MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
OCTOBER 7, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Site Visit – Discussion: Conservation Director Harry Graves, 2048 Highway 6 NW, Oxford, Iowa, Including Tour of Upgrades and Improvements at Kent Park and Other Conservation Board Sites........ 1
Conservation Headquarters and Maintenance Facility Buildings............................... 1
New Water Plant Building......................................................................................... 4
Invasive Species Control Project at Various Locations Throughout Kent Park.......... 5
En Route to the Knight Prairie Pavilion..................................................................... 6
Clear Creek Area...................................................................................................... 7
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Health and Human Services Building at 11:00 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Conservation Director Harry Graves said he just handed Board members a handout stating the mission of the Johnson County Conservation Board (JCCB) and detailing facts pertinent to the site visit and tour of the new buildings. The mission of the JCCB and staff is to improve the quality of natural resources and native species for Johnson County residents through programs emphasizing conservation of natural resources, conservation education, and natural resource-based recreation.
Graves said the need for the new buildings was not simply a space need, but also a safety concern that had to be addressed. The existing Operations Center/Shop is too small to safely work on the larger equipment and it has inadequate ventilation to address exhaust, welding, and painting fumes. He said the office area was originally designed as a garage and it has been built onto twice during the past 30 years. It is poorly ventilated and totally devoid of any meeting space, either public or private, and storage space is inadequate. Graves said that it is now simply no longer large enough or safe enough to meet Conservation's needs and there is no practical way to build another addition on it. Graves said the 30 year old heating system is at the end of its useful life and does not meet fire codes with respect to its location/mounting. He said the Board of Supervisors recognized these critical needs and provided funding for the two new structures the Board is touring today.
Graves said Architect John Shaw was selected to develop the projects. The goal of the JCCB and staff, from the outset, was to utilize sustainable, state of the art, green design principles to make the most environmentally responsible, cost-effective buildings possible. The new facilities will provide larger work areas with appropriate ventilation for the conservation staff to conduct vehicular servicing and to perform painting, woodworking, and welding operations. He said adequate office space will allow staff to better perform their duties to serve the public. Graves said Shaw’s designs, developed with the input of Planning and Zoning Assistant Planner Josh Busard, Conservation staff, and the Board are registered Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Buildings.
Shaw said the big news is the progress made on the buildings. They are on budget, but the original completion date of December 21, 2009, has been moved back due to rainy weather. Shaw introduced Apex Construction General Contractor Steve Schmidt, AJ Associates Mechanical Engineer Victor Amoroso, AJ Associates Electrical Engineer John Jurca, and Busard. Shaw said legally, the Conservation Headquarters and the Maintenance Facility Buildings are two separate buildings so the building code applies to each separately. Graves said the concrete wall between the two buildings is rated as a three-hour fire wall. Shaw described the various meeting rooms within the area: reception, offices, and he pointed out that one of the shower rooms has been constructed with a concrete ceiling and masonry walls to serve as a storm shelter. The shower area storm shelter will accommodate 35 people. Storage and mechanical space is further down the hall. Shaw said daylight views are available eight hours per day to everyone working in the building. The site also houses a carpenter shop.
Busard said two green feature projects are underway and if everything goes as planned the building should earn a solid Silver LEED score. There will be bicycle racks, changing rooms, parking spots that encourage van pooling, and fuel efficient vehicles, white materials will be used on the roof and the parking lot surface, and construction waste will be recycled. Innovation and design credits were earned through one of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plans. Busard said that Graves has purchased renewable energy certificates. Shaw added that the floors are polished concrete. Schmidt said they are attempting to recycle 50% of the construction waste. Some other energy efficient materials in this building include plywood panels with foam inserts, and the floor is energy efficient also. Schmidt said a geo-thermal heating and cooling system is installed. Graves said there will be repeated mention of SIPS, which stands for Structural Insulated Panels.
Amoroso showed the plans for the geo-thermal system. The water treatment plant is powered from the geo-thermal system, and there is no natural gas. Stutsman asked if the geo-thermal pipes are under the building and Amoroso said yes. Graves asked how deep they are. Amoroso said they are about 30 feet deep, low enough for building to occur over them. He said the pipes are guaranteed for 50 years and they will probably last over 100.
Amoroso said the offices and garage will have radiant cooling and heating, which is a very efficient system. Stutsman asked if the radiant is in the floor. Amoroso said no, it's in the ceiling because when the floor gets too cold, it sweats. Sullivan asked how this system compares to a building of similar size with conventional heating and cooling. Amoroso said that representatives from Alliant Energy with MidAmerican project a savings anywhere from 30% to 60%. Shaw asked Amoroso to tell the Board the story about the Systems Unlimited building and MidAmerican. Amoroso said they were taking people through the Systems Unlimited building, which uses the geo-thermal system. During the tour, the Facilities Manager reported that an account from MidAmerican had called an hour ago to ask if the Systems building had been abandoned. The Facilities Manager told them that the question arose because the power readings at MidAmerican weren't calibrating properly since they were using so little power. Shaw said that MidAmerican finally replaced the meter with a smaller one.
