• Work Session: Appointed Department Heads Evaluations

• Executive Session: Annual Evaluation of Human Services General Relief Director Kay Hull
• Executive Session: Annual Evaluation of Ambulance Director Mike Sullivan
• Executive Session: Annual Evaluation of Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Services Director Craig Mosher

• Work Session: Field Trip to Prairie Du Chien Road
• Work Session: Five-Year Construction Program for Secondary Roads
• Discussion: 140th Street Paving Project

Chairperson Bolkcom called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:00 a.m. Members present were: Joseph Bolkcom, Charles Duffy, Jonathan Jordahl, Stephen Lacina, and Sally Stutsman.

Motion by Lacina, second by Duffy, to enter into Executive Session at 9:02 a.m. for an annual evaluation of Human Services General Relief Director Kay Hull under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, "to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session." Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Lacina, second by Duffy, to leave Executive Session at 9:31 a.m. Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Recessed at 9:31 a.m.; reconvened at 9:40 a.m.

Motion by Lacina, second by Duffy, to enter into Executive Session at 9:40 a.m. for an annual evaluation of Ambulance Director Mike Sullivan under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, "to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session." Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Lacina, second by Duffy, to leave Executive Session at 10:48 a.m. Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Recessed at 10:48 a.m.; reconvened at 11:05 a.m.

Motion by Lacina, second by Stutsman, to enter into Executive Session at 11:05 a.m. for an annual evaluation of Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Services Director Craig Mosher under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, "to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session." Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Bolkcom left at 12:15 p.m.

Motion by Duffy, second by Lacina, to leave Executive Session at 12:15 p.m. Roll call: aye: Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy; absent: Bolkcom.

Recessed at 12:15 p.m.

Supervisor Stutsman joined County Engineer Mike Gardner, Assistant Engineer Al Miller, and Assistant Engineer Jinyeene Neumann at the Board Room at 3:00 p.m. to take a field trip to the site of proposed construction on Prairie Du Chien Road. Deputy Auditor Mark Kistler was present to record minutes when a quorum was convened at the site. No members of the public were present to accompany the group for the meeting. The group proceeded by van to Prairie Du Chien Road where they were met by Supervisor Jordahl at 3:12 p.m. near the intersection with Linder Road. The group proceeded by van a short distance along Prairie Du Chien Road and parked beside the road near 2205 Prairie Du Chien Road. Gardner noted the ravine near the curve reconstruction which had been discussed in a prior meeting. The group exited the van to look at the site. Bolkcom joined the group at 3:20 p.m., making a quorum. The meeting was reconvened at 3:20 p.m. Present: Joseph Bolkcom, Jonathan Jordahl, and Sally Stutsman; absent: Charles Duffy and Stephen Lacina.

Gardner took out the plans showing each of the alternatives for the realigned centerline of Prairie Du Chien. Gardner, Miller, and Neumann noted where each alternative on the plans would go north from the current right-of-way by pointing out physical features on the landscape. A tape measure was stretched out 100 feet along the road so that the Board could get a perspective on how far from the centerline the right-of-way would stretch in the area of the ravine to be filled. Stutsman was interested in the cost of each option. Gardner said that because there were a number of alternatives he would like to narrow down the options in order work up cost estimates. Jordahl asked what would calm down traffic speed, which was a concern of some adjacent property owners. Miller said enforcement is the best means to slow traffic and pointed out that the portion of the road going to the south would have the same alignment. Gardner said the County would have to make an offer for a remnant of property lying between the proposed new right-of way and the current right-of-way. He said it would be appraised at its highest and best use. Jordahl wondered if it would be appraised as agricultural land.

Jordahl made note of the rare species of plant catalogued in the Natural Areas Inventory. Gardner said the subdivider of the adjacent land would be dedicating the right-of-way in the ravine. Bolkcom was interested in knowing where the sensitive area was, if it includes the area to be filled or further down the ravine. He suggested getting Steve Hendrix to examine the site and report to the Board. Jordahl agreed. Gardner pointed out where a rise in the topography would need to be cut down. Jordahl said he didn't like the size of the clear zone in this particular location. Gardner said they do not have much choice.

The Board and staff got into the van and drove down the hill. Gardner and Miller noted the location where the alternate centerlines would meet the existing roadway. They continued up the road to the intersection with Newport Road. Along the way Gardner pointed out the section of road for which no additional right-of-way would need to be acquired. He also noted that Newport Road would "T" onto Prairie Du Chien Road. They turned around and drove Bolkcom back to his vehicle, where he left and recessed the meeting. Jordahl left at 3:50 p.m.

Recessed at 3:49 p.m.; reconvened at 4:09 p.m. with Jordahl absent.

