The Cherokee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 with Bryan Petersen, Cheryl Ellis, Dave Skou, Ray Mullins II and Shane Bellefy present. Tom Cullen, Chronicle Times, represented the press. Kelly Puhrmann, Derek Scott, Gary Lundquist, Chuck Stubbe, Brent Hinders, Jonathon Lewis, Stu Hogg, Karin Cedar and Maria Schueder were also in attendance. Unless otherwise indicated, all votes were offered as follows: Ayes – Mullins, Ellis, Bellefy, Skou, Petersen; Nayes – none; Abstentions – none.
Chairman Petersen called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Motion by Mullins, seconded by Ellis to approve the agenda. Motion carried.
Motion by Skou, seconded by Bellefy to approve the minutes of the previous meeting. Motion carried.
There were no comments from the public.
Kelly Puhrmann, County Engineer, presented a right-of-way permit for consideration and discussed activities in the Secondary Roads Department.
Motion by Ellis, seconded by Skou to approve an underground construction on county right of way application for WesTel Systems in Section 10 of Amherst Township. Motion carried.
Nathanial Story, Deputy Assessor, presented the 2026 Slough Bill applications for consideration and discussed other agricultural exemptions.
Motion by Mullins, seconded by Bellefy to approve the 2026 Slough Bill applications as presented including tax exempt status for 3,617.33 acres of private properties classified as: Open Prairie & Forest Cover, Wildlife, Wetland, Native Prairie and Federal Fruit & Forest Reserve. Motion carried.
Story reported that the Glacier’s Edge Windfarm has reached the 30% assessment cap with 11 million of additional value being added in Assessment Year 2026. The total project has a 70 million total assessment, prior to applying a taxable rollback factor.
Motion by Skou, seconded by Bellefy go into closed session per Iowa Code Chapter 21.5(1)(c). Roll call vote: Mullins-aye, Ellis-aye, Bellefy-aye, Skou-aye, Petersen-aye. Motion carried and session was closed at 9:11 a.m.
Regular session resumed at 9:43 a.m. No action was taken as a result of the closed session.
Motion by Bellefy, seconded by Mullins to approve a draft copy of the Cherokee County Personnel Policy after a minor clarification regarding fiscal year end payroll. Motion carried.
The supervisors provided committee reports and reviewed meeting schedules.
Review of the proposed 2026/2027 budget continued.
There being no further business, Chairman Petersen called for a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Motion by Bellefy, seconded by Ellis to adjourn the meeting at 11:39 a.m.
All board agendas and minutes are available online at cherokeecounty.iowa.gov .
Attest: Kris Glienke, County Auditor
Bryan Petersen, Chairman
Published in the Marcus News on April 2, 2026