IOWA CITY

At least three road construction projects in southwestern Johnson County are set to take place in the new year.

Greg Parker, Johnson County Engineer and head of Secondary Roads, told the Board of Supervisors at its Dec. 21, 2022, work session that his department’s Fiscal Year budget of $17.5 million will include a number of major construction projects, including work on 540^th Street SW north of Kalona.

Pavement rehabilitation on 540^th Street is a $4.1 million project that will eventually stretch from Gable Avenue SW, east of Stringtown Grocery, to Calkins Avenue SW, just west of Hillcrest Academy. But the portion slated for work in spring and summer 2023 will be from Highway 1 to Gable Avenue.

The work has not yet been bid out.

Two other bridge projects, one north of 540^th Street and one northwest of Lone Tree, have already been bid out and work is expected to begin in the spring. Peterson Contractors of Reinbeck will do a bridge-replacement project on James Avenue SW over a branch of the Picayune Creek, north of 540^th Street SW, and Jim Schroeder Construction of Bellevue was contracted for a bridge project on Utah Avenue SE.

Combined, those bridge projects will run over $1 million.

At least six other construction projects in other parts of the county are also scheduled.

A complete list can be found at: johnsoncountyiowa.gov/department-of-secondary-roads.

Board Action

At its Dec. 22 formal session, the board approved a revised vacation and benefits plan for county employees. Among the changes are increasing the amount of vacation for longtime employees by a week, to as many as six weeks for those with 19 years of service; revising the vacation buyback policy; and adding a parental leave program. Proposed changes to the employee sick-leave program were declined.

The board set the monthly evening meeting and public hearing session for 5:30 p.m. Jan. 12. A number of rezonings and subdivision applications will be on the agenda.

The board approved a job description for Executive Director. The position is currently listed on LinkedIn and other job boards. Mike Hensch, the current Board Executive Director who previously served Johnson County as an administrator in the Medical Examiner’s Department, is retiring in May.