Linn Supervisor Barron calls State of the County address “bittersweet”

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn Supervisor Lu Barron on Thursday gave the annual State of the County address, calling it a 'bittersweet” moment as she prepares to the leave the job at the end of the year after 18 years in office.

About 150 people, including county elected officials, some county employees and other local elected officials, attended the event at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, 7725 Kirkwood Blvd. SW.

The event was sponsored by the League Women Voters Linn County.

Barron used her 25-minute speech to applaud the accomplishments of individual departments in county government, noting that the county is spending revenue from its share of the 1 percent local-option sales tax to fix county roads and, beginning on July 1, to provide property-tax relief for those living outside of cities in unincorporated Linn County.

Barron said she was optimistic that the state's new regional approach would improve the delivery of mental health and development disability services for Linn County and to the other eight counties working with Linn County in the East Central region.

At the same time, she called it 'likely” that the county's Options sheltered workshop program for the developmentally disabled would need to change because of federal requirements that seek to isolate this population less and move them into the local employment market.

She said the supervisors also are studying flood protection for May's Island in the middle of the Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids where the county's courthouse and jail are located. The county is carrying flood insurance for the buildings, which were flooded in 2008 and have been renovated, she said.

Barron said the supervisors have been advocates in recent years of the Highway 100 extension project, and she said Linn County is working with the Iowa Department of Transportation to create new wetlands and woodlands to replace those lost to the highway construction.

The supervisors also are supporters of the Cedar Crossing Casino project, and she said the county won't have trouble finding needs to fill with the $800,000 in tax revenue that will come to Linn County government annually if the casino secures a state gaming license. The Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission is slated to vote on the license next Thursday, April 17.