IOWA CITY

A property donation by the City of Tiffin may give Johnson County the space it needs to construct a heated storage facility for the Emergency Management Agency Commission.

After hearing a proposal by Dave Wilson, Emergency Management Coordinator, at its Dec. 20 work session, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors informally gave Wilson permission to move ahead with the project.

Wilson said the department has been looking to upgrade its storage capacities since 2017.

Tiffin has designated five acres of land near the Forevergreen Road and Interstate 380 intersection for future municipal buildings, including a fire station, and has offered an acre of that land for a 15,000-square-foot heated storage building for Johnson County Emergency Management.

“They’re a growing community,” Wilson said. “It’s a good location.”

The construction of the building would cost about $1 million, Wilson said, but the property itself would not cost the county anything.

“It’s nothing fancy,” Wilson said of the planned building, “but we would like to move forward.”

HEARTSafe Community

An update on the Rotary Kerber HeartSafe Community Campaign included Johnson County being the fourth community nationwide to be named a HEARTSafe community.

Johnson County Ambulance has collaborated with the campaign to issue 50 AEDs throughout the county and train hundreds in CPR.

One of the AEDs was installed at Lone Tree High School near the football stadium.

A number of HEARTSafe community signs were presented to the Board at the Dec. 20 work session.

Upcoming Road Projects

An update on street projects for 2024, provided to the Board by Johnson County Engineer Greg Parker, included upcoming work on 540th Street SW, 500th Street SW and Sharon Center Road.

The work on 540th Street will go from Highway 1 near Stringtown Grocery and extend east to Gable Avenue SW. Construction is expected to take place in the spring. A larger project on 540th Street, going from Highway 1 west to Calkins Avenue, where Hillcrest Academy is located, will go to bidding next spring or summer.

The construction project on 500th will go from Angle Road to Highway 1, with a bid process in the summer.

The bid process will begin in the spring for a culvert replacement over Old Mans Creek on Sharon Center Road.

East Central Board

A rotation in the spots allocated to county supervisors on the governing board of the Mental Health/Disability Services of the East Central Region is leaving Johnson County without a voting spot on the board until the end of 2024.

Johnson County Chair Lisa Green-Douglass and Vice Chair Rod Sullivan voiced their unhappiness over that situation with Mae Hingtgen, East Central Region CEO.

“Our people are constantly underrepresented, as are the people of Linn County,” said Sullivan, who noted that Johnson County has more population than six rural counties combined in the East Central Region. “This is where people live. This is where services are provided.”

“This is just wrong in so many ways,” Green-Douglass said.

A subcommittee recommended after meeting in June 2023 that the governing board consist of six county supervisors and seven other members required by state law. The East Central Region consists of nine counties, meaning that three counties are not represented on the board per the rotating schedule. The counties are determined in alphabetical order.

Johnson County will be back in the rotation beginning in January 2025.

Board Action

The Board approved, on third reading, a rezoning that clears the way for PCR Investments to move ahead with the Lone Tree Solar Project being planned along Highway 22 west of Lone Tree.

The Board set 5:30 p.m. January 11 as the monthly evening formal session for a number of rezoning and platting applications and public hearings.

The Board approved the appointment of Gene Zdrazil of Lone Tree to a five-year term on the Conservation Board, beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

The Board approved an agreement of $49,713.54 with eSJay Creative Works for the design of the Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson eponym exhibit that will be constructed on the county’s campus in Iowa City.

The Board approved a resolution in support of manufactured housing park residents.

Next meeting: The Board’s next formal session is at 9 a.m. Dec. 28.