Back in May of 2023, an intoxicated driver entering town from the north plowed into the parsonage at 602 1st Ave. N., and since then, the State Center city council has consulted with Snyder and Associates to review potential changes that would not require reconstructing the intersection of Eastman Avenue and 230th Street (7th Avenue NW).

“We’ve made some signage changes between the city and the county that I think have helped, but the only real fix for this is to change the geometry of that intersection and reconstruct it,” Geilenfeldt said.

He added that he had been in contact with Pfantz, who attended Wednesday morning’s meeting, and the mayor said the council was waiting for county action with the intention of entering into some sort of cooperative agreement. According to Geilenfeldt, the county would lead on the project, but the biggest current sticking point is the need to acquire a house at the northeast intersection, which is owned by Charlene Brown and operated as a rental property.

The easiest route, Geilenfeldt said, would be to buy it from Brown, but they could also utilize eminent domain condemnation proceedings if deemed necessary. So far, neither Geilenfeldt nor Pfantz has made contact with the owner.

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE DAVIS/MID-IOWA ENTERPRISE — The intersection, shown above, is offset with stop signs on the east and west sides but no stop signs from the north or south.

Board Chair Carol Hibbs asked what the city of State Center’s role in the project would be, and Geilenfeldt replied that at least some of the construction would be completed on the south side of the intersection, which is within city limits.

“The idea is gonna be to make it as close to a 90 degree intersection as you can. It may not be exactly perpendicular, but it will have a lot better sight distance,” he said. “If you’re approaching that intersection from the east, your ability to see if someone’s coming from the north is very limited.”

Pfantz, who farms on both sides of the intersection, then stepped forward and noted that a lot of heavy machinery travels along the road.

“You have to get virtually halfway out into the intersection before you can see anything, especially a combine or tractor, and it’s so dangerous and we know it, at least the locals know it, that we proceed very, very carefully,” he said. “But (for) somebody that would not be familiar with this particular intersection, those trees, especially, really cause problems.”

Geilenfeldt added that the lay of the land to the west of the house is also an obstruction. Hibbs wondered if there has ever been a stop sign coming in from the north, and Pfantz said there hadn’t been. He did note that the aforementioned parsonage house has actually been struck by vehicles twice.

Since the most recent accident, rocks have been placed as a barrier to the north of the house, and a sign has been added. Still, Pfantz doesn’t feel either is enough to prevent another problem, and County Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson said there had also been an accident involving a car crashing into the house at the northeast intersection about 25 years ago.

Waterman, who resides in the parsonage, described the trauma of the situation for her family and noted that drivers do not obey the east-west stop sign, whether they’re operating farm equipment or regular vehicles, because they can’t see.

“Obviously, this is very sensitive to us because we are the ones that (were affected). There were no fatalities, but my daughter’s room had to be moved because of this. It’s a systemic problem. There’s lots of things going on here,” Waterman said. “But I just invite anyone to come and sit at that intersection for a solid period of time, and you will see people coming into town that are not going 25 miles per hour. Nobody abides by the law at that corner, very few people, and everyone knows that intersection. I get that, I understand that, but there’s a lot of layers here.”

Waterman said she knows of parents in town who don’t allow their children to drive at that intersection, and Patti Hilleman, a member of the St. Paul church who lives near St. Anthony, advocated for working toward a solution so that the May 2023 incident is not forgotten. Her husband Randy, she said, had an accident at the same intersection back in the late 1980s.

“I have been told that for years, parents of high school students driving to school from rural areas east of State Center have told their children to avoid that intersection. When you live north of town, you can’t avoid it,” Hilleman said. “From my point of view, it seems our congregation has no options to protect our church home.”

Bigger guardrails can cost upwards of $20,000, and she said the church could be liable for injuries if a bigger barrier is placed in front of the house. Hilleman concluded by calling for the condemnation of the house at the northeast intersection and the reconstruction of the intersection to make it safer.

Geilenfeldt then told Hibbs he could program the work and come up with an estimate and design in tandem with Snyder and Associates, and he reiterated that the project would likely require little if any money from the city of State Center, especially since the road is along a farm to market route.

Sheriff Joel Phillips approached the podium and said there haven’t been any additional accidents at the intersection in the last 18 months, and he feels there has been progress with lighting and signage, though the State Center Police Department has recently had issues with the signs.

“I’m not an engineer, but one thing I want you to keep in mind is you cannot engineer bad driving,” he said.

The driver in the May 2023 incident was intoxicated, he added, but there have not been any traffic stops at the intersection reported since then. Geilenfeldt said there have been discussions about turning it into a four-way stop, but there are concerns that it would simply create more accidents.

“I don’t know if you’ve navigated a four-way stop in Marshalltown recently, but most people don’t know how to do that,” Geilenfeldt said.

Another concern is that making the intersection straighter and smoother will actually encourage drivers to travel even faster. Chief Deputy Ben Veren mentioned the possibility of installing rumble strips, but Geilenfeldt said they can be controversial due to the noise they generate. Hilleman then joked about installing a roundabout.

Supervisor Jarret Heil asked if speed bumps were an option, and Geilenfeldt said they wouldn’t be because of snowplows. Hibbs sought input from Pfantz on what action the State Center city council would like to see, and his reply was “anything that can improve the safety.”

“I realize that we haven’t had any serious accidents there, but it is an accident waiting to happen,” Pfantz said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. The safety issue here has to be one of your most dangerous intersections in the county, so as far as the city council goes, obviously it’s on county property. We’re waiting for something, and I thank your engineer for going ahead and moving on this because, like I say, we really can’t do much in State Center as far as improving it.”

He added that the council would “cooperate to the fullest” with whatever the county decides to do and hoped corrective action would be taken before the parsonage is hit a third time. The board did not take official action, but Geilenfeldt agreed to add the project to the construction program.

In other business, the board:

• Recognized Chief Information Officer James Nehring for 10 years of service and Emergency Management Coordinator Kim Elder for 20 years.

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

Approved the purchase of a Lane LSP 2620 Pipe Trailer from Ditch Witch of Minnesota and Iowa — Huxley for $19,250 and the purchase of a Kubota SVL972HFCC Compact Track Loader from Central Iowa Farm Store of Marshalltown for $92,692.80.

• Approved engineering services contracts for a total of six bridge projects: C-02, D-11, O-06, P-09, P-15 and P-21.

• Approved the purchase of a 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo X 4×4 from Karl Auto Group of Marshalltown for $38,730 for the Marshall County Public Health Department.

• Approved an amendment to the county construction evaluation resolution.

• Approved a resolution for the assessed/taxable values of utility companies, payable 2025-2026.

——

Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.