MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
MARCH 11, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Board of Supervisors: Grant Application to the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) for $15,500....................................................................................................................................... 1
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors........................................................... 3
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 10:45 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Johnson County Trails Advisory Committee Member Janelle Rettig gave the Board a copy of a draft of a letter of intent to apply for a grant to the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF). She also had sent an email to all Board members of a broken down budget which the grant subcommittee revised. They had sent a letter of notice of intent to apply for the grant, which was not a requirement. Rettig said the Board would have to consider the resolution at a formal meeting and the Committee would then submit the grant application at the end of March, 2008. Rettig said the Committee would need a resolution of support for the grant application if they intend to go forward. Johnson County Trails Advisory Committee Member Del Holland is in charge of the project but Holland is retired and traveling at this time. He will be back at the end of March. Rettig said that when the formal grant application has been drafted, Holland will have some editorial input. The deadline is April 4, 2008. R. Sullivan clarified that after today's discussion, next week the Board could have a formal vote on the resolution. Rettig said they have to submit a formal resolution with the grant.
Rettig stated that she talked with some bicycle and tourism people across Iowa, and nothing like what she is proposing has been done before. Her vision is that they should start the route at Napoleon Park. There are new Global Positioning Units (GPS) units for bicycles so the mapping would be done with that in mind. The routes would include educational information about Johnson County. They would have town meetings so that people could give their opinions on the bike routes. Rettig said that the bike routes would go out in every direction. Six or seven routes could be available with different bike length options. People who go on bike trips could come to Johnson County and spend two or three days in the area touring. Rettig knew of other places that are looking at Johnson County for ideas. Rettig said that GIS software can assist the bike riders by pinpointing their location. The GPS units on bicycles will become more common as they are made smaller.
During the last meeting Rettig had with the Board, they indicated that they did not want to assign their own staff to this project. She contacted the Iowa Bicycle Coalition for their input and interest in the project. She asked them what was involved in producing a map. Rettig stated that the Iowa Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Mark Wyatt had great interest in the project. He also gave her a schedule of approximately how many hours it would take to make up the map. Rettig stated what was requested of the Board would be a $2,000 soft match for staff time. Holland would talk to the County's GIS people and website staff about their input into this project. They indicated that the trails could be coded by color for riding difficulty and that they could help with the mapping. They made a rough estimate of how many hours they would need to assist whoever the Board decides to be the project manager. The County could subcontract out the project manager.
Rettig explained that the Boards $2,000 soft match would be used for mapping individuals, Secondary Roads as far as road counts, and also eventually putting it up on the County website. Rettig said with the grant they would print 7,000 folding maps they could hand out. There will also be a little advertising money to advertise around the state, and also some tourism things, as well as distribution to all the local convention and tourist bureaus. Rettig concluded that she believes it is a great project and would set Johnson County apart. Regarding tourism, it clearly would be an economic development for rural communities that the trails are going through. Rettig said she thinks that the Washington County Riverboat Foundation would have an interest in this project. Although the map would not only include Washington County, clearly a number of the routes would be going through their county.
Harney stated he certainly supports the grant application. He questioned if the map will be state-wide or only display surrounding counties. Rettig replied that it would include all of the route area. Rettig said it would be a regional map. It could include destinations or go out into another county and back. It would not be going as far as Des Moines or Waterloo. It would include the immediate counties around Johnson County and possibly an area large enough to loop around and cover in a day trip for a maximum of 50-60 miles. Rettig has found from the input of some bicyclists that they ride all day and camp, and they may consider that distance as part of the map. Rettig said that the map could be developed by the new project manager who could start gathering community input on what people already do. Rettig said they will not have to recreate the routes that are already being ridden, but that they could simply fill in the history and natural resources, etc, to make it interesting beyond just riding. Rettig commented that she doesn't know if they will fund it or not, but that it will start a relationship with them. If they are interested, they will come back with the trail situation at some other time. Rettig commented that since they have no concept of having the trails go south yet, Rettig doesn't think it is a good time to apply for an actual trails grant.
Meyers commented that it is an exciting project. It may make Johnson County a destination point similar to some routes in Missouri and bring people in rather than just be used by Johnson County residents. Rettig stated that it makes them a destination point before they have 40 miles of trails. The Trails Advisory Committee is not requiring a person to ride the routes, but would inform them that they are good routes. It will let the public know about traffic counts or which routes and segments are a little more dangerous. Unlike Root River or the Cady Trail in Missouri, which is an actual trail, what they would be doing is creating tourism on facilities they already have.
R. Sullivan commented that the whole Board appreciates how much work Rettig, Holland, and the Trails Committee have put in. Rettig stated that she is happy to see progress and all the other projects are coming along also. This isn't technically a Trails Committee project but it is clearly a bike and tourism project, and they thought it would be worth the effort. Rettig questioned how the process works for getting a resolution. R. Sullivan mentioned that Rettig could work with Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan so they can discuss that. R. Sullivan noted that the next meeting will be March 20, 2008 at 9:00 a.m.
Meyers attended a Communications Committee meeting and a liaison meeting with Medical Examiner Administrator Mike Hensch.
Harney attended a Communications Center Subcommittee meeting, a Clear Creek Amana Schools Fundraiser, a liaison meetings with Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak and Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek, a Land Use Plan work session and the Chamber of Commerce Ag Bio Sciences Meeting.
Stutsman attended a Spay and Neuter Summit, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) kickoff luncheon.
Neuzil attended a liaison meeting with Hensch. Neuzil stated that he had a listening post on March 10, 2008 about the Road Performance Standards Ordinance. Neuzil said his next listening post will be March 19, 2008, at 7:30 a.m. at the Fountain of Flowers in Lone Tree.
R. Sullivan mentioned that anyone can go to the Johnson County website at www.johnson-county.com under Planning and Zoning to see progress on the Land Use Plan. R. Sullivan said that there will be a Key Issues work session at 8:30 a.m. on March 18, 2008. He also mentioned there is a Department Head Meeting at 1:30 p.m. on March 18, 2008, and a Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Planning Council Meeting at 4:30 p.m. on March 19, 2008. The current meeting was moved to March 11, 2008 from March 13, 2008 due to the number of Board and staff members that will be in Des Moines for the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) Spring School. The annual Prairie Preview by the Johnson County Heritage Trust is March 11, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.
Adjourned at 11:15 a.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2008
By Casie Kadlec, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on March 31, 2008 at 9:00 a.m.