At the Tuesday, June 15 Clarion City Council meeting, various agenda items pertained to water projects again. A public hearing was held for an SRF Loan for the water plant. Kelly Evans from ISG Engineering explained that this step is basically a formality since the city hopes to use a USDA loan for the project given that it would have a better interest rate.
Another hearing was held for the submittal of a CDBG grant application for the water plant. $600,000 is being requested for the project. Justin Yarosevich with the firm Simmering-Cory who handles much of the city’s CDBG materials said such grants have been very competitive lately but is hopeful that Clarion’s low- and moderate-income status will make the application attractive. A couple other resolutions were approved committing the city to matching funds for the water plant and endorsing the grant application for it.
A pay request and change order for Reding were approved for water main project work. Evans discussed plans for additional water main work around the hospital that the city is pursuing in order to use some remaining grant money. He noted that the project looks to be more expensive now since the costs of construction materials have risen so much lately.
Two resolutions pertaining to a possible future downtown project were approved. They were for CDBG related steps that would help the city and business owners complete facade work on downtown buildings. Yarosevich said right now the project is still a ways down the road, but eventually, grant funds in combination with business owner and city contributions could make improvements like doors, windows, signs and storefront work possible. Building owners will be provided more information in the future.
In individual reports, City Administrator Clint Middleton noted that the Parks Committee had recently met along with the mayor and Public Works Director. Middleton said they discussed community and school changes and how to meet the needs of the community’s youth.
He also added that he has sat in on recent interviews for new police officers. There are now three open positions due to officers Jeremy Stenda and Savannah Schnetzer departing.
City attorney Zach Chizek reported his findings of what surrounding communities are doing for setbacks after a discussion pertaining to changing Clarion’s ordinance on corner lot setbacks over the last couple of meetings. The council elected to review Chizek’s information and take up the topic again next meeting.
