By Steve Woodhouse
Marion County has paid over $10,000 annually to South Central Youth and Family Services to house juveniles in need of shelter. Since January 2009, the County had 46 days of service at the house.
The center takes in juveniles who have been mentally committed or facing other challenges at home. It does not accept criminal defendants. Marion County Sheriff Ron Goemaat says his department takes juveniles where juvenile court services tells them to. The usual facilities are in Eldora, Osceola and Des Moines.
“If we have a contract with (South Central Youth and Family Services) we should really be sending people (there),” Supervisor Jim Kingery told Director Scott Thomas.
The cost for housing a juvenile at the facility is $45 each day. Board Chairman Howard Pothoven believes that since Marion County does not utilize the facility much, the contract cost should go down. The County is locked into its contract with the facility until June 30, 2011.
The board received an update from Sara Bixby, Director of the South Central Iowa Solid Waste Agency (SCISWA). She reported no major problems. Recently, SCISWA borrowed money to build a new cell to hold garbage. Through existing revenue and new revenue from Appanoose County, SCISWA has been able to hold its tipping fee of $38 per ton steady for the coming year. The debt payment is $350,000 a year.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources requires landfills to have funds available for closing the landfill and to care for the land post-closure.
Bixby says SCISWA has $2.7 million available for this and no longer has to collect additional revenue for those tasks. SCISWA is hosting two household hazardous waste collection events. The first is April 3 in Pella and a second one July 10 in Knoxville. The public can bring their hazardous waste to the landfill for free disposal. Materials collected will be taken to the Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines for 87 cents per capita. With a flat fee, Bixby encourages people to bring all of the hazardous waste in your home in need of disposal to these events.
Other supervisors’ notes:
Approved a revision to the 2010-13 Transportation Improvement Program and Marion County Five-Year Program regarding the design and right of way acquisition for a box culvert on Oregon Drive, west of 192nd Place. Marion County Engineer Roger Schletzbaum said at any given point, his office is working on at least a couple years’‚ worth of projects. The office is ready to do this project, but it was originally scheduled for next year. To get funding for it, the plan has to be amended to move the project cost into this budget year. Schletzbaum and the supervisors will also keep their eye on Washington in March, when Congress will begin to discuss the next transportation bill. Cuts in funding are possible.
