DAKOTA CITY - A recent ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court could have a bearing on a drainage project at Livermore.
On Monday, Humboldt County Supervisor Harlan Hansen said the court recently ruled on an appeal by the Chicago and Central Pacific Railroad Company versus the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors.
The railroad was appealing a district court decision making it responsible for costs to repair a tile beneath railroad tracks.
Hansen said the railroad must now pay for the work.
According to online records, the court denied the railroad's appeal Friday.
However, the court did not take up the definition of a culvert, Hansen said.
"So we are not out of the woods yet," he said.
Humboldt County is involved in a similar tile repair beneath tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad on the southwest edge of Livermore. The board awarded a contract for the work in April with a completion date of this month. The county intends to bill the railroad for the work.
On Monday, Humboldt County Attorney Jon Beaty said the county should proceed with the work based on the court ruling.
In other business, the board approved contracts for three box culvert replacement projects. Project LC-191805 on Georgia Avenue between 240th and 250th streets is to be done by Weidemann Inc. of Dows for $48,546. Project LC-303425 on 155th Street four miles south of Ottosen in the amount of $78,057, and Project LC-192703 on Juniper Avenue between 260th and 270th streets in the amount of $159,405 both are to be done by Peterson Contractors of Reinbeck.
Hansen reported MIDAS has completed the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for 2012 required by Economic Development Administration. The study found the region's medium household income was 12.5 percent lower than the state medium. Humboldt County has an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent, the second lowest in the six-country region. The region's strengths are in transportation, manufacturing, health care and quality education. Weaknesses include declining population retaining people in the 15 to 24 age bracket, lack of available quality housing and an aging infrastructure.