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A year ago — in early September 2024, just as a 10-member committee was starting to review the feasibility of continuing the University of Iowa’s 66-year-old lease of the Macbride Nature Recreation Area — a UI land manager for the 485-acre property emailed Parking and Transportation with a request.

“We have some major potholes that need to have more repairs than just fillers to maintain the safety of our road,” she wrote. “In several places it could pull someone into the ditch. Would you mind taking a look at them and seeing what can be done?”

The question came amid rumors the university planned to exit its no-cost lease with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and news UI executives had conven

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