Supervisors put bow on 2022

Dec. 27—OTTUMWA — With one final adjournment and a few brief words of respect from a colleague, Wapello County Supervisor Jerry Parker's career came to an end in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Wapello County Courthouse.

But not before tying up some loose ends.

The supervisors met in their final meeting of 2022 Tuesday by approving a contract to repair the Wabash Railroad pedestrian bridge over the Des Moines River, contributions to a local food pantry and the county fairgrounds campground project and repurposing leftover CARES Act funds for Emergency Management.

The contract to repair the bridge is just over $428,000, which was higher than the supervisors hoped. However, they believed it was more important to approve it now instead of later, when higher costs could be a possibility. By approving the contract with Iowa Bridge & Culvert, it appears the bridge will reopen in the middle of next year.

"Contractors are setting their schedules for next summer. We could have went through another bid letting, which may not save money, but we may get higher prices because contractors aren't available," Parker said. "But I think this is more than just a walk bridge. This is part of the community and the county, and it's part of history."

Supervisor Brian Morgan was hesitant to accept the bid, but believed it was in the county's best interest to get the bridge open as soon as possible.

"Anything the Wapello County Trails Council can do to help lighten our end, we definitely appreciate," he said. "I agree that not accepting the bid could put us behind the eight-ball, and then you're looking at two or three years out. We'll continue to look at other funding options and streams as well."

The supervisors also approved Emergency Management to use $227,000 to buy the former Ottumwa Transit building on Emma Street. The money was leftover from the CARES Act during the pandemic.

"I think we've utilized that fund quite well," emergency manager Tim Richmond said, listing off the ways his department used the funds, including COVID-19 test sites, key-card access in the Wapello County, etc.

However, the city had to reimburse the state and federal government the remaining balance of what it owed on the building, which it did at its last council meeting. Emergency Management has already been using the building for the last 1 1/2 years, Richmond said.

"It was kind of complicated situation in which there were a couple years left to pay on it, so if they were going to use it for something other than transit, those two years had to be paid off," Parker said. "With the amount that's left, we wanted to allocate that toward the purchase and remodeling of the building."

"One of the things I'm proud of as a county is that we used the money for what it was supposed to, and a lot of communities didn't," Morgan said. "To have a little bit of this left over to help Tim's department is a good deal."

The campground project at the fairgrounds in Eldon will go hand-in-hand with the American Gothic House as well as the fair to continue to attract tourists to the region. The fair board is working to get a grant for the project, which will be located on Highway 16.

The funding will come out of the capital projects fund from local option sales tax.

The supervisors also approved a $5,000 contribution to the First Presbyterian Church for his food distribution program. Officials from the church said the costs have gone up from last year because "there will be more money in a box. Anytime they don't buy a box, they can put more food in a box."

At the end of the meeting, Morgan praised working alongside both Parker and fellow supervisor Wayne Huit.

"I've had the privilege to get to know and work with Wayne, and the biggest thing I've learned about Wayne is I wish I was one of his kids or grandkids," Morgan said. "You're not going to find a better guy, father and grandfather, and it's been a privilege the last four years."

He then got a bit choked up when discussing Parker, whom he's known most of his life.

"With Jerry, there's a saying that says, 'If you want to make people happy, sell ice cream.' Jerry's never sold ice cream, and when you're put in a position we're in, you don't get to sell ice cream a lot," Morgan said. "But to have the conviction he has and to stand in the face of a lot of opposition ... I got Jerry a thing one time that says, 'All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is people of good conscience to remain silent.' I think now more than ever, it's pretty easy for people to remain silent.

"People can hate him or not like him for whatever reason," he said. "But there's got to be a respect that comes with what he's done for the last 50 years. You always knew where he stood. He probably didn't stab you in the back, but he told you to your face. That's something we're missing a lot of nowadays. I'm proud to call you my friend."

Following the meeting, the oath-of-office ceremonies took place for elected officials, with new supervisors Brian Ziegler and Darren Batterson taking their oaths last. Both men, the first Republicans to sit on the board in almost 50 years, will participate in their first meeting next week alongside Morgan.

— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury