T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshall County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt addresses the Board of Supervisors during a special meeting focused on the FY 26 and 27 secondary roads budgets as well as the five-year Department of Transportation (DOT) program.

The Marshall County Board of Supervisors met for a brief but important special meeting on Wednesday morning as they unanimously approved a series of motions related to the amended Fiscal Year 2026 secondary roads budget, the upcoming FY 27 secondary roads budget and the five-year program with some highlights from County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt.

According to documents attached to the meeting packet, the total FY26 budget is $13,771,537.40, and the projected budget for FY27 is $11,253,195.25. After quickly approving those two items, Geilenfeldt went into more detail on the five-year program.

One project he mentioned was County Highway E63, which runs west from Highway 14 south of Marshalltown, past Haverhill and Van Cleave all the way to Hart Avenue, with 11.2 miles of resurfacing in FY27 planned at an estimated cost of $3.1 million through farm to market funding.

“It’ll be a big project,” he said.

Another project slated is Shady Oaks Road east of Marshalltown near Highway 30, estimated at $600,000.

“If you’ve been on that recently, you know it’s in pretty tough shape,” Geilenfeldt said.

He also mentioned a bridge south of Haverhill currently posted at five tons with plans to let it in November and hopes to find a contractor who wants to do some winter work. Supervisor Carol Hibbs asked about a bridge northwest of Gilman on 325th Street that has been shut down, and Geilenfeldt said that while it is not currently in the program due to being recently closed, it could be added through an amendment.

“I just wondered if you had that on your radar for anytime soon because there are farmers who go across there,” Hibbs said. “I know it’s causing some issues.”

The work on Binford Avenue and 245th Street, which will partially benefit from a Revitalizing Iowa’s Sound Economy (RISE) grant to accommodate the expansion of Marshall Ridge Farms near State Center, is estimated to cost over $3.5 million and is also programmed for FY27.

Supervisor Christian Goodman asked about the Highland Acres resurfacing project between Main Street and Marshalltown Boulevard (Lincoln Way), which runs along the border between the city of Marshalltown and rural Marshall County, and Geilenfeldt explained that it was a “strange setup” because of the boundaries with the county ultimately being responsible for about 35 percent of the total cost. The county’s current estimated cost is $360,000, and it is slated for FY28.

After some final clarifying discussion, a motion to approve the five-year program was approved unanimously. The board then voted to approve a supplemental agreement for final design services with Calhoun-Burns Associates regarding the aforementioned bridge south of Haverhill, and Geilenfeldt said he is currently in the process of acquiring right-of-way. He added that he is exploring reducing it to one-lane or even temporarily closing the bridge.

From there, they moved on to public comment and adjourned after about 15 minutes.