IOWA CITY

Big changes are coming to portions of 540th Street SW in southwest Johnson County over the next two years.

Bidding is expected to be held in September for resurfacing the road from Highway 1, where Stringtown Grocery is located, and east to Gable Avenue. Work is being planned for April 2024 although preparations could begin as early as this fall once a contractor is selected.

Ed Bartels, an assistant county engineer, updated the Johnson County Board of Supervisors on the project at its August 23 work session. The Board will vote Thursday, August 31, on moving ahead with a bidding process to contractors.

The work in April will involve replacing the road’s current chip-seal surface with an asphalt surface. Bartels said the new road would be 33 feet wide with a new, drainable base underneath the surface.

“It should be a welcome improvement for the horses and buggies, as well as other traffic,” Bartels told The News.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 40 days, but temporary road closures may happen due to the construction, Bartels said.

“They have a lot of horse traffic. Really hard surfaces are difficult for them,” Bartels told the Board. “We worked closely with their community, trying to come up with the best thing we could as far as a softer solution. When you’re trying to create a pavement that is resilient and hard enough to withstand truck traffic yet also able to not be so hard on the hooves of the horses, it’s a little bit challenging.”

The stretch to be resurfaced, which is less than half a mile long, is the precursor to a larger project on 540th Street slated for 2024 on the county’s five-year plan. A $4.1 million pavement rehabilitation project, from Highway 1 west to Calkins Avenue SW, where Hillcrest Academy is located, is also coming up.

Jailhouse Blues

The aged Johnson County Jail is in such need of repair that Sheriff Brad Kunkel is worried that the state might shut it down for safety concerns before necessary building repairs or replacement could be done.

“We need to make this a priority and meet it head on,” he told the Board.

The jail opened in 1981 with 50 full-time employees in the sheriff’s department; that number has nearly doubled and so has the need for beds and cells.

A structural assessment conducted by Axiom Consultants, an Iowa City engineering firm, documented a number of repairs needed immediately. Among those is a roof replacement, along with notable cracks and deficiencies in exterior and interior brickwork and walls.

A number of bond issues have failed for previously proposed building replacements, but the supervisors acknowledged that a new building and headquarters is needed for the jail and expanded sheriff’s department. Among the possibilities was moving into temporary facilities while a new building was constructed.

Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz said this was a good time for the department itself to expand into more and improved services, and mentioned Boulder, Colorado, as one place that the county could visit and get ideas.

“I really want to hold us to a higher standard,” Fixmer-Oraiz said. “I’m not looking for more beds or a cleaner place. I’m looking for a better system overall.”

No action was taken, but the Board is planning to schedule another work session specifically to address the situation with the current jail building on South Capitol Street in Iowa City.

Funding for sexual-abuse victims

Board supervisors are in favor of funding a financial program for sexual-abuse victims due to a pause of the program at the state level by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.

The program has paid for exams and associated medications. The Johnson County Sexual Assault Response Team has provided help for sexual-assault victims in terms of health care and the criminal-justice system.

“This is hard to think that it’s not politically motivated, given that other services are being paid for,” Fixmer-Oraiz said of Bird’s audit and pause of the program.

Johnson County supervisors agreed on $10,000 of funding.

“It should be on the Attorney General to do and I wish she’d take responsibility,” Supervisor Rod Sullivan said. “If she won’t, we will.”

Board Action

The Board approved a fall budget amendment that includes $22.4 million in additional expenditures (capital expenditures account for $15 million of that) and $1.9 million in additional revenue.

The Board approved a $45,000 subrecipient agreement with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County for the Sports Buddies Program.

The Board set its September monthly meeting on subdivision applications and public hearings for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 14.

Next board meeting: The board will hold its next formal meeting at 9 a.m. August 31.