(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors held two Public Hearings in front of an overflow audience at the Cass County Courthouse this (Friday) morning. Members of the Public and others were able to teleconference-in from the Courthouse basement meeting room, in addition to the Supervisors’ Board Room. The crowd primarily consisted of area law enforcement, Fire/EMS, dispatchers and Cass County Emergency Management.

The first public hearing was with regard to authorizing a Loan Agreement and Issuing of Notes for the Agreement with regard to ISICS. Board Chair Steve Baier…

Cass County Fireman’s Association President J-C Wyman spoke on the importance of the Board’s support for ISICS. And, Atlantic Police Lt. Devin Hogue discussed the spotty coverage of the current system.

The Board voted 5-0 in favor of a Resolution instituting he proceedings necessary to take additional action on “not to exceed $2-million in General Obligation Capital Loan Notes.”

The second hearing was with regard to the vacating and closing about 500-feet of 570th Street under Interstate 80, north of Wiota. Nine people were in attendance. It lasted for more than an hour. The State wants to eventually make I-80 three lanes in both directions. Closing the road is a part of that process. Robert “Bob” Christensen, is part of a generation of a family that has lived in Cass County for 150-years. He was emotional in evoking memories of his family farming land that would be affected by the proposed change.

He said he would be willing to file an injunction to stop the road from being closed, because he feels there had been no open attempt at negotiating the offer. Jayden Smith and his wife Cathy own land on either side of I-80 in the affected area. He said closing the road would make for longer routes to the properties and increased wear and tear on bridges in the area, from traffic and heavier loads than what they would normally handle.

Iowa DOT District Transportation Planner Scott Suhr, from Atlantic, assured those at the hearing, that if the County doesn’t take advantage of the financial incentive of vacating the road and accepting funds for bridge infrastructure in the County, the DOT will not seek to incorporate “Eminent domain.” The actual conversion of I-80 into six lanes in Cass County is not going to happen soon, he said. The focus now is on the urban areas of the State. If the County were to decide against vacating the road, the DOT would continue with it’s plan to rehabilitate the current bridge in I-80 over 570th. That would likely occur sometime in 2023 at the earliest.

In the end, the Board voted 5-0 to table action until further notice, on passing a Resolution to vacate and closing that portion of 570th, until the County can get an opinion on how the change would affect the property values of the affected landowners.