Monday night’s power outage in Newton gave Sheriff John Halferty all the talking points he needed to convince the Jasper County Board of Supervisors of the county’s need for two additional generators.
The generators would be located at the Jasper County Emergency Command Center and the Secondary Roads Department. Halferty said Jim Sparks, Jasper County’s Emergency Management Coordinator, had secured grant funds to pay for each individual generator.
Newton-based Van Maanen Electric was selected to provide the generators at a cost of $2,994 a piece.
“It’s kind of a two-fold project,” Halferty said. “We have radio towers at the county shop and at the annex building here that run the radio channels. They are repeated channels, so they require electricity or power to them at all times.”
Halferty also requested, and received approval, for Van Maanen to install the county’s new generators. The generator at the EOC will be placed upon the roof, and the project will cost $3,666.33. The instillation at Secondary Roads will cost $3,158.80.
After making those requests, Halferty also proposed the board consider hiring two part-time, as needed, transport officers. He said the two current transport individuals have been very busy and with his department being down two deputies, this could provide a needed service.
“It’s not really adding positions,” Halferty said. “The number of transports that we have to prison or to mental commitment or substance abuse commitments sometimes come all at once.”
The board approved this, and Halferty said he and Jasper County Human Resources Director Dennis Simon were drafting a plan of the job description.
Simon also received approval for the hiring resolutions of a part-time position for the Jasper County Treasure’s Office, due to an impending retirement, and a seasonal position for the Jasper County Conservation Office.
After consulting with County Attorney Mike Jacobsen, the board voted again on the Prairie City annexation project to clear up the legal description of the lands being annexed in the resolution. The measure was originally approved during the Feb. 11 meeting.
Senior staff writer Ty Rushing may be contacted at (641) 792-3121, ext. 426, or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.