The Cass County Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution for the enforcement of posted weight limits on county bridges. Cass County Engineer Charles Bechtold, today (Friday), said the move will make the resolution an annual occurrence. Bechtold said the signs have always been posted, but there was never a resolution adopted. He said enforcement however, has been an issue. He cited an incident in Audubon County where an overloaded grain cart caused a bridge collapse in the fall of 2008. The accident prompted a legal issue where the weight limit was posted, but no resolution was passed that would have enforced the limit through stiff penalties.)

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors passed a resolution to enter into a 28-E agreement with 58 other counties in Iowa, known as the Iowa Precinct Atlas Consortium. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman explained the computer software program and hardware will help with voter identity confirmation through the use of a scanner for ID’s or voter registration cards. The County will pay a fee of $1,500 per year to remain in the consortium, which was started in 2008.

Sunderman said there are only two such systems in existence. The State uses a separate system, but it never really caught on like the Atlas system has. The Supervisors today (Friday), also heard reports from County Conservation Director Micah Lee, who said they’ve been cleaning up a lot of storm damage at parks in the county, as far as downed tree limbs are concerned. They’re also continuing with general maintenance and repairs.

And, Cass County Veterans Affairs Director Mitch Holmes provided the Board with a Quarterly and Annual Report. In his annual report, Holmes said his office assisted 606 veterans and their families, with a total of 4,586 contacts having been made. A total of 429 federal VA documents were processed during that time, as well.

Holmes said recent statistics shows Cass County veterans and their families received a little more than $7.825-million dollars in federal VA Benefits during FY 2016, which is an increase of just under $100,000 from last year. That includes $3.55-million for compensation and pensions, $3.7-million for medical expenditures, and $413,000 for education and vocational rehab.

Holmes said if federal VA assistance was not available, many of the County’s veterans and their families would have to seek assistance from state and County sources, such as the general assistance fund, which would reduce the amount of assistance available to non-veteran residents.