March 19, 2024

Alleys, roadways to be vacated in rural Jasper County

Several unopened alleys and roadways were approved to be vacated by the Jasper County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The alleys and roadways are located in Vandalia and Galesburg and are deemed no longer necessary for any public purpose.

In Vandalia, the owner of the property located near West 129th Street South, has sold the land and would like to conduct a survey of the property prior to assist in the sale.

“Both of the roadways, the roadway and the alley have never been opened, have never been used. It was plotted when the original town was plotted years ago,” assistant to the engineer Pam Olson said. “The owner of the property would like it vacated since it has been sold. They would like to get surveys done that doesn’t show that these alleys and roadways are there.”

Olson said the roadways and alleys would no longer meet today’s standards of infrastructure in any way. They have also never been put into the county’s road system, so no additional work would need to be done to remove them from any scheduled maintenance.

In Galesburg, there are several alleys and roadways that will be vacated and split among the area land owners. Unlike some vacated properties, the alleys and roadways in this area will be split according to the usage of the neighboring properties not half and half.

“Not necessarily in these small towns do the alleys and roadways split half to each resident beside it,” Olson said. “Someone has maybe built a garage or a fence on part of it and has been there forever.”

There are 38 vacated public right-of-ways in various areas of Galesburg that are included in the approved resolution.

Supervisor Doug Cupples said he spoke with representatives from Shive-Hattery about getting an analysis of the space needs for those in the Jasper County Annex Building. The Des-Moines based engineering firm is scheduled to visit and assess the building Tuesday morning along with discussions on additional buildings the county may be interested in for future use.

Also at the annex building, supervisor Joe Brock shared a three year old air quality study done by Midwest Indoor Air Quality. The study found at the time the air in the building was safe and no mold or mold spores were discovered.

Brock suggested and the board approved contacting the air quality company again to assess the needs of an additional study. The previous work costs an estimated $1,100.

“I’m the first one who wants our employees working in a safe environment,” Brock said.

In other business:

• Newton Main Street was approved to use the courthouse lawn for an Easter Egg Hunt at 6 p.m. April 6.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com