Supervisors hear input on countywide vendor fees for RAGBRAI, approve motor grader purchases

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, April 3 to address a full agenda of items, including a zoning change request, manure management plan updates and the consideration of motor grader quotes. Board chairperson Larry Schellhammer called the meeting to order with the current agenda and the minutes of March 27, 2017 being approved.

During Public Comments, Executive Director Val Reinke with Allamakee County Economic Development discussed a countywide vendor fee for the Des Moines Register's Annual Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI®). Reinke advised that Executive Director Craig White with Main Street Lansing will be forwarding Lansing's ordinance or resolution for vendor fees with the City. Reinke explained that establishing a countywide ordinance or resolution is an effort to protect the communities that are investing money and effort into RAGBRAI planning and discouraging vendors from avoiding vendor fees within communities by establishing a higher countywide vendor fee for areas outside city limits.

Coordinator Ardie Kuhse with Waukon Economic Development (WEDC) advised that at least two Allamakee County property owners have been contacted by vendors expressing interest in paying for space on their property roadside outside of city limits. Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake discussed issues relating to the County's right of way roadside and Supervisor Dan Byrnes said that the County Attorney will need to be consulted on this issue, which will be an ongoing conversation until an ordinance or resolution is established.

Jim Garrett of the Allamakee County Historical Society presented a Museum Energy Assessment from Alliant Energy with recommendations for improvements to the Allamakee County Courthouse Museum in Waukon including LED lighting and air conditioning at a total cost of $7,200, within the $10,000 budgeted for repairs and improvements annually. The Supervisors approved the improvements, not to exceed $7,200.

County residents George and Belva Ashbacher were present to address two agenda items relating to zoning change requests for properties they own. The first item involved a zoning change request from A1 (agricultural) to C1 (commercial) for Lots 3, 4 and 5 of the Scenic Ridge View Subdivision in southeast Allamakee County. Blake and the Supervisors discussed that the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denial of the request, but the current A1 zoning of the property does allow mini-storage as Ashbacher had intended, classified as home industry.

The second agenda item for Ashbacher involved zoning changes from A1 to R2 (residential) for multiple lots at Scenic Ridge View II, VI and VII Subdivisions. The Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended denial of the zoning change, which the Supervisors were in agreement with. Schellhammer discussed that this is not a stopping point for Ashbacher, but rather a starting point in developing these properties and to further work with Blake on the matter with several options still available.

The plat approval for the Frank Robert Moline Revocable Trust was briefly discussed by the Supervisors. The Planning and Zoning Commission has not yet acted on the matter and as a result, the Supervisors tabled the agenda item for discussion at a later time. Manure management plan updates were accepted and placed on file for Kent Schultz #2, Herman Family and Grove I.

The Fiscal-Year 2018 Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) Secondary Road Budget and IDOT Five-Year Secondary Road Construction Program were discussed by Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour. An overview of the Secondary Road budget was provided by Ridenour before going into detail about the Five-Year Construction Program's paving and bridge replacement projects, with both agenda items being approved by the Supervisors.

The contracts and bonds for granular resurfacing of Secondary Roads were also addressed by the Supervisors and Ridenour. Bruening Rock Products was the low bidder in all four divisions and was approved by the Supervisors. Next, Ridenour discussed quotes for painted pavement markings on Secondary Roads with multiple bids received that included two close bids from contractors, one from Minnesota and the other from Iowa. The Supervisors discussed the usage of in-state versus out-of-state contractors. Ridenour will be researching the matter and discussing it with County Attorney Jill Kistler.

The resolution for the temporary road closure on Columbus Road near the Driftless Area Education and Visitors Center was discussed, with the April 10 closure being approved. The closure will allow for work to be completed for the paving of a portion of Columbus Road near the newly constructed Center.

The Supervisors and Ridenour discussed the motor grader quotes that have been received from Martin Equipment of Dubuque and Ziegler Caterpillar of Postville. Jim McDonald with Martin Equipment had previously presented information on the John Deere 770 GTX motor grader and Jared Bucksa with Ziegler had previously presented information on the Caterpillar 140M3 motor grader. Both McDonald and Bucksa were in attendance at Monday's meeting and briefly provided information about their respective company's motor grader, resale value and repair services. Ridenour discussed the County's history of Caterpillar purchases and the convenience of Ziegler Caterpillar's location within the county in Postville. After some discussion by the Supervisors, the decision was made to purchase one motor grader from each company, rather than two motor graders from one, allowing a head-to-head comparison to be made for future decision making with both companies having comparable products and competitive offers.

Under Department Head Updates, Ridenour discussed the six-county meeting originally planned for April to be hosted in Allamakee County. The Supervisors recommended moving the meeting date to May. Ridenour advised that the Secondary Roads Department maintenance crew has moved to a work schedule of four ten-hour days and that part-time positions will be advertised including a roadside mower, scale person and an additional part-time position to help replace the work release hours lost from the recent closure of the Luster Heights facility.