The Cass County Board of Supervisors have approved the vacating of a road near ‘The Valley” (Highway 71/I-80 interchange), and the sale of a bridge over a small stream along that road. Their action came during the Board’s meeting this (Wednesday) morning, following a public hearing, during which there was a letter of support for the move, and no objections.

Cass County Engineer Charles Marker said a request had been made in writing by the manager of a the Neumann Family Trust to the County Engineer’s Office, to vacate a portion of 662^nd Lane in Benton Township Section 7, that had originally been established in 1895. A person in charge of the Trust who owns the property, wrote the letter in support of the Board’s action. The reasons given were that trespassers and poachers had used the lane to park and engage in illegal activity on the land.

The nearly one-quarter of a mile stretch of road is off Boston Road, just east of “The Valley.” Marker said because there is a bridge on the road, and according to an opinion by the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, the County had to choose between demolishing the bridge, or selling it to an adjoining property owner for a minimal price. Either way, it had to be removed from the County’s bridge inventory.

The Board accepted a proposal from Dale Pauley to purchase the bridge for the sum of One-dollar. Pauley said he would block access to the bridge, because it is unsafe, and because the gulley underneath it is being used as a “garbage dump,” by some unscrupulous individuals.