West Liberty waives fees for fair event center

Council vote shows support for fair fund drive

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West Liberty council members waived about $5,000 in expected building permit fees on the Muscatine Fairgrounds events center as the city’s show of support for the project.

The decision came Jan. 7 at the council’s first meeting of 2025. Council member Omar Martinez was absent.

County Fairgrounds Manager Kelsey Meyers and City Manager Lee Geertz discussed the idea of assisting the fairgrounds’ $2 million activity center project by waiving building permit fees - about $5,000 - and providing the project with no-cost staff labor.

Geertz said this would be seen as an alternative form of support, as opposed to directly giving money to the project, or offering tax increment finance or abatement opportunities, which the fairgrounds board is not seeking.

“This is an economic development opportunity for our community,” Geertz said.

She noted that the Muscatine County Fairgrounds being able to bring in more visitors through additional events would benefit local businesses like restaurants, retail stores and gas stations. “This is why our recommendation is to support this resolution.”

Though he said he was willing to assist with the fairgrounds project, council member Josh Shiltz brought up concerns that this instance of waiving fees could lead to other local projects asking for similar assistance. “What could this mean in the future when someone comes forward saying ‘well, you removed all these fees for this organization and this project, why can’t you remove mine too’?” he asked.

In response, Geertz said that the city has provided this assistance before with the school district, providing strict archiving and documentation for each cost and form of assistance to then provide a record. The same would be done with the county fairgrounds.

Following the discussion, the motion passed by a 4-0 vote.

City department reports

City Engineer Leo Foley delivered the first city report of the evening about the city’s wastewater treatment plant. He said he would be meeting with West Liberty Foods on Friday, Jan. 10, to discuss improvements at the plant.

City Manager Geertz gave her own report, sharing that the city’s annexations have been sent to the state and are awaiting approval. Building off Foley’s report, Geertz said, “We have held several conversations and meetings over the water operations and capital improvement projects.”

Public works Superintendent Adam Reinhardt said solid waste volumes have gone down while the city’s yearly recycling has gone up, falling in line with trends from previous years. The solid waste total in December 2024 was 140 tons while the recycling total was 32.98 tons.

West Liberty Police Chief Joshua Houser said his department made fewer requests for county back up throughout 2024, becoming more self-sufficient in its policing efforts despite responding to more calls overall this year. For 2024, he reported an average of 7.48 calls per day, which was up from 2023’s average of 6.87 calls per day. Monthly averages also increased from 206.83 calls in 2023 to 227.66 calls per month in 2024.

Council approvals

Following reports and public comments, the council voted to send out a request-for-quote for its city engineering services, something Foley said hadn’t been done by the council in at least 20 years. The motion to send out the RFQ passed 4-0.

Later, the council voted to approve its most recent vendor voucher claims list in the amount of $303,358.05. Some of January’s vendors included:

• Curtis Blue Line, which provided armor and carrier for the police department for $1,750

• Midco Diving & Marine Services for its reservoir cleaning and inspection priced at $9,622

• Sycamore Printing for its 2025 recycling calendars priced at $554.26.

The council also voted to create a resolution for extension of council members Dominguez and Martinez’s NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials) participation.

Council members also approved :

• The resolution to approve Pay Estimate #15 from All American Concrete Inc. for the Rainbow/Maxson Street Improvement Project, with the city issuing a check for $101,587.05. The project is expected to close out at 1.46 million, an increase of $15,000 over the project’s original bid of $1.447 million

• The resolution to accept Change Order #2 from Northway Well & Pump Company for the Well #2-Phase 1: Well Improvement Project in the amount of $9,797.87. Due to its schedule being significantly delayed by pump capacity problems, acidization, and the project’s schedule needing to coordinate with the building’s roofing contractor, final costs are estimated at $574,371.50

• The resolution to approve reimbursement for the Iowa Economic Development Downtown Housing Grant for 317 N Spencer Street Project award contract in the amount of $200,000 paid to Brooke Ventures LLC. With $120,000 having already been paid on April 19, 2024, the final reimbursement to be paid is $80,000.

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