JOHNSON COUNTY

Supervisors approve Stringtown Grocery expansion

By Paul D. Bowker
Posted 4/20/22

IOWA CITY

A planned expansion of two buildings located behind Stringtown Grocery in Kalona was approved by the Johnson County Board of Supervisors at its formal session April 14.

Willis …

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JOHNSON COUNTY

Supervisors approve Stringtown Grocery expansion

Posted

IOWA CITY

A planned expansion of two buildings located behind Stringtown Grocery in Kalona was approved by the Johnson County Board of Supervisors at its formal session April 14.

Willis Schlabach, the business owner, is planning to expand an existing sales building and gazebo, which are situated behind Stringtown Grocery’s parking lot off 540th Street SW just east of Highway 1.

The board approved a required site application for the expansion.

The expansion of the sales building will include the addition of bathrooms.

The expansion comes during a year when Johnson County is beginning a three-year improvement project on 540th Street SW. The first phase will include work going from the intersection of Highway 1 and 540th Street, and heading east.

The Stringtown Grocery expansion was one of several rezonings and plats approved by the board.

The board also approved a rezoning application from Monarch Nursery & Garden Center in Hills. Monarch Nursery is planning an expanded outdoor display of goods on a 1-acre size of property, and needed to rezone from commercial to highway commercial in order to do so. Per code, commercial zoning restricts goods for sale to 100 square feet; highway commercial has no restrictions.

The City of Hills had previously reviewed and recommended approval of the rezoning.

Monarch Nursery is located on the east side of Oak Crest Hill Road SE, south of West Main, in Hills.

Among other action, the board approved a rezoning request by Barb Taylor, from agricultural to residential, for a property of 1.64 acres north of Rohret Road SW and west of Half Moon Avenue SW. The request splits an existing house from a larger piece of property.

At this week’s formal session April 21, the board is expected to approve a subrecipient agreement with Iowa City that would boost the direct assistance program by $1.5 million. The county previously designated $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to be used for the direct assistance program, which benefits residents who were impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. Donna Brooks, Grants Coordinator, said the additional $1.5 million from Iowa City will benefit another 1,000 residents.

After the subrecipient agreement is approved, application and payment dates for the direct assistance program will be finalized, Brooks said. Eligible residents will likely be placed into a lottery system with winners receiving $1,400 one-time payments.

The board also discussed increasing vacation benefits for county employees in order to help the recruiting and retainment of workers. Proposed benefits include three weeks of vacation for employees with up to three years of service, four weeks for those with 3-8 years service, five weeks for those with 8-15 years service, and six weeks for 16 years and more.

Supervisors Rod Sullivan and Pat Heiden wanted to know the cost of the benefit before moving ahead.

“I would argue that we don’t have a retention problem,” Sullivan said.

The proposal may come up again in June, following a two-month study by Lora Shramek, Human Resources Director.

The board will hold its next formal meeting at 9 a.m. April 21.

Johnson County, Kalona, Stringtown Grocery