Floyd County to change rural solid waste collection site hours

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Hours for the Floyd County Solid Waste Collection site south of the fairgrounds are going to change slightly beginning in May, closing half an hour earlier on weekdays and opening half an hour later on Saturdays.

The county Board of Supervisors approved the changes suggested by County Engineer Jacob Page at the board’s meeting this week. The new hours will likely take effect Saturday, May 13.

“What I’ve been running into was some issues where Karen has to work more than 7½ hours” each day, said Page, referring to site manager Karen Smith.

“She needs to get there to open it before people arrive, then she has to stay late if people are showing up right at the end of the collection site being open,” he said. Smith’s position is budgeted for 7½ hours per day – 37½ hours per week.

Currently the site is open from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

Page said they track when people use the site, which is available only to Floyd County rural residents, and few people use the site during the last half hour it’s open on weekdays or early in the morning on Saturdays.

He proposed changing the hours to 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, closing a half hour earlier on weekdays and opening a half hour later on Saturdays.

Smith’s actual shift would begin 15 minutes before opening time and end 15 minutes after closing time, so the number of hours she works each week would remain the same, at 37½, Page said.

That way the site would be ready right away at opening time and she can better serve people who show up near closing time, he said.

“And then she’d still have some time to finish what she needs to do at the end of her shift and she can go home at the same time every day,” he said.

The supervisors approved the new hours, and asked Page to get the word out about the change, through signage at the site and possibly with handouts for customers in the several weeks before the change takes effect.

Also at the meeting this week, the board:

• Set a public hearing for 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 8, regarding disposing of a small triangular parcel of property in Rockford north of the intersection of 2nd Avenue NW and Eighth Street NW.

The supervisors had discussed at their previous meeting April 10 a request by Jerome and Karen Schlader to take over the property, saying it had been maintained by family members since the 1960s, and they would pay any costs involved in the transfer.

County Attorney Todd Prichard said at that meeting he had been unable to find any records showing ownership of the property, which means by default the county likely owns it and can dispose of it, but legally the county has to announce the potential disposal of the property in case anyone else is interested.

Prichard advised the board to offer a quit-claim deed rather than a warranty deed if the board does agree to dispose of the property, because the county cannot warranty a clean title.

• Heard from another engineering firm interested in being appointed as the inspector for carbon dioxide pipeline installation work in the county if either or both pipelines being proposed to go through Floyd County are granted construction permits.

By Iowa law the county has to either provide or hire an inspector to make sure that any agricultural land disturbed by the project is returned to as close to original condition as possible and that the provisions of ag land easement agreements and other agreements between the pipeline companies and landowners are followed.

By Iowa law all inspection costs are paid by the pipeline companies, through the county to the engineering firm.

Representatives of ISG made the presentation this week, going through what Iowa Code requires and what their company can provide to make sure those requirements are met.

Tiffany Kruizenga, ISG pipeline project coordinator, said the company had been responsible for the inspections on much of the Dakota Access oil pipeline that was constructed through parts of Iowa in 2016 and 2017, but was more limited then on what they could require the construction companies to do because of Iowa code at the time.

Asked if the company’s inspectors had ever stopped work on the Dakota Access Pipeline because of weather conditions or other concerns, Kruizenga said, “We did stop a couple of times. I wish it could have been more. Now the code would allow that.”

The previous week representatives of Snyder and Associates had made a presentation regarding inspection services for the county.

Several engineering companies had made presentations to the Board of Supervisors last year regarding being appointed to provide pipeline inspection services, but none of the current board members were on the board at that time, and so they are inviting companies back to make their pitches.

Construction on the pipeline project by the company that is furthest along in the process, Summit Carbon Solutions, could begin in spring 2024 if the Iowa Utilities Board grants it a construction permit.

• Appointed county residents Ben Rottinghaus and Jim Howe along with engineer Tyler Conley of Bolton & Menk Inc. as the commissioners for the Drainage District 3 reclassification project.