Supervisors OK semi truck purchase

By Mary Zielinski
The Washington County Secondary Roads Department will replace its 1994 Ford Semi-Tractor with a 2005 MAC one at a cost of $43,000. The purchase price was $51,000 with a $7,500 trade-in allowance for the Ford truck and was approved Tuesday by the board.
County Engineer Dave Patterson said that the truck is used mainly to transport road working equipment.
Patterson told The Advance that the county roads have remained “in pretty good shape” despite the rains. He is concerned that a rainy and wet winter with alternate freezing and thawing could undo much of the work done this summer.
In other business, the board:

• set 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 21 for a public hearing and first reading of the 2009 County Code of Ordinances with the second and third readings to follow on consecutive Tuesdays. The ordinances are simply an updating to have county codes reflect changes in state codes, said county auditor Bill Fredrick;
• approved a five-day temporary stage liquor license for Terry’s Feed Services, Inc. in Brighton to permit sales of beer and wine coolers. The license is for the period of RAGBRAI later this month;
• approved a fireworks permit for Tim Grecian in Riverside;
• renewed the annual contract with Mark’s Sanitation Service to haul solid waste from the county recycling center to the SEMCO landfill at a cost of $21.50 per trip. Previous fee was $20.80. It was noted that the sanitation service previously paid the tonnage fees at the landfill, submitting the bills for reimbursement by the county. Fredrick said that has changed and that SEMCO will bill the county, that the service “should not have to carry the county.”;
• approved the appointments of George Gerot, Riverside, and Tom Davey, Washington to the county’s Eminent Domain Commission;
• learned that a Public Hearing for the proposed county zoning ordinances is set for August 3 at 6 p.m. at the County Conservation Education Center, Marr Park, Ainsworth; and
• learned that installation of equipment to permit video visitation at the county jail is done.