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Supervisors tentatively agree to survey and explore sale of unused public‑health land; health board urges retention
Summary
In a work session the board directed staff to begin surveying unused Des Moines County public‑health property for possible sale, while the health board urged preservation for potential future public‑health needs; staff and supervisors discussed easements, drainage, rezoning and sale process options.
During a May 12 work session the Des Moines County Board of Supervisors discussed selling portions of county‑owned land adjacent to the public‑health building that the Health Department said it is not using. County staff presented preliminary site sketches and told the board city staff had not identified drainage problems at concept review.
Health Department staff and members of the county board of health urged caution. The health board said the parcel was purchased to preserve space for possible future public‑health needs — for example, drive‑through vaccination lanes and temporary staging during large health responses — and asked the supervisors not to sell the land. “The goal was to preserve it for future needs,” a health board representative said, adding that volunteers with medical and emergency backgrounds supported retention.
Several supervisors said they doubted the county would need to expand the building in the near term and favored placing unused portions on the tax rolls to generate revenue and housing opportunities. Supervisors discussed multiple constraints and next steps: protection of the site generator, ensuring retention‑basin drainage and maintenance easements remain intact, whether the parcel should be listed by sealed bid or conventional listing, and whether deed restrictions or sale stipulations (for example, zoning limits or use restrictions) should be applied.
Staff and the board agreed to proceed with a more precise property survey and to develop sale terms that could include restrictions and responsibilities for easements. Staff said the cost of the survey would be part of the sale process and that the city indicated willingness to consider rezoning the parcel from R2 (single‑family) to R4 (multifamily) to support housing development.
The board did not finalize a sale; it gave direction to staff to coordinate surveying, meet with stakeholders and draft sale terms for future board action.
