Lone Tree and Stringtown were among areas identified as growth opportunities in Johnson County, according to an economic development plan of villages and small towns that was presented to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors at its formal session January 13.

The development plan was the result of nearly two years of research and public meetings, and was produced by the Bill Menner Group, an Iowa-based consulting firm. It was adopted by the board in a 5-0 vote.

The plan stated that 150 additional acres in Lone Tree could be rezoned to commercial or industrial; currently, just one acre is zoned that way. Potential uses could include event centers, restaurants, distribution warehouses and repair shops, according to the plan.

In the Stringtown area, located north of Kalona, 38 acres are currently zoned as commercial or industrial. An additional 189 acres could be rezoned, according to the plan, with possible uses including restaurants, distribution warehouses, repair shops and agricultural product processing.

In addition to business expansion, the Menner Group identified high-speed broadband, affordable housing, childcare, recreational options and quality roads as priorities for growth.

Input for the development plan included a stakeholder meeting held this past July. Among the nearly 60 at that meeting included attendees from Farmers Henhouse, HIllcrest Academy and Stringtown Grocery.

Scott Havel, Sharon Telephone Company General Manager, appeared in front of the board to ask for federal funds so that broadband work proposed for 850 homes in the Lone Tree and Riverside areas could begin soon.

“The American Rescue Plan Act funding that’s received by Johnson County would allow us to expedite materials, hire contractors and begin building fiber to the homes of those 850 locations in Johnson County,” he said.

High-speed broadband has been targeted as a high priority for the rural areas of Lone Tree, Hills and southwest portions of the county. Kalona Cooperative Technology Company (KCTC) is also involved in broadband.

Havel said that Sharon Telephone, which is based in Hills, has invested $5.2 million in rural broadband in 2020 and 2021 and secured $5 million in other grants.

Also at its formal voting session, the board extended the mask mandate for all county buildings until May 15. When in a county building, all visitors and employees must wear masks regardless of their vaccination status.

The mask mandate was extended at a time when the omicron variant has produced a large surge in Covid positive cases. Sam Jarvis, Community Health Division Manager, said 2,800 cases had been reported in eight days.

All of Iowa remains in the “high risk” category, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of Saturday, Johnson County had risen to 2,476 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 29.77%. Washington County’s positivity rate is also nearly 30%.

Discussion on an amendment to the Johnson County policy regarding employees and their vaccination status was deferred to this week. The policy calls for employees to be vaccinated by January 31 or face weekly testing.

The county has more than 500 employees and the number of those who had not yet returned vaccination status forms as of January 12 was about 20. Brad Kunkel, Johnson County Sheriff, said 27 in his department alone would need to be tested.

“I find it very shocking,” Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass said. “This [a vaccination] is something for safety. The highest killer of law enforcement in the last year and a half has been Covid. I just think that — that more than any kind of other protective equipment — is going to be the thing that’s going to protect officers’ lives and allow them to get home safe at night.

“I am just really, really shocked at that number. It’s a huge number.”

Among the plat approvals was one granted for Frank Place, a 1-lot, 3-acre farmstead split on a property located west of Hills near the intersection of 500th Street SW and Kansas Avenue SW. Ray “Bill” Frank has negotiated a purchase agreement with Brian Akers and Sheri Ford for the 3-acre property, which is a split from a 219-acre farm.