Johnson County Conservation highlights FY24 programs and proposes new deputy director role

Brad Friedoff, Johnson County conservation director, presented the department’s fiscal year 2024 annual report to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors on April 2, detailing program participation, project status and proposed internal restructuring.

Friedoff said the report contains comprehensive data the public can review and highlighted the conservation department’s environmental education, prescribed burning, facilities work and ARPA-funded projects. “I could've just shared this with you, but there's a lot of data in there,” Friedoff told supervisors as he introduced the packet.

The nut graf: The presentation combined an accounting of last year’s activities with near-term operational changes: Friedoff recommended converting the conservation program manager position into a deputy director role to concentrate grants, reporting and project administration at the top of the department, and said formal requests to fill an operations superintendent and natural resources manager would come before the board shortly.

Friedoff told the board the conservation education program held about 240 programs in FY24 and drew “just shy of 10,000 participants,” and stressed public outreach remains a priority as districts face tighter school budgets and transportation challenges. He described prescribed burning as a costly but effective tool for invasive-species control and said his staff trains with the National Wildland Fire Group to maintain safe operations.

On facilities and capital projects, Friedoff said the department completed a dump station and is reworking a planned shower house using a prefab approach that he estimates will save roughly $1,500,000 compared with earlier designs. He said Connolly Construction is completing phase one of current ARPA-funded work and the prefab manufacturer Huffcut (Wisconsin) is the vendor being considered for shower-house construction.

Friedoff also summarized conservation-bond spending and related grants. He said the Cedar River Crossing wetland-bank project is at 90% credit release and warned that credit sales depend on other government partners enforcing wetland protections. He said the FY24 annual report will note $20 million in bond proceeds and additional matching funds that will roll into a proposed 2024–2030 bond program.

On organization, Friedoff proposed elevating the conservation program manager to deputy director to centralize grant-writing, contract administration and reporting responsibilities; one education lead would be designated to coordinate programming. He said the department currently has gaps to fill — the operations superintendent and a natural resources manager positions are open and will be routed to the board for authorization to fill. Friedoff asked the board for patience as staff reassignments and winter-season center consolidation are implemented to improve efficiency.

Supervisors asked about timelines; Friedoff said he hopes to advertise and fill the vacant positions soon and to hire a mechanic this fall to expand preventative maintenance capacity. He emphasized cost-savings, in-house repair work and staffing flexibility if budgets tighten.

Ending: Friedoff left the report in the board packet for public review and invited questions and suggestions from residents and partner organizations. He said the department aims to publish the full annual report on the Johnson County Conservation webpage and to continue transparent reporting of bond and grant expenditures.