Jurca said light fixtures utilize high efficient fluorescent lamps everywhere. All the lighting is on an occupancy sensor, if someone is in the room, the lights remain on. Jurca said that when the room is unoccupied after a preset length of time, the lights will automatically shut off. Graves said there are also occupancy sensors in the floor. Jurca said the exterior lighting is designed so all light is directed down to eliminate light pollution. This earns a LEED point. Also, the exterior fixtures have LED lamps for the parking lot lights and the building monitor lights, which earn another LEED point.
Shaw led the group tour through the building pointing out the metal siding, the entrance pavilion, and he said that every exterior door has a vestibule except for the ones in the Maintenance Facility. Graves pointed out the area where Conservation will finally have a meeting room. Shaw said that the storage area has been designed with windows and would easily convert to office space in the future. In the shower area, Shaw directed the Boards attention to the concrete cap on the ceiling and the tornado rated doors, including the masonry walls. He said this is the storm shelter area.
Shaw said that both doors between the Maintenance Facility and the Headquarters buildings have a vestibule with weather stripping to keep fumes from migrating between the two buildings. In the Maintenance Facility, Shaw asked how much larger this space is than the current facility. Graves said the new space is 13,500 square feet. The group concluded this is about twice the amount of space. Shaw said the overhead doors will have exhaust ports to channel out fumes. Amoroso said they installed radiant heat. Schmidt said that to meet the three hour fire wall rating the wall is fully grouted and a metal door will be installed. Shaw said all the walls will contain fiberglass reinforced panels up to eight feet high. He said they plan to paint the exposed SIPS panels that extend above eight feet.
Sullivan asked if the parking lot will be gravel, and how far out it will extend. Shaw said the parking lot will be concrete. Schmidt replied that the concrete will be poured out to where the stakes are currently stuck into the ground. Sullivan asked if the electric garage doors will function manually during a power failure. Shaw said yes.
Leading the group outside, Shaw pointed out that all the windows are fiberglass, requiring no maintenance. Recently, Pella Windows offered a foamed option in the window frames and so that is what will be installed. Shaw said the entire outside of the building is wrapped with an ice and water shield. Graves said the limestone is from Becker Stone Quarry in Dubuque. Harney asked who the structural engineer is and Graves said it is Mike Brenneman. Neuzil asked when the building is projected to be complete. Schmidt said the projected completion date for the Maintenance Facility is the first week of December, 2009, and for the Headquarters, the first of the year. Graves said about 31 days have been lost to bad weather. Neuzil asked what the plans are for the old building. Graves said it will become a highly functional storage garage.
Neuzil told Graves that the Historical Society may be producing a brochure featuring places of historical significance in Johnson County and asked if there is any interest in featuring Kent Park. Graves said that would be good.
Graves said funds were budgeted in the FY10 Department 24 Budget for the replacement of the badly deteriorated water plant # 1, which was housed in the south quarter of a badly decayed pole building located just to the west of the existing office. It contained the park’s 2,000-gallon pressure tank. In early June, the garage portion was cleaned out in preparation for removal. Graves said the center section was removed and the new water plant building was constructed in between the two remaining sections. Water lines, the 2,000-gallon water supply tank, electrical boxes and all appurtenances were then relocated to the new building just a few feet to the north of the old one, which was recently razed. Graves said that Field and Shop Operations Superintendent Larry Lovetinsky designed the new water plant building, with assistance from the manufacturer of the Structural Insulated Panels.
Lovetinsky said the new water plant building is bigger and taller than the old one. It is constructed of SIPS, which are the same High R Value material used in the walls and roof of the new Headquarters and the new Maintenance Facility. It will be covered with the same color of metal roof and siding to match the other new buildings. It will be heated and cooled by a common geo-thermal campus, which will also serve the other two new buildings. He said that every aspect of the construction of the new building, from the footings to the roof and all the plumbing was done entirely by Conservation staff. Lovetinsky said since they never really use a garage door, they are going to install a false garage door to improve the R value. He said everything in the ground is new, as the old water plant had a lot of cast iron underneath the ground and it was due for an upgrade. Every effort possible was made to recondition what they could.
Stutsman asked if the water tank was new and Lovetinsky said no, it is 10 years old. Graves said they reconditioned it so that it is basically new. Sullivan said all of their work is very impressive. Stutsman agreed and asked how they knew what to do. Lovetinsky said the staff resembles a small construction company within Conservation and if they have the time to do the work, they love to do it. Graves said the remaining north half of the of old building has been temporarily capped off on the south end so that the two bays can be used for temporary storage. It will be removed when the new Maintenance Facility is completed. Lovetinsky added that the geo-thermal system will also dehumidify the area because if the tank sweats, the paint will badly peel.
