The Webster County Board of Supervisors approved a settlement agreement and release on Tuesday between the county and the City of Otho.

According to Webster County Attorney Darren Driscoll, there was a short-term dispute as to who was responsible for payment after a county road was damaged when sewer or water lines went through it. According to Driscoll, the contractor made an initial repair which didn’t take, so the county had to step in and pay for the repair so that it wouldn’t damage Webster County Road Department machinery.

The road is North Highway Street in Otho, which is also Webster County Road D33.

“For a couple of years, the City of Otho’s council said they’d take care of it, but they didn’t, so I had to threaten litigation,” said Driscoll. “With their newly elected batch of officials, they wanted to get it taken care of. We’re getting a release in exchange for getting the county paid back for the repairs.”

The City of Otho agreed to pay $16,899.80 in two installments, on July 15, 2026, and July 15, 2027.

According to Supervisor Nathan Montgomery, who stated he was at the Otho City Council meeting last week, the council approved of the release and the mayor signed the agreement.

Webster County Supervisor Bob Thode told the supervisors that the tentative completion date for the building project for the childcare center across Kenyon Road from Friendship Haven is May 18.

“People who may be interested in seeing if they qualify can go to www.seedsfd.com and then click on Sprouts Early Education and Development,” said Thode. “The hope is to tentatively be open before the end of the fiscal year.”

The supervisors also approved a detour compensation agreement with the Iowa Department of Transportation for the 2025 detour of U.S. Highway 169 and Iowa Highway 175.

“This is based on percentage of trucks, traffic count, mileage and length of the detour which was 58 days,” said Webster County Engineer Jamie Johll. “They will be paying us $15,027.89.”

The supervisors also approved payment of $1,872 to McClure Engineering Co., of Fort Dodge, for professional services on the Webster County Canadian National and Union Pacific rail spur and approved an interfund loan of $566,106.53 from debt service to urban renewal for capital loan note interest payments in fiscal years ’25 and ’26.