The City of West Liberty may put aside as much as $200,000 in tax increment financing funding in amending an Urban Renewal Plan to create an economic development grant program to help commercial business in the community.
Working with WeLead, the economic development arm of the city, the program should permanently improve the physical appearance and serviceability of commercial property to include façade improvements, job creation and training, utility upgrades, building and land acquisition, site development, capital improvement, accessibility improvements, upper level restoration projects that will permit new usage and projects that create new jobs.
The City Council will host a public hearing on the Amendment to the Urban Renewal Plan on Tuesday, Nov. 3, beginning at 7:30 p.m. during their regular meeting to be held again at the West Liberty Public Library. Anyone is welcome to attend.
The city will negotiate the details with WeLead leaders and include the final agreement in the Tuesday, October 20 council meeting packet for consideration.
The city’s urban renewal projects include the WeLead support program, a local business support program as well as urban renewal administration and professional support program.
The City is anticipating a reimbursement of up to 1.2 million over the next five years from projects and programs in the Urban Renewal Area. The Council’s economic development committee met Oct. 1 with the City staff and desires to update the Urban Renewal Plan to put the funding place to execute and provide the opportunity to fulfill development agreements, programs and projects.
Businesses asking for up to $25,000 would have to make application and be approved by the city administration, providing details on their proposed project including photographs of existing buildings and schematic drawing illustrating proposed work or pictures with the project description outlined. The application will also have to include a business plan that will include employment and financial projections.
In other business, the city is also making application to request reimbursement for eligible costs related to the COVID-19 public health emergency from the Iowa COVID-19 Government Relief Fund.
City clerk Lee Geertz said the city was initially going to ask for about $25,000 in reimbursement, but has amended that total to $75,000, noting she was “surprised” at how much costs the pandemic has caused to date. She there was a lot of input from the staff calculating the figures, praising the employees and department heads for their work on the expenditures.
Necessary expenditures included personal protective equipment, sanitizing products, testing equipment and supplies, ventilators and other necessary COVID-19 medical supplies and equipment. Temporary emergency staffing and overtime costs for staff could also be reimbursed as well as software and technology infrastructure to allow for social services to be provided while social distancing, as well as other things.
Also at the last council meeting, the city approved the first reading of an ordinance to demand developers create green space in residential subdivisions.
The city also approved the street finance report for 2020 totaling of $1.258 million in expenses and $1.822 million in revenue. The fund has a balance of $1.44 million going in to the year and should finish with a balance of $2.006 million.
The council also approved West Liberty State Bank’s office of South Ottumwa Savings Bank as the official depository for the City.
In interim city manager Elizabeth Hanson’s report, she provided an update on the Dutton subdivision development after a Sept. 22 meeting with the potential developers. They are finalizing a proposed projects and programs schedule for the subdivision to be located north of the Dutton Sports Complex.
The city also made application for a Ryan Trust Memorial Grant on Sept. 23 requesting 50 percent of the total costs of a Columbarium Project at Oak Ridge Cemetery on the south edge of the city.
The city hopes to hear back on two properties they hope to sell on First Street and Third Street, setting an Oct. 15 deadline. The Building and Grounds Committee will meet before the council takes any action at their Oct. 20 meeting.
The Council Finance and Ordinance Committee asked for a two hour work session on Tuesday, Nov. 17, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. to talk about budget and capital improvement plans. Hanson said she is working with engineering firms to provide a proposed list of improvements to be presented at the meeting. The capital improvement plan is scheduled to be proposed to the city council on Dec. 15 and then to set a public hearing on Jan. 19, 2021.
The city manager has also setup a harassment training session for Tuesday, Nov. 19 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for city employees. On Friday, Dec 11, training will also be offered on customer service for the staff, pegged together with an employee appreciation event that will highlight this year’s accomplishments.
An organization effectiveness work session will also be held on Monday, Nov. 23 from 4-8 p.m. to work on how city leadership could work better together, aligning and reviewing goals and setting a vision and mission statement for the community. Hanson plans to review standard operating processes and procedures, communications, roles and responsibilities, legal requirements and accomplishments at the session.