Graves said Vegetation Specialist Dave Wehde has been with Conservation for 23 years, having begun as a college student, and then getting married in Kent Park. Graves said that with the assistance of other Conservation staff members, Wehde has been leading the war against a host of invasive species for many years. Although this is sometimes a daunting task, significant progress has been made on many fronts, especially in the control of such woody invasive species as Autumn Olive, Multi Flora Rose and exotic honeysuckles at Kent Park.
Wehde said the Fecon Bullhog brush cutter has been doing a great job on some of the areas heavily infested with invasive species. Last year, they cleared about 42.14 acres with the cutter and they haven't yet tallied the work this year. Wehde said Conservation is part of the Hawkeye Cooperative Weed Management Area and they received a grant this year that was divided equally amongst the cooperative partners. Conservation had already contracted Habitat Forever to do the work. Stutsman asked if the JCCB owns the Bullhog and Wehde said no, it's owned by Habitat Forever. Graves said the machine costs about $200,000.
Wehde said the Autumn Olive which is tall and dense, and the bush honeysuckles that have invaded Kent Park were planted years ago for wildlife habitat. Unfortunately some of the non-native plants have spread and begun to take out all the timber units and have moved into the prairies. They are undesirable because they shade out all the native vegetation and leave undesirable plants underneath. They also can cause erosion and alter the bio-regime of the natural areas and make it difficult to restore the forest naturally. Wehde said the Bullhog does a fantastic job and is highly efficient. It is capable of literally chewing up the largest Autumn Olive, exotic honeysuckles, and other woody invaders and reducing them into fine mulch. Sullivan asked about the size of the Bullhog cutting head and Graves said it is about six feet. He said he will give the Board a video showing the Bullhog in operation. Stutsman asked if Conservation rents the Bullhog. Graves said they hire Habitat Forever to do the work at the rate of $150 per hour.
Graves said that some of the projects this year are funded from the Forest Improvement Grant from the U.S. Forest Service obtained by the Hawkeye Weed Management Area. That will pick up about $3,000 of the cost. The goal is to remove the woody invaders so they can maintain the grounds with fire and their own equipment. Stutsman asked if they will burn the existing brush. Graves said no not now, but possibly in the future. Wehde said they may burn it in time. Wehde held up a photo and pointed to a brush area that he said is all black cherry non-native brush which has infested the entire area. The Bullhog buzzes all this brush down opening up access to the terrain and allowing light to reach the forest floor again.
Graves said the removal of these large patches of the previously impenetrable brush has multiple benefits. He said it prevents soil erosion by allowing sunlight to again reach the herbaceous layer, it improves wildlife habitat diversity, and it eliminates the dense brushy places for the concentration of large populations of white tail deer. Wehde said overtime, this will benefit the wildlife in the area, and allow the general public to use the area for recreation such as bird-watching and wildlife viewing. This also gives hunters access to the area which aids the controlled deer hunt program.
Graves said once the Bullhog is used to clear a site, Conservation staff can use equipment to cut off or chemically treat any re-sprouting. In the future, these cutover areas will be restored to the native vegetation endemic to this part of the state - a combination of savanna and prairie. It can easily be maintained by the use of Conservation's own rotary brush cutter and controlled burning. Graves said the contrast of before and after the Bullhog mulching can be seen in the photos in the handout and from the tour around the park.
Neuzil asked how many Ash trees are in Kent Park. Graves said 20% of the trees in Iowa are Ash and there are too many in Kent Park if they are all going to die. The removal of Ash trees will be a very serious problem and it is probably imminent that the Emerald Ash Borer will attack. Graves said Iowa State University is studying a biological control now, but the problem with that is the importance of testing before its release. Wehde said a collection of all the different species of Ash seeds are being stored in the National Depository so that when there is a solution to the insect problem, the Ash can be reintroduced.
Graves said that a new solar powered tornado warning siren was recently acquired and installed with Hazard Mitigation Grant Funds by Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson.
Neuzil asked Graves where future cabins will be located. Graves said cabins will be off to the right of the lake, but first the campgrounds must be upgraded. Neuzil asked when the campground upgrade will take place and Graves said the plan is to do it in 2010. Wehde said there are some areas still requiring much work and he pointed out a stand of Black Locust. He said it is native to the United States, but not Iowa, and it is highly invasive and spreads rapidly. It does produce very high BTU firewood which could be harvested in the future.
