Supervisors Discuss Future of Small Towns

SIGOURNEY – During the Aug. 19 meeting of the Keokuk County Board of Supervisors, County Engineer Andy McGuire stated that the City of Ollie needed resurfacing work and to repair a box culvert. McHuire noted that this work would be expensive for the small town to pay. He brought up the fact that many small towns in the county rely on endowment grants to do basic road work. Supervisor Mike Hadley stated that he believes that, eventually, a lot of small towns like Ollie will disincorporate due to a lack of money and basic government services and be taken over by the county. He stated that he did not want small towns to disincorporate and questions how far the county should go to prevent that from happening. Supervisor Daryl Wood noted that Ollie is a “bedroom community” lacking in business.

The board sent a letter of support to KCED to help the organization obtain a IEDA Boost Grant for a community center. The board approved allowing Farmer’s Coop to place 30,000 gallon propane tanks north of Keota.