MUSCATINE, Iowa — Muscatine County supervisors will consider a moratorium next week on new housing developments that are not on paved or hard-surfaced roads.

Supervisor David Watkins suggested the discussion at Monday’s regular meeting when he learned that planned Phase 2 construction at the Bloomington Hollow subdivision on Bayfield Road is up for review by the zoning commission.

There has been much discussion over the years about requiring paved roads at development sites, but no action has been taken. Bayfield Road, which is gravel, has been a major issue.

According to Muscatine County Engineer Keith White, Bayfield Road can not be paved without major cost because houses, outbuildings and septic systems would have to be moved or removed along the street to meet engineering standards.

White said that there is only a 66-foot right of way on Bayfield Road where a typical paved road has 150 feet of right of way.

The average cost per mile for paving is $350,00 to $450,000, minimum, White said. He said property taxes from 100 new houses would generate about $10,000 annually for the county’s roads department.

Larry Jesse, the Iowa Department of Transportation’s director of local systems in Ames, told the Muscatine Journal there are no state mandates for county roads since state money is not involved, however rural design guidelines depend on terrain and take speed, stopping distance, grades, ditch widths and slopes into consideration.

Watkins said he wants developers to know the Board is seriously considering  requiring paved or hard surfaced-roads where subdivisions will be constructed.

Supervisor Wayne Shoultz agreed that subdivisions need to be located on roads that can handle heavy amounts of     traffic.

In other business

- Jeff Carter, the county’s emergency management coordinator, updated the Board on recent flooding in the county. He said this year’s flood was “nothing out of the ordinary.”

At an earlier meeting, there was discussion on where residents could get sandbags from the county. Carter said that in the past, the county had received sandbags at no cost through state or federal government agencies, but they are no longer available. He said sandbags are available through various vendors. Supervisor Kas Kelly suggested listing those vendors on the county Web site.

Reporter contact information

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