At their regular meeting this past Monday, again held by phone conference, the Eagle Grove City Council approved a rejecting of all bids on the downtown revitalization project. The lone bid received was well above the engineer’s projected estimate, and so the process will start all over again at some point.
The City plans on filing a Workforce Housing Tax Credit application with the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). This is for construction of ten new and affordable housing rental apartments, and the application requires a local 10 percent match per unit. The owner also intends to request a tax abatement as allowed within current municipal code for new residences. According to the most recent housing study in 2014, Wright County was found to be in need of 225 affordable rental units by 2025, and a separate study done for Prestage found a need in the county for an estimated 715 rental units for the new workforce. The Council approved a resolution of support urging the IEDA to also support the application.
A multi-page application for a State Revolving Loan for improvements to the City’s drinking water infrastructure and listing related environmental impact information was reviewed during a hearing. It points out two areas identified as problematic. Those included a main running northwest and southeast on Northeast Second and at the intersection of a four-inch and six-inch main at the intersection of Montgomery and Northeast Third. There are pressure issues with both. Yet another location had a low residual pressure, which puts the main at risk of contamination. Also found was dead ends with low pressure and six valves and hydrants in poor condition of serviceability. The valves need replacing and the hydrants are past their useful life. There were two alternatives listed for consideration. The Council approved executing of the documents.
In other action the Council:
-acted on two separate dangerous animal situations. A resolution on Shanice Lloyd’s dog was tabled until coming up with an agreement acceptable to everyone involved. According to City Administrator Bryce Davis, there will be some restrictions in place. As with Nicole Nicoletti’s dog, the resolution was needed to be approved to clean up the record as a decision had already been approved;
-approved change order no. 1 with Fort Dodge Asphalt for this year’s street improvement project. It modifies the construction documents relating to a substantial completion date, which will now be August 31 with a final payment made on October 1st;
-approved pay application no. 2 with Jensen Builders for the Hewett Park improvements for $89,953.45;
-approved pay application no. 4 to Rasch Construction for the Rotary residential subdivision project for $317,426.83;
-approved the farm lease with Doug Harkema for $6,300 for 28 tillable acres. It went go through February of 2021;
-put on hold a decision on the purchase of a used mower from a private individual for use at the cemetery;
-set a special meeting for June 29 for any business needed prior to close of the current fiscal year;
-approved building permits for Trish Baker (fence), Vanessa Hinckley (fence), Heather Brown (deck), John Green (patio), Paul Van Gorken (sign) and Joel Babcock (patio).