Wehde pointed out a native species of Indian Grass occupying a 60 acre unit with relic native prairies never been plowed. Conservation has over 500 acres in burned plants. Graves said that volunteers are welcome to help harvest the wild flowers during the seed harvest scheduled on October 24, 2009. This is an annual event with public participation, and the wildflower seeds are then sold by the gram. Wehde said the average cost for some of the seeds reaches $200 plus per ounce. This will be the 21st year of the seed harvest which has been a very beneficial experience for all participants.
Graves led the Board on a walking tour of the Knight Prairie Pavilion pointing out the interpretive prairie panels. Stutsman asked if Graves is satisfied with all the evergreens that were planted in the Park. Graves said yes. Sullivan asked Wehde if he sees differences between 23 years ago and now in terms of what can be contributed to global warming. Wehde said no, but he thinks some of the weed species may have increased due to global warming. Graves said the Red Headed Woodpecker is no longer very common like it was 10 years ago. He thinks that may be due to the loss of their winter habitat.
Wehde directed the Board's attention to the young trees with the deer protector tubes around them which represent the Kent Park memorial program. He said this has been very well received by the public with hundreds of memorial trees having been planted. This program has been mutually beneficial since the park lost hundreds of trees in the 1998 wind storm. Stutsman asked if deer are still a problem in the park. Wehde said yes and added it is important to keep the deer population in check because that aids the park in maintaining the native species. He said the deer eat the native species instead of the invasive species. Graves said they would like to eliminate about 60 deer from the park, but that won't happen.
Recessed at 1:40 p.m.; reconvened at the Clear Creek Area at 1:45 p.m.
Graves said the JCCB is very pleased to have recently completed this first land purchase utilizing partial funding from the $20 million Conservation Bond approved in 2008. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation provided invaluable assistance to the JCCB with the initial purchase. He said the purchase price of $480,280 was paid with $131,000 from the Conservation Trust Account and the balance of $289,280 was paid from a loan from the Capitol Projects Fund pending the sale of the first Conservation Bonds.
Graves said the acquisition is an 87 acre riparian tract along Clear Creek, just west of Tiffin, adjoining Half Moon Avenue. It will enable the JCCB to help protect and enhance the watershed of Clear Creek by conserving the contiguous natural vegetation and wetlands. The water quality of the Iowa River, into which Clear Creek flows, will also be enhanced. Graves said the Iowa DNR lists both of these waterways as impaired. He said protecting and improving this green space is also vital for buffering to control stream bank erosion. Good management practices and improvement of the forest resources on this riparian tract will help the JCCB staff protect and enhance wildlife habitat and wildlife corridors, which in turn, will help to maintain biodiversity and enhance air quality. Graves said this property will provide opportunities for hunting, in season, and for the non-consumptive year-round activities of birding, photography, and nature appreciation.
Graves said that previously, an easement for a trail and a variable width stream buffer has been acquired on the adjoining Ryan property. It extends from Ireland Avenue to the east boundary line of the new 87 acres. The eventual goal is the connection of a trail link to F.W. Kent Park. He said even though this property lies within one mile of I-80 and US Highway 6, the vegetation and natural attributes help to quiet much of the noise from these busy thoroughfares. The JCCB is committed to protecting significant natural lands and waters in Johnson County for human benefit and enjoyment in order to provide a healthy environment for present and future generations.
Stutsman asked if the trail will be constructed with Bond revenues. Graves said yes. Stutsman asked if anyone lives at the ranger's station at Kent Park. Graves said yes, two people live there to ensure someone is on duty all the time. Neuzil asked what the plan is for management of the property beyond maintaining a trail. Graves said they are going to develop a management plan for the property. Right now there are limited invasive species and a lot of things that need to be cleaned out to improve the wildlife habitat. Sullivan asked about the creek bank. Graves said it needs improvements. Neuzil asked where the trail will be located. Graves said that is yet to be determined by an engineer. He projected that some of the trail will be along the creek. Graves pointed out a power line easement restricting the placement of any structure or object underneath it. He said they worked with Alliant Energy to obtain a 50 foot right-of-way.
Graves said the $20 million Conservation Bond is intended to provide funding for the achievement of the following objectives: to protect drinking water sources, to protect the watersheds of the Iowa and Cedar Rivers and the lakes and streams to ensure their water quality, to protect forests to ensure air quality, to protect and enhance wildlife habitat and wildlife corridors, to protect existing green spaces, to conserve land adjacent to areas where buffering is beneficial, and to develop hubs and linkages for hiking, walking and biking trails. Graves said this newly acquired 87 -acre area along Clear Creek is only the beginning of the realization of these conservation objectives.
Graves said he will drop off a DVD featuring the Bullhog for the Board to view. Harney asked if hunting is permitted during open season or if it must be closed off like in Kent Park. Graves said this area is open in regular season. When the trail is constructed, it will have to be closed during hunting season.
Adjourned at 2:22 p.m.
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary