The Washington County Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 8 opened with the submission of an approximate 250-signature petition from Washington County nursing facilities asking the board to institute a county mask mandate immediately.

Presented during the public comment segment, the package given to the board contained the petitions as well as letters from the facilities’ administrators, including from Kalona’s Pleasantview Home, asking for help to protect the most vulnerable populations in the county. 

The letters outline all precautions taken that include no outside visitors, keeping residents in their rooms, no communal dining, no group gatherings and no family visitors. Even with all precautions observed, there have been deaths at the facilities, the board was told. 

The request and documents were acknowledged by the board, who will review the request. Currently, the county has asked residents to use masks, but it is voluntary, not mandated.

The board also learned on Tuesday that the current COVID-19 infection rate in the county is 14.6% (it is 11.7% in Johnson County) and that there have been, since March, 21 deaths, with nine in the last two months. In most of the cases, there were underlying health issues.

In the first agenda action, the board unanimously approved the resolution vacating and closing parts of Road No. 9 (200th Street) in sections 19 and 30 in Jackson Township. Specifically, it is a portion of road starting at the west right-of-way of Highway 1, then east along the centerline of 200th street to a point 33 feet west of the southwest corner of Section 19. Action followed a public hearing in which it was explained that the action facilitates access to the property owner, who has land on both sides of the county road. All existing utility easements will remain in effect.

In other business, the board:

•received the annual request from the East Central Iowa Housing Trust Fund, a non-profit that aids with funding to help low-to-moderate-income residents with affordable housing in Benton, Iowa, Jones and Washington counties. It involved its purchase and rehabilitation programs. The request for the four counties totals $12,500, with Washington County’s share set at $3,200. The amount meets the state mandate for matching funds.  Since its inception ECIHTF received nearly $3 million in state money, which requires a $750,000 match. Washington County provided $29,230 of that match.  The request will be considered during the county budget process;

•approved a letter of support for the Community Connect Grant federal grant application by Sharon Telephone Company’s broadband plan for portions of rural Riverside to address the lack of adequate broadband internet access and connectivity in the area. The fiber installation project will start in the spring;

•briefly discussed the county Compensation Board’s recommendations for a 3% across-the-board salary increase for all elected officials, noting further review and discussions are needed and made it an agenda item for next week. Chairman Jack Seward, Jr. said it would provide time for input from department heads, as well as some considerations of employee raises; and

•received the weekly COVID-19 update that showed there were 1,554 positive cases in the county with 197 diagnosed in the last 197 days and 68 in the last seven days. State deaths are at 2,898 with 21 in Washington County.