County Supervisors Hear Positive Feedback About Evening Meeting

If the first try is an indicator of things to come, the Mills County Board of Supervisors’ evening meetings on the first Tuesday of the month will be well attended in the future.

Around 20 citizens attended the board’s meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 4, at the Mills County Annex in Glenwood. It was the board’s first evening meeting since voting in January to conduct one of its regular weekly meetings in the evening on a six-month trial basis.

The supervisors normally meet Tuesday mornings at 8:15 a.m. in the county courthouse. When proposing the idea in January, new county supervisor Jack Sayers said  the evening meetings would provide more Mills County residents face-to-face access to the supervisors.

“This just gives an option for taxpayers to get on the agenda and come speak to us,” he said.

Several Mills County residents spoke out during the public comment portion of last week’s meeting, addressing a variety of issues, ranging from requests for the board to limit county tax growth and to review its snow removal policy so county crews can be out treating roads during winter weather later than 7 p.m.

Board members also fielded questions on several other topics, including future development for the Glenwood Resource Center property, a proposed CO2 pipeline in northwest Mills County and the city of Council Bluffs’ possible annexation of property in northern Mills County.

Three of the citizens who addressed the board thanked the supervisors for giving the evening meetings a try.

“Thanks for having a meeting at night,” resident Bonnie Millsap said.

Sayers told the audience he was appreciative of their attendance.

“I just want to say I am very grateful to see the amount of people that are here this evening,” Sayers said. “I was a little worried about how many people would show up but I’m glad that you are taking the opportunity on a Tuesday night to be here.

“We’re doing this for the first six months of the year. I believe our last one will be in July, If people don’t come, that’s when they are going to be ended. If you can keep on coming, if you can make sure that your neighbors and your friends are coming to these meetings, than we’ll continue to have them. So, thank you for being here.”

The supervisors’ next evening meeting will be March 4 at 6 p.m. Their other weekly meetings will be continue to be on Tuesday mornings.