August 13-20, 2021

The Week in Review is a weekly digital newsletter from Linn County, Iowa.

Emergency Rental Assistance Program Helps Linn County Renters Facing Eviction

Are you or is someone you know falling behind on rent or utility payments due to financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic? Financial help is now available for Linn County residents. Linn County, with assistance from Waypoint and HACAP, is administering rent and utility assistance through the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) to residents of Linn County. This program may provide eligible residents with up to 18 months of rent and/or utility assistance. Visit LinnCounty.org/ERA for more information and to see if you qualify.

Additional Public Forums Scheduled for Linn County’s ARPA Funding - Survey Now Available

Linn County will host two more public engagement forums regarding Linn County’s allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding from the federal government and will explain how residents can participate in identifying broad community priorities for funding. The next forum will be held Monday, August 23 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Jean Oxley Linn County Public Service Center, 935 2^nd St. SW, Cedar Rapids. The final scheduled forum will be held Thursday, August 26 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lynn Dunn Memorial Building on the Linn County Fairgrounds, 201 Central City Road, Central City. The August 23 forum will be livestreamed on Linn County’s Facebook page and the August 26 forum will be recorded and posted on Linn County’s website.

Linn County has developed a survey for residents as part of the public input process to identify priority community needs.

Learn more at LinnCounty.org/ARPA.

COVID-19 Contact Tracing Update

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to increase in Linn County driven by the highly transmissible Delta (B.1.617.2) variant. The increase in cases in a short period of time is once again straining local contact tracing resources, and leading to delays in the contact tracing process. The contact tracing process involves contacting individuals who are confirmed to have COVID-19, providing education, and notifying close contacts who have potentially been exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19. Linn County Public Health is working with community partners to assist with timely identification, notification, and education of cases and close contacts. Linn County Public Health asks that all individuals who have COVID-19 or are close contacts do their part to prevent the spread of the virus by taking action immediately upon learning of their diagnosis or exposure and do not wait to be contacted by the Linn County Public Health contact tracing team to take action to isolate or quarantine. Learn more.

Property Taxes Due September 30

The semiannual installment of property and mobile home tax statements will be arriving in mailboxes soon. The deadline to pay the first half of property taxes without penalty is September 30, 2021. A penalty of one and one half percent will attach to late payments beginning October 1, 2021. This is the busiest time of year for the Treasurer’s Office, so residents are urged to pay their property taxes online, by mail, or use Linn County’s drop box to avoid waiting in line. Learn more.

Special Election for North Linn Community School District

The North Linn Community School District has called a special election for September 14, 2021. The North Linn Community School District has residents in four counties. According to Iowa law, Buchanan and Delaware County voters will vote in their respective counties. Linn and Benton County voters will vote in Linn County. Early, in-person absentee voting begins August 25 for Linn and Benton County voters.

REMINDER: Participate in Our Climate Action Forums

Linn County is hosting public forums to review Linn County's first greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory. Linn County will use the GHG inventory data, combined with input from community outreach efforts, to create a climate action plan. The next forum is Saturday, August 21 at 10 a.m. at the Fillmore Gardens, 520 11th St. NW,
Cedar Rapids. Learn more.

REMINDER: Learn the Theraputic Benefits of Gardening

Come learn about the therapeutic benefits of gardening in a FREE Garden Bridge Outreach class from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays August 21 and 28 at the Linn County Fillmore Building gymnasium. The classes were developed by Linn County Food Systems Council member Scott Koepke and are hosted by Linn County Sustainability. Program participants will learn about life skills, such as hope, resilience, patience, balance, and peace while observing or participating in garden maintenance (watering, weeding, and harvesting). Samples of vegetables will be provided each week. You can even meet a therapy chicken! Registration is encouraged.

Board of Supervisors Meeting Recap

The following is a recap from the Linn County Board of Supervisors meetings the week of August 13-20, 2021. The Board of Supervisors:

Met with and received updates from the following departments: Planning & Development, Purchasing, Risk Management, and Communications
Received a COVID-19 update from Linn County Public Health
Approved a proposal from Stanley Consultants in the amount of $14,850 offering review assistance for the utility-scale solar project application submitted by Coggon Solar LLC. The consulting contract with Stanley Consultants will be paid for by using the utility scale rezoning application fee paid by Coggon Solar LLC (this means it is not being paid for with tax dollars).
Received and placed on file Treasurer’s (Auto Dept.) report to the County Auditor receipts and disbursements for July 2021
Approved a resolution awarding a contract to Peterson Construction, Inc., in the amount of $55,290 for repair of bridge #2190 on Sisley Grove Rd
Set a public hearing for September 13, 2021 at 11 a.m. to determine whether Linn County will convey to Lois M. Hart, whatever interest Linn County may have in the vacated right-of-way as follows: The East 80 feet of the vacated alleyway between John Street to the west and Williams Street to the east in Brown’s Addition to the unincorporated town of Viola, Iowa along with all that part of vacated Williams Street lying west of Lots 42 and 43 of Brown’s Addition to the unincorporated town of Viola, Iowa and the west half of the balance of Williams Street North thereof to the south right-of-way line of County Home Road
Approved a 28E Agreement with the City of Bertram for a seal coat project on shared portions of Knapp Rd between E Bertram Rd and the southern city limits
Approved Shared Road Maintenance and Snow & Ice Control Agreements between Linn County and the City of Central City and between Linn County and the City of Walford
Approved a Certificate of Insurance allowing Linn County Election Services to use space at various properties owned by the Archdiocese of Dubuque located in Linn County, Iowa as satellite voting locations
Approved a Certificate of Insurance allowing Linn County Veterans Affairs to use space at Lindale Mall as part of the Hometown Heroes event
Approved a Release of Mortgage document of March 18, 2013, made and executed by the East Central Iowa Council of Governments, in association with the Linn County’s Single Family New Construction Grant, regarding property commonly known as 4582 Creekview Trail, Palo, Iowa retroactive to August 13, 2021
Set a public hearing for September 13, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. to establish a Secondary Road Assessment District to improve Blue Creek Court
Set a public hearing for September 13, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. to establish a Secondary Road Assessment District to provide improvements to upgrade Wildlife Road to Class A standards
Set a public hearing for September 13, 2021 at 11 a.m. to vacate all of Timothy Lane lying north of the northerly right-of-way line of Linn Ridge Road and being in the SE ¼ SE ¼ of Section 18, NE ¼ NE ¼ of Section 19, SW ¼ SW ¼ of Section 17 and the NW ¼ NW ¼ of Section 20 all in Township 83 North, Range 05 West, Linn County, Iowa
Set a public hearing for September 13, 2021 at 11 a.m. to vacate all of Old Dubuque Road right-of-way east of the right-of-way of Alderman Road and lying north of Iowa DOT right-of-way for Dubuque Road, located in the W ½ NW ¼, Section 27, Township 84 North, Range 05 West, Linn County, Iowa, extending 1200 feet east of the west line of said Section 27
Approved a vacancy form requesting a part-time custodian for Facilities
Discussed fiscal year 2022 budget amendment requests and set a public hearing on the proposed amended budget for September 8, 2021
Provided Board member reports of their activities, meetings, and project updates

NOTE: Board of Supervisors Meeting Recaps briefly summarize and highlight topics from the Board’s meeting agendas. This recap is provided by County staff as a public service and is not an official record of Board action. The official record of approved minutes from Board of Supervisors meetings are approved at future meetings and are available for viewing after approval.

Board agendas, minutes, and meeting videos are available on the Agendas and Minutes webpage.

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