Supervisor Heather Knebel (R-Traer).

School is out and summer is welcomed in my household!

We had our first HomeBase Iowa application and approval by the Board of Supervisors in May. I’m very excited that we got our first approval to help a gentleman that is currently serving in the military and decided to purchase a home in Tama County.

The V18 Bridge south of Highway 8 had been a problem the last year for residents. Our County Engineer worked with the Construction Technician, and they had patch work completed. I hear it is much better! I appreciate the fast work of our Interim Engineer to get this large bump resolved.

Several people have commented or posted on Snapchat about a roller driving down the County roads rolling the road. Strange sight to see right? The good news is, it’s not your County tax dollars at work, nor a County employee driving the roller. The County Engineer’s Association is working with Ingios to map the stiffness of unpaved roads across a number of counties in Iowa. They have three rollers running and the plan is to run for 3-4 weeks.

At the beginning of the fiscal year, the Board of Supervisors voted to set aside 10% of the budget for each department. With approximately one month left in this fiscal year, the Board has now released these appropriated funds to all departments. Departments justified their reasoning to use 100% of the funds budgeted, and in certain cases increased revenue will offset certain expenses. By withholding this budgeted amount until the end of the fiscal year, it allowed us to review each department’s budget and determine if all funds were actually needed.

Supervisor Curt Hilmer and I met with the County Engineer Nick to discuss and look at L Ave. north of Dinsdale. This road had millings from D-65 applied to the surface several years ago. Frost boils are causing the road to have several bad spots. Our two options are 1) remove the existing surface and go back to rock, or 2) core out the bad spots and reseal the road. The first option would mean there would be no spring embargo on the road. Option #2 would cost approximately $250,000-$350,000 and there would need to be a spring embargo for heavier vehicles in the spring. The County would need to re-seal the road every 3-5 years to maintain a good surface condition. A meeting will be held with local residents, businesses, and farmers to gather feedback, then the Board will make a decision in late June. Regardless of the outcome, we won’t be able to re-seal the road until after July 2027, as the DOT budget for Secondary Roads has already been submitted and approved. This road is a Farm to Market Road so there is funding available to the County for this use if needed.

I attended one of my board meetings on DECAT (Child Welfare Decategorization) this month with Jasper and Poweshiek Counties. DECAT is being eliminated per State legislation changes this year. The phase-out of this program in Iowa is driven by a massive state agency restructuring and an effort to shift child welfare funding from localized, county-level pools into a unified, statewide service model. DECAT had been around in Iowa communities since 1987. Instead of allowing localized governance boards to manage unspent funds and dictate specialized local projects, funding and oversight are being redirected to a centralized Early Childhood and Family Services (ECFS) system. There are still a lot of unknowns with this legislation that takes effect July 1, 2026. CPPC councils will not continue as they currently are, but some programs/investments would be maintained due to their fit into key prevention strategies, while other programs will be reviewed and replaced.

Peoples Clinic opened its doors in Traer in May, and I was able to attend the open house and meet the staff. I am very excited to see a clinic re-open in Traer and thank you to the local community members that made this happen.

In May, I attended the Eastern Iowa Workforce Leadership Summit in Iowa City and was able to meet members from the new Eastern Iowa Workforce Board. As you may recall from one of my previous articles, South Central Iowa Workforce Development and Mississippi Valley Workforce Development are in the process of merging in July 2026 with the new board being named the Eastern Iowa Workforce Board. Attending the meeting were Chief Elected Officers (CEOs), which are the County Board of Supervisor representatives, employees of the EIWB, board members as well as business leaders across the area. We learned collectively about our roles and how we interact with each other as board members or CEOs.

As usual, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Supervisor Heather Knebel (R-Traer), the first elected female supervisor in Tama County history, represents District 3, including the townships of Spring Creek, Crystal, Perry, and parts of far northern Carlton (excluding Garwin) and Howard. She can be reached at 641-481-2532 or hknebel@tamacounty.org.