Isolated thunderstorms this morning, then cloudy skies this afternoon. High 47F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low around 30F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

Isolated thunderstorms this morning, then cloudy skies this afternoon. High 47F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low around 30F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

(Clarinda) -- Page County officials received an update on the replacement efforts of a fence line near Highway 2, where several loose animals have been reported.

Meeting in regular session Tuesday afternoon, the Page County Board of Supervisors heard an update from Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer and Chief Deputy Charles McCalla on a line of fencing on the property at 1704 209th Street near Norwich in the Tarkio Township in southern Page County. The board gave the Sheriff's Office the go-ahead to replace the fence in June last year. However, as the sheriff's office has attempted to find a bidder for the project, Palmer says the situation regarding various loose animals has not improved, adding reports are still nearly a daily occurrence.

"Farmers in the area are starting to wonder what's going to happen when these, what we're estimating, and Charles and I grew up on a farm, 400-to-500 pound and 350 pound hogs, get out into the field -- how much damage they're going to do to the neighbors crops," said Palmer. "We also have goats and they get out on a regular basis and numerous times a day, and right now they're just grazing. The hogs are rooting in the field around there, and they haven't crossed the highway, but can you imagine in your car going down the road at 55 miles an hour and hitting a boar at 500 pounds -- it is not going to move."

At that June meeting, McCalla said 72 calls had been made since May 2020, and are now well over 100. In the nine months since that meeting, McCalla says he has only been able to find one interested bidder for the project from J&J Fencing of Red Oak, which he presented to the board Tuesday.

"It tells exactly what their intentions are in terms of labor, rental equipment, and handling the livestock -- because someone's got to keep tabs on them while they're building the fence and stuff like that," said McCalla. "Their total amount for replacing the fence is $25,765."

He adds there would be $2,100 with Midland Surveying to ensure the fence is built on the property line. Nelson Murphy is the property owner. McCalla says he sent Murphy a letter requesting a new fence in December 2021 and was given 90 days to replace the stretch of fence per Iowa Code regarding habitual trespass or stray livestock on neighboring property. Additionally, if the repairs are unsatisfactory, state law allows the county to repair the fence itself and assess the costs on the resident's taxes. 

On top of replacing the fence, Palmer says some counties have also attempted to establish wandering livestock ordinances to help deter the "habitual" scenarios.

"For instance, let's say you have an acreage and your livestock has been called in seven times to have been out, and I'm just throwing seven times out there," he said. "Then that is something where you can have a county ordinance that can be enforced by the courts and you could start fining them, where a judge, if found guilty, could fine them for that. And then you would continue that the next time."

However, he and Supervisor Jacob Holmes added the ordinance would need to be a high enough bar to ensure accidents or minor incidents aren't treated as harshly. Palmer recommended the board communicate with County Attorney Carl Sonksen on other possible legal actions the board could take, including an ordinance.

In related business, the board also approved a $38,653 bid to upgrade the Sheriff's Office body camera system utilizing American Rescue Plan Act funds. Palmer says the proposal allowed for compatibility between the current and new devices.

"Our in-car cameras are Panasonics, Arbitrator HD is the model of the camera system in the cars, and these are also Panasonics and they sync with them," said Palmer. "You can go with another one, but then you take a chance that they won't trigger or activate when either the body cam is turned on to activate the car camera or vice versa."

Palmer says they originally planned to include the expenses in the upcoming fiscal 2024 budget before the board suggested utilizing ARPA dollars.

In other business, the board...

--Held a public hearing on the proposed maximum property tax dollars, approved a resolution on exceeding property tax dollars, and set a public hearing on the county budget for March 14th at 9:30 a.m.

--Approved a resolution setting all new board assignments to committees.

--Approved the use of courthouse grounds by Teresa Hill for Spirit of the Square on December 3rd, 2023

--Approved tax abatements on property owned by the city of Essex and the city of College Springs.

--Re-appointed Teresa Babcock to the Southern Iowa Regional Housing Authority Board.

At KMA, we attempt to be accurate in our reporting. If you see a typo or mistake in a story, please contact us by emailing kmaradio@kmaland.com.

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