MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
FEBRUARY 14, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
County Engineer Greg Parker: Oakdale Boulevard Corridor................................................. 1
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors........................................................... 6
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 7:55 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
County Engineer Greg Parker said at the time of a public meeting in the early fall of 2007, a north alignment was proposed. There were a lot of public comments wondering why they had not chosen a south alignment, and after going back to the drawing board they had come up with S4C, a modified south alignment. At the request of the Board they put together construction cost estimates for both alignments, including right of way acquisition costs.
Parker said for the north alignment, total estimated construction cost was $1,900,000, and right of way acquisition costs would be $560,000, for a total project cost of $2,460,000. The estimated permanent right of way acquisition required is 11.3 acres, and the wetland impact was estimated at 2.03 acres. The approach grade for Dubuque Street is approximately 5.9%, and since it is no greater than the maximum of 6% it meets the construction and design guidelines. He said it was not the perfect approach point, but there are a lot of roads that are not perfect approach points.
Parker said the S4C modified south alignment’s estimated construction cost was $2,660,000, so that between the two there is a difference in construction cost of $760,000. Right of way acquisition is estimated at $345,000, for a total project cost of $3,035,000. The total cost difference between the north and south alignment, including right of way, is a little over $500,000. He said for the south alignment, the estimated right of way is 5.5 acres, the wetland impact was increased to 3.2 acres, and three property owners were affected. Parker said the approach percentage grade was at 5.6%, a little better than the north alignment.
Parker said those who attended the meeting wanted to see the project done, and preferred the south alignment because of the proximity of the north alignment to residential backyards. Harney asked what the estimate of cost difference was regarding wetland mitigation in the north compared to the south. Parker said a slight possibility existed that they might not have to acquire land for mitigation, regardless of which alignment was selected. He said they would have to find a location to mitigate the property, and because of that did not know what the cost would be.
Neuzil said the proposed Oakdale Boulevard extension east of Dubuque Street matched closely with the southerly route. Parker said that the Board needed to remember that when the Johnson County Council of Governments (JCCOG) completed a study as part of the Arterial Streets Plan, an alignment was picked as a result of that. Neuzil said some of the Board members were worried about where it would end up, and wanted to move it as far south as possible to get it away from the hill. Parker said that one property owner was not in favor of the south alignment because it would reduce the amount of potential development he could do on the land. He said another property owner on the east side echoed similar sentiments.
Harney said Parker had originally talked about putting up a big stone wall that tapered down, which he understood would cost significantly less than a straight up wall. Assistant County Engineer Al Miller said that there was a required retaining wall due to the proximity of the road to the development. It will be as a structural wall with reinforced concrete that looks like stone. Harney asked if it looked similar to the Cliff Apartments and its huge boulders. Miller said that type of wall had to be tied back into the earth behind it, and with the close proximity to homes it was probably not the best choice. He said he did list in his memo the possibility of another wall on the south side, if it was not feasible to permit the project with filling in the floodway. A modular block wall would cost less than half of a structural wall. Miller said he recommended a structural-type wall.
Parker said that if the Board decided to go with the north alignment, V & K Consultants recommended channel change as a favorable option. He said the Army Corps of Engineers would typically prefer the Board to pick an alignment, to avoid having multiple applications for different alignments. If the Board selected the north alignment, the Corps might approve the relocation of the channel and a wall may not have to be built. If the Corps did not allow that, then the only other choice was to construct the wall as Miller had recommended, which would increase the cost. Parker said that there were also similar issues with the south route, where two additional structures would need to be built, and they still would have to go through the Corps for approval.
R. Sullivan said it was entirely feasible that either or both alignments would be denied. Parker said the Corps of Engineers would typically come back with a recommendation for the Board and the project. They may also recommend reevaluating a specific part of the project in a specific manner and to then resubmit. R. Sullivan said that V & K had come up with two alignments that they thought would be approved, and Parker said that the north alignment was the main recommendation because V & K felt comfortable that the north alignment would be picked, and structures would not have to be built. Parker said that now that they have more information, they have decided that the south alignment is a possibility, with the downside being that it would be a more expensive project, with two structures that would have to be inspected bi-annually and have a higher level of service due to freezing activities in the winter. He said the north alignment would have a wall if chosen, which would also lead to maintenance issues. Parker said either alignment could be constructed and then asked what the Board wanted to do.
