News Items - September 17, 2012

1.     STREET PROJECT:
 

·       South Howard Street paving and sidewalks are complete. IMU is currently installing street lighting.

·       The old surface of North Buxton north of Ashland has been removed and paving scheduled next week.

·       Paving on Boston west of Hwy 65-69 is currently being poured.

2.     TAX ABATEMENT: Diane Bowlin informed me that the past process for approving tax abatement has been to set a public hearing at one meeting, publish a notice in the paper, hold the public hearing and pass a resolution at another meeting. I incorrectly indicated it would be a three reading ordinance process at the study meeting. Council is set to schedule the public hearing Sept 17, 2012 and conduct the hearing on Oct. 15, 2012. A survey of all metro cities will be in your packets as well as other pertinent information. If you have any questions please let me know.

3.     HWY 92 UPDATE:  The unobligated federal DOT earmark of $86,305 was actually for the Hwy 92 study and was not needed to complete it. The remaining earmark amount of $491,964 was for actual improvements and was to be complete by December 31, 2012. Obviously, the original schedule was much too aggressive for the IDOT and was delayed. Jim Armstrong, Iowa DOT District 5 engineer was very honest when asked and said the IDOT delayed the project due to internal design team issues and private property right-of-way (ROW) acquisitions. However, Jim did indicate the Federal DOT has agreed to allow Indianola/Warren County to maintain these funds to be used on the project scheduled to be bid in calendar year 2014. They agreed understanding this project is under development and continues to be a priority for all.

The good news is the $300-$500K anticipated to be the city match for this project will now be covered by these funds. The city was planning on using Downtown TIF funds to finance the match. The IDOT will approve the contract Sept 18, 2012 and the city council Oct 1, 2012.