The Washington County Board of Supervisors approved a few secondary roads department items during their meeting Tuesday.

The board approved acknowledgement of a Living Roadway Trust Fund grant application. County Engineer Jacob Thorius explained that they are requesting $3,000 from the Iowa Department of Transportation to purchase and retrofit a steel storage container into a semi-mobile, temperature and humidity controlled seed storage facility. The county currently stores seed on pallets in the back of their truck shed. This has created issues such as exposing the seed to moisture from the snow melting off of their trucks, difficulty in accessing the seed as equipment must be moved each time to get to the pallets, as well as rodent problems.

Thorius states a steel container will be more affordable than a wood structure, and they hope to store one year’s worth of seed, as the county has been seeding around 65 acres over the past three years. The total cost of the project is $4,798, with the county contributing $1,798. The supervisors also approved a state DOT fiscal year 2021 budget amendment and a personnel change request for a $30 per hour pay increase for Assistance Maintenance Superintendent John Wagner as he transitions to becoming the superintendent in November.