Harney said that his understanding was that they were going to have a trail designed into the bridge that would tie into Dubuque Street. He asked if they would lose the trail if the need arose to expand to four lanes. Parker said that the barrier wall that would separate the trail and the traveling portion for vehicular traffic would be removed, and the trail would go away. Neuzil said they would have to come up with new accommodations for the trail, and Parker said that was an option. Parker said that another option would be to cantilever the existing structure or create another pedestrian structure over the waterway, which would also involve permitting issues.
Meyers asked about future traffic count projections on the current Oakdale Boulevard. Miller said that JCCOG wasn’t projecting that it would require a four-lane road out to 2035, but said that the cross section that they were planning on both routes would accommodate the four lanes with the exception of the bridge. Some modification would be necessary to handle the trail across the two structures. He said it was the same layout as what was by Wickham School.
Mike Ebinger said he was unsure where the recommendation of the north alignment had come from, and mentioned a 1997 recommendation that was clearly in favor of the southern alignment. He said with a north alignment, there would be collateral issues and potential liability problems resulting from moving a stream and the height of the proposed wall. There was also the possibility of further noise, and there was a general consensus from residents and the quarry owner for the southern alignment. He noted that it would be more expensive, but that the southern alignment would not affect anyone. Ebinger said the Corps of Engineers was already looking at a degraded area in the quarry land, and that an argument could be made to overcome any Corps problem.
Harry Ostrander said he was pleased with the reactions of the Board, and noted that the general consensus of home and landowners in the area was that the southern route would be a compromise that everyone could live with. He said that they had solved the problems of traffic concerns of Pembrokeshire, Port Talbot, and Northwoods Estates homeowners. Ostrander said they had resolved the safety issue surrounding the retaining wall for children and wildlife, and said that they had resolved the issue with the quarry so the southern route was an alternate for the Board.
Larry Jones said if the north alignment was chosen he would lose half of his lot. There are two or three acres of trees near his home that are an effective sound barrier for himself and several people living on Dubuque Street. There would be a tremendous noise problem if the north alignment was chosen, because all of the trees would be gone.
Keith Kramer said his home would be no more than 15 feet from the 20-foot retaining wall. He said that a liability would exist for anyone to go near it, especially for children in the neighborhood or people visiting homes in the area. He said that if the road was expanded to four lanes it could not go north because it would hit his backyard, and if it went south it would be back into the creek area. Miller said no additional grading would be necessary and that only widening of the pavement would need to be done. Kramer asked about the cost of the required wall on the south, and Miller said that the low end would be $340,000. Kramer said that made the cost of the two alignments more comparable. He said that at a previous meeting they had been talking about water runoff from the north, and how it could be alleviated by extensive culverts in that route. Kramer mentioned required maintenance as a downside, in addition to eventual flooding and soil erosion with an unknown effect on the roads or someone’s property.
R. Sullivan asked if the 15-foot drop would be fenced. Miller said that a handrail would be put in place for safety. Meyers asked if it would actually be a handrail versus an eight or ten-foot fence. Miller said that it would be a handrail at about four feet with black tubing. It would be compliant with city regulations and similar to a fence and rail on North Dubuque Street. Meyers asked if the smaller retaining wall was included in the estimates. Miller said they were going on the premise that the smaller retaining wall would not have to be built. He said that the group who is doing the environmental assessment feels that there is a good likelihood that they could grade it, relocate the channel, and still be permitted to do the project. Miller said that if the Corps or any other reviewing agencies don’t like that option, the wall would be required.
Robert Russell said he had owned property on Dubuque Street since 1943 and was concerned about the wetlands. He said that every time a flood would come out of North Liberty he would have to rebuild the floodgates. Russell said if the floods were especially bad he would have to put in the south fence, and that he hoped that contractors would not put any woven wire down in it. He suggested putting in barbed wire on the south side of the posts, so that if the creek was plugged up the wire would just be pulled off and would be easy to find. Russell said there really was no room to put a road down there. He said he had not needed to replace his 200-foot well for over fifty years. He valued the wetlands and was worried about dynamite being set off that would fracture the rock strata below it, and said that the noise on Dubuque Street was already bad enough. Russell said he would hesitate to make a recommendation on two poor proposals and that he stood to lose land with either proposal. He said that the land was a little bit of heaven with deer and wild turkeys coming into his yard and that he did not know what would happen to them if construction would proceed.
Dan Larkins said he also felt that both proposals were poor choices, but no one was really opposing the south route. He said his main concern was noise, which is increasing exponentially with the increased traffic on Dubuque Street. He said that by taking the south route the Board would be taking out several acres of hardwood that served as a sound barrier between three or four houses and the road. Russell said leaving in the trees would help abate the noise, and possibly keep the Board out of court. He said that formal noise barriers were expensive, and that’s what residents would be asking for if a road were put in.
