Whose bridge is it?

Wagon Road (Courtesy of Beacon software)

Wagon Road in northern Winneshiek County used to travel a different route than the one it takes now.  But when the road changed, Winneshiek County officials apparently did not give up the rights to the old roadbed.

That means the county may be on the hook for repairing damage to a bridge to Tim Christopher's property--a bridge that used to be part of the road when it was built way back in 1927.

"We'd be hard-pressed to prove it's not our bridge," admitted County Engineer Lee Bjerke at a Monday morning Winneshiek County Board meeting.  Bjerke told supervisors replacing the bridge might qualify for 75 percent funding from FEMA's flood relief program, but FEMA approval would not be guaranteed because the bridge now provides access only to Christopher's yard.

But if the county offers to give Christopher the property as a way to avoid paying for a new bridge, Christopher says he doesn't know whether he would accept.  "It's a piece of property nobody wants," he summarized.

County supervisors also met with County Attorney Andy Van der Maaten Monday morning to discuss the issue.  A decision is being sought soon, since Bjerke says debris from last month's heavy rainstorm should be hauled away--but county officials are worried that would set a bad precedent if it did work on a bridge it didn't own.