The Webster County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a zoning change Tuesday that will allow an abandoned church to be renovated into a single family dwelling.

According to Planning and Zoning Administrator Jeff Johnson, Chad and Marsha Halbach purchased the church at 30559 249th Ave. in Burnside and have already begun interior and exterior work on the structure. Johnson said the Halbachs are also hoping to build a detached garage which they will request permits for at the time of building.

“This is a feel good project,” said Johnson. “The Planning and Zoning Commission did recommend unanimous approval last month for this request.”

The installation of stop signs to control north-south traffic on 390th Street were unanimously approved by the supervisors.

“390th Street has seen increased traffic due to New Co-op locating in Lanyon and the nearby church camp to the east as well,” said Webster County Engineer Jamie Johll. “We’ll install stop signs for the north-south traffic.”

“I’d like to thank the Engineer’s Office for working with us on this,” said Supervisor Nathan Montgomery. “I’ve had a lot of farmers reach out wanting us to do this to protect the safety of citizens and those traveling on those uncontrolled intersections. I think this is a good step moving forward.”

Two detour agreements with the Iowa Department of Transportation were approved. A bridge repair project over Bass Creek in the summer of 2028 will detour over Webster County roads D14, P59, and C56. According to Johll, that project is anticipated to take four to six months. A culvert repair on Iowa Highway 175 will detour on Webster County roads P29, D60, and P33 in 2027. According to Johll, that project is anticipated to last approximately one month.

The supervisors approved a bid of $8,653 from Midstate Plumbing and Heating, of Fort Dodge, for installation of an air conditioner unit for the Law Enforcement Center’s control center on the jail floor.

The supervisors also accepted the only bid from InVeris Training Solutions of Suwanee, Georgia, to upgrade to the Law Enforcement Center’s Shooting Range. According to Supervisor Bob Thode, the bid for $63,280.32 will be funded through the local option sales tax.

“It’s a necessity,” said Chief Deputy Derek Christie. “The range hasn’t been upgraded in 25 years. Sixty-five officers use the range on a monthly basis.”

The project will replace all controls on the range, as according to Christie, most of the equipment no longer works, including the motors on the targets, so shooting targets have all been in the same stationary position.

“When you have that many officers using the range and targets are stationary, bullet fragmentations build up behind the exact spot and we’re starting to have blow backs from that,” said Christie.

The supervisors also set consultation and public hearing dates for the Webster County Regional Urban Renewal Plan. Consultation will take place May 13 at 10 a.m. in the Webster County Courthouse Law Library. The public hearing is scheduled for June 3 at 10 a.m. at the Board of Supervisors Room in the Courthouse.

Before adjourning, Supervisors John Cochrane and Montgomery said that they met with a representative from CJ Bio America, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Webster County Emergency Management Director Dylan Hagen about the recent spill into the South Branch of Lizard Creek.

“The DNR was satisfied with the speed of the response from CJ Bio,” said Cochrane. “Nothing was completely out of order there, but there were some things there that they’re going to tweak so that this does not happen again.”

“I just felt that we had a good meeting with CJ Bio and the DNR,” said Montgomery. “We had a good conversation about steps moving forward. They have internal controls and are already putting systems in place to prevent anything from happening in the future. I think we have confidence that there shouldn’t be any issues as we go forward. Water streams are safe to cross and downstream water is not impacted as well.”

According to DNR Communications Chief Tammie Krausman, the statements made at the briefing were that CJ Bio America is “progressing in cleaning up the site in a satisfactory way. No determination on enforcement has been made yet. They are still investigating.”

According to Krausman, water tests have shown that Lizard Creek is back to normal and recreation can resume as it previously was.