Supervisors argue over park improvements

MARENGO — At least one Iowa County Supervisor is not onboard with a $247,000 improvement project at Gateway Park and Preserve in Marengo.

Supervisor Abby Maas said the proposed project is too large for a small, little-used park and that tax money could be put to better use.

Iowa County Conservation Director Jacob Slings said residents want the improvements and expect certain amenities when they visit the county’s recreation areas.

“For what the park is and the amenities that it has, it attracts a lot of attention,” said Slings during a meeting of the Board of Supervisors last Friday. Slings saw 17 people and a group of about 25 school children from a nearby school at the park the morning of the meeting, he said.

The proposed project would fix the boat ramp, create more parking for boaters and do a little work on the trail. “People are walking on the road right now,” said Slings.

Slings said the boat ramp at Gateway is fine when the water is high. “But during times of low water the final two panels on that boat ramp pretty much make that ramp unusable,” Slings said. “We have seen people tear off axles dragging their skegs and their props as they’re trying to pull their boats out and put their boats in.”

Only about three boat trailers will fit in the parking area at the boat dock, said Slings. Boaters are forced to park their trailers in front of Iowa County Transportation or at the American Legion.

“The state will cover 75% of the cost of this project,” said Slings.

“This phase of this project will be covered by … our construction budget, donations as well as … a water recreational access grant.” Slings said. “The portion that we are responsible for is $61,927.” The Conservation budget can cover that, he said.

“I want to try to get this project done sooner than later in case our budget … continues to decrease,” said Slings.

“It’s hard to stomach the fact that we have $61,000 extra in our budget to spend when I literally asked everybody to scrape everything down [during budget talks],” said Maas.

“I would not consider this extra,” said Slings. These funds are usually allocated for improvements such as buying gravel or resurfacing roads.

Maas would rather use the money for upkeep of roads at Lake Iowa, she said. The amount seems “insane” for a boat ramp and parking.

“If we have $61,000 laying around, I would think that just fixing the boat ramp would be less than $61,000,” said Maas.

Slings said the $247,000 estimate for the project is the high end. For example, the trail will go in as crushed rock, so that cost will be less, he said.

County Conservation doesn’t have $61,000 lying around, said Supervisor Chris Montross, who serves on the County Conservation Board. The money has been allocated for projects, such as road improvements.

“The road maintenance is way more important than $61,000 going into a glorified boat ramp that maybe three people a day … use,” said Maas.

Slings said usage is much higher than that.

Maas said her objections aren’t aimed at Conservation only but applies to every county department. The county couldn’t give raises and asked people to whittle down their budgets. Clearly people are not forfeiting everything they can, Maas said.

“I can’t spend $61,000 in tax payer money on this,” said Maas.

“When I came to Iowa County, … we had a lot of things that were not usable,” said Slings. People have asked for these improvements for 10 years, said Slings.

Residents have donated money for the trail, said Maas. Can they raise funds for the this project as well “if it’s really that big of a need” instead of paying $250,000 of tax dollars? she asked.

Donations are going to be covering a majority of this process, said Slings. “That pool of money that’s donations allows us to do projects like this,” Slings said.

Iowa County could just fix the boat ramp, said Slings, “but I also think that we need to think about what our citizens want. Our park users.” People have certain expectations when the visit parks. Those expectations are not being met at Gateway, said Slings.

Paving the parking lot and painting lines will let people know where to park. Right now 10 or 15 people will be parked in front of Iowa County Transportation, said Slings.

“What’s wrong with that?” asked Maas.

It interrupts county transportation, said Slings. They can’t get their buses out.

The boat ramp is a $4,000 fix, not $250,000 taxpayer ask, said Maas.

“It’s not a $250,000 taxpayer ask because it’s a grant,” said Supervisor Kevin Heitshusen. “And if we don’t use the grant” someone else use it.

That’s the mentality the state despises, said Maas, who is running for state auditor.

“It’s money set aside for conservation,” said Heitshusen. “If we don’t use it, someone else will use it. It does not go back into the general budget.”

Spending $250,000 on a boat ramp in Marengo, Iowa is not good use of money, said Maas.

“It’s not just a boat ramp,” said Heitshusen. “It’s to improve the whole park.”

“This is one tiny, tiny section of it,” said Maas

“If we ever want to fix this, we won’t be able to with our county taxpayer money because we can’t afford to do it,” Heitshusen said.

Maas agreed that the county should fix the boat ramp but said the park doesn’t need the other proposed improvements. “This is ridiculous. This is just total misuse of taxpayer funds if you ask me. This is the exact thing that the state comes down [on counties for].”

The money will still be used for park improvements, Montross said. If Iowa County doesn’t use it, Johnson County will take it for F.W. Kent Park.

Just because Johnson County would do the wrong thing doesn’t mean Iowa County should, said Maas.

“You assume it’s wrong,” Heitshusen said.

People who visit Gateway help the County’s economy, said Montross. They buy fuel and groceries while they’re here.

“They’re keeping our restaurants open. They’re discovering our communities,” said Slings.

Maas understands that Lake Iowa is a destination, but Gateway is not, she said. Completing a “Taj Mahal” update at Gateway will not bring in people who aren’t already using the park, she said.

The actual problem with the project is that the county doesn’t have the money upfront, said Heitshusen.

Slings said he plans to use $155,000 in donation money to pay for the project.

Supervisors asked Slings to return this week with a better breakdown of where the money will be coming from. Supervisors meet on the second floor of the East Annex, 970 Court Ave. in Marengo at 9 a.m. every Friday.

Supervisor Jon Degen was absent during the Aug. 29 meeting.