1st Floor Courthouse Bathroom Floor Rots Out; Repairs Being Made

The 1st floor bathroom floor on the Worth County Courthouse has rotted out, forcing the county to make repairs and completely redo the bathroom. Some of the old tiles of the bathroom will be put on display. However, the floor had rotted out to the point where the only thing supporting the toilet was the pipe running directly below it. The cause was an accumulation of moisture buildup over the years, which eventually rotted out the entire floor.

The surplus auction brought in $9724.78, including around $2600 for an old jeep that the county sold.

Emergency Management Director Pat Kobbe reported that she was going into Cameron for training.

Economic Developer Tammy Ueligger reported that she was working on getting the former Casey's building as well as other old buildings sold. She reported that Leadership Northwest is seeking nominations for citizenship awards for around the area. The commission will make recommendations to Tammy, who will make the nominations.

County Market Days requested permission to set up on the Courthouse Lawn; commissioners gave their approval. Displays were in the sun even with the canopies sheltering the goods from sunlight. The County Market Days could not be held on the Fairground because of insurance issues; however, since the Courthouse lawn is public property and not privately owned, there was no issue with it being moved to the lawn. Ueligger reported that moving it to the square brought benefits to the existing businesses; for instance, there was cross traffic between Flowers N Things and County Market Days. The onions, radishes, and rhubarb were all sold out by 9 that morning.

At some point in time, County Market Days will have a chef come in from St. Joseph to do a cooking demonstration and vendors will pool resources to pay her way up here. Two girls are planning to sell caramel apples and lemonade; the lemonade stand was a hit last year and commissioners gave their approval to use the Gazebo. Ueligger reported that there were 2-3 vendors who were planning to set up this weekend to take advantage of the citywide garage sale traffic for Grant City and Allendale.

Road & Bridge Foreman Jim Fletchall reported that the county was putting in tubes for roads #232 and #233. One tube had washed clear out. They are also putting in three tubes west of Sheridan. Fletchall also reported that there were problems with the big dozer; one valve was stuck, causing it to overheat. The dozer blew out a radiator before the problem was found. Fletchall reported that the patron gravel hauling for the spring was done and that Wieland Hauling was planning to haul tax rock starting next week and finish by June. The loader was not steering properly and is in the repair shop. Fletchall said that he wanted to get caught up with the tube work and then turn his attention to the Claypool Bridge, which washed out in recent flooding.