The bid opening for the new Junction 92 Marion County Maintenance Facility and a distribution request from the City of Pella for local option sales tax (LOSST) funds highlighted Tuesday’s Marion County Board of Supervisors meeting. 

The meeting began with the bid opening for the Junction 92 project with six different companies submitting their bids for the project. Those that ranged from approximately $5.8 million to $6.3 million have been taken into consideration by the board, and the winning bid will be awarded at the next meeting on December 12th.  

There was then a presentation given by Pella City Administrator Mike Nardini regarding a new request for distribution of Local Option Sales and Service Tax funds to the City of Pella. The City of Pella is requesting a 20 year agreement, where Pella would receive 8% of LOSST funds in the first two years, 10% of funds in years three and four, and 12% of funds through the remaining time of the agreement. Nardini stated that due to the substantial amount of revenue Pella generates, 12% is an adequate distribution of these funds.

After a lengthy discussion involving Nardini, the Board, County Engineer Tyler Christian, and Pella Mayor Don DeWaard, the board ultimately did not move forward with the request and stated they are looking for a shorter term agreement. The board encouraged the City of Pella, City of Knoxville, and Marion County to come up with a collaborative agreement to present at their next meeting. The meeting concluded with a discussion of a new system soon to be implemented to calculate the 2025 fiscal year budget.