Sibley, Iowa — Osceola County has been without a road engineer for nineteen months — since June 2020. On Tuesday, the Osceola County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to change the rules as they relate to the job.
O’Brien County Engineer Scott Rinehart had been helping Osceola County for a year — between December 2020 and December 2021. The first six months after previous Osceola County Engineer Aaron Holmbeck resigned on June 10th, 2020, the Dickinson County Engineer helped out in Osceola County.
The Osceola County Board Of Supervisors has been seeking a replacement engineer, but they don’t seem to be able to find one. One candidate told them he would take the job, but then had second thoughts and rescinded his offer. Then the candidate told them that he was reconsidering but still never told them he’d take the job.
According to Osceola County Auditor Rochelle Van Tilburg, on Tuesday, February 1st, 2022, the Osceola County Board decided to remove the residency requirement. That is, the position used to require the engineer to live in, or move to Osceola County. She says the new requirement is that they live within 45 minutes of Osceola County. Van Tilburg says hopefully that will open up the position to more candidates.
