Iowa County weighs outsourcing $2.5 million in road work after assistant engineer resigns

Speaker 2, Board member, told the Iowa County supervisors that the county’s assistant engineer submitted a two-week notice and is likely taking a position elsewhere, a development officials said could strain the county’s ability to deliver upcoming road projects. "Our assistant engineer did put in his couple week notice there," Speaker 2 said.

The board and staff discussed competing hiring practices in neighboring counties and a recent hiring episode in which a five-member board in another county lost a $7,000,000 grant while changing direction on staffing. Speaker 1 described that elsewhere "they lost out on $7,000,000 grant." Speaker 2 and Speaker 3 raised concerns about capacity for two local projects the county is pursuing: a roughly $2,000,000 road project and a $500,000 curve-realignment project, a combined construction value supervisors repeatedly described as about $2.5 million.

Speaker 2 said the departed assistant had specialized skills in vertical curve design and corridor work that would be difficult to replace quickly. "If we do get that money for the L Road or the money to realign that curve up there by C Avenue, that was really his specialty," Speaker 2 said. The board discussed that engineering fees for outsourcing such federal projects typically run about 10 percent, which would create an additional near-term cost of roughly $250,000 for outside engineering services if the county contracts the work.

Board members and staff described a recent hire attempt for a neighboring county engineer, which involved an offer of $165,000 — about $15,000 more than his previous county pay — and noted the difficulty of competing for experienced engineers. Speaker 1 said that after the higher offer he "goes back to his other county." At one point Speaker 1 commented that a $50,000 rate would be needed to secure a particular contractor: "So I need a $50,000 rate for him, believe it."

Public-works operations and near-term construction plans were also discussed. Speaker 3, identified in the meeting as a staff speaker, described ongoing bridge work and routine maintenance: "...the box out here is, they've been patching a lot out there on B Avenue...grading. More dust controls going down, mowing. We'll have spot rock too." The board was told a box culvert backfill was scheduled to arrive on the nineteenth.

Board members said they will consider recruiting and posting for replacement engineering capacity and may plan to contract out specialized design work if necessary. "If we hire those out, we're looking at ... I'm trying to make $250,000 to do that," Speaker 2 said. No formal hiring action was recorded during the meeting.