The Marion County Board of Supervisors recently approved to partially fund the development of the Road Department’s Junction 92 facility. The development will consolidate the Pella, Clay Township, and the Central Shop and Office in Knoxville into the new facilities located east of town at the junction of old Highway 92 and new Highway 92.

Over the last two decades, the Marion County Road Department has been planning long term facilities improvements for consolidation, and considering various ways to better serve Marion County for future road maintenance demands and for consolidation of county road departments.  The result of the early 2000’s search for land was the purchase of a 20-acre parcel at the junction of Old Hwy 92 and New Hwy 92 in 2007. Upon securing the land, plans were developed for a cold storage building which was built in 2007, followed by a salt/sand shed in 2008 which doubled the countywide materials storage capacity for winter operations. 

The development plan presented in 2020 was revised in 2022 and was still on the originally proposed timeline of construction in calendar year 2024 and 2025, however, inflation has driven the cost of the project up nearly 40%. As a result, funding with strictly cash was no longer an option.

The Board of Supervisors chose to fund the project with $1.5 million from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, $1.5 million from the current LOSST balance, $1.0 million from the Secondary Road Fund, and $1.0 million from the General Fund which will include the cash flow from the sale of the existing Road Department facilities. The remaining budget would be funded by a proposed LOSST Revenue bond in the amount of $3.5 million.

The bond will not increase property taxes, nor will it extend any debt burden on property taxes.