Jefferson County Engineer DeWayne Heintz told the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors at Monday’s August 3rd meeting that the county has spent approximately $82,000 on Pleasant Plain Road rehabilitation and remediation efforts over the past two years — and that he is now investigating alternative surface treatments that could provide a more permanent and visually appealing solution for residents who travel the route.
Heintz said the figure was requested by a community member at a previous board meeting in the last couple of weeks. “Between last year and this year, the county has spent washing vehicles and then taking care of the road — we’ve got a total of $81,575,” Heintz said. “So basically $82,000 is what we’ve spent keeping that road. Not a small amount, but you do what you need to do.”
Heintz said Supervisor Lee Dimmitt approached him last week about exploring other options beyond the chip seal treatments the county has been using. He said there are two surface treatments he is now researching — a microsurface treatment and what is known as a cape seal — both of which are less expensive than a full overlay but may provide a more appealing, bleed-free surface for residents. “There’s a couple different surface treatments that I need to investigate further that are less expensive than an overlay but may give a more appealing surface to the folks who travel that route,” Heintz said.
However, Heintz noted that both treatments are not widely used in Iowa, which presents a logistical challenge. “The tough thing about these two procedures is they’re not very popular in Iowa, so there’s not a lot of contractors that do it,” he said. He is aware of contractors in Wisconsin, Missouri, and possibly Kansas who perform the work, but cautioned that the mobilization cost of bringing an out-of-state contractor to Jefferson County could end up being more expensive than the procedure itself. “The bad thing about that is the mobilization cost gets to be more expensive than the procedure,” he said.
Heintz said he plans to make phone calls and investigate further before reporting back to the board. “I’ll keep you guys posted as I get information on that — on cost and availability — and kind of schedule what that may or may not be possible,” he said.
