Jasper County considers reclassifying portion of N. 75th Ave. W. to Level B road

Another small portion of a granular road in Jasper County may get reclassified from a Level A road to a Level B road, which will ultimately limit how often the street is maintained by engineer’s office crews and prohibit new rock from being added to the surface. But first the county has to get through its public hearings.

Supervisors scheduled the public hearings for the reclassification of North 75th Avenue West between West 116th Street North and West 108th Street North at 9:30 a.m. on May 13, 20 and 27 at the courthouse. If there is no dissent, is it likely subsequent hearings will get waived by the county supervisors.

County Engineer Michael Frietsch said in the middle of this stretch of road is a bridge over Clear Creek rated for five tons that needs to be removed. The first step, he added, is reclassifying the road to a Level B, and then the next step would be to vacate a section around the bridge to officially remove it.

“It’ll be a multi-million-dollar bridge to replace that bridge,” Frietsch said.

Supervisor Brandon Talsma asked if there was any way to reclassify the street to a Level C and then install gates. Frietsch said that could certainly be possible if the road is reclassified to a Level B. He agreed with the idea, but he noted it would take signatures and consent from landowners to reclassify to a Level C.

Frietsch noted at the April 15 meeting that property owners would be notified prior to the public hearings. The county will send certified letters to the four affected property owners identified as: Janice Gregerson, Trustees Methodist Church, Phyllis Steenhoek Revocable Trust and Rodney Altes Revocable Trust.

Acknowledgement slips will be added to the letters and the dates in which the public hearings will be held. In the letters addressed to the property owners, the engineer makes it clear the maintenance on the reclassified road will be of a lower standard; a copy of the county ordinance was included to further explain.

Supervisor Doug Cupples asked if the county considered vacating the road, but Frietsch said there is no way to vacate it with how the parcels are laid out. The aforementioned road is the only way some of these parcels can be accessed. Frietsch said the county might have been able to vacate the road if not for that.

Frietsch said this road reclassification is part of a list the county will be working on over the next year. One such reclassification was already approved back in February. The board of supervisors reclassified Indian Street to Level B road, much to the chagrin of some of the nearby property owners.