It was decided at a recent Clayton County Board of Supervisors meeting that construction engineering for the Pony Hollow Trail will be completed in-house, with the county engineer’s department overseeing construction, observation and inspection of the project.
In providing an overview of the project, Casey Stickfort highlighted the scale and complexity of the work, noting components such as excavation, concrete paving, culvert installation, retaining walls and trail surfacing along the 2.2-mile, 10-foot-wide trail.
Because the project includes federal funding, he emphasized that “maintaining correct grades is critical,” meaning the trail must meet strict slope and cross-slope requirements to remain compliant with Iowa Department of Transportation standards.
Following direction from the board at a previous meeting, Stickfort presented options for completing the work either internally or by contracting with an outside firm.
The first option included hiring a consultant to handle construction engineering. At a previous meeting, Clayton County Conservation Director Jenna Van Meeteren said doing so could significantly increase project costs, estimating a rise from $35,000 to $250,000 or more. She cited an industry standard of 10 to 20% of total construction costs, along with challenges related to timing and firm availability.
Stickfort estimated a lower cost for contracting the work, saying, “My guess is we’re about $150,000 to $160,000—it could be more.” He added that firms he contacted indicated interest in submitting proposals.
The second option involved completing the work in-house. Under that option, some projects in the county’s five-year plan would either be contracted out or postponed. If grant funding is received, the Keystone Road Bridge and 318th Street Bridge replacement projects would likely be contracted out. The B45 Marquette Hill reconstruction and Dove Avenue culvert replacement projects would be postponed.
Completing the work in-house would also increase the cost from the originally estimated $35,000 to approximately $92,000. To cover those costs, supervisors discussed reducing the county’s proposed $2 million local effort contribution by $57,000, with those funds then used to reimburse the Secondary Roads Department for construction engineering services.
After discussion, the board of supervisors voted to move forward with completing the project in-house. Supervisor Steve Doeppke said, “I think we should move forward with it.”
In other discussion, Brittany Hubanks and Stacey Killian provided a departmental update for the Visiting Nurses’ Association, sharing that changes to state funding will result in several services, including foot care clinics and in-home care provided by visiting nurses, to be discontinued.
They said the state of Iowa is shifting how local public health grants can be used, moving away from funding direct patient care and instead focusing on population-based health services.
As a result, services such as homemaker and home health aide visits, along with monthly foot care clinics, will no longer be provided through the county’s public health department.
“We know it’s important, we know it’s needed—this is not something that we chose to move forward with,” they said.
About seven individuals had been receiving in-home care services and have been notified of the change. Staff have been working to connect those residents with other providers that offer similar services. The foot care clinics, which served an average of around 20 people per month, will also be discontinued.
Moving forward, the Visiting Nurses’ Association will focus on services such as immunizations, communicable disease response, school health support, emergency preparedness and community health education.
“We may not be the ones providing the care, but we’re focused on partnering and helping individuals stay connected to needed services,” they said.
