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After a “snag” with the amount of tuition reimbursement owed to the City of Creston, the Union County Board of Supervisors approved the hiring of Dillon Hightshoe as the newest sheriff’s deputy at its meeting Wednesday in the Union County Courthouse.
Sheriff Rick Piel said of the four candidates, Hightshoe was the best candidate.
“He’s already trained; he already knows the area — Creston-wise,” Piel said. “The only training he’s really got to do is learn the civil process part of it and (county) roads.”
Piel brought an offer before the board to hire Hightshoe on a one-year contract and assume the $7,130.13 remaining on his training debt to the Creston Police Department. Piel said it is routine for a hiring entity to pay for academy training while requiring the new hire sign a multi-year contract. Hightshoe owes CPD just over a year on his current contract.
Piel said in order to hire any of the other candidates, the cost to pay for their training would be approximately $31,000.
The original offer passed unanimously, but a short time later, Piel returned and said he had received an email from CPD, altering the repayment needed. After correcting an error in calculating the repayment, the amount is $14,260.
The calculations should have included two years of repayment instead of one as Hightshoe has not reached the anniversary of his training for this year.
Piel said he was still in favor of hiring Hightshoe, but he suggested increasing the contract to two years.
“I’m of the opinion we need to pay it and sign a two-year contract,” he said.
Piel said Hightshoe was still the best candidate and the $14,000 was still less than the county would pay to send one of the other candidates to the academy. In addition, Hightshoe can start Aug. 10, where the others would need to complete the 13-week training before assuming their duties. Board member Dennis Brown also noted that the department would be paying the other candidates during that training period.
Board chair Rick Friday suggested the county pay the original $7,000 and let Hightshoe take care of the other half.
Brown expressed his confidence in Piel’s decision.
“You’re looking at his scores and you’re judging his character too,” Brown said. “I’m confident in you.”
“I’d say he’s a local boy and you feel like he’s the best candidate,” board member Ron Riley said.
After some hesitation, Riley seconded Brown’s motion to approve the repayment of the $14,000 with a two-year contract. The motion passed 2:1 with Friday as the “no” vote.
Piel will present the amended contract to Hightshoe for his consideration.
In other county business:
• sealed bids for the county-owned property in the unincorporated area known as Kent were opened with a $6,000 bid from Daniel and Brianna Schaffer and a $4,001 bid from Dale and Sharon Cline. The county will verify the parcels named on the bids are the same on the two offers and notify the winning bidder.
• Union County Public Health Nurse Robin Sevier updated the board on current COVID-19 cases, saying the map on the state website shows 90, but she believes some of those are duplicates, keeping the count at 88.
• Sevier said progress is being made on a COVID-19 vaccine, but she doubts the projected timeline of November availability.
• Union County Engineer Zach Gunsolley said a dust control complaint against MidAmerican Energy in the area where the wind turbines are being built had been rectified. He said he sent an email to MidAmerican to remind them of their obligation to keep the dust under control.
• four utility permits, one for Alliant Energy and three for Southern Iowa Regional Water Association, were approved.
• a request to remove a county easement from land owned by David Packnett so that a parcel can be purchased by Scott Kropf will be considered after consultation with the county engineer and the county attorney. The requesting parties would be required to pay for a survey to separate the parcel from the current block of land.