At the Clarion City Council Meeting held Tuesday, December 16, Todd Foss with Prairie Energy introduced Mike Meissen, Vice President of the Iowa Area Development Group (IADG), to the council. According to their website, IADG provides business support on behalf of nearly 250 Iowa electric and telecommunications utilities. Confidential services include available site and building identification, and financial incentives. This group has been working on the Clarion Spec Building acquisition which is now moving forward rapidly. The building is located in the Industrial Park at 225 Nelson Ave, on the east side of Clarion.
Meissen went on to introduce Rick Roedl, Capital Projects Manager with Daybreak Foods, Inc. Daybreak is an egg production and processing company headquartered in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Roedl said the company is working towards acquiring the Spec Building, plus adding on to it and acquiring adjacent property to the west for expansion. The company already has a facility in Eagle Grove. When all the paperwork is signed next month, the company is planning on breaking ground on January 15th, 2021 and hopes to have the company up and running in August of 2021. Exactly what Daybreak will be doing with the property and other details of the project have still not been made public and will not until all paperwork is completed. Roedl assured the council that Daybreak is excited to be part of Clarion and will be a strong participant in the community.
Later in the meeting, the council held a public hearing for a loan agreement that is a step towards the Spec Building project. In other business, they approved the 2021 Health Care Plan. Bob Powers of Paradigm said the city’s insurance costs increased just 1% or not at all in some areas. The council okayed entering into a contract with Counsel/Visual Logic IT to combine the city’s IT services, copiers and phone systems. They also agreed to use the firm Simmering-Cory for grant work pertaining to the planned water treatment facility.
In the individual reports, City Administrator Clint Middleton noted that utility billing clerk Diane Marty has resigned. They are now advertising the position.
