City Presents Timeline, Cost-Estimate for Green Meadows West Sidewalks

City of Johnston spray-paint indicating tripping hazard

At city hall, more than 50 Green Meadows West and other Johnston residents packed into two informational meetings conducted by the Johnston Public Works Department Tues., Mar. 26, 2024 regarding an 8-year program to ensure neighborhood sidewalks are safe, and accessible to all.

Green Meadows West is only the second Johnston neighborhood to be addressed in Johnston's first-ever city-wide Sidewalk Repair Program. The project's execution began in 2023 in the original Green Meadows neighborhood, which is located between Beaver Creak and Merle Hay Road, and south of N.W. 62nd Avenue. Sidewalk repairs there will be completed in 2024.

In Fall 2023, city inspectors moved on to the Green Meadows West neighborhood, marking with white spray-paint hazards such as:

• Gaps larger than 1 half-inch between sidewalk panels
• Tripping hazards, including heaved, raised, or lowered sidewalk panels
• Deteriorated, crumbling, cracked, or unevenly surfaced panels 

Other neighborhoods will be addressed annually, bringing the city's sidewalks to full compliance after 8 years. "We've had 26 years of nothing happening regarding sidewalk maintenance," said City of Johnston council member and Green Meadows West resident Tom Cope from the audience. "If, after this program, the city can get into a cycle of looking at sidewalks every 8- to 10-years, we can achieve a walkable community." City of Johnston Mayor and Green Meadows West resident Paul Dierenfeld also attended the informational meetings.

City of Johnston Public Works Director Matt Greiner, along with contracted engineer Justin Ernst of Bolton & Menk, Inc. of Des Moines, reminded attendees Tuesday night that installation and maintenance of sidewalks—as part of the "right-of-way" or "parking" from sidewalk to curb—is a homeowner responsibility under Iowa state law.

All Green Meadows West sidewalks have now been marked with white paint. The marks indicate conditions that should be corrected. In April 2024, Green Meadows West homeowners will be mailed letters detailing what corrections are required.

Included with that mailing will be a questionnaire, which can be completed by mail or on-line. The questionnaire will present the following options:

• DIY repair within 90 days. (City permit required, but right-of-way permit fees will be waived.)

• Privately contracted repairs within 90 days. (City permit required, but right-of-way permit fees will be waived.)

• Have city contractors repair the sidewalk at a flat, per-panel rate. (Neighborhood-wide project likely to occur Spring 2025.)

Repairs not made privately by Green Meadows West homeowners by August 2024 will be included in a blanket city contract. Bids on that contract will be solicited in Fall 2024. Repairs under that contract will be made in 2025.

Homeowners opting to repair sidewalks under city contract will be given an option to pay directly, or through special assessment over a period of 5 or 10 years. Homeowners will be invoiced after the city contract is completed, sometime in mid- to late-2025.

Here is the city's 2024-2025 project timeline for Green Meadows West neighborhood sidewalks, as presented at the Tuesday meeting:

• Public meeting: Mar. 26, 2024

• Notifications & questionnaires mailed to homeowners: Not later than Apr. 1, 2024

• Homeowners/Property-owner decisions returned: Not later than May 3, 2024

• DIY and privately contracted repairs: Not later than Aug. 2, 2024

• Solicitations of city contract: Fall 2024

• Repairs made under city contract: Spring-Summer 2025

• Homeowners/Property-owners invoiced: Fall 2025?

Based on the 2023 Green Meadows original neighborhood bid, presenters Tuesday estimated that participation in the Green Meadows West contract might be a flat-fee of approximately $300 per 4-by-4-foot concrete panel. The city contractors will only replace whole panels; lesser repairs, such as jacking, filling, leveling, or caulking, would need to be completed by homeowners or privately hired contractors before August 2024.

Greiner emphasized that city inspectors are available to meet personally with homeowners on-site—even before hiring contractors—to discuss identified deficiencies and potential repair solutions.

