Commissioners discuss BZA appointment, open county farm bids

The Pulaski County Commissioners discussed several items at their Jan. 20 morning meeting, including a BZA reappointment request and opening sealed county farm lease bids. Building Inspector Karla Redweik explained that they have a Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA)/Advisory Plan Commission (APC) appointed citizen member seat whose term expired on Jan. 1. Abby Dickey currently holds this seat and has requested to have her term renewed for another four years. Redweik explained that historically, when somebody's term expires and that person is interested in reappointment (provided that they've been a member in good standing) she will ask the respective board to reappoint them. Commissioner Jenny Knebel said that she feels that anytime there is a vacancy - whether there is a reappointment request or not - she feels like they should be going through the same procedure as they would if the position was open. The commissioners later opened sealed bids for the county farm lease. The board had received a letter in November from Megan Wegner, the trustee of the MJM Trust, stating that Alexander Farms (the tenant) will conclude operations after the 2025 harvest due to her father's passing, Tim Alexander. The commissioners then advertised for bids to lease the county farm land. Five bids were received by the deadline and each contained a $1,000 retainer check. The bids that are not selected will receive their checks back, uncashed.