MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
AUGUST 28, 2008
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:00 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Unless otherwise noted, all actions were taken unanimously.
Motion by Stutsman, second by Meyers, to approve the claims on the Auditor’s Claim Register, as approved by a majority of the Supervisors.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Meyers, to approve the minutes of the formal meeting of August 21, 2008.
Motion by Harney, second by Stutsman, to approve the payroll authorizations submitted by department heads, as approved by a majority of the Supervisors.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Meyers, to accept the Recorder’s Report of Fees Collected for the month of July, 2008, in the amount of $275,585.38, as submitted by County Recorder Kim Painter.
Convened Public Hearing on Level “B” Section of Roadway, Eagle Avenue NW, Road Vacation, Located in Section 26, Township 80 North, Range 8 West in Oxford Township at 9:03 a.m.
Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell said to vacate a road, notices must be sent to adjoining property owners and to any utility companies that have utilities on the property, a public hearing is held, individuals have an opportunity to file damage claims, to weigh in their opinions, and they have until 6:00 p.m. on the day of the hearing to file any notices. After that time, the Board can vote on the Road Vacation. Chappell said the Board definitely will not vote until September 4, 2008. R. Sullivan said the Board received email correspondence from Mid American who said they had no gas or electric claims in that territory and have no interest in the vacation.
Mark Ditch, South Slope Telephone Company, spoke in favor of the vacation.
R. Sullivan asked Chappell how a utility easement works. Chappell said there is not a situation which matches this one. If the road is vacated, the County would try to retain enough of an easement for utilities to keep their line where it is. He said the County has had some experience with the Dane Road vacation, but the utilities were on Iowa City’s side of the road so the City dealt with it. Chappell added that the last vacation where there was a utility issue, the utility was perpendicular to the road so they already had the easement and they just needed to confirm that the vacation of the right-of-way was not going to affect theirs.
Bob Wood, Melvin Reeve, Dee McCaw, and Dan Downs spoke against the vacation.
Stutsman replied to Dan Down’s question as to why the change of heart over the last year about the road vacation. Stutsman said there is just not a good solution to this road. She said the County is asked to supply additional maintenance to a Level B road which according to policy gets minimal maintenance. The Board is trying to find a solution for Level B roads that should be upgraded. She added they were at a quandary as to whether to allocate resources. R. Sullivan said there is a difference between the needs of a farmer and a homeowner. He said there are very few people who live on Level B roads because they are very difficult to drive on. R. Sullivan said preparing the road adequately for farm equipment travel is quite different than for residential use. Harney said the Board has received a request through Secondary Roads requesting the road vacation and through due process a Public Hearing is held. Harney said the Board received the current vacation request within the last year. R. Sullivan said the rough winter contributed to the deterioration of the road. Neuzil said Secondary Roads staff informed the Board of the costs associated with surveying the road to determine property lines in order for the County to clean up the area. He said this was an area the County was planning to evaluate next Spring.
Dwight Wood, and Steve Jiras, a member of the Oxford Fire Department, spoke against the vacation.
Neuzil said County policy is not to send maintainers on roads that are impassable. Neuzil also said the policy does not allow the County to clean out trees either. He added that the problem is that if they do, they must first identify the property owners, survey the right-of-way, and on Level B roads the cost for such a survey is about $12,000 to $13,000. The County can’t proceed without identifying the right-of-way. Neuzil said that countywide, residents on Level B roads have been asked to apply for a permit, clean their right-of-way, and then the County sends in maintainers for minimal maintenance.
Stutsman said the Board tries to be consistent throughout the county. The minimum requirement is to grade once or twice per year, and no rock is applied unless there is a special exception as in this case. She said this isn’t the only Level B road in the county with issues and added that in order for the Board to manage resources, they must be consistent countywide.
R. Sullivan said that if the road is vacated, the property owners would maintain the road. He said the Oxford Fire Department would probably want to talk with property owners about their needs. He added that locking the road is the owner’s discretion, it does not have to be locked.
