March 29, 2024

County engineer starts work

Union County Supervisors met new county engineer Keith Wieland Tuesday, his first day on the job.

Wieland was approved by the supervisors May 24 to fill the position that has been vacant since September. Wieland is in the process of acquiring his engineer certificate and is in the third of four years of training. During the vacancy, Union County agreed to have Clarke County engineer assist Wieland with his certificate training.

Wieland’s previous employment was with the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Iowa Utilities Board.

Supervisors and secondary roads superintendent Al Hysell reviewed work projects with Wieland. Hysell said work is continuing on the Adair-Union Road bridge, between Cherry and Ivy streets. Hysell hopes the improvements will make it able for heavier trucks to travel the bridge.

In other supervisor news...

County Emergency Management Director Jo Duckworth said covid vaccines are still being administered even though many Iowa counties have not used their full allotment of the vaccine. Duckworth prefers for people interested to make a reservation. Vaccines are being administered at her office on U.S. Highway 34. She said it’s likely a person can make an appointment and receive the vaccine on the same day.

Those interested can call 362-1006 to make an appointment.

Union County’s seven-day positivity rate is 4 %. The county has had 1, 374 cases and 34 deaths.

Duckworth also said the county is changing emergency alert notification providers. The change is scheduled July 1. Through the county emergency’s management website at ucema.org, people can submit their cell phone number and email to receive various warnings, mainly weather related. She said she expects to know this week if people who already are in the system will need to resubmit their cell number and email address for the new provider.

Supervisors approved a budget amendment valued at $375,000. The change was a shift of funds within secondary roads and did not change total revenues.

John Van Nostrand

JOHN VAN NOSTRAND

An Iowa native, John's newspaper career has mostly been in small-town weeklies from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River. He first stint in Creston was from 2002 to 2005.