Community Development asks city to waive rent during COVID-19 crisis

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Area Chamber of Commerce asked the City Council to temporarily lift its rental payment requirements at a city council planning session on Wednesday.

Community Development Director Mark Wicks, who heads up the Chamber of Commerce and Community Revitalization, asked the city to forgive the rent on the building that houses the programs on 401. N. Main St., through the months of April, May and June.

“We are not pushing membership renewal fees right now because we need our local business to do what they need to survive this crisis,” Wicks told the City Council. “We’re not asking the businesses to pay us, and our funds have slowed down to a trickle.”

Wicks said that much of the organization’s income comes from events, many of which have been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols, and the scheduled summer events are still “up in the air.”

“We’re looking at cost-saving measures,” Wicks said. “Everything is uncertain, we don’t know where it is going. We hope it is not long term.”

The City Council planning session Wednesday was held online via Zoom teleconference.

Last month, Wicks discussed a facade application submitted by the Dental Center in Charles City. The business at 703-705 N. Main, owned by Dr. Ken Sheckler, was granted $5,500 to help with an $11,000 project to replace aprons on the building and cover outdoor basement access with steel panels.

Two more facade grant applications have been received that meet the criteria. The first is at 625 N. Main, formerly the Blush building, which was recently purchased by Diamond Restoration, a commercial restoration business.

Wicks explained that Diamond is seeking a facade improvement grant of $5183.50 to remove and replace signage at that location and install light and heat-resistant window treatments with logos on the front. The total cost of the project is $10,367. A facade grant can pay up to half the project total, capped at $10,000.

Wicks said Diamond Restoration has been working out of a rural farmhouse near Floyd and would like a Main Street presence as it expands. He estimated the project would be completed within 30 days of grant approval.

The other grant would be for exterior improvements to the building on the corner of 700 Hulin and 500 Main Street, which currently houses Dollar General and Masterson Staffing Solutions. Wicks said a couple has purchased the building as an investment and would like to make improvements to two sides of the building to make it look more like Dollar General stores elsewhere.

“If this were a historic brick building, we would not be recommending putting metal covering on it,” Wicks said. “This is a white cinderblock building, and the design committee discussed it and feels this would be an improvement on what we have now.”

Wicks said there is also warehouse space in the building, and the owners would like to attempt to attract a third tenant, as well as keep the current tenants in that location. The total project budget is just under $50,000, and the building owner is applying for a maximum grant of $10,000.

In other business on Wednesday, the council heard from Housing Director Heidi Nielsen regarding a contract extension with Short Elliott & Hendrickson Inc. for project management for parking lot and sidewalk upgrades at North and South Cedar Terrace and Morningside Apartments.

Nielsen explained that SEH Inc. has been hired to design and procure contractors to repair or replace all deteriorated asphalt and cement at the sites, eliminate tripping hazards, and add additional parking at North Cedar Terrace.

“With the contract being awarded to Heartland Asphalt, we are at the point where we need to extend the agreement with SEH to administer the project through to completion,” Nielsen said. “The initial contract with them only covered their fees to contract award, allowing for negotiation for the administration of the remainder of the project.”

SEH has submitted a proposal for $22,500 for the contract extension. The services for the construction administration will be paid out of the 2019 and 2020 Capital Fund Grants.

In other business, city Administrator Steve Diers submitted to the council a proposed contract between Charles City and the Iowa Department of Land Stewardship (IDALS). This is in response to the grant that the city was awarded through the Water Quality Initiative Grant (WQI).

The grant will fund a maximum award of $100,000 to aid in the implementation of stormwater retention practices in the stormwater area within the Southwest Development Park.

“We originally bid this project out, but the bids came out higher than what we had available funding for,” Diers said. “When this grant came back around, I thought we should try to apply it to the project.”

Diers said the overall project should cost about $400,000. In addition to the WQI grant, matching funds are lined up between Winnebago, City of Charles City Stormwater fund, and TIF funds, as well as from Charles City Area Development.

This contract will allow this project to move forward with bidding out the work starting this summer with a completion deadline of June 2021.