Supervisors, Historic Preservation land on plan for Stone Bridge

     With a deadline of Oct. 16, the Jones County Board of Supervisors approved a letter of support for the Historic Preservation Commission for a Jones County Community Foundation (JCCF) grant.

   The board took action during their Oct. 10 meeting, with Commission member Dean Zimmerman present.

   If successful, the funds from the grant will be used to hire Axiom Consultants to assist the Commission with the Ely’s Stone Bridge project. Axiom would help put together bidding documents to hire a contractor and assist with the scope of work, as well as future grant-writing to cover project costs.

   It was mentioned at a previous meeting that the board wasn’t in favor of funding another consultant if Axiom was going to be duplicating services already performed on Stone Bridge. Zimmerman clarified that this would not be a duplication of services. Other consulting firms have done load tests on the bridge; Axiom would not be doing any physical work on the bridge.

   “They’ll help us with the scope of work so a contractor knows what to expect,” Zimmerman explained. “And they’ll help with future fundraising, grant-writing, and construction oversight. None of this has been done previously.”

   The one decision holding things up, though, Zimmerman offered, is the outcome for Stone Bridge.

   “People have different ideas about where we’re going with this project,” he said, “and what we hope to accomplish. Is the bridge not going to be open for vehicle traffic? Has that decision been formally made?”

   “For the right money, I’m not opposed to vehicle traffic,” said Supervisor John Schlarmann. “But I don’t want the county throwing a bunch of money at it.”

   Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach felt the bridge could be turned into a county trail and roadside park. He asked Zimmerman, who also serves on the Conservation Board, if that department would consider the idea.

   “I cannot speak for the entire board,” Zimmerman said.

   Right now, though, Conservation and their board are working on a master plan for Central Park, which Zimmerman said will be quite time-consuming. He said long-term, park improvements will be the goal.

   Knowing Stone Bridge would just be open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, Zimmerman asked if that also meant it would no longer be the responsibility of Secondary Roads.

   “We’ll restore the bridge to its original splendor,” offered Zimmerman. “Would we turn it over to the Conservation Board for future development of a small park area and pedestrian pathway?”

   He reminded the board that having a clear goal in mind for Stone Bridge is needed for grant applications.

   “We turned it over to Historic Preservation to return to Secondary Roads as a passing bridge,” recalled Supervisor Ned Rohwedder. “It lies with us to act (on this). We entrusted Historic Preservation and they’re asking for guidance from us.”

   Rohwedder added that it’s “improbable” to have a two-lane bridge open to vehicle traffic at this point.

   “I think the direction has changed,” he said. “We need to let them know our intent.”

   County Engineer Derek Snead said Stone Bridge is a closed bridge on their road system.

   Zimmerman said knowing that Origin Design provided a $2 million price tag to reopen the bridge, “that’s a dealbreaker moving forward.

   “We’re looking more toward pedestrian use,” he told the board.

   “There are better places for us to spend bridge money than to make that bridge a vehicle bridge,” voiced Supervisor Joe Oswald.

   Snead said bridges throughout the county utilize highway and local funds. Those dollars also have to be supplemented with a 20 percent local match.

   “We could use our local option tax up with one big project and nothing left for little projects,” added Zirkelbach.

   It was the consensus of the board to restore Stone Bridge and open it for pedestrian/bicycle traffic, as well as a possible park area.