By PAT SHAVER Courier staff writer
OTTUMWA — About $459,000 worth of improvements will be made to City Hall if Ottumwa City Council members approve a resolution.
The council meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at City Hall.
The city will receive $229,500 in I-JOBS grant money, and match 100 percent of that for the project.
The improvements include reconstruction of the Fourth Street City Hall entrance and bridge, and energy efficiency improvements.
The I-JOBS initiative was started to stimulate Iowa’s economy and to create and retain jobs.
The city has also been awarded a $4,285 grant to help add the railroad district to the National Register of Historic Places. The district includes the Burlington depot, passenger canopies, retired Chicago, Burlington and Quincy employees’ building and Ballingall Park (including the landscape design, fountain, sundial and locomotive).
This would be the first downtown district recognized, and the first city park in Ottumwa to be nominated. The railroad depot is already listed as a stand-alone building.
Before the project can get started, council members have to approve the agreement.
The Certified Local Government contract will provide the city with $4,285 in grants; about $3,005 of in-kind services will be the local match.
The council also will vote on:
• Allowing the mayor to sign a letter from the city to Wapello County agreeing to minimize the use of Westgate tax increment financing (TIF) dollars.
• A resolution approving a change order that increases the cost of the Ottumwa Welcome Sign installation to $1,032.05. The additional $751.05 was added for quantity adjustments.
• A change order for the installation project of an Electromagnetic Flow Meter at the Water Pollution Control Facility, increasing the amount to $78,207.92.
• A resolution assessing nuisance abatement costs to the real estate taxes on certain properties in Ottumwa.
Pat Shaver can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or by e-mail at p.shaver@ottumwacourier.com.
