County engineer tells board Iowa Avenue work is done

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

The agenda was light at Tuesday?s Board of Supervisors meeting with Jake Hotchkiss, Henry County engineer, the sole presenter on the agenda.

First on Hotchkiss? list of items was an update on the county?s equipment storage building. The contractor on the project has substantially completed work on the building and is now smoothing out last-minute adjustments.

?Gutters are being installed right now and the project looks good. The electrical system, heating system and concrete is done. Now we are just going through and making sure that the little things are not being overlooked. We want to make sure everything is completed and in working order before we call it good,? said Hotchkiss.

Frequent users of Iowa Avenue will be happy to know that the construction to repair a few troublesome spots is now finished and the road has been opened to regular traffic. The same can be said for 150th Street, west of Highway 218. The street is in the final stages of repairs and workers will be out finalizing rock placement and seeding this week.

As for 150th Street, east of 218, construction has started as of Monday.

?The contractor is working from Highway 218 and going east,? Hotchkiss explained. ?Hopefully they will get a lot of work done before the rain comes.?

Drivers that regularly use 305th Street between Quincy Avenue and New London Road are advised that travel on that road will not be possible this week as crews are currently replacing a crossroad pipe.

In other news, cracks that are starting to form on Racine Avenue are going to be filled on Thursday. Crews will be working on Racine Avenue from Mt. Union to 240th Street.

?We are just going in and filling in any new cracks that have developed,? said Hotchkiss. ?We are really just trying to stay ahead on that pavement preservation so that our pavement lasts as long as it can.?

Hotchkiss said the Thursday start date is tentative as weather could prove to be an issue. He also reminded the board that the county will be in charge of providing flaggers to direct traffic.

Lastly, Hotchkiss brought two permits before the board for approval. One permit was for Windstream to provide access to a new building on Grand Avenue, south of Mt. Pleasant. The other, a tile crossing permit to install three tile crossings. One tile crossing will be placed on Logan Avenue while the other two will be placed on 200th Street.

The board unanimously approved both permits.

With no more business to discuss, the board moved to adjourn.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be Thursday, Oct. 2, at 9 a.m., at the Henry County Courthouse. All meetings are open to the public.