By Mary Zielinski
“We’re only going to do this once and we need to do it right,” council member Ken Herington said, urging accepting the low bid of $2,652,398 for the city’s $2.8 million downtown revitalization plan. The council met in special session Monday.
“We’re only going to do this once and we need to do it right”
The bid, from All-American Concrete of West Liberty, is about ten percent higher than estimate, but the entire council was in agreement to proceed and not attempt rebidding.
“It would be a minimum of two months,” said Herington, adding there is “no guarantee the bids would be any better.”
City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said there is a $282,872 “gap” in the revenues as a result of the bids, but that the city could cover it from Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) municipal allocations and from LOST revenue.
Schlabaugh said that the WCRF allocation “is about $130,000 per year” and that starting with the third quarter of 2011, the majority of the funds could go to the revitalization project. All the previous and current WCRF allocations already are earmarked for the project. Council members later suggested 75 percent of the allocation, leaving the other 25 percent for other city projects. The WCRF also awarded Kalona a $1,050,000 grant last fall, to be paid over five years.
However, the city hopes to obtain final funding from Vision Iowa. It has applied for a $550,000 grant and will meet with VI again May 12.
Schlabaugh explained that the Revitalization Committee and the council’s Finance Committee also reviewed possible cutbacks in the project, if it became necessary. Items could include changes in seasonal lighting and some lighting for the parking lot, leaving the A Place surface as chip and seal rather than asphalt or concrete, changes in the gateway entrance signs and banners for the downtown. There also could be further local support, as there has been for the purchase of downtown sidewalk quilt blocks.
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