Ryan Wood, Dan Downs, Melvin Reeve, a member of the Tiffin Fire Department, Bob Wood and Dee McCaw spoke against the vacation.
R. Sullivan said Planning and Zoning said there are roughly 15 residences on Level B roads and six of them are here today, which is a rare situation.
Steve Jiras spoke again against the vacation.
Public Hearing closed at 9:37 a.m.; Public Hearing reconvened at 9:41 a.m.
County Engineer Greg Parker said that Secondary Roads has been directed to provide minimum maintenance on Level B roads, mainly for agricultural purposes. He said the County blades the road prior to crop plantings and again in the Fall. Parker said that has been Secondary Roads’ practice with Level B roads. He added that, when possible, Secondary Roads accommodates individual requests on a case-by-case basis. R. Sullivan said the Board gets different requests from residents who expect more than what today’s public is asking for.
Harney said cost share for gravel issues occurs with roads that have less than a 60-foot right-of-way. That’s been the policy and Harney said it should be applied in this case. R. Sullivan said those cases are grandfathered in. Harney said it doesn’t matter to him. Harney said since the County allowed residents to build on that road, the County should cost-share for gravel. Harney asked why this shouldn’t apply in this case. R. Sullivan said the County doesn’t have a policy of cost-sharing, just old agreements. Parker said the County does have agreements with properties with less than 66 feet right-of-way where they cost share gravel. Those are older agreements.
Chappell said that the purpose of this hearing is to decide on a vacation request and to the extent it is relevant to the Board’s decision, there is no policy, but there are past practices. R. Sullivan said he wanted to clarify if there is a written policy to cost share gravel. Parker said he is not aware of a written policy. Chappell said the intent of a Level B classification is to provide notice that this is not a road the County will maintain at the same level as other roads. He said the Level B ordinance explicitly states what maintenance may not be done. He added that the County has discretion to provide more maintenance if it chooses. Chappell added that Level B classification tells residents and traveling public this is a road that may not be maintained. He said Level B classification tells people they enter the road at their own risk. The brush may not be cleared, the ruts may not be fixed, the ditch may not be maintained, etc. Parker added that the road may not be passable.
Monty Schrock spoke to request cost-sharing road maintenance with the residents and the County.
Stutsman said that the County did do some cost-sharing in the past and that a resident complained that the public was using the road and destroying the gravel. Neuzil said the process for this would be to communicate this request to Secondary Roads and then Secondary Roads will ask the Board. Stutsman said the Board needs to deal with the Road Vacation first. R. Sullivan said that one option is to upgrade the road, but the Board understands that some landowners oppose this. Meyers said the same situation occurred near Hills where the County didn’t have enough right-of-way but the landowners opposed the right-of-way request. R. Sullivan said the public needs to know that a right-of-way is not an option with the Eagle Avenue road. Parker said the County is required to follow new design standards that make it difficult to build a road within a 66-foot right-of-way. He assured the public that the County would not be taking any right-of-way that wasn’t needed to meet design requirements. Parker said they’d need about 80 feet by today’s design requirements. Harney asked Parker if the County is required to meet the new standards on Level B roads. Parker said yes.
Public Hearing closed at 9:56 a.m.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Stutsman, to approve and authorize the Chairperson to sign the renewal 28E Agreement between the Johnson County Board of Supervisors and the Iowa State Department of Human Services.
Motion by Stutsman, second by Meyers, to approve and authorize the Chairperson to sign a right-of-way agreement for use of public right-of-way of White Oak Avenue NE north of 130th Street NE on Sunday, August 31, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for the purpose of the Sutliff Bridge Authority to hold a fundraiser.
Motion by Stutsman, second by Meyers, to approve and authorize the Chairperson to sign an Application for Fireworks Permit for Harold L. Hopp, 3149 Sandy Beach Road NE Solon, Iowa for a display on September 27, 2008 at this location.
Adjourned to informal meeting at 10:02 a.m.
s/sRod Sullivan, Chair, Board of Supervisors
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
These minutes were sent for publication and formal approval on September 4, 2008.