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Communications center to find new temporary home
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| A new communications tower will take shape at the Cedar Valley Ranch north of Vinton. |
VINTON — Benton County Sheriff Randy Forsyth felt he could get by with the county communication center at the temporary department headquarters for a few months. When that few months became a couple of years due to the need for a new headquarters, however, he knew something must be done.
Thursday the Benton County Supervisors approved Forsyth’s request to place a temporary communications center and a radio antenna at the Cedar Valley Ranch (county home).
The cost of the new tower and related construction will be $200,000, which will be covered by FEMA. The temporary site will be used until the new sheriff’s department and jail are built, at which time the tower currently at the abandoned headquarters will be moved to the new facility.
At that time the new tower will be used as a backup. Forsyth said the current tower, which is used as the department microwaves transmissions from its temporary headquarters, cannot be moved to the new location because it would leave the department without communications during construction.
The $200,000 price tag does not include radio equipment, which was purchased in December. The tower will be constructed on top of the radio building, with the communication center in a wing of the Cedar Valley Ranch.
The Supervisors also addressed using Vinton’s Lincoln School as a temporary holding facility for prisoners. Most prisoners housed at the facility will be there for a short time, with some on work release or serving time on weekends to fulfill their sentence.
The Supervisors also approved a request from the City of Urbana to establish a Tax Increment Financing District on unincorporated land so that the city can seek TIF funds for its waste water conveyance project.
Chris Justice said only a small portion of the project will be built on unincorporated land, with the rest on acreage already owned by the city.
“I believe the city council acted once to annex the property, but it was never properly filed,” Justice said.
Supervisor Dave Vermedahl said there was no real drawback to the county, though he would prefer that Urbana annex the property.
“It’s not a big issue, but something I would like to see acted on,” he said.
Justice said he would take Vermedahl’s request to the Urbana city council. Despite Vermedahl’s request, the Supervisors passed the request 3-0.
In other business, the Supervisors appointed Jim Magdefrau, Mary O’Brien and Bill Strong to the judicial magistrate commission, approved a pair of change orders totaling 1,454 for a flood reconstruction project and approved a pair of vacation carryover requests.
The next Supervisors meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 9 a.m. at the Benton County Auditor’s office.
Thursday the Benton County Supervisors approved Forsyth’s request to place a temporary communications center and a radio antenna at the Cedar Valley Ranch (county home).
The cost of the new tower and related construction will be $200,000, which will be covered by FEMA. The temporary site will be used until the new sheriff’s department and jail are built, at which time the tower currently at the abandoned headquarters will be moved to the new facility.
At that time the new tower will be used as a backup. Forsyth said the current tower, which is used as the department microwaves transmissions from its temporary headquarters, cannot be moved to the new location because it would leave the department without communications during construction.
The $200,000 price tag does not include radio equipment, which was purchased in December. The tower will be constructed on top of the radio building, with the communication center in a wing of the Cedar Valley Ranch.
The Supervisors also addressed using Vinton’s Lincoln School as a temporary holding facility for prisoners. Most prisoners housed at the facility will be there for a short time, with some on work release or serving time on weekends to fulfill their sentence.
The Supervisors also approved a request from the City of Urbana to establish a Tax Increment Financing District on unincorporated land so that the city can seek TIF funds for its waste water conveyance project.
Chris Justice said only a small portion of the project will be built on unincorporated land, with the rest on acreage already owned by the city.
“I believe the city council acted once to annex the property, but it was never properly filed,” Justice said.
Supervisor Dave Vermedahl said there was no real drawback to the county, though he would prefer that Urbana annex the property.
“It’s not a big issue, but something I would like to see acted on,” he said.
Justice said he would take Vermedahl’s request to the Urbana city council. Despite Vermedahl’s request, the Supervisors passed the request 3-0.
In other business, the Supervisors appointed Jim Magdefrau, Mary O’Brien and Bill Strong to the judicial magistrate commission, approved a pair of change orders totaling 1,454 for a flood reconstruction project and approved a pair of vacation carryover requests.
The next Supervisors meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 9 a.m. at the Benton County Auditor’s office.
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| State legislators to place high priority on flood relief |
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