Supervisors approve purchase agreements for easements on planned Cedar Township bridge replacement

The Benton County Board of Supervisors approved purchase agreements to acquire permanent and temporary easements needed for a planned bridge replacement on 50 Fourth Street in Cedar Township.

County staff told the board the project replaces a posted bridge located roughly a mile south of the pavement and just east of U.S. 218. Two property interests must sell easements to the county: Van Land Incorporated and a family trust for property owned by Donald Heckroth.

Staff described the proposed acquisitions as follows (amounts and acreages reported at the meeting): Van Land Incorporated would convey about 0.20 acres for a permanent easement and roughly 0.19 acres for a temporary construction easement for a combined payment the staff reported as $1,500. The agreement with Donald Heckroth’s trust covered a separate parcel with a payment the staff reported as $1,230. County staff said the agreements include standard purchase documents and asked the chair to sign the contracts and the auditor to notarize them.

A motion to accept the purchase agreements was made and seconded and the board called the vote; the motion carried. Staff said the acquisitions are intended to clear right‑of‑way for the replacement design currently underway.

Board members discussed the site's crash history and prior DOT conversations during the presentation. No further expenditures were approved at the meeting beyond the purchase agreements voted on.