Board agrees to accept scenic‑byway kiosks and sign off so DOT can claim federal funding

Teddy Yager, project manager for the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway, told the Madison County Board of Supervisors the byway coordinator group was awarded funding from the National Scenic Byway Program to install visitor kiosks/welcome hubs in communities along the byway.

Yager said the Covered Bridges Byway is entirely within Madison County and that the grant allocation would include two large, double‑sided kiosks (Winterset and St. Charles) and one small kiosk in Bevington. He asked the board to authorize placement of the Winterset kiosk in the northeast corner of the courthouse square so the Iowa DOT can accept the funding; Yager said the DOT must accept the grant paperwork by September or the funding will be lost.

Board members discussed siting options, noting snow‑removal and ADA accessibility concerns if kiosks are placed on sidewalks or lawn areas, whether kiosks could be single‑sided to solve sight‑line and accessibility issues, and whether county secondary roads funds could be used outside road right‑of‑way. Yager told the board there is no purchase cost to the county; installation would likely be handled by the county engineer/secondary roads but the precise installation plan will be worked out if the grant moves forward.

The board approved a resolution to participate in the National Scenic Byways program and accept the kiosk(s) on county grounds by voice vote; one member asked that the record clearly reflect a county‑owned large kiosk and a county‑owned small kiosk where appropriate.

Next steps: staff will complete a form (a referenced "4(f)" item) and the DOT must accept the funding by its deadline; the county will finalize siting and installation logistics before kiosks are placed, likely years after award because of program priorities and roll‑out timing.