Presenters highlighted a number of how-to sidewalk repair techniques, which are also documented on-line at: bit.ly/JohnstonSidewalk

In 2025, city contractors will also ensure that corner "pedestrian ramps" (also called "ped-ramps" and "curb cuts") in the Green Meadows West neighborhood meet requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.) Homeowners will not be charged for this ADA-related work.

Public works officials reiterated that the Sidewalk Repair Program should not interfere or interact with the city's concurrent efforts to cut down untreated Ash trees in rights-of-way. "Our goal is to not to take any trees with our sidewalk program," Greiner said, echoing the Fall 2023 meetings. "Our contractors will typically only cut the root [of any tree causing a sidewalk to heave or shift]. That doesn't mean, however, that the problem won't grow back in 5 or 10 years."

For more information on the City of Johnston sidewalk repair program, visit: bit.ly/JohnstonSidewalk

Review the September 2023 public meeting information packet here:

www.cityofjohnston.com/DocumentCenter/View/12007/Johnston-Sidewalk-Repair-Presentation_Public-Meeting-92723

Or contact:

Matt Greiner, public works director

mgreiner@cityofjohnston.com

phone: 515.278.0822

Association Plans Prairie-Renewing Burn Event in Spring 2024

2021 GMWHOA prescribed burn event

The Green Meadows West Homeowners’ Association board has retained environmental consultants Impact7g, 8951 Windsor Parkway, Johnston to manage and conduct the next prescribed burn of the neighborhood's signature prairie areas. Also called a controlled burn, the event is tentatively scheduled for spring 2024. However, weather and other factors could delay the burn until fall. (For example, as of Mar. 18, 2024 there is a current burn-ban due to dry conditions in Polk and other Iowa counties.)

Starting in 2012, the association has regularly contracted expert services to conduct prescribed burns every 2 to 4 years. Prior to that, burns were conducted using a mix of expert consultants and volunteer labor. Volunteers are no longer used, due to training requirements and liability concerns. 

Prairie Committee volunteers say that burning helps control invasive species, promotes the growth of desired prairie plants, and avoids chemical overspray that can damage nearby lawns. 

Burns are conducted only when weather, wind, air quality, and other safety conditions are met. In the weeks and days leading up to the burn, the Green Meadows West Homeowners’ Association will publish notices via on-line platforms, social media, and mailed postcards. You can also request notification by e-mail via Association Manager Ben McMenamin at: benm AT knappLC DOT com; 515.222.5206.

All required notices will be issued prior to the 2024 burn event. City of Johnston Fire Department personnel will also be notified.

In addition to serving as a neighborhood showcase, the Green Meadows West prairies serve as visual buffer areas among homes, as wildlife habitat, and even as occasional learning laboratories for area schools and colleges. At the 2024 association meeting, current Green Meadows West prairie committee chairman Jason Hamata said the neighborhood's prairie was one of the best in the state.

“Prescribed fire is a common prairie management tool,” former Green Meadows West prairie committee chairman Greg Knoploh noted during a previous burn event. “Prairie species benefit from fire, which was common when most of Iowa was covered by prairie. The fire turns the dried plant material into ashes, which fertilizes. Increased light and heat reach the surface. Invasive plants that do not tolerate fire are reduced.” 

The neighborhood areas scheduled to be addressed in the 2024 prescribed burn include:

• The main prairie east of Windsor Park and west of Foxboro Road
• The trail area located east of association member First Baptist Church of Greater Des Moines, 8250 N.W. 62nd Ave, Johnston
• Small areas southwest and northwest of the intersection of Foxboro Road and Chambery Boulevard
• The swale area south of Weybridge Court and east of Kings Row

The association-owned natural areas under the high-voltage power lines that run west-east between King's Row (in Plat 9) and Foxboro Road (in Plat 12), however, will not be burned. Power company easements do not allow for prescribed burns, as fire might damage towers and overhead wires. When necessary, the grasses in that easement corridor are mechanically mown and trees pruned.

For more information, or to request burn event-notification by e-mail, homeowner-members should contact Association Manager Ben McMenamin at: benm AT knappLC DOT com; 515.222.5206

City of Johnston Sidewalk Repair Program Meeting is Mar. 26, 2024

 

City of Johnston inspectors marked non-compliant sidewalks in the Green Meadows West neighborhood in November 2023. In two public meetings scheduled for Mar. 26, 2024, city officials will brief residents on the next steps toward repairing sidewalks, including cost-estimates.

