City moves ahead with new industrial park

(Photo submitted) Three fourth grade students, Skye Cauthron, Eric Beehler, and Dylan Holst, with Mayor Reynold Peterson, appeared at the Monday Spencer City Council meeting. Each student read a thank you letter to the city for providing a wide variety of activities to third and fourth graders at four of the Spencer elementary schools. The program is Safe Routes to Schools for which Spencer has received a federal grant. Each of the students participated in the noon recess walk or run program on a one-quarter mile route on their playground. Approximately 300 students participated and many achieved fifteen or more miles. Thirty-four parents and community volunteers supervised this activity.

The proposed industrial park in east Spencer took another step forward Monday with action from the Spencer City Council.

The city has made its way through the the bidding process for a water and sewer extension, when council members approved the contract and bond.

"At the last council meeting, we awarded the base bid to Solsma Brothers in the the amount of $273,125.70, which was about $47,000 under the estimate," Spencer City Manager Bob Fagen said. "At this meeting, we approved the contract and bond, so we could move forward on it."

Council members approved another key piece for the development by authorizing support for a financing plan for the industrial park's anchor spec building. The structure will be located on a 9.2 acre lot near railroad tracks and Cardinal Field.

The financing plan is the result partnership among several groups, according to Fagen. He credited including Corn Belt and Iowa Lakes Electric Co-op. They are helping fund two-thirds of the project through grants and loans.

The city, through SMU is funding the other third, or about $435,000, of the project, which includes land that has already been paid for. The terms have been passed along to the Spencer Industries Foundation, which owns the building.

In other action, council also held a public hearing for a $2.9 million amendment to the city budget. Council approval was needed for the city to finalize changes for land purchases, to support storefront upgrades and to capitalize on other grant opportunities.

"We make projections for budgets a year-and-a-half in advance, so it's not uncommon to have an amendment," Fagen said. "State law requires that if you exceed any one of the nine categories that you're governed by, that you have to have a hearing and explain why those happened."

The hearing concluded without public comment. The changes were generally for economic development pass-through funds, according to the city manager.

"The amendment is not based on how much revenue you get, so just because you get revenue doesn't mean you can spend more money, according to the state, without making some sort of adjustment," Fagen said.

The city will also request a pair of change orders, totaling $115,396, for work under way on a storm sewer project between West Fourth Street and the Little Sioux River.

The work is part of a 20-year, $30 million plan to separate storm water from the city's sanitary sewer system. Favorable bids allowed the city to potentially extend the scope of the project in the west part of town.

The city also approved a funding request from the Northwest Iowa Soccer Alliance for a lighting project at the soccer complex. The alliance will receive three $5,000 installments from the city through hotel/motel funds.

The project will illuminate the soccer field used by Spencer High School, the Iowa Lakes Community College soccer team and the Northwest Iowa Soccer Alliance.

Council members also:

* Heard a "Safe Routes to School" presentation from a group of elementary students. The city received a pair of grants to implement the program, which encourages walking and eliminates hazards along the route for young students. The council will leverage the safe-route grant to prioritize areas in town to make walking to school a safer option.

* Passed a series of paving project assessments for upgrades to West Sixth Street, Ninth Avenue East and roads the Deerfield Park Third Addition. The projects received formal opposition from about 14 percent of the residents, who will be assessed to offset the cost of the upgrades to their neighborhoods. City Council members voted to override the objections.

* Scheduled a June 1 hearing to open a new cell and close an existing one at the city landfill.