by Matt Marquardt –
OSAGE – Tuesday morning’s Mitchell County Supervisor’s meeting grew hotter by the minute as the room filled up and tempers flared over what to do with their courthouse.
Build new or preserve the historic structure? A group of Mitchell county residents want to preserve and renovate, while the supervisors say that for every one person they talked to that wants to preserve, “15 others” want to build a new structure.
After the Supervisors approved the hiring of an architectural firm out of Des Moines to design a possible new courthouse, a petition with 784 signatures was presented by a group of citizens called “Friends of the Courthouse” that would force the matter to a vote.
That petition will likely be accepted at the next Supervisor meeting, and the question of whether Mitchell County gets a brand new courthouse or a preserved and renovated courthouse will be on a ballot.
A public hearing was then held, where citizens were able to voice their opinions and have dialogue with the Supervisors.
The gentleman above gave the Supervisors a stern lecture about a sign on the door to their meeting room with a picture of a gun on it that mentions “ammo” and a “warning shot.”
Pappajohn Law Firm lawyer Kristen N. Ollenburg addresses the Mitchell County Supervisors, representing citizens interested in saving the current courthouse.
Joel Voaklander, Bob Marreel and Stan Walk are the Mitchell County Supervisors.
Supervisor Stan Walk posted the above picture and the following words to his Facebook page on July 30, 2012:
“Betty McCarthy and Mary Demea (sp.) present Lowell Tesch a petition demanding an election on the courthouse. McCarthy and Demea (sp.) would rather between $5 and $8 million be spent on rennovating (sic) a disfunctional (sic) facility”
(NOTE: Walk also took a shot at his Supervisor seat election opponent Janeal Dunn on July 15, saying “Janeal Dunn wants to spend millions on a worn out disfunctional (sic) courthouse. Consider it Dunn favors saving the past.”
Then on July 24th, he said “There are numerous signs posted in and by the Board of Supervisor’s office to Please Turn Off All Cell Phones. Ringing cell phones are very disruptive to our meetings. Today Candidate for Second District Supervisor Janeal Dunn’s cell phone rang and rang, and Dunn made no attempt to turn off the device. Need I say more?”
Again on July 6th, Walk said “Janeal Dunn is an active member of the “Friends of the Courthouse”. The “Friends” advocate another study by their own hand picked “expert” to evaluatge (sic) the physical structure of the courthouse. My concern is: Will their “expert” lowball (sic) the estimate to bring the courthouse up to Iowa Code Standards and then if the work is started, “Surprise, Surprise–there are millions of dollars of ‘change orders’, thus costing substantially more than building a new facility.”)
Watch the spirited debate in the following video:
httpv://youtu.be/QHz8g5A-2xI
Watch some reaction to the meeting from Mary Dunea and Betty McCarthy in the following video:
httpv://youtu.be/jJ_jRDMxodw
