County replies to HOA letter on secondary roads

WASHINGTON — The Washington County Board of Supervisors signed off on a letter Tuesday morning, sent to homeowners associations around 135th and 140th streets, where one local group has requested joint funding for secondary road improvements south of Riverside.

County officials said they were open to negotiating Secondary Road Assessment Districts in the area, but only through the process spelled out by state code, which allows local land owners to petition the county for road improvements, as long as residents agree to cover at least half of the bill.

Those districts can only be formed by a petition from the majority of residents in an area, however. The county cannot unilaterally bring one into existence.

“Because of this project, and the numerous landowners that would potentially be involved, I, and the Washington County Board of Supervisors, have determined the best way to move forward with this type of project would be to follow the Secondary Road Assessment District process spelled out in Iowa Code,” reads the letter, signed by the Washington County Engineer and Board of Supervisors chair.

The reply comes after the Stoneridge Estate HOA told supervisors the neighborhood was ready to move forward with road improvements, but a handful of residents told supervisors otherwise.

County Engineer Jacob Thorius said the onus for forming those road assessment districts fell on residents, not the county, as spelled out in state law.

“You identify the district, you identify the road improvement, the code says you must get at least 50% of the landowners to move forward,” he said. “We’re telling them, ‘If you want to move forward, this is what you’re going to need to do.’ We’re not going to do individual negotiations.”

Thorius said landowners would get one vote in a road assessment petition for every lot they owned in an assessed area. While that means developers like Todd Hahn Construction — which owns 24 proposed lots for a potential subdivision on 135th Street — would get more votes, they would also foot more of the bill. Until that subdivision is approved, however, the 37-acre area constitutes only one lot.

County Supervisors weighed sending the letter to all residents in the area, but eventually settled on contacting only the HOAs. Board of Supervisors Chair Richard Young said the approach put the ball in their court.

”It is their responsibility to make sure that it is done correctly, not ours,“ he said. ”Once they come back and say, ‘We want to do this,’ then we send it to every (house) before a vote can be had.“

Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. initially proposed notifications for all area residents, to ensure transparency. He later voted with the rest of the board, however, to contact only HOA representatives, saying the county would reach out more if plans picked up steam.

"If we still will have the opportunity before any drastic steps are taken to get that word out, then that would be a better time to do it,“ Seward said. ”Sending these preliminary letters is not going to tip anything to happen.“

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com