If all goes as planned, the Why Not Us investors group will be ready to open a tea room in the Centennial building at the corner of State St and N. Wilson Ave sometime in the fall.
It won’t be Angie’s Tea Garden, though. Angie Peterson, who operated the popular tea room, has moved on to other things since frozen pipes in an upstairs apartment severely damaged the building, forcing the business to close more than two years ago.
Peg Raney, representing the all-female investors group, spoke at a public hearing held by the Jefferson city council at its May 25 meeting. The hearing was on the proposed sale of the building to Why Not Us.
“We’re excited about a new restauranteur and chef who is here for the long term,” Raney said. The business will have a new name but “the same vision,” she said.
The group is working with The Franks Design Group on the project. They hope to have the building named as a “contributing building” to the city’s historic district, making the repair and renovation eligible for historic tax credits.
The tea room will have a commercial kitchen, seating for 44 guests, and two handicap accessible restrooms. Once the main floor is finished, work will move upstairs, where two one-bedroom apartments are planned.
Raney reported to the council that Pete Franks of Franks Design Group has been in the building since the city replaced the roof – which was also a dire need – and said the building will stand another 100 years. “I think we’ve save a major building in the downtown and that the whole Wilson St is going to be bustling before you know it,” Raney said.
Raney was the only one to speak at the public hearing. The council then unanimously approved an agreement for the sale and redevelopment of the property. Why Not Us will pay $40,000 for the building. That amount will be covered by a 10-year forgivable loan from the city.
The city will also provide a $110,000 forgivable loan for improvements to the building. The total cost of improvements is estimated at $374,000. Why Not Us will use $149,000 of its own funds and also garnered a $75,000 Challenge Grant from Main Street Iowa.
The council also unanimously agreed to pay up to $40,000 for a feasibility study on expansion of the Jefferson public library. Susan Laehn presented information to the council on behalf of the library board of trustees. The library board and staff want to expand the library’s capacity and modernize its amenities.
Laehn first provided statistics: the Jefferson library loans 50 percent more items, offers twice as many programs, and has a 17-20 percent larger collection than libraries in other Iowa towns of a similar size. That’s despite being housed in a smaller space than other libraries in that same group.
She reminded the council that in 2011 Jet Kofoot, North Central District consultant for the State Library of Iowa, did a Special Spaces assessment. She suggested ways to use space more efficiently and recommended the library have a formal needs assessment done.
George Lawson provided that formal needs assessment in 2018 at a cost of $8,000. He reported the library’s current size of 8,000 square feet should be half again as large just to meet the needs of current programming. He recommended the library have an architectural firm do a feasibility study outlining options including renovation and extension of the current building; repurposing another building for use as a library; or constructing a new library.
Laehn called the feasibility study “the logical next step in the process.” When questioned by city council member Darren Jackson about the future of the 1904 Carnegie portion of the current library, Laehn assured him it would not likely be torn down even if it ceased being a library.
The library board and staff as looked ahead to sources of funding for renovation/construction, but grant funds are difficult to find for “soft” expenses like feasibility studies. City administrator Mike Palmer said the $40,000 cost of the study will come from funds allotted to the city by Grow Greene County.
The council approved the first reading of an ordinance to increase wastewater (sewer) rates by 5.5 percent starting every year for the next five years. The council has routinely increased the sewer rate by 3 percent each year to keep up with rising costs.
The additional 2.5 percent will provide funding for a $10-$12 million upgrade of the wastewater treatment plan to meet Department of Natural Resources discharge regulations. According to council member Harry Ahrenholtz, a member of the council’s finance committee, the Iowa Finance Authority recommended implementing the rate hike now, before the final cost of the upgrade is known. The base rate starting July 1 will increase from $13.38 to $14.12; the price per 100 cubic feet will increase from $5.65 to $5.96.
The council also approved the first reading of an ordinance increasing the water rates by 3 percent. The base amount for water service for the first 134 cubic feet of water will increase 35 cents, from $11.51 to 11.86. The price per additional 100 cubic feet of water will increase by 22 cents from $7.22 to $7.44.
The council approved the second reading of an ordinance rezoning a portion of the neighborhood roughly surrounding St Joseph Catholic Church from residential single family to residential multifamily. The council then approved the second reading and waived the third reading of an ordinance rezoning a small plot on N. Cedar St from light industrial to residential single family.
