County supervisors plan to meet with Mt. Union residents

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

A road trip to Mt. Union is on the docket for county supervisors in the near future.

?We have to have a meeting in Mt. Union to give them direction on what will happen, services, etc.,? noted Marc Lindeen, supervisor chairman, at Thursday?s regular meeting.

Mt. Union was granted permission March 8 by the State of Iowa City Development Board to unincorporate. By granting permission, the development board immediately became the governing council for Mt. Union for the next six months.

County Auditor Shelly Barber said she has begun receiving telephone calls from Mt. Union residents with questions concerning the future. ?People up there don?t know what is happening,? Barber told the supervisors. ?We are going to have to have an ordinance when we start assessing them for sewer (fees). We need to get on this stuff because most will be happening by July 1.?

City assets still remain to be sold, and Barber said either the development board or the county can sell the assets, although she was told the development board has never had to sell assets of a city to pay debts.

?If we are responsible (for managing the community?s assets), we have to get on the stick,? remarked Supervisor Greg Moeller.

?It looks like we will have a special meeting (in Mt. Union) when we know more,? Lindeen said.

County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss presented the secondary-roads department?s five-year construction plan, which is required by the state.

Hotchkiss told the board that it is not an all-inclusive plan. ?I don?t put a lot out there,? he explained. ?I am trying to show you the big projects. Some of the projects may be delayed.?

The plan calls for $11.45 million in spending over the next five fiscal years. Nearly half ($5.3 million) of the funding will come from the farm-to-market account. Revenue also includes $3.3 million in federal aid and $2.82 million in local money, which is comprised of local option sales tax receipts, a portion of road use tax and property tax.

Projected spending for the fiscal years includes: 2018, $2,290,000; 2019, $1,515,000; 2020, $2,550,000; 2021, $2,550,000; and 2022, $2,300,000.

The largest expenditure in fiscal 2018 is $1.5 million for the replacement of a bridge on Franklin Avenue that passes over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.

Another bridge, this one on the Salem road (J20) east of Lowell, tops the 2019 projects at $800,000.

A $2.25 million paving project of J20 from U.S. Highway 218 to county road X23 is on the docket for 2020.

Franklin Avenue from Trenton to Highway 78 will be paved and shoulders widened in fiscal 2021 for an estimated cost of $2.3 million.

Heading the 2022 construction list is the paving and widening of the shoulders of Franklin Avenue from Salem to the Oakland Mills bridge. Cost of the work will be approximately $2.3 million.

Hotchkiss said he watches the bridge replacement account balance carefully. ?You can only have a $600,000 balance in the account. If you have more, you have to give it (amount exceeding $600,000) back to the state, so it is wise to use the funds.?

The county, he reflected, has done quite a bit of work in the last two years. ?You have to repair where the need is, so some areas (of the county) look like they?ve been neglected. However, you have to go to the areas of greatest need. This is the best I could come up with in utilizing our funds in the future.?

Supervisors meet again in regular session Tuesday, March 28, at 9 a.m. in the courthouse.