Council starts new year with streets and pipes projects

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

Pools, pipes, and traffic lights were the topics of the night at the Charles City Council’s workshop meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 15.

Updating the council on the planned renovations to Lions Field Pool, Parks and Rec Director Tyler Mitchell presented a change order for the project that would adjust the plans for the pool’s filter system.

Originally proposing a four-filter system to match the existing footprint of the filter room, the new filter system would instead use two larger filters. In addition to reducing the needed floor space in the building, the two larger filters will cover more surface area for filtration and reduce the number of valves required, lowering future maintenance costs.

“In the long run, we’re going to be saving money,” said Mitchel, who earlier in the day had told the Parks and Recreation Board that the system would also more effectively filter the pool water.

Working with a new manufacturer, the two-filter system will also come cheaper, reducing equipment cost on the project by $42,050.

In a different water safety matter, Water Superintendent Cory Spieker has reached out to the EPA for help in removing the city’s remaining lead water mains.

While Charles City regularly tests its water and its legacy lead service lines are not considered an immediate risk, the city is taking initiative to reduce lead exposure in line with EPA guidelines that were updated in 2021.

As such, Spieker has contacted the EPA about partnering with its “Get the Lead Out” initiative, which provides funding for lead service line replacement.

Finally for city departments, Street Superintendent Tony Stonecypher presented the council with a plan for replacing the traffic controller on three Main Street intersections.

Aging equipment at the intersections of Blunt Street, Ferguson Street, and Hulin Street have left the traffic signals there limited to a regular rotation or straight blinking mode.

Replacing the controller will use most of, if not all, of the $50,000 budgeted for traffic control improvements this year. This money was originally planned to address the lights and controllers at the intersection of Gilbert/South Grand/Brantingham/Freeman Street.

In other business, the council continued its discussion about how to prioritize goals in the five-year capital improvement plan, working out which goals can be identified with a clearly defined objective to achieve, versus goals that are more abstract and ongoing.

As for projects already in the works, a pre-construction meeting was held for the City Hall Renovation Project, with substantial completion of the project targeted for April 30, 2026.

Due to the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the next regular meeting of the city council will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 22.