County attorney introduces new assistant; legal description delays slow road-vacation settlement work

The Muscatine County Board of Supervisors heard that Micah Johnson has joined the county attorney’s office as an assistant who will serve the felony docket. County counsel said Johnson has prior experience in Davenport as an assistant county attorney and in the public defender’s office and clerked for a judge; the county expects him to begin handling felony matters in Muscatine. Separately, county staff updated the board on efforts to finalize legal documents for a proposed road vacation involving the Edgewater Bridge and Road Association and The Nature Conservancy. Staff said they provided existing legal descriptions and mapping; the Nature Conservancy and the association are working to prepare an accurate legal description of the roadway to be vacated. County staff said escrow and settlement agreements related to bridge fees, releases and waivers of liability and a road access and maintenance agreement for six lots (stemming from FEMA buyouts) are otherwise in place, but the legal description remains the primary outstanding item. Staff asked supervisors to expect inquiries from property owners; they said the county cannot provide more legal description work beyond the materials already shared and that the parties must complete the legal description for the vacation to proceed.