Council approves contract, grant application for downtown project

By Mary Zielinski
The Kalona council Monday moved two steps further to making downtown revitalization a reality. The first was approval of the $212,800 Professional Services Agreement with MMS Consultants, Inc . of Iowa City that will, as City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh noted, “get us to bid letting”. The amount due from the city by January 14 is $53,200 which covers 25 percent of the total consulting/planning project.
Schlabaugh noted that the $12,000 fee wil be paid in sections and that the work includes construction management.
Council member Ken Herington, noting that Kalona hopes to obtain a Vision Iowa grant, asked what will happen if “we don’t get the funds,” asking “can we stop if we have to.”
Schlabaugh said, in that event, the scope of the project could change and if a portion is scrapped, the city would see about adjusting accordingly.
“I just want options in case there has to be changes,” said Herington.
Schlabaugh indicated that regardless of the outcome with VI, the project will “put architecturally out there what we have planned,” and that it could be continued later.
The total project cost is $2,844,259 which, said Schlabaugh, covers “everything” including MSS Consultants and the professional grant writer’s services.
The council unanimously approved the MSS contract.
Step two was approval of a resolution to apply for a $550,000 grant from Vision Iowa. The amount, said Schlabaugh, represents 21.4 percent of the project cost.
The city expects to meet with Vision Iowa in February and Schlabaugh said that the community support funds include money from the sale of the quilt block patterns for the downtown sidewalks. Additionally, Kalona will present VI with letters of support from residents, businesses and organizations and a full funding list that includes a $1.2 million commitment from the city and $1,055,000 in a five-year grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF).
The downtown revitalization work includes infrastructure repairs as well as city-scaping, noted Schlabaugh. The resolution was approved unanimously.
In other business, the council:

• learned that work on the remodeling/repair at the east end of the city Maintenance Building “going well”;
• that work on the roofing and re-siding of the Community Center has continued, but that the roofing will have to wait for warmer weather;
• learned that mock-ups of the proposed quilt block patterns for the sidewalks will arrive soon and that they will be displayed at an open house in the Kalona Chamber of Commerce Building later this month;
• learned that the city’s budget meetings will start this month;
• learned that the preschool is leaving the Community Center this month and that the council should look over the vacated space with an eye to how it can be remodeled for other city use; and
• approved an agreement for professional services with Calhoun-Burns and Associates for $53,360 for design work for the A Avenue bridge replacement project which already has received approval from the DNR.