Supervisors on the Iowa County Board approved a $650,000 funding agreement with the state Department of Transportation for a bridge on W Avenue and authorized the chair to sign multiple DOT project agreements covering upcoming FY 2026–2027 work.

The roads engineer told the board the DOT agreement (BROSCO481088J48) covers one bridge next year on W Avenue and that the department is planning other resurfacing and bridge efforts that will require coordinating detours; staff said DOT has proposed an April–November work window for some Highway 6 work that could detour traffic onto county roads. A motion to authorize the chair to sign the DOT funding agreement passed by voice vote (no roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript).

Why it matters: county officials said the bridge projects support connectivity and safety but also highlighted the tight mix of funding sources that pay for roads work. The engineering presentation described multiple “piggy banks” — FM (federal-aid) money, bridge funds, STIP, TIF and local funds — and warned that while TIF has funded several larger projects, routine maintenance and small bridge or culvert work depend on local dollars that are under pressure from inflation.

Staff details and cost examples came with numbers: an example box-culvert replacement project was described as about $155,000 total cost (roughly $100,000 for the culvert element plus $55,000 for county labor and equipment). The county reported an approximate $5,000,000 balance in its account, predicted a potential $1,000,000 loss this fiscal year without grants and estimated it might need an additional roughly $220,000 in local effort to match an average county support metric discussed during the meeting.

Operations and liability: supervisors also discussed a landfill request for county secondary-roads crews to haul excavated material. The county’s insurer (ICAP) advised that if the county hauls as a contractor it would carry auto and general-liability exposure for those operations. After hearing staff clarifications, the board voted to permit the county to haul material and record the arrangement, with the transcript indicating the motion passed by voice vote.

Snow policy and scheduling: roads staff and supervisors debated whether the county’s snow-plowing ordinance (which refers to dusk/sunset) should be amended to allow crews to operate until a set time for operational flexibility. Staff recommended changing the language to allow work until “half hour after dusk or 6 p.m., whichever is later.” Board members asked staff to add the ordinance amendment to next week’s agenda and to publish notice as required.

Next steps: staff said they will circulate signed copies of DOT agreements to supervisors, pursue potential grants for larger projects, place the snow-ordinance amendment on the next agenda, and record the landfill hauling arrangement in meeting minutes. The DOT project schedule described in the meeting anticipates some construction as early as 2026 with larger grant-dependent projects in later years.