(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Montgomery County, today (Tuesday), held a public hearing on upgrading 210th Street from a Level B (dirt) to a level A (gravel) road. County Engineer Karen Albert explained the reason for the needed upgrade.

Having heard no comments from the public, the Board voted to approve the upgrade as presented. A second public hearing was with regard to the upgrading of 150th Street between O Avenue and Pine Street, from a Class-B to a Class-A road, in anticipation of the eventual closing of Bridge PG-34/05 by 150th, west of Pine Avenue.

Albert said the most recent I-DOT traffic count shows an average of five vehicles crosses the bridge on a daily basis.

Montgomery County Engineer Karen Albert. MCBOS meeting 10-22-24

She said the cost to upgrade the road (Labor and gravel) would be about $10,000. The bridge will stay open until such time as a consultant determines it needs to be closed, based on a future, more recent inspection. Two property owners were concerned about the County’s intent to close the bridge, but since that specific topic was not included on the agenda as an action item, the board voted to approve the upgrade as presented. Any further discussion with regard to the status of the bridge will be held at a later meeting. Property owner Harriett Olson said when it comes time for that decision, the bridge should also be considered for an upgrade, instead of being closed.

County Auditor Jill Ozuna called the question of whether the Public Notice that was posted and published was the same as the Resolution that was presented for a vote, due to the wording in the notice, but the Board did eventually approve the upgrade as presented and passed a resolution to that effect. In other business, the Montgomery County Supervisors passed a pledge that will be included in the County’s Safety Action Plan. District 4 Supervisors Mark Peterson…

In other business, the Board agreed to reschedule their regular, November 5th meeting, to November 6th at 8:30-a.m., due to the General Election being held on November 5th. They also scheduled a canvass of the election votes to Nov. 14th at 8:30-a.m.