By MATT MILNER Courier staff writer
August 27, 2008 12:46 pm
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OTTUMWA — Wapello County moved ahead Tuesday with plans to borrow and build.
The board of supervisors plan to issue bonds for up to $2.6 million for reconstruction of 87th Street. They say the road has needed repairs for years. The county cobbled together funding for repairs at some of the worst spots, but never had the money to make a complete job of it.
Weather over the past 12 months forced the county’s hand. The hardest blows came with last winter’s ice and repeated snowstorms, followed by this summer’s floods. When thaws hit, along with rains, they turned the county’s gravel roads into muddy quagmires. This summer’s flooding undercut some roads and further damaged others.
Repairs will demand much of the county’s road budget, leaving little for spots like 87th Street. Paved roads like 87th Street fared better than gravel with the weather, but they still took damage.
The county did not have enough money to keep 87th Street in good driving condition and repair the gravel roads. Bonding does the trick, bringing in extra funding for both efforts. Low interest rates and the absence of other county debt helped convince the board this is the right time to issue bonds.
Tuesday’s meeting included another step toward the bonds and approval of a contract for the 87th Street project. County Engineer Brian Moore said Norris Asphalt came in with the low bid of $2.44 million.
Supervisors signed off on the bid and the contract.
The summer flooding played a role in another item during Tuesday’s meeting. Moore asked the county to submit a letter seeking emergency funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. He said the funds cover emergency watershed protection. The floods damaged much of the land in the Des Moines River watershed through Wapello County, and the federal money will help restore those areas.
There was business unrelated to the floods as well. Supervisors signed off on the use of some county land for farming, as they have in previous years. The risk this time is that the land is the same area Unity Energy plans to use for an ethanol plant.
The plant is a long-standing project. Backers initially hoped to begin construction in the fall of 2007. It still isn’t under way. But the project is still alive and there remains the possibility it could start next year.
That’s not a problem if it happens before crops go into the ground. But there’s a conflict if construction begins afterwards. So why approve the farming now?
Board Chairman Jerry Parker said the price of fertilizer is expected to rise next year. The farmer hopes to lock in a price now, avoiding that increase. A provision with Unity allows for a payment should the plant later displace crops that have been planted.
Supervisors also discussed the ongoing disagreement with Jefferson County Quarry/Winn Corporation, the company that is operating a quarry during hours that both neighbors and the county say are outside the allowances of their license.
The company is allowed operating hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parker said the company believes that means they are limited to mining operations during those hours, but has unlimited time for other activities. The county says it limits all activities.
Parker said the county’s zoning board of adjustment will need to define what the hours mean.
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com
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