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The City of Johnston will conduct two public meetings Mar. 26, 2024 regarding information regarding its inspections all sidewalks in Green Meadows West and other neighborhoods, and to repair/replace at homeowners’ expenses in 2024 those that are out of compliance. Homeowners will have an option to repair or contract repairs themselves.

The Tues., Mar. 26, 2024 public meetings will be held at Johnston City Hall, 6221 Merle Hay Road, from 5:30-6 p.m., and again from 6:15 to 6:45 p.m.

For more information on the program, visit: bit.ly/JohnstonSidewalk

This will be the third year of an 8-year, city-wide Sidewalk Repair Program. The project's execution began in 2023 in the original Green Meadows neighborhood, which is located between Beaver Creak and Merle Hay Road, and south of N.W. 62nd Avenue.

The program will help address:

• Gaps between sidewalk panels
• Tripping hazards, including heaved, raised, or lowered sidewalk panels
• Deteriorated, crumbling, cracked, or unevenly surfaced panels 

While this work is being done, city contractors will also ensure that corner "pedestrian ramps" (also called "ped-ramps" and "curb cuts") meet current requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.) Homeowners will not be charged for this ADA-related work.

According to information first presented at two public information meetings held Wed. Sept. 27, 2023 at the Johnston City Hall, Green Meadows West homeowner-members would see city inspectors marking neighborhood sidewalks not later than November 2023.

As of March 2024, all Green Meadows West sidewalks have now been inspected and marked.

A presentation the city's repair program, as well as common types of sidewalk deficiencies, is now available on-line here: www.cityofjohnston.com/DocumentCenter/View/12007/Johnston-Sidewalk-Repair-Presentation_Public-Meeting-92723

According to the September 2023 meetings, all homeowners will be presented with official, written inspection results by March 2024. Recommended repairs will be detailed and documented for each homeowner address.

However, homeowners need not wait for these reports or notices. City inspectors are available to meet with individual homeowners at any time, officials said.

Pubic works officials said that the Sidewalk Repair Program should not interfere or interact with the city's concurrent efforts to cut down untreated Ash trees in rights-of-way. "Our goal is to not to take any trees with our sidewalk program," said Johnston Public Works Director Matt Greiner. "Our contractors will typically only cut the root [of any tree causing a sidewalk to heave or shift]. That doesn't mean, however, that the problem won't grow back in 5 or 10 years."

In last fall's public meetings, city officials said that homeowners will be presented with three options:

• DIY repair within 90 days. (City permit required, but right-of-way permit fees will be waived.)
• Privately contract repairs within 90 days. (City permit required, but right-of-way permit fees will be waived.)
• Have city contractors repair the sidewalk at a flat, per-panel rate. (Neighborhood-wide project likely to occur Fall 2024 or Spring 2025.)

City officials and experts said 4-foot-square sidewalk panels will be determined in each neighborhood's contract. They expect more clarity on Green Meadows West rates in Spring 2024, after work is complete in the original Green Meadows neighborhood. Variables include contractor bids and materials costs. At the September 2023 meetings, however, they estimated the city's flat-rate charge to homeowners would likely be set between $350 to $550 per sidewalk panel.

Homeowners opting to repair sidewalks under city contract will be given an option to pay directly, or through special assessment over a period of 5 or 10 years. Further details on available payment plans will be presented in the Mar. 26, 2024 public meeting, city officials said.

For more information on the city's sidewalk repair plans, visit:

https://www.cityofjohnston.com/1228/Sidewalk-Repair-Program

Review the September 2023 public meeting information packet here:

www.cityofjohnston.com/DocumentCenter/View/12007/Johnston-Sidewalk-Repair-Presentation_Public-Meeting-92723

Or contact:

Matt Greiner, public works director

mgreiner AT cityofjohnston DOT com

phone: 515 - 278 - 0822