County board gets updates on law enforcement center, parking issues

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Discussion about the new law enforcement center/jail and courthouse updates, as well as the parking problems that construction will cause, dominated a relatively short Floyd County Board of Supervisors planning session Monday morning.

Supervisor Chairwoman Linda Tjaden said she had met with Sheriff Jeff Crooks and Auditor Gloria Carr about the possibility of the three of them forming a “core team” that could deal with questions that come up during the planning and construction of the up-to-$13.5 million project.

Significant decisions would still go before the entire Board of Supervisors, but the core team would be able to handle the smaller day-to-day questions that come up during a construction project so that progress wouldn’t get bogged down but would still have county oversight, Tjaden said.

Carr said representatives of Prochaska and Associates, the architect and design firm working with the county, were concerned that as they met with courthouse department heads some changes were being suggested that hadn’t been planned for in the budgeting.

The core team idea will be put on the agenda for a regular meeting for formal board approval.

The three-member Board of Supervisors also touched on various parking issues.

Auditor Carr said she had received a call from Charles City Engineer John Fallis, asking whether the county wanted the city to include the short driveway from Jackson Street to the north courthouse parking lot as part of the city project rebuilding Jackson Street from Court Street to the boat ramp on the Cedar River.

Carr said Fallis estimated the county’s cost would be $4,500 to $5,000.

Supervisor Mark Kuhn said he would like to see the actual dimensions of the project before making a decision.

Supervisor Doug Kamm suggested the grassy area between the parking lot and Jackson Street could be used for courthouse parking while the law enforcement center construction is ongoing, scheduled for spring 2019 through fall 2020.

The law enforcement center will be attached to the west side of the courthouse with an atrium, and will require closing Jackson street from Gilbert Street to Court Street. Both small parking lots on the west side of the courthouse and the public lot at the corner of Jackson and Gilbert (the former Davico lot) would be closed to make way for the new building.

“Parking is a huge concern,” said Tjaden, who suggested the county could also look at the former Casey’s lot for parking. Although that location is about two blocks from the courthouse, people wouldn’t have to cross Gilbert Street, she said.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the supervisors:

• Heard reports from Kamm and Kuhn that some progress was being made to improve safety at the intersection of county road T38 and U.S. Highway 18 (the Avenue of the Saints). Kuhn said “Recheck cross traffic” signs had been installed. Kamm said LED-lighted stop signs were being considered, but there is sometimes a high degree of theft with those signs.
• Learned that the appraisal for 101 S. Jackson St. has been completed. The home is one of two the county must acquire to make room for the law enforcement center project. The board had previously offered $96,200, representing 130 percent of the appraised market value, for the home at 111 S. Jackson Ave., and recently increased that offer by an additional $20,000. The board is set to consider going into closed session at the regular meeting today (Tuesday) to continue discussing the real estate purchases.
• Briefly mentioned the county radio dispatch center, currently located in Charles City City Hall and directed by the Police Department. The county pays most of the cost for the center, and the board’s intent is to relocated the dispatchers into the new law enforcement center. Tjaden said she had a meeting set up this week with John Gohr, dispatch supervisor. Tjaden said she wants the dispatchers to be active participants in designing their part of the new law enforcement center. One question if the dispatchers move to the county building is whether they would be under the direction of the Sheriff’s Office or Floyd County Emergency Management.