The Jefferson city council at its Jan. 23 meeting took the next step forward in building a new public library.
The council agreed to share the cost of hiring Amperage, a consulting/fundraising firm of Cedar Rapids, to conduct a readiness study to determine if the community wants to undertake a project and how much money could be raised via private fundraising.
Amperage was similarly involved with the “Investing in Tomorrow’s Care” capital campaign for the construction project at Greene County Medical Center 10 years ago.
A previous feasibility study by Franks Design Group resulted in a project proposal that calls for renovating and repurposing the 1904 Carnegie portion of the library, razing the 1966 addition, and building a one-story structure to the west and north of the Carnegie building. Cost was estimated then (Nov. 2022) to be $9.7 million, not including the purchase of two properties that comprise the northeast quarter of the block on which the library is situated.
Cost of the Amperage study is $28,000. The library’s share will come from funds already donated to a possible construction project. The city’s share will come from Grow Greene County funds.
The council also approved the purchase of two new trucks for the sanitation department. Public works director Dave Morlan explained that the truck used to pick up curbside recycling “has been through a lot of Iowa winters” and that last month one of the metal bins rusted through, dumping recycled material on the street. The city crew fabricated a plywood bin as a stopgap measure.
He asked to purchase another automated side loader garbage truck similar to what the city now has. The operator of the current truck now spends a full day every week doing maintenance on the truck. “I’m confident that truck is going to last a long time,” Morlan said.
The new truck would be used for curbside recycling. Residents would receive a green garbage cart similar to the blue ones in use now. All recyclable material could be placed in the cart, without sorting, and then put on the curb for pickup.
The truck would also serve as a backup if the garbage truck were to be out of service. Cost of that truck is $387,500, with an additional $82,950 for carts.
Morlan said the cost of the automated side loader will be $420,000 next year.
He proposed the purchase of a New Way 20 cubic yard rear loader at a cost of $228,800. The truck would be used for commercial recycling.
The council approved the purchase. Morlan said he has about $150,000 on hand for the purchase.
The council plans to issue up to $1.7 million in general obligation bonds to cover the remaining cost of the sanitation trucks and $917,050 for improvements to E. Lincoln Way. The bonds would be paid over 10 years. Piper Sandler & Co will handle the bond underwriting.
The council set Feb. 13 as the date of a public hearing to proceed with the indebtedness.
The council agreed to serve as the fiscal agent for a grant application the pickleball committee is submitting to Grow Greene County for two pickleball courts. Committee member Kathy Bravard reported the committee has raised about half its goal of $240,000.
The council approved changing the membership of the park and recreation board, reducing the number of board members who live within the city of Jefferson from five to four, and increasing the number of residents who live in the county from one to two. The change will also update the school district name from Jefferson-Scranton to Greene County.
The council approved a formal contract with Sebourn Video Services for livestreaming and then posting city council meetings on the city’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Sebourn has done that for the past two years without a contract. The stipend is unchanged at $250 per meeting.
The council approved an economic development forgivable loan of $150,000 to Greg and Shirley Hacker for the “Courtyard on State Street” event venue at 108 W. State St. Shirley Hacker told the council they expect the facility to be used primarily for weddings, but it will also be available for pop-up shops and other events.
The council approved an economic development forgivable loan of $93,000 to Jacob Keller for No Coast Jefferson Martial Arts, which is relocating to 105 N. Chestnut St. Keller has purchased the property from Philip Heisterkamp. Heisterkamp received a $75,000 forgivable loan for work on the building but did not pursue the project. That amount of the loan is being transferred to Keller, with an additional $18,000.
The council approved an updated agreement with Bolton & Menk for general engineering services. The agreement increases the rate the city pays for the first 20 hours of services per month from $85 to $95, to include non-project specific items and meetings. Project specific work will be completed under separate professional services agreements.
The council postponed a scheduled public hearing on rezoning the property at 403 W. Head St from Light Industrial to Residential Multi-Family (RM 3). The property has been purchased by KCG Housing with the intention of building rental housing. A KCG representative was unable to be at the public hearing, so it was rescheduled to Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 5:30 pm.
Margaret Saddoris of rural Jefferson spoke against the proposed project, as she has previously. She presented another page of signatures on a petition that will require a super majority (at least four of five votes) to change zoning on the property. She also verified that the petition she presented at the Jan. 9 meeting had enough valid signatures to meet that threshold.
She read from a memo she received from former mayor of Carroll, Mark Beardmoor. During his time in office, Beardmoor made addressing issues at Fairview Apartments his primary task. Fairview Apartments are USDA-subsidized housing, similar to KCG’s proposed project. A shooting and an ATF raid took place there last spring.
Broadmoor wrote that when subsidized housing like that at Fairview Village “substantially contribute to significant public safety problems and thus create an infringement of many others’ quality of life, they should be highly scrutinized…”
Broadmoor continued that problems at Fairview came from poor property management and from “gross negligence from the USDA Rural Development Program with significantly substandard and lack of oversight” and a “seemingly deaf response to our repeated attempts to assist in mitigation.”
