County presented with price tags to save Dillon Bridge

     Anamosa City Administrator Jeremiah Hoyt was back in the Jones County Board Room on Sept. 17 to update the Jones County Supervisors on the historic Dillon Military Bridge situation.

   The bridge is located at Wapsipinicon State Park in Anamosa, over the Wapsipinicon River. The bridge sits on county, Anamosa, and Iowa DNR property. The city and the county have been partners in a 28E agreement concerning the bridge since 2008.

   The bridge has been closed since 2021.

   Hoyt outlined three options concerning the future of Dillon Bridge:

   • Option A, Rehabilitate Truss to Remain In-place, $1.92 million

   • Options B, Relocate Truss to River Bank, $620,000 (including recoating)

   • Options C, Relocate Truss to River Bank, $410,000 (excluding recoating)

   The Technical Memo and Preliminary Inspection Report Hoyt sent to the county was prepared by the City of Anamosa’s engineer, HR Green.

   “I’m here today because the city council has requested an update on this entire project for the council meeting on Monday,” Hoyt said. “So I wanted an opportunity to meet with the supervisors again to see if there’s any thoughts or guidance on moving forward.”

   Hoyt said Melissa Clow, with HR Green, has made every attempt throughout the past four to five months to reach out to and get a response back from the state and the DNR. She has not been successful.

   “No real progress from that perspective,” he told the board.

   The city did hear from the State Historical Society of Iowa, in fact confirming Dillon Bridge is an historical structure, and noting that the city could be eligible for a $50,000 grant. The grant would only apply if the bridge were kept in place, not if it were removed.

   HR Green has indicated that federal funding could also come into play with the project.

   “We don’t know what that is though until we decide what direction we’re going to go and send them our concept documents and project plans,” Hoyt said of the federal funding. “So it’s kind of a cart before the horse type of thing. We can’t go in one direction without having additional information. We don’t want to go the other direction if we don’t know what the price tag is.”

   From his perspective, Hoyt has informed the Anamosa City Council that he favors removing the bridge and relocating near the present site, which is also the cheaper of the options.

   “We will have to get permission from various other outside agencies to do that,” he stipulated. “I don’t know how long that takes or what’s necessarily involved in that. To me, that just seems like the most cost-effective option while still retaining this piece of history within our community.”

   In addressing the 28E agreement, Hoyt said Anamosa is planning to move forward to restore the bridge in some shape or form.

   “The very fact that both of our agencies entered into the agreement expresses more, it says that we are both obligated to this,” he said.

   As to whether the DNR would be involved at all, he said the city attorney is not actively pursuing the matter due to lack of contact with the state.

   Supervisor Joe Oswald asked Rep. Steven Bradley, who happened to be present at the board meeting, if he could assist either entity in getting through to the state/DNR.

   “We’ve reached out the DNR and state many times with no response. It seems foolish to me,” commented Oswald. “I would think somebody could respond to that.”

   Bradley said he was unaware of the Dillon Bridge situation and offered to make some calls.

   From a budget standpoint, Hoyt said the city has set aside $300,000 “in anticipation that something was going to happen” with the bridge in the near future.

   “$1.9 million is a big number, especially in the times that we are currently in and trying to come up with any amount of funds to move forward,” he said. “That is really the driving factor behind exploring some other options. That’s why we initially reached out to some of our local support groups and interest groups saying would it be feasible or acceptable, from the perspective of public opinion, if we removed and relocated the bridge because it would be a much lower price tag.

   “In my mind, there’s not an ideal solution. But a $400,000 or $600,000 expense, under the provisions that Jones County and the City of Anamosa are essentially splitting those costs, is far better than a $1.9 million split,” he continued.

   Supervisor John Schlarmann asked where the county would come up with the funding, considering there are currently bridges within the county that are closed.

   Several members of the public in attendance spoke out in supporting of saving Dillon Bridge.

   Sherrie Thurston of Anamosa urged the county to use its remaining ARPA money, which she estimated at $300,000 remaining, to put toward the bridge.

   “You have ARPA money that you can designate to this to at least know we’re going to get it moved, if nothing else,” she said. “As a citizen of both Jones County and Anamosa, I’d like to see the supervisors at least commit maybe $200,000 so you know you can do something with it before it falls into the river. This is long overdue.”

   Tom Durgin, also of Anamosa, has been championing for Dillon Bridge for quite some time.

   “You know how I feel about saving this structure and keeping it in place,” he said. “That bridge is historic. It’s critical.”

   In wrapping up the discussion, Hoyt reminded the supervisors that the city is seeking input from the county on which direction to go.

   “From the city’s perspective, the engineers are asking what is the next step,” he said. “Do we come up with a project to remove it or restore or renovate? That’s the next question.

   “Something for Jones County to consider is that you don’t necessarily need to come up with the funds today,” continued Hoyt. “Both of our entities are mutually obligated to this. If we had a commitment to work one direction or another, we could work the funding out.”