Long-time Allamakee County Relief Director Linda Kruse informs Board of Supervisors of her retirement

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, April 16, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors officially approved an increase in the salary of Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake from $35,535 annually to $38,000, effective July 1. The increase includes the 2.5% salary increase the Board approved earlier this year for elected officials, department heads and non-union employees. The Board had agreed to the additional increase in Blake’s salary when it approved his department budget earlier this year, but no formal action to approve the raise was taken at that time.
Allamakee County Relief Director Linda Kruse informed the Board of her retirement, effective December 21 of this year, and asked for the Board’s permission to advertise for a replacement. Because her replacement would have “a lot to learn,” Kruse said she hoped to place an ad in the middle of May, conduct interviews in June and hire someone to start August 1 at $14 per hour full-time.
Allamakee County Auditor Pam Benjegerdes said that she had received a request from David Boss of Northeast Iowa Community Action for a copy of the Relief Office budget, signaling an intention to submit an offer to take over relief services in Allamakee County. “Please keep the Relief Office as it is,” Kruse said. “Don’t combine with Community Action. You’ll lose programs. They won’t do school supplies, Christmas or swim passes.” The Board tabled the matter for the time being, awaiting a former proposal from Northeast Iowa Community Action before making a decision.
Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour was present for the opening of bids for concrete pavement patching on County roads in 60 various locations. The low bid of $153,451.80 was submitted by Riehm Construction of Waukon, which is lower than the engineer’s estimated project cost of $166,339. Also bidding on the project were Skyline Construction ($165,101.09), Wicks Construction ($175,987.35), Midwest Contractors, Inc. ($176,946.67), Denco Highway Construction Corp. ($229,335.20) and Cedar Falls Construction ($243,822). Ridenour will review the bids and make his recommendation to the Board at next week’s meeting. The Board also approved and signed a maintenance agreement with the City of Waukon and the Iowa Department of Transportation for snow and ice removal on West Main Street and West Ninth Street.
In other business, the Board agreed to have a survey done of the lot upon which the Relief Office and Veterans Affairs buildings are located prior to having concrete repair work done in front of the property. The Board also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iowa Department of Public Health regarding the use of the Sharepoint system for electronic communications with State offices.