Southeast Iowa counties looking forward to a productive 2020

It's been a busy year for Henry, Jefferson and Washington counties. As the year rounds out, cities and counties as a whole are closing out various projects and looking toward plans for 2020.

2019 was a major year for infrastructure improvements in Mt. Pleasant according to city administrator Brent Schleisman.

All in all, the city paved 24 new streets and completed phase three of their downtown rehabilitation project. In total, the city spent about $6 million on infrastructure in 2019, Schleisman revealed. Another big project the administrator pointed to included improvements the city made to its aquatic center, updating its filtration and adding new slides and platforms, which was a $500,000 project.

In addition to paving, Schleisman said one of the city's major infrastructure focuses in the past year was a sewer project, the Jay Street Sewer Project, a phase of a larger project that will carry into next year.

'We lined over 25,000 feet of sanitary sewers, which included installing a sleeve down into the pipes … and replaced over 100 old brick manholes,” Schleisman said of what has been completed, which was a $2.9 million endeavor out of a $10 million cost over seven years. The project was started in 2017 and 'took longer” than the city had hoped, finishing up just earlier this month, because so much of the construction included digging underground.

The city administrator noted that there are generally 'unexpected hiccups” that come with working underground, with construction crews unearthing things that they didn't expect to find, and ultimately requires the city to 'redirect and redesign.”

The installation of the new sewer lines is part of a larger project, which will see the city closing down its north wastewater treatment plant by late fall of 2020. The major changes are prompted by changes put in place by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that requires cities to lower the levels of phosphorus and nitrogen in water to improve water quality.

'It's a goal we have. We've been focusing on infrastructure for the last 15 years. It's been a priority for the city council, having good roads and good sewers and preparing the town for the future,” Schleisman said.

In addition to the sewer and wastewater treatment project, the city is looking to complete another phase of the downtown rehabilitation project and will look to 'rebuild the entire airport runway,” a $4.4 million dollar project.

For Henry County, major projects included completion of the new Sheriff's office in November, a project that began in 1999 when a former Sheriff approached the Board of Supervisors about needing a larger space. Board member Greg Moeller explained that the initial bond referendum to fund the new facility was first presented in 2005 and was approved by taxpayers in 2017. Moeller described the process of building and funding the new space, which has greatly improved the number of arrested individuals the Sheriff's office can house, as 'a great undertaking.”

Board member Marc Lindeen also pointed to improved mental health services as an area in which the county has improved in 2019. Following the state's mandate to provide mental health services on a regional scale, Henry County joined seven other counties in southeast Iowa to form a region. The region worked together to provide crisis care in emergency rooms that will help 'keep people out of hospitals and jails,” Lindeen said. Lindeen also added that law enforcement was given more training in how to deal with people going through mental health crises as well as de-escalation tactics.

The county also saw the completion of several infrastructure projects, including the Franklin Avenue Railroad Bridge, a $1.7 million project which began in 2016 as well as upgrades to territory sheds for motor graders, which are placed throughout the county to improve efficiency for tasks like snow plowing. In 2019, the county finished the last phase of its upgrades which saw the New London shed completely replaced and the Trenton shed getting the addition of heat, according to county engineer Jake Hotchkiss.

Looking forward, the county's biggest project includes continuing to tackle the issue of providing emergency medical services to residents. Lindeen and Moeller explained that a committee has been formed to consider the best options and will make a recommendation to the board, probably some time next year.

Like Mt. Pleasant, Fairfield has been focused on infrastructure and renovating its sanitary sewer plant. City Administrator Aaron Kooiker explained that the project, which began in 2018, will be completed the following spring. Fairfield's sewer project also will include a complete renovation of the sewer plant, which will be a $30 million project.

'The city also completed a portion of the Libertyville Road sewer installation. We added pipe to the collection system to help with the process,” Kooiker said.

Fairfield intends to continue working on infrastructure improvements which will include constructing a roundabout at the intersection of Libertyville Road and Highway 1.

'It's about a 4 million dollar project … The Department of Transportation is involved, and our match is around $500,000. We needed to look at safety on that road and upgrade from more of a rural to urban intersection, which was pretty important. It's more of a street calming thing and add an urban look, which tends to slow traffic. The research shows that a roundabout is safer in terms of traffic collisions,” Kooiker added.

On a countywide scale, Jefferson County has also passed a $6.7 billion bond dedicated to pave roads. According to Dee Sandquist, a member of the county's Board of Supervisors, the bond, which was passed this past fall, will go toward paving and improving 13.5 to 15 miles of road, including Germanville, Brookville Road and south of Brookeville to Highway 34. Sandquist noted that many of the roads were paved forty years ago in the 1980s.

In addition to infrastructure, Sandquist noted that the county has made it a priority to focus on economic development and improving child care. The county, alongside the Fairfield Economic Development Association (FEDA), Access Energy, the city of Fairfield and Northeast Power, has invested in a spec building that will be used to either bring in a new business or allow an existing one to expand, Sandquist said.

'Ideally we'll see 20 to 25 jobs. Anytime we have a successful businesses, it helps our whole community. People who work here will live here. They'll need child care, health care - it increases our tax base and is a win-win for everybody,” Sandquist said.

The board member also explained that the county realized several years ago that there was a need to improve child care in the county. With FEDA and Early Childhood Iowa, the county had an independent study conducted by a third party that showed the county was about 500 spaces short. In the past year, the county has worked to provide 50 additional spaces by providing assistance to existing centers and providers in applying for grant programs and providing incentives for new providers.

Sandquist noted that a steering committee was formed and is currently looking to add a nonprofit that will provide more child care spaces. The nonprofit will continue to be developed in 2020.

For the city of Washington, the first stages of a multiyear facility plan project is seeing an end to its first stage. Brent Hinson, the city's administrator, explained that Washington had a facility plan completed in 2013, which 'looked at the first station, city hall and police space.” The city held its grand opening for its new fire station at the beginning of November.

Hinson explained that the government entities has been 'under a space crunch for the last 14 years” and that the new facilities will benefit both staff and the public. The new city hall and police station will give citizens easier access to things like the utility counter to pay bills as well as better parking and conference rooms that can be used for public meetings.

Like Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant, Washington also completed a sewer rehabilitation project on the southeast side of the town, which cost $1.2 million. The city also completed a trail project, that included a trailhead and trail spur. Hinson also pointed to a sidewalk extension as one that the city has received a lot of 'positive feedback.”

'One big thing, it wasn't the biggest project … the city extended a sidewalk to the Walmart area. It was developed in 2009 and we spent $150,000 putting in the sidewalk. We see a lot of pedestrians, people with baby strollers. It was a complicated project with a narrow right of way that we had to work through. It was a proud accomplishment for the city council,” Hinson said.

Looking into 2020, Washington has some big projects on the docket, including the second phase of the facility plan for the police station and city hall. The city is also planning to complete a wellness park development that will have recreational amenities spread across 70 acres of land that was acquired in 2009.

Washington County, like many others, has also invested in infrastructure improvements. Jack Seward, a member of the Board of Supervisors, explained that the county has teamed up with a local business, Premier Heap, to pave three miles of road.

'The county applied for a Revitalize Iowa's Sound Economy (RISE) grant and the rest of the money will be a split between Premier Heap and the county,” Seward explained. Total cost of the project will be $1 million, with the grant providing $250,000.

Like other southeast Iowa counties dealing with the threat of losing emergency medical services, Washington County will look to implement a countywide service which will go into effect July 1 of 2020. Currently the county is looking to hire a director for the service. Other projects the county will look to finish up in 2020 include a 9/11 communications center which will sit adjacent to the Sheriff's office.