Anamosa council votes to restore bridge; next steps depend upon board approval, grant assistance

   There is little question a restoration of the historic Dillon Military Bridge would be near and dear to the hearts of many, particularly in Anamosa.

   The question is how to fund a project that would cost an estimated $2.8 million.

   About 70 people were on hand June 9 at the Anamosa Library & Learning Center for an open forum about the bridge, including members of the Anamosa City Council and the Jones County Board of Supervisors.

   Those two entities share ownership of the bridge, which was closed to pedestrian traffic in 2021, through a 28E agreement.

   Early in the meeting, Anamosa City Administrator Jeremiah Hoyt laid out some of the options for the bridge, which include:

   • Rebuilding and restoring the bridge in place, at a cost of $2.8 million.

   • Removing and relocating the bridge, at a cost of over $883,000.

   • Complete removal and demolition of the bridge, at a cost of $264,000.

   If the bridge were to be removed, building a new pedestrian bridge near the site of the current bridge, Hoyt said, would cost more than $1.8 million.

   Melissa Clow of HR Green, the Anamosa city engineer firm, spoke of the possibility of applying for grants that could pay for up to 80 percent of the cost of restoration.

   The problem, she said, is that the firm can’t apply for the grants until it knows which option the city and county will pursue.

   Anamosa Mayor Rod Smith, who moderated the meeting, clarified, “Until the city and the county decide the path we’re going to go, we don’t know what will become available as far as financing.”

   At this meeting, only the City of Anamosa could take action on those options, and in the end it voted unanimously in favor of a motion “contingent upon the available funds,” to repair the bridge in place.

   In other words, they will proceed only after learning how much grant and other funding will be available to the city and the county for the project.

   It then vowed to present the same proposal to the Board of Supervisors in the coming weeks, at which time the board will vote upon it as well.

   During the nearly three-hour meeting, members of the public were allowed to speak on the subject. Overwhelmingly, they spoke in favor of saving the bridge in its place.

   One speaker suggested the idea of restoring the bridge in phases; doing only what was required at first to open the bridge safely for pedestrians and bicyclists, and saving the more aesthetic portions of the project for later, and perhaps through fundraising.

   Clow said that was a possibility; that the cost of minimum steps required to fix and open the bridge safely was about $1.3 million.

   Others spoke of the historic significance of the structure as a military bridge.

   Some mentioned saving and reopening the bridge as a safety factor. Currently, to get to Wapsipinicon State Park on foot, people must walk over the bridge on Highway E-34, which has no barriers between the sidewalk and the roadway and thus, some said, is dangerous.

   Others warned that because of the deteriorating abutments of the bridge, particularly on the south end, it could be on the verge of collapse, which would result in a whole new set of expenses.

   Often referred to was a petition that had circulated around the Anamosa community, drawing 471 signatures in favor of saving and restoring the bridge in the span of nine days.

   John Schlarmann, the county board president, said financing would be difficult, especially since the county has been instructed by the state to lower its levy rate.

   “It’s not that we don’t care (about the bridge),” Schlarmann said, “It’s, how are we going to pay for it?”

   Board member Joe Oswald said there are two other historic bridges in the county that are also in need of repair: the Stone Bridge northwest of Monticello and the Fremont Mill Bridge within Central Park.

   They added that while the Dillon Military Bridge seems to have widespread support among Anamosa residents, those who live near the other two bridges are much more concerned about those.

   One option, the board members said, would be to bond for repair of all three bridges, thus leaving the proposals up to the voting public.