Board of Supervisors hears from area businesses on road conditions, discusses additional items regarding Makee Manor

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, June 17, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with several owners of businesses on Makee Drive who told the Board that the road frequently develops deep potholes that have caused damage to their trucks. Representatives from five of the six area businesses (three on Makee Drive and three on Four Corners Road) asked the Board to consider paving Makee Drive, noting that other roads that don’t get as much traffic have been scheduled for paving.
Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour said that the Iowa Department of Transportation does a traffic count on roads at the County’s request every four years and that a count was done in 2009 that showed an average of 190 vehicles per day travel that road, noting that there are other roads in the county that see similar traffic that aren’t paved.
He explained that roads are paved on a priority-based point system based on the type of road, the traffic count, the closest paved parallel road and the percentage of truck traffic. Bonus points would also be awarded in cases where private donations and special assessments would cover 65% of the cost of the paving project, adding that the cost of concrete paving ranges from $500,000 to $700,000 per mile. Based on that point system, Ridenour said that there at least a dozen projects ahead of Makee Drive.
Board Chairman Larry Schellhammer suggested that larger gravel could be tried on the road in hopes of reducing washboarding and potholes. Ridenour agreed to add larger gravel to the road to see if it would help the situation.

MAKEE MANOR
The Board also met with Allamakee County Veterans Affairs Director Heather Homewood, who asked about future plans for moving some County offices to Makee Manor. She told the Board that it would not be convenient to move her office to Makee Manor because her work with veterans often entails visits to the offices of the Treasurer and Recorder in the courthouse. Chairman Schellhammer said that there are no immediate plans to move any offices to Makee Manor, but that the Board appreciates being notified that Veterans Affairs should not be considered for such a move.
Also related to Makee Manor, the Board decided to place an advertisement for auctioneers who would be interested in conducting an auction of equipment and materials at the facility. The advertisement would advise auctioneers to express their interest and request more information by July 8.
In other business, the Board approved the low bid of $77,699.62 submitted by Rhiem Construction for a concrete box culvert south of Volney and set July 8 at 9:30 a.m. as the date and time to open bids for concrete pavement patching throughout the county. The Board also approved the purchase of a new John Deere wheel loader for the Secondary Roads Department from Martin Equipment in Dubuque for $181,000, which includes the trade-in value of a 1990 Cat wheel loader.
Following the meeting the Board traveled with Ridenour to view the progress of the ongoing paving project on Bear Creek Drive.