• Work Session: Secondary Roads Five Year Plan
• Work Session: Progress Report for County Engineer Mike Gardner

Chairperson Stutsman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 6:00 p.m. Members present were: Charles Duffy, Jonathan Jordahl, Mike Lehman, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.

Assistant County Engineer Al Miller said they made a number of changes to the 5 Year Road Construction Program after the last meeting. He said project number 10, Wapsi Avenue resurfacing, has been updated on the Farm to Market portion of the estimate. On number 11, 180th St./Mehaffey Bridge Road, they changed some funding from local to Farm to Market funding. On number 23, the 2nd phase of 180th St./Mehaffey Bridge Road project, they changed the local portion of FY2003 to Farm to Market. On 24, shoulder widening on F-12, they increased the estimate. On number 25, Newport Road, funding was changed from local to Farm to Market. On number 26, bridge on Eagle Avenue, they changed a portion from local to federal bridge funds. On number 29, bridge on Black Diamond Road, funding was changed from Farm to Market to local. On 30, Sand Road rehab., they changed the funding from local to farm to market. On 32, bridge on Ireland Avenue, they changed the funding from local to federal bridge funds. Miller said they have gotten updated balances on Farm to Market and bridge (BROS) funds, which allowed them to change the funding around. Jordahl said they had discussions about the Farm to Market funds and asked if there are any connections to these changes. Gardner said they found in the later years in the 5 Year Plan they weren’t spending all of the money, bringing the balance back up, so they were able to reduce the amount of local funding.

Jordahl was interested in discussing how and when they decide to spend Farm to Market funds, by year and by project. Gardner noted a handout he had prepared that shows the cash flow for the Farm to Market Fund. Lehman asked if there was a flat amount that comes in every year or what it is based on. Gardner said it’s based on a projection that comes from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT). The most recent estimate released is FY2001, which they have projected out flat-line for subsequent years. Gardner said it’s been going up; it’s road use tax money. He said if gas prices get high, there is less fuel consumed, revenues go down, and that would impact the revenue. He added, the projects themselves are projections and could also go up or down.

Miller went on to the future projects. He said they have 3 types of projects in the road construction program: bridges and structures, paved road rehabilitations, and non-paved road reconstruction projects. On the oil road reconstruction projects they have attempted to put together an unbiased ranking of the oil roads throughout Johnson County. He said they have looked at 14 oil roads and ranked them according to their point system. He said the 3 projects on the preliminary 5 Year Construction Program were Mehaffey Bridge/180th Street (from Sugar Bottom Road to Solon,; FY2001 & 2002), Newport Road (from Prairie Du Chien Road to Highway 1, FY2004 & 2005), and Sharon Center Road (from Highway 1 to Sharon Center, FY2003 & 2004). He said those rankings were based on traffic counts and trends, accident history, safety concerns, type of service provided, and Board of Supervisors’ recommendations. Stutsman asked what is involved with those roads. Miller said it was re-constructing: grading and paving. Jordahl asked what the ADT/trends means. Miller said they were looking at the 1998 average daily traffic count and future trends (if it is going up or down). Jordahl asked if this rating system was a state or national design or produced by the Johnson County Secondary Roads staff. Gardner said it was developed by his department, but is based on the type of prioritization done for the DOT. Stutsman and Jordahl praised them for all the data being provided.

Miller said they ranked the top 25 bridges in the county based on a number of criteria: a rating by the DOT (based on a sufficiency rating of the bridge, from the bridge inspections), posting (load ratings), traffic counts on the roads, and detour length. He said they have added a ranking of cost per user, which takes into account the cost estimate for replacement divided by the traffic count on the road. This is how the ranking is determined. On the handout they have listed the status of the bridge. Bridges that rank high but are not on the 5 Year Construction Plan have the reason listed on the handout. He cited the example of bridges on the IWV Road, which are not on the plan because they need to determine what is going to be done to the road. Thompson asked about the Mehaffey Bridge. Miller said it is on there so they won’t be surprised when the large cost for replacing it shows up on the plan. He said it may show up in the plan in about 20 years. Gardner it shows up fairly high because of the high traffic count, the detour length is high, and it has a high load rating. Lehman said they will need to take into consideration what will be available in Farm to Market funds the year that bridge comes up. Gardner said they may need to let Farm to Market funds accumulate when that project gets nearer. Jordahl asked about the cost per user. Miller said, based on $12,000,000 (which is probably low) the cost would be $733 per user (ADT). Jordahl asked about the sufficiency rating of 55. Gardner said a sufficiency rating of 100 is a new bridge, so this bridge is in decent shape. He said Mehaffey Bridge is probably 40 years old.

