Council approves Water Quality Initiative grant for arboretum project

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Council unanimously approved a Water Quality Initiative grant for phase 2 of the Edible Arboretum Urban Conservation Project at Monday’s meeting. The project will install a number of best management practices for stormwater management in the area.

City Administrator Steve Diers said the agreement was between the city and the Iowa Department of Ag Land Stewardship (IDALS). Charles City was awarded a $100,000 grant for the project at the edible arboretum, which is a $220,000 project.

In addition to the $100,000 from the Water Quality Initiative grant, $90,000 will be funded by the city initially, then the city will be reimbursed through the Sponsored Project Urban Practices program from the WRRF project.

Another $20,000 will come from the city’s general fund for sidewalk replacement as needed and $10,000 will come from civic clubs and local residents.

“Our plan is to bid it out this summer or early fall, for likely completion in the spring of 2023,” Diers said.

The contract requires that the project be completed by Dec. 31, 2023. Diers said this is the second phase of the project.

“We have plantings out there that are fruiting and growing,” Diers said. “Now we need people to go through and utilize the area.”

Diers said the project is a way to demonstrate the best practices for stormwater management that the city has been working on implementing.

“We can focus at the local level and really give people an idea of how they can utilize their own properties in town,” he said.

Council member Phoebe Pittman said, “I love that we can show the community what they might be able to do on their own property. It appeals to the science nerd in me.”

Also Monday, the council:

• Approved final plans and specifications and awarded a contract and bond for the 2022 street paving project, which includes reconstructing some streets in poor condition and paving two aggregate surface streets that have not previously been paved.

This year’s project encompasses Riverside Drive from Joslin to Johnson Street, Riverside Avenue from Kellogg Avenue to 300 feet west,
Eighth Avenue from J Street to L Street, and Kellogg Avenue from Hart Street to 250 feet north.

The council approved the contract and bond with Wicks Construction, whose low bid for the base bid and alternates was $1,446,113.55, about $90,500 above the estimated cost for the project.

• Approved an ordinance regarding election precincts, combining Charles City Precinct 3 with a portion of rural St. Charles Township so that, along with Charles City Precinct 2, it can create county Supervisor District 2. Splitting part of a township and adding it to the city precinct was the simplest way to meet the equal population legal requirement of supervisor districts.

An agreement with Floyd County allows those rural residents to vote at the Charles City polling place at Trinity United Methodist Church. The agreement makes clear that rural voters will vote only for county, school, state and federal elections, not in city elections, even if they are being held at the same time.

• Approved a resolution amending its agreement with LJP/Jendro for a fuel surcharge, effective through the end of September or 2022.

This temporary surcharge will be paid to LJP/Jendro but the council elected to not adjust user rates up until it sees several months of this pricing. Diers told the council that additional costs for the next several months can be paid with existing cash balance of the fund. Estimated increased monthly cost to the city is from $557 in the current month to about $725 if diesel fuel reaches $5 a gallon.

• Approved the first reading regarding amending the city code to require a permit to place trash and refuse dumpsters within the city’s right-of-way. This will provide specific information to dumpster providers on the requirements prior to placing a dumpster, and it will furnish the city information such as where dumpsters are placed, duration of placement, and contact information for the dumpster provider. Permits will be issued at no cost.

• Approved the Water Tower Phase 2 Lighting Project, relocating the existing two lights and adding four additional lights to better illuminate all sides of the water tower. The controls that were installed last year are able to control the additional lights, which would allow for a light show on special occasions such as Christmas and the 4th of July. Each light pole would operate on its own for a maximum of four different colors at once.

Quotes received from Musco Lighting for equipment were for $12,800 for two lights or $17,800 for four lights. Quotes from Perry Novak Electric for installation were $14,800 for two lights and the same price for four lights. The total cost would be $27,600 for two lights and $32,600 for four lights. The original project in 2021 was $45,500. The work will be completed before RAGBRAI comes through town.

• Approved the Main Street Bridge railing and light pole painting project, awarding a bid of $12,850 to Johnson Painting to hand scrape, prime and repaint the railings and light poles on the bridge and the benches at Mill Race Park, with a stipulation that the work be completed prior to July 28 when RAGBRAI bike riders spend the night in Charles City.

Road Use Tax Funding that was dedicated to LED street light replacement in the downtown decorative lighting will be used to fund the project.

• Approved an overnight town agreement with RAGBRAI to temporarily rent, occupy and make use of the town for the purpose of hosting the RAGBRAI Expo, a multi-day bicycling ride involving music, food, beer and other entertainment, on Thursday, July 28.

• Approved a Right of Way Use Agreement between the City and OmniTel communications for installation of fiber optic cable in the city right of way so that the company can begin offering quality high-speed internet to an initial customer base in Charles City. Omnitel will compensate the city for costs of staff/city attorney time involved with developing the agreement in the amount of $350. There will be additional ROW Construction Permit Fees as they build out, and the city anticipates using a pricing structure of $35 for a permit and $0.10 for every lineal foot over 1,000 feet.

• Accepted the 2020 Sanitary Sewer Lining Project with Municipal Pipe Tool Co. The construction work has been finished since November 2020. The project was completed for at a total cost of $397,466.61 which is more than the original bid amount of $304,057.