Bolkcom introduced County Engineer Mike Gardner and Assistant County Engineer Al Miller from the Secondary Roads Department to lead the discussion on the 5 Year Road Plan. Gardner began discussing the Prairie du Chien project. He stated that Miller would discuss additional alignments with the Board. Miller said that they had looked at some other alignments to negotiate sensitive areas. He passed out a map showing the new and original alignments. He said he proposed an alignment which would move the road away from the Rissi property and affects the Lang's and Cole's with extra right-of-way needs. He stated there were concerns raised about trees and species of plants including trees in front of the Cole property. He stated that the Cole's preferred his original alignment. He said the original alignment would require less right-of-way from the Cole property. He said that all of the new alignment affect the Lang property and the Viner property more than the original alignment.

Duffy asked why the alignment had to be moved. He suggested leaving the road as it is except for straightening out the curve. Miller stated it all had to be worked on in order to get a good design. Lacina asked if the original alignment conformed to the State standards. Miler answered that all of the alignments shown meet the design standards. Lacina asked if they stayed with the existing right-of ways they would have problems on the curves and steepness of that slope. Miller said they could not get anything done with the existing right-of-way. Bolkcom stated that in order to fix the curves they needed to follow State standards which would be done if they used the proposed alignments.

Jordahl arrived at 4:14 p.m.

Miller stated his recommendation was the new alignment indicated by the red line on the map. In response to Stutsman's question, Miller stated his reason for choosing the red alignment was that it would move the road away from the ravines which require less build up and fill. He said with this alignment the road would be on existing ground. Gardner said he supported Miller's recommendation. Jordahl asked what the zoning class of the adjacent property was. Moore answered that it was residential. Bolkcom asked if it was necessary to decide on the alignment that day. Gardner said they would like to, he said they needed to get the alignments nailed down before they could go on to the next phase of design. Lacina asked if they needed to modify the paperwork that had been submitted to the DOT. Miller said the degree of curves and geometrics were essentially the same, but he would need to submit a new set of plans.

Stutsman asked if the proposed red alignment would have much of an impact once they completed the curve. Miller said that in comparison to the other alignments it was pretty much in the same place. Bolkcom asked if the red alignment would meet the concerns of the Cole's in front of their house. Miller said yes, in front of the house, but it would take a bit more of the property. Bolkcom asked if Miller had an idea of how much of the ravine they would avoid dealing with in using the red alignment. Miller stated it would be approximately 15 feet.

Bolkcom asked for a recommendation from the Board. Stutsman stated that they should go ahead with the red alignment. Duffy stated he would like to hear from some of the people the project will affect before making a recommendation. He asked how many feet away from the Cole house the road would be. Miller said the centerline would be about 5 to 10 feet further away from the house with the red alignment as opposed to the original alignment. Miller stated that they hoped to match the existing right-of-way line at the Cole house with a new alignment. Dvorak stated that the whole area on both sides of the road up to within a half mile of Newport Road is zoned residential.

Steve Lee, speaking on behalf of Dr. Lang, stated that the red alignment would affect the property in regard to the approach to his driveway. He stated that if the centerline was to stay where it is currently it would still be a much steeper approach. He said that his concern, and Dr. Lang's, is that they would have to adjust his driveway and he has some expensive stone pillars there. He said that he did not think any of the alignments would differ greatly in regard as traffic noise. He said there would be more traffic noise with the new road than with the current road. He stated that from the Lang's point of view the red alignment was not as good as the blue alignment. Miller said that the Lang's are right on the proposed clear zone line, but the grade has not been looked at and the centerline has not been fully determined. He stated that it may cause a steeper drive that may need to be adjusted. He said that if the drive needs to be adjusted back they would have to relocate the pillars. Jordahl asked if the drive could be cut between the pillars in order to have a flatter angle. Miller said it was possible, but he did not know how wide the foundations on the pillars were. Stutsman asked if the same thing would happen to the drive if they used the blue alignment. Miller stated that the road would be quite a bit farther away with the blue alignment.

Jordahl stated in relation to the 15 feet of ravine saved, that because of the increased deepening of the ravine that the further out they went, the more fill would be needed. Miller stated that the red alignment would allow them to have the proposed pavement on the material that was not fill down slope. He stated that most of the depth of the ravine comes right off of the shoulder. He said that the slope would catch up a bit quicker, but it would not be a substantial amount. Bolkcom asked if there was a benefit to building the road on existing ground rather than building on fill. Miller stated it was better especially the way the funding on the project was set up. Bolkcom asked if it was for that reason that the red alignment was better than the blue alignment. Miller said yes.