Jonni Hecker said that safety was a major concern for her, and the idea of a wall scares her. If Dubuque Street was expanded she would lose part of her front yard, and she was concerned about increased noise and traffic. Hecker said that while she did not endorse the south route, she said if the Board chose the north route several houses would be affected. She said she wanted the Board to realize that if the north route will be selected there would be safety concerns, affected property values, and increased noise that would not be fair to residents. Neuzil said those were the reasons why the Board asked for two options, so that they could weigh the pros and cons of each. He said that the north route was chosen primarily because it would avoid bridges.
R. Sullivan said both designs would meet every possible safety standard. Ray Novick said that he wanted to thank the engineers for the effort they had put in, in presenting the pros and cons of each route, but that the citizens of Johnson County were overwhelmingly in favor of the southern route. He noted that no one had stood up in favor of the northern route. He said that there was not a significant dollar difference between the two proposals, especially considering that in pursuing the northern route either a retaining wall would most likely have to be put in or the creek would have to be moved. Novick asked the Board to make a consensus vote for the southern route, and to abandon the idea of the northern route.
Neuzil said that the Board had spoken with residents of both Pembrokeshire and Lincolnshire who were eager for the project to move forward with as little conflict as possible. He said he favored the southerly route so that construction would least affect the residents. The southerly route would match up with JCCOG’s Arterial Streets Plan and the City of Coralville was not partial to either route. Neuzil said that, coupled with the comments from residents, made him most comfortable with the southerly route. Stutsman said she agreed. Meyers said he concurred as well, noting that not one resident spoke in favor of the northerly route. He said that the Board did not know whether the Corps of Engineers would deny both proposals or put many restrictions on the project. R. Sullivan said depending upon what the Corps decides, the Board could end up going back to the drawing board.
Ostrander asked if the property values in the vicinity of the road would be taken into account by the Corps of Engineers. Stutsman said that the Corps would look at a different set of criteria when evaluating projects like this one, and that their concern would be the wetlands and how they would be impacted. Ostrander said he felt that the comments of tax-paying citizens who would actually be using the road should weigh more heavily than the comments of someone living further away. Miller said that part of the environmental assessment process required that they take public input and submit it with the application.
Harney said that he was very concerned about the environmental impact the northern route would have on the bottom land, and the cost of bridge upkeep. He said he was concerned how the engineers would build a bridge without ruining the wetland, and understood the additional concern of noise for the residents. Harney said he was willing to put the proposal of the southerly route in front of the Corps of Engineers.
R. Sullivan said that there were some fifty or so property owners represented tonight, but there were other Johnson County residents who didn't want any County money spent on the road because they considered it a City of Coralville project. He said he had some concerns about $500,000 more being spent on this project that wouldn't be spent on other projects. Meyers said that the quarry had expressed no interest whatsoever in being annexed into Coralville, so that if it would be annexed it would be done involuntarily, which was not likely. He said that it would be a ten-year wait to get the project done, and if it was put off for five years the project may not be done. R. Sullivan said if it was put off for even two years, the JCCOG money would be gone. Stutsman said the Board has heard from the Pembrokeshire residents for years. She said that the residents encountered undue hardship because of all the traffic going through their neighborhood as a result of the road not being completed. R. Sullivan said he agreed with former Supervisor Jonathan Jordahl, who had said in the mid 1990s that Oakdale should not go east of 12th Avenue without going through to Dubuque.
Harney said that he did not think people understood the magnitude of traffic that would be on the road once it opened up. He said that everyone going to Oakdale or North Liberty and everyone that lives in the north side of Iowa City would use the road to avoid the mall. Neuzil thanked staff for presenting the options, and said he appreciated Coralville's willingness to allow for more than one option. He said since the road was being primarily built in Johnson County they should also be given credit for putting in funding out of their own budget and being extremely helpful throughout the JCCOG process of securing funding. R. Sullivan said that the Board would put the road on the formal agenda for next week, and Harney said that since the Board had a consensus for the south route that JCCOG would take it from there. Parker said that having a positive majority consensus for the south route and based on Coralville's comments, that they would get the permitting process rolling.
R. Sullivan said candidates for Iowa City City Manager position would meet with the public at 4:30 on February 15, 2008 at the Iowa City Public Library.
Adjourned at 8:59 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2008
By John Deeth, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on March 4, 2008 at 10:15 a.m.