SIBLEY—Proposed building projects along the Highway 60 expressway again received attention from the Osceola County Board of Supervisors during its meeting Tuesday, July 12 in Sibley.
Ashton mayor Patrick DeVries returned to the board room to give an update on the proposal he received from a county resident to develop the former Cedar Cabin property owned by the county by building an event center facility.
The construction project would require swapped the county property for land available at the site of the old water system once the new system is completed.
“We had our city council meeting last night, and we decided that it’s more beneficial to us to go ahead with this project than to not. If you guys are willing to have your public hearing and do the transfer, I’ve got the go-ahead from the city council to go that route,” DeVries said. “We had some concerns. We didn’t know if the property that we wanted to exchange would work, and the other concern was parking.”
“The property ends up being about a half-acre usable, which is physically plenty for what weuse,” said county engineer Keith Brann. “You don’t necessarily have to be exactly dollar-for-dollar in value, but we are talking a smaller site with less access than what was there, so that may enter into the negotiations.”
DeVries added that the new tank for the water project is backlogged, so the land may not be available as soon as originally planned. Brann assured him that his office is not planning anything this fiscal year that would entail a new building.
The board approved proceeding with the land swap to allow development plans to move forward.
Pond project
Economic development director Stephanie Neppl gave an update on the progress of MBN Pallets’ business plan for county land at Enterprise Park north of Sibley.
A public hearing date will be set on July 26, with plans to have the agreements ready to approve on Aug. 23.
Neppl invited owner Brett Doeden to attend the meeting to address any questions, especially about the waterway.
“Our pond that we’re going to dig for filler for the road and building pad is going to sit in the southwest corner. It won’t obstruct the waterway at all,” Doeden said. “As far as the burning, our plan is to not have to burn. That’s a good reason for us going out there. We’re going to have the room to stockpile it and have a grinder come in. That’s how we’re going to heat our building is with our scrap.
“We’ve got plans to order burn boxes. They’ll go to a forced air furnace inside.”
Brann requested that the board consider reviewing the county’s comprehensive plan, which dates back to 1998 before the Highway 60 expansion and likely does not reflect the goals and directions of the board at this time.
“In looking at some of the issues that have come up recently, some of the questions about zoning, one of the things I wanted to refer to was if we’re going to change the zoning or modify a use, what is the comprehensive plan,” he said.
County audit
Auditor Rochelle Van Tilburg reached out to the Northwest Iowa Planning and Development Commission and received a quote for $18,000 to update the plan. The process can take about nine months to complete. The board approved moving forward with the update.
Dave De Noble of De Noble, Austin & Company PC of Rock Rapids met with the board to review the 2021 independent auditor’s report.
“You’re going to see it was a pretty normal fiscal year,” De Noble said. “What’s most important, like I’ve always said, it doesn’t matter if you’ve got tons of assets if you have equally high liabilities. We’re always worried about what’s that net position.”
The county’s total net position shows a balance of $28,603,729 as of June 30, 2021, when including capital assets.
Most balances increased except for tax increment financing-related and drainage funds.
A list of internal control deficiencies was outlined, with many issues caused by the limited number of employees among which to segregate duties. No instances of noncompliance were reported.
