The Carroll County Board of Supervisors brought back the proposed ballot language for a county-wide referendum vote on the proposed $8.95 million jail project. The language, developed by Robert Josten of Dorsey and Whitney, was presented at Monday’s meeting in a resolution to set the referendum date as Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 in the mid-term general election. The ballot would read, “Shall the County of Carroll, State of Iowa, enter into a loan agreement and issue its general obligation bonds in an amount not exceeding the amount of $8,950,000 for the purpose of constructing, furnishing and equipping a County Jail and Sheriff’s office?” The resolution was voted on at that meeting, and passed with four supervisors in favor and one against. Supervisor Neil Bock questioned the sole nay voter, Dean Schettler, about the reasons he had for his decision to vote that way. Schettler’s response was that he did not believe there had been enough transparency and that there was not a committee chair, and therefore no consistency in the minutes of the committee meetings. Bock’s reply was the statement that Schettler had been invited to attend all of the committee meetings, but had not been present at them for various reasons. The favorable vote from the supervisors, however, will move the referendum forward to the residents of Carroll County. It will take 60 percent, plus one, approval to pass this November. A copy of the resolution as well as the renderings for the proposed project are included here.
