The Cass County Board of Supervisors’ Board Room was packed Friday morning, with people anxious to learn about the County’s plan for bridge replacements and repairs. Most of those in attendance wanted to know about the plans for the Buck Creek Road bridge. Cass County Engineer Charles Marker told the crowd and the Board, the Bridge over the East Nishnabotna River, is “On the list,” of future replacements, but there was no promise of how soon that might be. He said they might not be financially able to fix the bridge for several years to come.

Cass Co. Engineer Charles Marker

Marker said Cass County receives about $460,000 per year in federal, Highway Bridge Program (HBP) funding. The rest is a 20-percent local match. To be eligible for replacement HBP funds, Marker says a bridge must meet three requirements. The first is that it must have 25 or more vehicles crossing it per day. The next criteria is if they are ‘Structurally deficient,” or “Functionally obsolete.”
A bridge is structurally deficient if it has a weight limit on it. It is functionally obsolete, if the bridge or too narrow or fails to meet height restrictions.

21 bridges in Cass County are functionally obsolete, while 50 are deemed structurally deficient. Marker said in Cass County, there were five bridges on a paved road that in 2013 had an estimated life span of three-years or less. In 2014 six bridges had a life span of two-years or less. In 2013, eight bridges on unpaved roads had a three-year life span or less. In 2014, Marker says three were closed and six had a life span of two-years or less.

Bridge projects, according to Marker, are considered a major project by the Iowa DOT’s time line, and require 42 weeks minimum from the time a concept statement is formulated to the time the project is released for bid letting. In the current bridge timeline (Fiscal Year allocation 2014-2015) Bridge #83 in Cass County (by the Griswold Golf Course) is set to be let in April 2015. It will cost more than one-half million dollars. Bridge 73C (on the Cass/Montgomery County line), is set for May 19, 2015, at a cost of more than $431,000.

In FY 2015-2016, Bridge #20 (south K Road) is on the list for May 2016, while Bridge 347 (on the Cass/Audubon County line), is set for June 2016. Other bridges set for replacement in the near future, include Bridge 17 south of Massena along Yankton Road, and Bridge 134 (located southwest of Massena). Marker says a 30-foot wide bridge costs $5,250 per linear foot for the bridge only, not counting the other preparatory and finishing work.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Friday, approved the rezoning of a section of land on the Cass-Adair County line. Rich Hanson, assistant to Cass County Engineer Charles Marker, reported the Zoning Board met January 15th to consider the request from Alliant Energy to rezone a three-acre parcel in Grant Township, Section 13, just north of Whitepole Road, or G-30. Alliant wants to build a new electrical substation to replace three smaller area substations that are outdated. Construction won’t start on the project until 2017.

Landowners in the area have not objected to the plan, and the County Zoning Board approved the request before forwarding their recommendation to the Supervisors. In other business, the Board approved the hiring of Stacie Platt as a part-time administrative assistant to Cass County Attorney Dave Wiederstein, at a rate of $15/hour. Platt will likely work about 12-hours per week.

The Supervisors also approved the abatement of taxes for a property owned by the City of Anita, which had been declared a nuisance property. And they took under advisement a request for $7,500 funding from the Cass County Historical Museum.

Sheriff’s deputies in Cass County arrested an Atlantic man, Tuesday. 32-year old Zachary Alan Frank was taken into custody on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Frank was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held until sentence is served.

A total of five Adair County residents were arrested Thursday evening on drug charges, following a traffic stop in Cass County. The Sheriff’s Department reports just before 7-p.m., a deputy with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on Hwy 92 and 620th Street. During the course of the stop, a Cass County K9 conducted a sniff of the vehicle and indicated to narcotic odor. A search of the vehicle was conducted by Cass County deputies and approximately ½ pound of methamphetamine (with a street value estimated at $20,000), ½ ounce of marijuana, baggies, scales, and paraphernalia were located. Deputies arrested four Bridgewater residents: 51-year old Henry Lewis Degraw; 32-year old Julie Ann Holmes; 33-year old Justin Paul Parker, and 46-year old Samantha A. Jones. All four subjects were arrested on charges of Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Deliver (B felony), Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver (D felony), two counts of Drug Tax Stamp violations (D felonies), and Prohibited Acts (aggravated misdemeanor). Additional charges are pending at this time.
As a result of the traffic stop, a Cass County deputy obtained search warrants for three residences in Bridgewater. The search warrants were executed simultaneously by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Adair County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, Atlantic Police Department and Greenfield Police Department. 63-year old Toni Lynn Reese, of Bridgewater, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and taken to the Adair County jail. Additional charges are pending at this time.