auditor Hayley Rippel provided an update regarding recent action by the Opioid Committee. In the past the committee has come to the Board and shared approved projects and obtained formal approval. There have been some recent funding approved and needs to have formal action from the Supervisors. Rippel had a spreadsheet listing out the projects and amounts. The total amount of funds received from the Opioid Court Settlements YTD is $278,105.32. For FY 26, $233,763 has been committed towards various projects with an additional $35,000 spoken for in FY 27. Members of the Sheriffs office including Sheriff Upah, Josh Karsten and Shelby Chekal were also present to give an update for their approved funding to update their part-time jail nurse to a full-time nurse. This position will continue to be provided through Advanced Correctional Healthcare (ACH). This will help offset other expenses incurred from inmates who

need Emergency room visits and other minor medical issues and qualifies under the use of the Opioid Funding. The jail has also found ways to get reimbursed for some of their medication needs through the ASO and have plans to also increase federal funding for the federal inmates. A brief overview of a few other projects were as such: Safe RX-for some locking pill boxes that will be distributed throughout the county to pharmacies and clinics. Virginia Gay Hospital (VGH) is sending 2 employees to CPI training, and those individuals can in return provide additional de-escalating training to others. VGH will also be opening up suboxone accessibility for individuals to get their help locally.

Tippett moved/Volz seconded: To approve the Opioid Committee’s recommendation for funding the following projects utilizing the OPIOID Funds received from the settlements: Virginia Gay Hospital-$59,800 for suboxone accessibility locally, Virginia Gay Hospital-$15,398 for CPI training, Safe RX- $1,215.00 for pill lock boxes and $65,000 to offset the Benton County Jail’s cost to Advanced Correctional Healthcare to allow for a full-time nurse. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

Tippett moved/Volz seconded: To approve Resolution #25-95, Speed Limit Reduction near Van Horne on Secondary road 70th Street (E44), starting 0.5 mile west of 22nd Avenue, then west 1000 feet, 45 MPH. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

Tippett moved/Volz seconded: To approve out of state training for Myron Parizek, Engineer to attend the National Association of County Engineers (NACE) out of state training in Arlington, TX April 12-15, 2026. Tippett, Seeman and Volz voting aye. Motion carried.

Supervisor Tippet reported on his meeting regarding Nex Era Utility and how they have met their criteria within code. Supervisor Volz shared some information from his most recent Heartland Insurance meeting and how all the guns/ammo will need reported for the inland marine portion of our coverage. He also attended the wellness committee meeting. He thanked everyone for doing a good job but would like to have more representation at those future meetings to continue encouraging participation from all employees. He will be participating via zoom for the Iowa Workforce Development meeting on Thursday. Supervisor Seeman mentioned last week’s Compensation Board meeting, ECICOG and most recently the Conservation Board meeting he had Monday night.

Tippett moved/Volz seconded: To adjourn meeting at 10:15 a.m. Volz, Seeman and Tippett voting aye. Motion carried.

_____________________________

Tracy Seeman, Chairman

ATTEST: _________________________________

Hayley Rippel, Benton County Auditor