Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Facility Maintenance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County staff present $22,000 quote to clear county-owned drainage strip in Cedar Rapids
Summary
County staff presented a roughly $22,000 contractor quote to clear trees and brush from a 900-foot county-owned drainage strip near 50th Avenue SW in Cedar Rapids; staff discussed funding options and will place the item on the regular agenda for formal approval.
Jesse Black, an administrative specialist for Linn County, presented a contractor quote from Hunter Quality Contracting LLC to remove trees, brush and vegetation along a roughly 900-foot county-owned drainage strip in the 200 block of 50th Avenue Southwest in Cedar Rapids.
"It's about 900 feet long," Black said, describing the parcel and telling the board a neighboring property owner had complained about impeded water flow and vermin. Black said conservation crews last cleared the strip in 2018 but lack the manpower and equipment to do the work now, and that Hunter Quality Contracting provided the only timely response among several contractors contacted.
Black estimated the clearing would cost roughly $22,000 and said county staff identified about $25,000 in a capital repairs fund in the general fund that could be allocated for the work. He presented options to reduce recurring maintenance costs, including drone spraying and the possibility of an adjacent property owner purchasing the strip to take over maintenance.
Unidentified Speaker 1 asked whether wetland funding might apply; Black said staff would continue exploring options and that the project could be pushed to a later start if schedules or approvals required it. Black said contractor Sam Hunter discussed a potential start around Nov. 19 but that date was not firm.
The board treated the presentation as discussion; staff said the item would be scheduled on the regular agenda for a formal vote later this week.
