County board gets good valuation news

The Wayne County Commissioners got some good news from the county assessor and awarded a contract for the long-discussed Hahn Bridge project during Tuesday’s meeting.
County Assessor Dawn Duffy told the board that, while there will be some increases in land valuation for the 2016-17 fiscal year, they won’t be near as drastic as they have been in previous years.
“You’re not going to see a big increase in value like in some years,” she told the board. “Compared to other years, you’re going to see a minimal increase overall.”
Duffy said that she is seeing a decrease in value with some parcels of land within the county, and therefore was projecting a smaller increase in the county’s land valuation for the coming fiscal year than has been seen over the past several years.
The board awarded the Hahn Bridge project to Dixon Construction out of Correctionville, Iowa, who submitted the best bid of $554,129.70. The company submitted a proposed starting date of April 24, 2017 with the hopes of having the bridge open in time for that year’s fall harvest.
“They had asked if they could start in March,” county road supervisor Mark Casey said. “We had planned on sacrificing planting season so it would be ready for harvest, so I don’t have a problem with a March start.”
The bridge, similar in construction to other bridges the county has recently built in the Dog Creek area, should take about 125 calendar days to complete. However, board chair Randy Larson wanted to make sure the county was protected by any possible delays that would slow the project down.
“There really aren’t any repercussion if you don’t have it done in time,” he said. “We should increase the penalties to add more teeth to them. Sometimes is seems like we get pushed back, and I don’t like that.”
Larson said that the state has much tougher penalties written into their contracts to encourage contractors to complete their work on time, and he said he would like to see the county and its engineers consider stiffer penalties for late construction work.
In other action, the board:
– discussed proposed construction of a scale by TWJ Feeds in Carroll that may create some traffic issues for the county’s vehicles that are located in that area. Board member Dean Burbach, who represents the area, said he had talked with company owner Bill Claybaugh, and was planning on meeting with Carroll city officials before the item is put on the county board’s agenda for its June 7 meeting.
– talked with Brent Pick about paving questions on Logan Valley Drive. Negotiations with landowners in the area are ongoing, and the county will discuss the possibility of accepting part of the road at its next meeting.
The county board’s next meeting is Tuesday, June 7 at 9 a.m. in the Wayne County Courthouse.