LEE COUNTY – The Lee County Board of Supervisors took on the cloudy issue of dust at Monday's regular meeting.
About 70 people were either in attendance or online for the regular meeting that was dominated by conversations from rural property owners concerned about new fees the county has tagged onto dust control measures on rural roads.
On Jan. 15, supervisors passed a resolution charging $50 per application of calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, or tree sap, up to 500 feet. Applications from 501 to 1,000 feet have a fee of $100 per application with additional lengths calculated at a rate of $50 per 500 feet. Soy applications would be charged at $750 per application up to 500 feet and $1,500 for 501 to 1,000 feet. Additional rates are $750 per 500 feet.
Upon receiving applications from residents for treatments at the property owners' expense, the county blades the areas prior to the application of the dust control measure and puts down fresh rock. The county then makes an effort to not blade the treated road prior to Oct. 15.
Keith Menke, who lives on Otte Road near West Point, said the county shouldn't be charging a fee on top of the residents' costs.
“By treating the road, we’re reducing the crop dust for vehicles that drive past our house. But in addition, this treatment increases the quality of the road base, making a much stronger road and reducing the cost of gravel and road maintenance,” Menke told the board.
He said he was told applying dust control increases the cost to maintain the road for the county.
“I would like to know how that was figured. All indications I have, through research at colleges and a chemical business, show a major cost reduction with the treatment for dust control.”
He added that some residents think they should be subsidized by the county for the work.
Supervisor Ron Fedler said he spoke with Menke earlier this week about the fees. Fedler said the county used to put tree sap from the paper mill on the roads, but when it closed, that was no longer available.
Fedler said after listening to Menke’s concerns, he would like the county to reconsider the action to implement the fees.
“I’ve reconsidered my decision on the resolution and would like to have that vote reconsidered,” Fedler said.
Hull said he was asked by the board of supervisors to look at costs the county was incurring by subsidizing private improvements. Other fee structure changes included utility permits and private entryway permits. Board Chairman Garry Seyb said he told department heads to look carefully at their budgets with a state-mandated general fund levy cap of $3.50/$1,000 of assessed valuation to be in place in 2029. The county is currently at $5.85 for the general fund.
“That’s what we did,” Hull said. “We absolutely experience more costs with dust control. Salt degrades limestone. Salt is bad for concrete and limestone. It just is - especially in this corner of the state where we don’t have the highest quality of limestone.”
Hull said he figured the fees extremely conservatively at a half-hour for a grader, half-hour of operator time, a half load of rock, and a half-hour with a dump truck.
Seyb said the county recognizes there is value in treating the roads for the property owner and for safety with dust flying around, and the county is still losing money prepping the roads for the treatments.
“But for us to maintain the general levy and, in essence, cut that $2.35 over the next four years, we have to look at places to cut,” Seyb said.
Tony Menke, who lives on Maple Lane near Fort Madison, said he researched the issue and pulled a study done at Iowa State University. He said applying dust control with salt treatment improves roads in several ways. Menke also provided several studies via email to supervisors following the meeting.
He said the calcium chloride will form a hard pack road and a surface that water will run off of. But he said they always have water on them because they are constantly maintaining the roads.
“That is why you get longer life and less maintenance out of them. It’s in so many studies and is in black and white,” Menke said. “This is just research that took a half hour for me to dig into.”
Supervisor Chuck Holmes asked who paid for the study, saying that could make a difference in how the report reads.
Menke asked the county to do a study on the roads to see if the county could eliminate a piece of equipment by reducing the amount of times they maintain roads that are being treated.
Seyb said the county is still subsidizing the applications to a degree because they see a value, but the board will have to make hard choices over the next four years. He said he would have a conversation with Hull about the fee but couldn’t guarantee any change would take place this year.
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