Supervisors change April 25 meeting location to accommodate anticipated large crowd for public hearing on ATV/UTV trail on County roads

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, April 18 to discuss a variety of items, one of those being consideration of a change in meeting location for the Board's Monday, April 25 regular meeting that will include a public hearing on the use of County roads within a proposed ATV/UTV trail system. The Board has heard several reports that upwards of 75 individuals could be in attendance at that meeting, many more than what the Board's current meeting area can accommodate. With several larger facilities considered throughout the county, it was decided to hold a portion of Monday's meeting, including that 10:15 a.m. public hearing, at the Ethel Robinson Meehan Community Center in Harpers Ferry. That change of location will also allow the Supervisors the opportunity to tour the Dolores Tillinghast Memorial Library in Harpers Ferry as part of their annual visits to the public libraries that receive funding from the County.

PUBLIC COMMENT
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Jack Knight presented the Board with an idea he gleaned from a fellow Soil and Water Conservation Commissioner from Buchanan County in regard to an informal meeting process to discuss the location of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) that he feels may be beneficial to the overall consideration of such facilities. Knight suggested the meeting include the landowner and others involved with the CAFO, as well as neighbors to the proposed site, a member of the Board of Supervisors, in addition to others involved in the consideration process, all on a voluntary basis in order to address any questions early on in the process instead of allowing for lack of information or misinformation to create a more difficult situation.

Board of Supervisors Chairperson Larry Schellhammer suggested that it would be nice if a producer group (such as the Pork Producers) would instigate such a meeting on their own, as "a lot of times we don't hear anything about these units until after an application is submitted," Schellhammer said.

Supervisor Dan Byrnes suggested that he feels that any one of the current Supervisors would be interested in participating in such an early informal discussion. Supervisor Dennis Koenig suggested that "it's always a good idea to start out as a good neighbor, that's exactly where these things should start." Knight agreed to gather more information and bring it back to the Board at a later date.

REGULAR BUSINESS
Rural resident Dave Newton addressed the Board regarding ongoing concerns of property lines he shares with County land on his acreage north of Waukon. Newton explained that the most recent surveying of his property by County survey crews was accomplished using original recordings that were based on the intersection of two roads adjacent to his property, but that those roads had been updated and actually moved closer to his property since the original recordings were made.

The end result of those original recordings being surveyed from the updated roadways was the loss of approximately nine feet of Newton's property on the north and east sides. After County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake and County Engineer Brian Ridenour provided their input on the matter, it was agreed that Newton will have the property surveyed by a licensed surveyor and report back to the Board in hopes of coming to an agreement on the disputed property lines.

The Board approved the placing of colored pinwheels on the courthouse lawn by Helping Services for Northeast Iowa through the end of April in recognition of the month of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. There was a consensus through the Board that this activity creates great awareness for this important issue.

Discussion also took place regarding new tax levy sheets that will include colored pie charts that show what portion of residents' property tax levies are distributed to which entities. The new sheets will be available in various County department offices in the Allamakee County Courthouse, as well as posted on the County's website.

The Supervisors opened bids on a narrow 10.31-acre parcel of abandoned railroad land west of Postville more commonly referred to as the Postville Trail property owned by the Allamakee County Conservation Board but no longer necessary for an anticipated trail system with adjacent counties that will not be coming to reality. The bids included the $4,000 minimum asking price from the City of Postville, Neil and Deborah Horns and Charles Deering, with Andrew J. Moore also submitting a bid for $6001.50. The Conservation Board will review the bids with County Attorney Jill Kistler and make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors at a future meeting.

The Supervisors then approved a pair of amendments to the County zoning ordinance that were introduced at a public hearing and had their first reading approved at a previous Supervisors meeting. With no public comment having ever been received on either zoning change in the Rossville area from residential to commercial for Kelly Rentals and from agricultural to commercial for Ashbacher Building Supply, the Board agreed to waive the third readings and adopt each amendment.

A resolution was discussed to temporarily close the Wexford Bridge on Great River Road/X52 to accommodate a construction project that will widen the bridge located just north of the Wexford Church. Engineer Ridenour explained that, effective April 25, the bridge will be closed both day and night for an approximate timeframe of 45 days to complete the project, with a detour being assigned along Lansing Harpers Road. The Board unanimously approved the resolution.

The Board also gave its approval to three contracts for granular resurfacing of County secondary roads, the bids for which were approved at a previous Board meeting. The contracts for Bruening Rock Products were approved for Division I, II and III of that annual project, with a contract with Wiltgen Construction for Division IV of the project anticipated to be ready for approval soon.

Departmental updates closed out the April 18 meeting. Dave Mooney with Solid Waste Management explained how his department has been and will be handling the water situation at the County Waste and Recycling site while the adjacent Public Safety Center is under construction. Mooney also provided a bid for blacktopping the gravel lot area surrounding the Waste and Recycling facility after some public concerns about that lot. The Board suggested waiting until budget consideration time to further discuss the project.