Johnson supervisors to resume talks on fate of Sutliff Bridge

After a few months delay, Johnson County's supervisors could decide next month what to do with flood-damaged Sutliff Bridge.

The county can rebuild or demolish the historic structure, or take most of the funds the federal government has dedicated to the bridge and spend the money on another project.

The popular tourist attraction, which opened in 1898 and closed to vehicular traffic in 1981, is on the Cedar River in the northeast corner of Johnson County. One-third of it was swept away in the 2008 flood.

The supervisors initially thought they'd decide the bridge's fate late last year. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been refiguring what it would give the county for repairs.

That number initially was $1.7 million, with the county responsible for about $335,000 to bring the bridge up to code. FEMA has now indicated it may contribute more than $400,000 more, but that additional funding would require a lot of review, so FEMA wants to first know what the county is going to do with the bridge, said Andy Johnson, executive assistant to the supervisors.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, the supervisors will meet with the county's Conservation Board and the Sutliff Bridge Authority, a non-profit group that had overseen the bridge's maintenance before the flood.

The county had to take control of the bridge to make it eligible for federal funding, and now the supervisors want the Conservation Board to maintain the bridge if it's rebuilt.

Johnson said he thought the supervisors may resume their discussion on what to do with the bridge following that meeting. Supervisors have said it will be a tough decision.