County?s five-year construction plan includes over $12M in spending

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County will be abuzz with road and related work for the next five years.

County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss submitted his five-year construction plan to county supervisors during Tuesday?s board meeting. The plan, which is set for approval next week, includes $12,250,000 in road construction during the next five years, beginning in fiscal year 2017. State code requires counties to annually submit five-year construction plans.

Hotchkiss said he would stick to the plan as closely as possible. ?There may be amendments to add dollars, but not projects,? he remarked. ?Our projects for the next five years are pretty much laid out. It just depends on how the budget works out. There is a chance some of the payments for some of the projects may continue into the next fiscal year.?

Of the $12,250,000 in construction dollars in the five-year plan, local funds account for $2.8 million, farm to market funds represent $6.1 million and federal aid would be $3.34 million.

?It looks a little more balanced than last year?s plan,? Hotchkiss observed. ?We are not budgeting a lot of local dollars as we go out. These are (fund) projections. Things can move, but I feel this is a good utilization of funds.?

Fiscal year 2017 includes $1.685 million of work. Heading the list is $800,000 for paving of Winfield Avenue from Grand Avenue to the overpass. Another $450,000 will be spent for grading on the New London Road by Lowell, and grading and culverts for a half-mile stretch of Nebraska Avenue. The $1.685 million cost will be paid through local construction (local option sales tax) and the farm to market fund (which includes state road use tax dollars).

During fiscal year 2018, the largest project will be bridge replacement on an overpass on Franklin Avenue. Bridge funds will take care of $1.2million of the $1.5 million cost for the bridge. The fiscal year calls for $2.025 million in spending.

Pavement and widening shoulders on county highway W55 from highway 78 to Trenton is scheduled for fiscal year 2019. The project cost is estimated at $2.3 million with farm to market funds taking care of $2 million of the cost. Construction during fiscal 2019 amounts to $3.3 million.

Just two projects are planned in fiscal year 2020. All but $300,000 of the $2.25 million in expenses for the year will be devoted to paving Salem Road from U.S. Highway 218 to county road X23.

In fiscal year 2021, the final year of the five-year plan, Franklin Avenue or county road W55 will be paved from Oakland Mills to Salem at a cost of $2.3 million. Local funds of $300,000 are included in the project.

Tuesday supervisor meetings are usually dominated by news from the engineer?s office, and yesterday?s gathering was no exception. Supervisors approved the purchase of a 2016 Caterpillar Motorgrader from Altenhofen Equipment of Cedar Rapids for $223,776 after trade-in.

Dave Hinkle will be the new equipment operator working from the county shed in Trenton. Hinkle will be paid a starting wage of $17.85 per hour.

Hotchkiss, in his weekly secondary roads work report to the board, said that much of the week was spent blading county roads. Workers also worked on clearing grass and sod away from guardrails and hauling resurfacing rock.

The engineer said that 220th Street or Winfield Avenue will be closed beginning Monday, April 4, to through traffic from Racine Avenue to just east of 215th Street. The six-mile stretch of the road will be torn out and repaved.

?There will be lots of work out there,? Hotchkiss said, estimating the project will take 11-14 weeks, dependent on the weather. ?We are asking for people?s patience.?

Detour signs will be placed and there will be traffic control at the site, he added.

The only other item of business had the board approving the final plat for the Deerwood Estate Subdivision in New London.

Supervisor Greg Moeller, in subcommittee reports from the supervisors, briefed the board on the recent meeting of the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning board. He said the board was told that 19 apartment units in the former Brazelton Hotel in Mt. Pleasant would be ready for occupancy in July.

The board also was told that three housing rehabilitation grants have been awarded in Wayland and there is funding for five more grants in the community.

Supervisors meet again in regular session on Thursday, March 31, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse.