Engineer's Office Duties and Responsibilities:
The duties of the County Engineer is to plan and construct the road and bridges work which is necessary to maintain and improve the secondary road system in the County, and report the same to the Board of Supervisors. He provides supervision over the road work in the County. The County Engineer is appointed by the Board of Supervisors and works under their direction.
County Secondary Roads Department manages 174 miles of paved roadways and 768 miles of granular surfaced roadways. Secondary Roads also oversees 126 bridges. The department has 33 employees with 27 employed in the maintenance department.
Forms & Links
Permits
2024 Annual OSOW Permit [PDF, 182.62 KB]
2024 Annual OS Permit [PDF, 179.86 KB]
Drainage Tile Repair Form [PDF, 430.95 KB]
Driveway Permit 2024 [PDF, 391.99 KB]
Moving Permit Policy [PDF, 1.38 MB]
Overhead-Utility-Permit-2025 [PDF, 202.28 KB]
2024 Single Trip-Round Trip Permit [PDF, 182.92 KB]
Underground Utility Permit 2025 B [PDF, 123.90 KB]
Work Within ROW Permit 2025 [PDF, 108.72 KB]
Tile-Water Crossing Permit 2025 [PDF, 108.70 KB]
Temporary Embargo Road Permit [PDF, 111.64 KB]*Please submit moving permit forms at least 2 days in advance
Maps
2021 Road Embargo Map [PDF, 608.29 KB]
2021 Road Embargo Resolution [PDF, 262.31 KB]
2020 BRIDGE MAP [PDF, 559.80 KB]
Drainage Maps
Contact Information
Palo Alto County Engineer
2105 Main St. Suite 103
P.O. Box 389
Emmetsburg, IA 50536Phone: 712-852-3001
Fax: 712-852-3601
Email: paloaltoengineer@yahoo.com
Office Hours
7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Staff
Walter Davis-Oeth, P.E.
Palo Alto County Engineer
wdavis-oeth@paloaltocounty.iowa.gov
Justin Williams
Engineering Technician
jwilliams@paloaltocounty.iowa.gov
Austin Krause
Engineering Technician
akrause@paloaltocounty.iowa.gov
Melissa Hall
Office Manager
mhall@paloaltocounty.iowa.gov
Seth Christensen
Admin Assistant
schristensen@paloaltocounty.iowa.gov