Board sets special meeting to name new county attorney

By Mary Zielinski
Posted 3/8/23

Faced with a 40-day deadline to meet, the Washington County Supervisors set 9 a.m., Saturday, March 11, to name one of the three finalists as the new county attorney.  The individual will …

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Board sets special meeting to name new county attorney

Posted

Faced with a 40-day deadline to meet, the Washington County Supervisors set 9 a.m., Saturday, March 11, to name one of the three finalists as the new county attorney.  The individual will replace John Gish, who resigned to accept and lead a victims’ unit in the state attorney general’s office.  

The candidates are Shane McChurch, Kalona, currently an assistant Washington County attorney; Zachary Miller, West Chester, formerly with the attorney general’s office in Des Moines; and Nathan Rapp, Davenport, an assistant Scott County attorney.    All three were interviewed by the board in February.

The Saturday meeting is planned for a full board session with provisions to be made to allow Supervisor Stan Stoops to attend via conference call.  Stoops is recuperating from surgery.  

Currently, the county position is an interim one, filled by Anthony Janney, Keota.  

The major item for the board on Tuesday was a discussion regarding meeting space needs for the county’s administrative offices and comes after considering, as noted by Supervisor Marcus Fedler, all options as well as current and future space requirements.  

The Federal Bank Building came up about 3,000 square feet short, he said, making the county-owned Orchard Hill Complex the likely site for a consolidation of all non-judicial offices.   

The board approved proceeding with Encite in Washington to do design work for the complex, as well as remodeling for the courthouse where the county attorney’s office and the court related offices will be hosted.

Funding for the work, via pandemic relief funds, requires a commitment of the money by the end of 2024 and completion of the project by the end of 2026.

In other business, the board:

•Formally approved the agreement with the Iowa Department of Transportation for Traffic Safety Improvement Program (TSIP) for work on county road G36.  Specifically, the agreement provides the county with $500,000 in TSIP funds that County Engineer Jacob Thorius said “will pay for at least half of the project” to install safety improvements that include paved shoulders and rumble strips on a 3.3-mile heavily trafficked segment of G36 (220th Street) from Redwood Avenue west to Highway 1.   The project completion date is July 1, 2025, although a 12-month extension could be requested.  The formal resolution was required by the IDOT.

•Approved support for the Washington County Emergency Management Agency’s application for a grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) for funding to provide Stop the Bleed kits for every school in the county.  Kit costs are an estimated $470 to $530 each. Funding also could be used for infrastructure needs, such as providing for secure door closures and other safety improvements.