Miller reviewed a map Secondary Roads produced showing the information provided by the Planning and Zoning Department for the area from the Iowa River to Highway 1, north of the intersection of Newport Road and Prairie Du Chien, and south of 180th Street and Mehaffey Bridge Road. He said Planning and Zoning had a record of all the subdivisions currently platted, total lots available in those subdivisions, buildable lots in each of the subdivisions, and lots currently vacant in each subdivisions. He broke them out by the collector road (Newport Road, Prairie Du Chien Road north of Newport Road, and Sugar Bottom Road) they directly access. Summarizing the data: 108 lots directly access Newport Road (103 buildable & 28 are currently vacant); lots that directly access Prairie Du Chien, north of Newport Road- there are 87 lots (80 buildable & 42 are currently vacant); lots that directly access Sugar Bottom Road- there are 288 (282 buildable & 71 are currently vacant). In for this area there are a total of 483 lots, 465 buildable, and 141 currently vacant.

Miller indicated on the map the areas shaded to show currently platted lots and various zonings: A2, RS, and R1A. He said there are 1,570 acres zoned RS in this area which are not platted yet. There are 940 acres zoned A2 and not platted. Miller added this does not take into account farm homesteads. Duffy said much of the RS zoned land is farm ground as far as he’s concerned because some of the owners may never build on that ground. Jordahl asked, based on Public Health requirements, how many lots could be carved out of the RS zoned land which has not been platted. Dvorak said the RS along Newport and Sugar Bottom has a 3 acre minimum and the A2 near Lake MacBride has a 5 acre minimum. Jordahl said it would be nice to try to correlate the average daily traffic counts with the number of lots. Miller said it is difficult to determine the traffic flow from the subdivisions. Gardner said not all of the traffic is generated by the subdivision residences.

Thompson asked about the Farm to Market roads definition. Gardner read it from the Code of Iowa, Section 306.3. He added there is a limit on the number of miles of Farm to Market roads in the state. Lehman asked if road designations have changed, to drop and add roads to the system. Gardner said there is a process they can go through and a statewide review board. Gardner said they have done a few switches and it used to be done locally. He said now it’s statewide. Gardner said it’s fairly easy to switch, if you’re willing to take some mileage out and replace it with another road. He said they did when they replaced 120th Street north of Solon with 140th Street. He said the State Functional Classification is based on the type of service for each road.

Jordahl said the 1998 traffic count numbers in some cases are significantly higher than the 1994 numbers, citing Scales Bend Road and Newport Road. Jordahl asked how confident they are in their numbers. Miller noted the graphs show some variability in the counts. Gardner said they have counted Newport Road as well, so they are confident about that number. Gardner said there may be some 1998 errors; he raised some questions about the 1994 count, thinking the count would be higher. Jordahl asked about Sandy Beach Road, with the high traffic count of 2335, and asked about the safety factor given, whether it is subjective. Gardner said it is subjective.

Miller read comments made by individual Board members for the Board to consider whether to make changes to the 5 Year Road Plan:

Put Greencastle bridge on future projects list.

Move Newport Road out one year (Miller noted they had moved it from FY2003 to 2004 for this 5 year program and their assumption was the request was to move it an additional year).

Put Prairie Du Chien Road from Newport Road to the Corps of Engineers property on the 5 Year Construction Program (they would need to know which year, if it is added).

Remove the F-12 shoulder widening (between Swisher and Highway 965, due to possible future annexation).

Stutsman read a letter received by the Board from Dick Oberman, in which he says, along with a number of neighbors, he would like to see SE Sioux Avenue between 500th Street and 520th Street improved, because it is the only section of Sioux that has not been improved. The homeowners are constantly asked by motorists to pull their vehicles out. For the farming operation, it would save hundreds of miles of truck and car travel and quicker response for fire protection. The right-of-way acquisition should be below average costs; they would surrender land on the west side of the road with no cost to the county. The big cost of the project would be replacing a wooden bridge, which at some point would need to be replaced anyway.

Libby Stroud, Newport Road, said they really do have widespread support for their positions. She said they sent out 592 surveys to households having registered voters in Newport Township and received 140 back, a 24% return. The postcard survey asked the respondents to mark whether they agree or disagree with the comments listed on the survey. The results were as follows: 1. Remove Newport Road from the 5 Year Road Plan, 87.1% agreed, 7.9% disagreed. 2. Don’t add Sugar Bottom Road to the program, 88.6% agreed, 6.4% disagreed. 3. Preserve rural and scenic integrity of Mehaffey Bridge Road, 180th and the East Overlook section of Prairie Du Chien Road, 82.9% agreed, 6.4% disagreed. 4. Reopen the County Land Use Plan and North Corridor Plan, 84.3% agreed, 8.6% disagreed. 5. Create a scenic roads ordinance, 90.7% agreed, 5.0 disagreed. 6. Improve the notification process, 95.0% agreed, 2.9 disagreed. She said they also circulated a petition to people throughout the county to preserve the rural and scenic character of the North Corridor and 1,160 people signed the petition.

Tom Foster, a member of I-SOARR and a resident on Newport Road, said his task was to focus on a couple of issues regarding traffic information relating to Newport Road. He said his information has been provided by the Secondary Roads Department, who have been cooperative, and from the Johnson County Council of Governments (JCCOG) 1998 and 1999 traffic studies. Foster reviewed the handout I-SOARR prepared showing the Newport Road traffic information. He said the ranking of chip seal roads using the 1998 traffic count indicated Newport Road was 8th. He said the ranking system used to score the ADT scored anything that was projected over 1,000 cars a day as a 10. He said Sand Road at 2335 per day was ranked the same as Newport Road. Foster said he has a hard time relating to average daily traffic counts. Foster said he had asked for the traffic count information in 20 minute intervals in order to look at rush hours. On the handout they indicated the average headway, travel in each direction. He said there’s a rush hour that happens in the morning and many of the numbers were in the vicinity of 48 to 60 seconds between cars. Foster said for the rest of the day all of the headways are above a minute. Foster said it is a long length of time between cars. Foster said Newport Road is ranked 7th in accidents per mile on chip seal roads. Foster said people are driving prudently on Newport Road. Foster said there has been a lot of discussion on projecting traffic counts. He said the projections by JCCOG would rank Newport Road 6th. Foster said that Newport Road should be removed from the 5 Year Plan because it is right in the middle of chip seal roads.

Greg Pickett, a resident on Newport Road, covered the local tax dollar cost to do Newport Road. The cost estimates without right-of-way acquisition costs are $2,000,000, according to Secondary Roads and according to JCCOG, $3,300,000. He said the Farm to Market Funds proposed to be used on Newport Road were increased $500,000 to $2,000,000, which means $500,000 of local funds have to be spent on another road. He estimated the local tax dollar cost for Newport Road, not including right-of-way, would be $500,000 to $1,800,000. He said the costs for right-of-way, based on Prairie Du Chien Road, for Newport Road would be $792,000.

Laurie Tulchin, Newport Road resident, read from the 1996 North Corridor Plan, "The Committee recognizes and acknowledges that the North Corridor and its environs are, and will be the primary location for future residential growth within the unincorporated areas of Johnson County." She said the North Corridor is about 20 miles long and 10 miles wide. She asked where the growth is going to occur. Tulchin said the North Corridor Plan needs to be reopened and the Land Use Plan re-examined to get a handle on what they are doing out there before spending millions of local tax dollars upgrading the roads. She said the public outside and within Newport Township supports taking Newport Road off the 5 Year Plan. Tulchin asked who on the Board was willing to take Newport Road off the 5 Year Road Plan.

Duffy commented, that living in that area for many years, the speed posted for some curves is too high. He said the fencelines are closer in Johnson County than some other counties. He said not all houses need to be built in the North Corridor. He favors only fixing curves on Sugar Bottom and Prairie Du Chien. He doesn’t know what they can do on Newport Road because of the ditches and curvy road. He said he couldn’t give a yes or no answer on reconstruction of Newport Road. Thompson said she was in favor of moving it out another year because they don’t know what the plan is for Highway 1, which will affect the traffic on Newport Road. Duffy said they won’t have the information they need from the State for at least another year. Lehman agreed with Thompson. Lehman said he is in favor of moving it back but leaving it on the plan. Jordahl asked Gardner and Miller about the implications of moving the road out a year. Gardner said they will have to look at whether other projects will have to be shuffled. Stutsman said she would agree with keeping it on the plan. Pickett said they ran into the same problem last year. Pickett said the people of the whole township are saying no. Thompson said the longer they postpone it is the higher right-of-way costs are going to be. She said, if the survey said: are you willing to pay higher taxes in the future so this road can be postponed; there may have been different responses. Jordahl said he wouldn’t take it off of the plan but would move it back.

Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore said if they are going to base a decision on a survey, they need to do an unbiased and credible survey. Pickett said it was a credible survey.

Corbin Sexton said she is an Iowa City resident who would like to see Newport Road taken off of the 5 Year Plan and wants a scenic road ordinance adopted. Terry Dahms said he is uncomfortable being on the other side of this issue from some of his neighbors on Newport Road, but he would like to see it stay on the 5 Year Plan. He said he feels much more comfortable with the paved shoulders. He said it is a wonderful job done on West Overlook Road and Prairie Du Chien Road. He said he would like to see Prairie Du Chien Road seeded with prairie grass, because it would be a majestic view. Gardner said they have done some prairie seeding, except areas they couldn’t get into. Miller said they seeded everywhere where they felt adjacent landowners weren’t going to mow.

Chuck Carroll said he is a North Corridor resident who does not reside on Newport Road. He used to work in Iowa City and ride his bike on the old Prairie Du Chien Road. He liked the old road fine. He said he misses the trees and doesn’t like the wide open view. He appreciates eliminating the bad curve, but feels it could have been taken care of without so much change.

Jim Glasgow said, in reference to Oakdale Boulevard, the developers were supposed to pay for the arterial streets. He asked why the County wants to pay for Newport Road and not the developers. Lehman said Oakdale Boulevard was a road that wasn’t built yet and with Newport Road they are dealing with an existing road. Jordahl explained Coralville’s road building policy. He said the County’s goal in the Land Use Plan is for developers to pay for improvements they make necessary, but they have not created a mechanism for implementation.

Pat Cancilla, a Sugar Bottom Road resident, asked for clarification about what the plans are for the Lake MacBride causeway on Mehaffey Bridge Road. Duffy discussed the impact of embargoes on oiled roads. Miller said the preliminary plans are to widen the causeway to the same cross-section as the rest of the road and replace the bridge on the causeway. Cancilla asked if those costs are built into the total for the 180th Street/Mehaffey Bridge Road project. Miller said the culvert to replace the bridge is listed separately at $100,000. Cancilla questioned replacing a bridge with a culvert. Gardner said it would be constructed to the proper hydraulics. Cancilla asked why Rapid Creek Road is not on the 5 Year Plan, because of the potential truck traffic from quarries. Gardner said they can consider it. Stutsman said the quarry has agreed to use another road for the truck traffic and Rapid Creek Road will be embargoed for certain times of the year. Duffy said they should look at Greencastle Bridge before adding Rapid Creek Road.

Jim Clifton, a resident on Newport Road, said the I-SOARR survey was sent to all residences of Newport Township. He said he wanted to ask how much weight the traffic count has when one talks about whether a project is on the 5 Year Plan or off it. There was discussion about the ranking system used. Clifton questioned the acceptance of the DOT's traffic counts. Gardner discussed traffic counting methods.

Kevin Lamparek said they need dust control improvements on Derby Avenue south of F-12. Jordahl said they are conducting the traffic management study of the roads to determine a policy for the calcium chloride program and for road improvements. Jordahl said JCCOG Traffic Planner Jeff Davidson is working on recommendations for a systematic plan. Connie Mutel, a North Corridor resident, said as elected officials the Board has to take a view of what the county will be like in 100 years. She said that she is afraid that by dealing with roads on an individual basis they may be sending a message that doesn’t match the long time paradigm of what the county will be like. She said they need to preserve the diversity and scenic beauty of the North Corridor. She suggested changing human behavior to promote safer driving rather than change the road structure.

Duffy left at 7:55 p.m. and returned at 8:05 p.m.

Don Johnson reviewed some of the roads surveyed by JCCOG that weren’t put on the 5 Year Road Program: Seneca Road, Blain Cemetery Road, and Greencastle Road. He also mentioned Amana Road as another one that needs to be looked at, because he feels it was a mistake to let it revert from an oiled surface. He said there are a lot of public areas in this area. Jordahl said there would be wetlands mitigation if Amana Road were raised to improve it.

Daryl Vanderhen on Amana Road said dust control is a concern on Amana Road and Derby Road also. He discussed the affect of flooding and the fact that Amana Road is an arterial route.

Roseanne Deatsch of Solon was concerned about the future of rural Johnson County and would like the Board to establish a scenic road ordinance. She said it would be a good follow-up of the planning for biking and hiking trails. She asked when the last time was that the North Corridor Plan was updated. Dvorak answered 1996 and he is proposing to update it in 2001. Deitch said it is time.

Ron Carson, Blain Cemetery Road resident, asked what the impact would be on Blain Cemetery Road if Poula’s proposal for a new town is approved. Stusman said Poula is presenting his petition to the City Development Board, which will meet in a couple weeks to review the proposal. Stutsman said the Board of Supervisors did write a letter to the City Development Board to address a number of concerns including the road.

Jean Fountain, Sand Road resident, asked for more discussion on the Sand Road project regarding how the correction of the geometry will affect the front lawns. Gardner said near her house would be the area they are trying to take out the curves, but they would try to minimize the impact. She said her house now is at the minimum distance. Stutsman said they try to take right-of-way where there is the least amount of impact. Gardner said there aren’t plans yet because that work will be taking place in FY 2005.

Jeanette Linebush, on Rapid Creek Road, suggested the Board look at things in a proactive way. She said they should take steps that involve courage from the Board in a long-range plan.

Rick Shramek asked if the next meeting regarding roads is March 29th. Stutsman said they would be looking at such things as policies for dust control. Shramek asked about the status of dust control on Greencastle Road and Falcon Avenue. Gardner said those roads were selected for the experimental program to examine different types of conditions. Shramek asked if the level of traffic would be used to as a factor and Gardner said that would be one factor. Thompson said they would be looking at the criteria, not specific roads.

Tom Carsner asked when the plan had to be approved by the Board. Gardner said it was due on April 15th. Tulchin asked the Board if their earlier comments indicated they were willing to bump Newport Road back another year. Duffy said yes. Stutsman said they haven’t made that determination, that Board members weren’t ready to make decisions yet. Stutsman suggested the Board discuss the 5 Year Plan informally on the March 30th and take action on April 6th.

Betty Sedlacek said she used to live on Prairie Du Chien and will be living on Newport Road. She was pleased with how Prairie Du Chien turned out. She said she didn’t send the card back for the survey. She suggested they don’t hire the person who negotiated the right-of-way for Prairie Du Chien because he was not a nice person to deal with.

Recessed at 8:25 p.m.; reconvened at 8:40 p.m.

Gardner said what they’ve been working on the 5 Year Road Program. He said they have been working on design for projects coming up this coming summer, right-of-way acquisition and design. Gardner said Chris Henze has to begun work on a tree and brush policy, working with Miller, Kevin Hackathorn, and himself. He said the Roadside Vegetation Committee has reviewed it and it will go back to the Committee after it is revised. When it is ready, he will bring it before the Board.

Thompson asked if it was an ambitious summer. Gardner said yes and it will be difficult to get everything done they propose to do. Stutsman said they did approve the maintenance worker for the department. Gardner said they are short-handed, with a worker having given a 2 week notice to go back to his former company.

Gardner asked if there was anything he hasn’t followed up on that the Board has requested. Stutsman said no; she is pleased with Gardner and his staff’s work. Gardner said Jinyeene Neumann and Miller have worked a lot on the 5 Year Road Program presentation. The Board praised the preparation for this meeting and the cooperation given to the public. Jordahl requested trails covered in the planning for the roads, giving statistics for bridges of the cost per vehicle per day, and a statement of the policy for seal coat roads. Gardner discussed the process of recycling road surface materials back to new road surfaces.

Stutsman asked how Gardner was doing with employee evaluations. He said he is one evaluation behind where he should be on completing evaluations. There was discussion about getting information from the Board to Gardner regarding changes the Board members would propose to make so that Gardner could project how those would affect the plan.

They discussed whether the Linn County dust control program might serve as a model to look at in Johnson County. Stutsman asked if there would be an analysis of the road near Lone Tree, which was taken out of the calcium chloride program. Gardner said he has not prepared a review of the information they have from their tracking program for road maintenance. Jordahl said they could incorporate Global Positioning System technology at some point in their tracking system.

Adjourned at 9:05 p.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary