Minutes from the June 3, 2026 Bates County Commissioners meeting
The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner John Gray and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.
Lacy Laning and Ann Evans came in to meet with the Commission. Ann informed the Commission of a meeting they held on June 1st where a motion was made to make Lacy Laning the Trustee of New Home Township. She also explained that a motion was made to move Ann Evans to a board member that will being doing Clerk duties until the Township finds someone to take the Clerk position.
They informed the Commission that they have copies of resignation letters from the previous Trustee, Stan Marlin, and a previous board member, Lucas Mellenbruch. Ann then stated a motion was made to remove Stan as Trustee and from all bank accounts.
Trent made a motion to appoint Lacy as the new Trustee of New Home Township. John seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
Lacy then spoke over the Terms of Township Officials, wondering why they all serve a two-year term. In doing so, the entire board is then wiped out, and no one is left with knowledge of what has been happening so the transition of a new board is more difficult than it should be. She felt as if they were staggard, it would leave one or two individuals on the board for another year to help give knowledge of things that have been happening and can help the newcomers be better seated on the board. Jim said that he would check into the Statute, as the Commission thought that they were supposed to be staggard anyway.
They then discussed a road that butts up to New Home Township that needs help. This specific road is under the ownership of Osage Township and gives New Home a lot of backlashes. New Home is not responsible for this certain road, and it is agreed upon that Osage has ownership of the last mile of the road that resides in New Home. In that case, Lacy wondered who received the CART funds over that portion of the road to which Trent informed her that Osage receives those funds.
Hume School District, Scott Morrison; Adrian School District, Don Lile; Miami School District, Daniel Johnson; Chris Gach of Adrian, Clearway Representatives, Mark Brady, Josh Framel, Barry Matchet; MarksNelson, Steve Etcher; GilmoreBell, Mark Grimm; Doug Mager with Mid America News Paper; West Point Township, Christian Merz, Richard Merz; Homer Township, Lynda Wiley, David Tidman, Brent Bettels; Amsterdam, Gayle Beachner and George Nelson all attended the 11:00 am meeting with the Commission.
The Commission introduced themselves as well as the Clearway Representatives and Legal Counsel. Steve Etcher then began explaining the importance of Chapter 100 Bonds and how the tax will be determined. Mark Grimm clarified that this is to maximize local revenue and applauded the County for coming out on top of any other County they have worked with. Steve spoke about how Bates County is not zoned so you have free range of whatever you choose and how this company can help with the maintenance of things. Barry thanked the citizens that were involved and thanked the Commission for the opportunity to work with the County. Josh agreed with Barry and reminded the Commission and the citizens to reach out with any questions at any time and encouraged them to continue reaching out. John thanked everyone for coming, their requests to be reviewed, and their involvement in the matter. He then went on to explain how the Commission wanted to set the bar for other counties and that is what they accomplished. Bates County was able to set the bar higher than any other county. Trent explained the growth of his knowledge through this process and felt as if they ended up making the correct decision. Jami thanked the Commission for listening and voting to redirect the Administration Fee back to the political subdivisions. Jim explained that he was not on board with Solar until learning the protection and surety Chapter 100 Bonds would give the County, the things that were being done for the community, and the budget every year. He then thanked Josh and Barry for working with the Commission through everything as well as Steve and Mark for all they did for the County. Mark B. then mentioned that the process as a whole and stated that it was respectful and efficient.
The Commission asked if any of the concerned citizens had any questions, so Brent introduced himself and explained that he was familiar with the legal counsel due to his background of working with them. He expressed his relief that he felt when the Commission told him who they would be working with and even encouraged them to do so. He then asked about the setbacks to which Steve explained the development agreement and informed Brent they would be 45 feet. Brent then advocated for the houses that are covered on all four sides.
Daniel Johnson thanked the Commission and Clearway for the money the Miami School District will receive from this project and was grateful that it was coming during a time with state financial cuts. Don Lile asked about the PILOT distribution and what will happen within the 35 years if certain things happen. Richard Merz, representing his son, asked some questions about the escalator and a few others his son had listed for him to gather information on. Brent asked about the Road Use Agreement and asked for a copy to be emailed. Don asked the Commission about the issue with Linn County not allowing lines to be ran to their county and he was informed that they would have to settle something in court.
Brent asked about a lump sum of money that he felt Amsterdam and Amoret could use, since the money he was referring to was now being distributed back into the political subdivision. John felt as if it was too late to be asking for anything more and reminded him that the Mayors of the two towns are working directly with Clearway to negotiate their own Community Betterment Agreement. He then stated that if they made any changes now, it would prolong this process another three weeks. Mark G. then informed John that he doesn’t think this would be something they could fix and it would not make the three-week process start over. He stated that the County Commission can change anything they need to and the process would only consist of Clearway Legal Counsel changing the documents like they did when they change the status of the Administration Fee. Brent mentioned that this was a meeting for them to come in and ask questions and voice concern so they should have made room for such matters. John then stated that is why everyone has been working on this for months. Brent felt that this was just a part of the process and if that means they must do some more research and gather more information before it’s all said and done, that’s better than regretting it after the decision is made. He expressed the gratitude that those two towns would have if the Commission did this for them. John then asked if the towns were so thankful, then why are they not in attendance? Brent explained that he was there for the representation of Rob, the Mayor of Amoret, and could not speak for Shane. Brent stated Rob had to work so he could not be there himself and pointed out that Rob and Shane weren’t even on the list to receive a letter regarding this meeting, as well as reminding John that he had previously mentioned that the letter needed to be worded differently. John mentioned that was a good point.
John then made a motion to go into closed session to seek legal counsel at 12:16 pm per statute 610.021(1). Trent seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
John made a motion at 12:30 pm to go back into open session. Trent seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
John made a motion to accept and sign the contracts as they were presented. Trent seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion carried. No opposition.
Clearway then stuck around as the citizens left and the Commission signed the Contracts.
Mike Walensky and Rebecca Roman with S&P Global had a zoom call with the Commission and Jami Page, the Bates County Clerk. This meeting consisted of them discussing the Counties Financials.
Jerry and Tammy Williams, with New Home Township, came in and discussed a road that resides in Osage and asked that the Commission talk to Osage and ask them to try and fix it.
Trent explained the new positions that were set in place on the Township Board.
Tammy asked about CART money and Trent explained that Osage gets the amount for that road, as they now own the one mile that originally belongs to New Home. They also asked if there was something different in place with roads that lead to conservation areas. They felt as if they were always nicer than any other roads. Trent explained that the township(s) have the opportunity to fill out paperwork through the conservation and receive a money based on amount of miles for rock to be placed on the roads that lead to said areas.
They then began discussing once more the road that belongs to Osage. Tammy and Jerry reside in New Home, but their travel takes place on the Osage owned road. Trent informed her that there is somebody working on it as they spoke and was in good hopes of a night and day difference.
Tammy then asked if any of the Townships have any sort of training that they must attend if they sit on the board. She explained that the individuals who fill the Osage board have been nasty to them. It was mentioned that a meeting Osage held, they could hear yelling and cussing before they even opened the door. They then explained an incident where the Osage Trustee yelled at Jerry at the door when he was in effort to attend a meeting. Trent apologized and said he heard about the incident through the grape vine and eased their minds by assuring them he would call them and give them a push in the right direction.
Tammy thanked the Commission for meeting with them and was appreciative of them taking the time to listen.
#MidAmericaLive
.webp)