Joe Haman stated that he and his wife, Mary Cole, own the Cole farm. He stated he would like to asked the Board to make sure that right-of-way does not encroach on their yard. He said this was because the his wife's parents were elderly and they live in the house currently. He stated that when they passed away he and his wife may choose to live in the house. He said currently the road was insulated from the house by the tree line which includes 2 historic trees. He would like to see the trees remain in order to provide safety from the roadway for his growing family. He asked that the Board be on his side as far as preserving the livability of the residence. He stated that if it requires taking land from the other side of the road, he understood that those people's property on that side of the road are just as important as his. He thought that perhaps the welfare of the residential ground would take priority over the agricultural ground. He stated that he liked the blue alignment better because it impacted the Lang property less and his property a lot less. He stated that they supported changing the road, but he felt they could achieve the same change by following the blue alignment and incorporating the change he requested. He stated that he did not feel filling the ravine was a big issue. He reminded the Board that the ravine was subdivided into lots and the plants would be lost anyway.

Linda Johnson-Lundquist stated that the property is owned by her father Mr. Lundquist. She stated that he has a purchase agreement with Mike Dubrowski. She said that Mike Dubrowski is in the process of creating a subdivision. She stated that it was her understanding from Dubrowski's subdivision proposal that the woods are not going to be disturbed. All of the development will take place on parcels of the land that are non-wooded. The houses will be clustered in the 3 acres of cultivated field and the woods will remain as common green space. She said she did not know what happens at the bottom of the hill. She stated she wanted to clarify that. She felt they needed to preserve the native plant species in the area. She believed that project should take place because the curves were dangerous. Johnson-Lundquist asked if they could consider lowering the design speed of the curves. She stated that the proposed curves have design speeds ranging from 45 to 50 miles per hour while the straight portion of the road is posted for 30 miles per hour. She was concerned that this would cause accidents because of the families with lots of little children. She proposed changing the curve at the top of the hill, which directly precedes the posted 30 miles per hour strip, to a 35 mile an hour design speed. She said that if the curves could be tightened it would create less impact on the Cole, Lang, and Lundquist properties.

Johnson-Lundquist stated that a second concern that many in the neighborhood have is with the cutting of all of the trees. She stated that if all of that area was clear cut, it would greatly impact the neighborhood. She asked if they could consider having the bicycle path outside of the road. She said the term bicycle path is being used to describe paved shoulders that accommodate traffic to pull over. Miller said that Rohret Road is the same design as what they are proposing. Johnson-Lundquist stated that the subdivisions were constructed after Rohret road. Miller said it has bicycle lanes on both sides. Johnson-Lundquist said it wasn't a new construction, but a reconstruction. Bolkcom asked Johnson-Lundquist if she was suggesting no shoulders. She said yes. She thinks they are inviting problems with the high rate of speed on the hill, children getting off the buses, joggers and bicyclists. Bolkcom said one alternative was to have it off of the road but that would need a lot more right-of-way.

Miller said the design speed of the road was posted at 30 mph until the bottom of the hill and then it turns to 40 mph. He said the DOT requested a design exception statement that shows the cost savings between the high design speed and what they are proposing. He said if they approve it, and someone gets into an accident, he has to verify this before a judge that the cost savings was justified. Jordahl said they should take into account that this road has residences and it goes into a city. Gardner said the speed is posted at 40 on the north end and 30 on the south end. Stutsman said it wasn't practical to lower it much more. Jordahl stated they are proposing to create a road that will make people go faster. Gardner said there is already a traffic calming device in place and they still see tire marks going off into the ditch. Jordahl said traffic calming and traffic destroying are 2 different things. Jordahl said Johnson-Lundquist was asking if the curve cane be modified so it doesn't require the same width. Miller said they are already at the minimum. He said he is asking for a design exception. Johnson-Lundquist asked if 45 was the minimum. Miller said they are designing at 5 mph over the limit. Stutsman asked why wouldn't they want to have a shoulder. Bolkcom said it would be cheaper to have the trail be part of the road surface and it makes it a safer road.

An audience member said the concern is over the design speed in that area. He said is the road is narrow, more people will slow down. He said people go faster than the posted speed and they aren't sure what to give up. He said he could give up the bike lanes. He stated the County has recognized this was a residential area in the past. He said it needs to be more like Iowa City roads. Jordahl asked about the urban Farm to Market standards. Miller said it will take the same dimensions to make the bike lanes in rural and urban areas. Stutsman said she hoped they weren't talking about doing away with the bike paths. Miller said the benefit to vehicular and non-vehicular traffic by making the road wider in the area much outweighs the fact that people don't want bike lanes. Gardner said the curb and gutter section indicates a slower speed. Gardner said that people would recognize that as a slower speed. Jordahl agreed. Lacina stated he didn't want to do the curb and gutter section because the of the maintenance costs, but he likes the wider road. He said he's torn between the red alignment and the blue alignment. Miller asked for some direction. Jordahl said the green and yellow would take less farmland than the red one, while still having less distance from the ravine. Miller said it depends on how much it costs to move the pillars. Jordahl said the green one moves the pillars but the red one does not. He said the red alignment and the blue alignment are almost the same near the Cole farm. Bolkcom asked for a poll of the Board members. Lacina and Duffy supported the blue one. Bolkcom, Miller, and Stutsman said they support the red one. Jordahl stated he supported the green one, and it was important not to blame the engineers for this project as there was agreement that straightening out the curves was important. He said there was no extra right-of-way required, they were only paving the shoulder that is required by the design standards. He said this is a project that the Supervisors have approved of.

