By Sam Parsons

The Marion County Board of Supervisors met this morning and officially appointed Jared Harmon as the new county attorney. Harmon was previously the first assistant county attorney and he replaces former county attorney Ed Bull, who in January announced his resignation from the position in lieu of accepting a new position as Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Health and Human Services section with the state of Iowa.

The board also approved and established the Marion County EMS Advisory Committee to allow local EMS providers to collaborate and make decisions for EMS in the future. The committee will consist of 15 voting members and 9 non-voting members.

And the board received an update on their Junction 92 Shop funding proposal. County Engineer Tyler Christian said that as of now, the county has set aside a total of $5 million from a combination of Local Option Sales and Services Tax, American Rescue Plan, General Fund, and Secondary Road Fund dollars. This wouldn’t be enough to fund the construction of an office space, but it would cover the main shop. Both Christian and the board agreed that impending uncertainty in state legislation for county funding would impact their decision making, but that the project shouldn’t be delayed for much longer; board member Mark Raymie said that even uncertainty shouldn’t prevent action. 

Raymie suggested that Christian return at their next meeting with numbers mapping out different legislative scenarios, and no action was taken.

The next regular Marion County Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on March 14.