Duffy said he was very shocked that they weren't completing 140th Street. He said they had been talking about this for years and years and it would tie Johnson County into other counties. Duffy said this road would impact the future because they are going to see a lot of economic development in the area. Gardner said 140th Street was in the 5 Year Construction Program last year and is in the program again for this year. Miller said the final plans have to be in Ames by the 23rd. Duffy said they should do something with 965 for the West High students. Jordahl stated he liked Gardner's suggestions for road improvements. He said it fairly distributed improvements around the county. He said they can afford to do more of addressing the geometry of the roads if they only pave the ones with high traffic counts. He said they were proposing to spend more Farm to Market funds than they actually had and the elimination of 140th Street project saved them nearly that amount. He said it was reasonable to pull the paving of 140th Street.

Duffy said he called the State and they said the average count on the eastside was 380 vehicles. He said they are using Farm to Market dollars to make bike trails. Gardner said before they paved that road, the count was 130 and after it was paved it showed 380. He said the count they did last week was 138 and a count of 800 to 1000 justified hard surfacing a road. Gardner said the residents along 140th Street had been led to believe they would have a paved road from a different County program. He said this County program proposed having paved links at intervals across the county. Jordahl stated it was a valid argument to have paved links, but if you looked at a map there were plenty of paved links going to Cedar Rapids. Duffy said they don't want to drive on the dust. An audience member said Cedar Rapids is the largest grain processor in the County and people move large amounts of grain into Cedar Rapids from the north-east part of the county.

Lacina said 140th Street takes pressure off the other roads. The audience member said they only left the counters out for one day. Gardner said they put traffic counters out for a week. The audience member asked why they even graded the road. Jordahl said it was part of a project to extend this paved road. The audience member said it was agreed to pave it. Bolkcom said that is was a different Board then. Jordahl said he was on the Board when the project commenced but wasn't on the Board when it was agreed to do the project. Bolkcom said it was a problem of balancing resources. Bolkcom said there are other projects with higher traffic counts. He said it is a huge paving project and it is significant for the neighborhood but it has a very low traffic count. Duffy asked why the Chairperson submitted a budget for 300,000 dollars less than the original. Gardner said he came in with that.

A lady from the public who lives along 140th Street said she waited 60 years for a decent road. She said she has to drive clear around to Ely Road. She stated the road is so dusty, it's dangerous. She suggested someone check it out. Gardner said the traffic count on Deer Creek Road was between 1,000 and 1,100. Jordahl said Deer Creek Road is gravel, and it carries around 1,000 cars a day, but it doesn't dissuade people from using it. Duffy asked if Jordahl was suggesting they pave Deer Creek Road so Coralville can annex it. Jordahl said it has been suggested that they wouldn't annex it. Duffy said if they paved it, Coralville would annex it. Lacina stated the Board of Supervisors wouldn't have put the bids into the DOT and gone in the red $700,000 or that would be negligence. He said the Engineer indicated, because of timing, they might be in the red, but with the allocation of State money, they have it covered. He said they are not deficit spending and the money is available for the road. He said they need to consider the weight of the vehicles travelling on the road. He said there is merit to this road and they need to complete the project.

Fred Mell said Ely Road was a vital link when 965 and 380 were flooded. He said it's important to have vital links done. He said 140th Street and Ely Road should be improved. Duffy asked for a poll on what to do with the road. Duffy and Lacina said to go ahead with the project. Stutsman and Bolkcom said they need more time and Jordahl said he doesn't support the 140th Street paving project.

St Peters and Paul Church Representative Bill Zenishek said he brought Barbara Hollub from the Cedar Rapids Visitors Bureau and Convention Center and she was amazed at what they have at the church. He said the DOT wanted more information from Tom Dunbar. Hollub said she could work the St. Peters and Paul Historic Society in with the Czech Museum as a tour. She stated she will be bringing motor coaches in and they don't like dust. Zenishek said he wants the seal coating to cut down on the dust. He said Tom Dunbar might be able to negotiate some T21 funding from the DOT.

Adjourned at 5:33 p.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary