Council approves grant request for one million to fund new municipal building
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GLENWOOD CITY – At the regular monthly meeting of the of the City Council, they learned that one million dollars could be requested from the Community Development Block Grant program to fund a municipal building. The only catch is that the city would have to come up with a half a million dollars in matching funds. Kevin Oium explained the new funding and requirements of the CBDG program. The grant could fund a new Community Center and Library, but Oium noted that a city hall and police station could not be funded with CBDG grant money, but shared facilities could be.
Pick a site was the topic of the conversation by council members and their eyes turned to the present site of the Community Center, with Mayor John Larson suggesting that they could buy some land near the present center to allow a new building and that would require the demolition of the present Community Center.
The City is on a tight schedule to get all the information and public hearing done before the May 14th filing deadline.
In other council business they heard from the local Librarian Katie Schneider, about the activities at the Library and the number of people they have at each event with 70 people attending their V-day Gnomes and the library received a $110 in donations. She also mentioned about the Leap Year event for February 29th.
Heidi Coe, the new president of the local Chamber introduced herself to the council and presented a list of items and goals that they are working on for this year. She said they are focusing on four local areas: “The High School, Library, non-profits and the City.” She also mentioned that they would like to put together a community guide booklet.
Public Works Director Dave Cress informed the Council about a water main break while the fire department was drawing water from a hydrant on First Street near St. John’s Catholic Church. Cress said that the eight-inch main broke in three places. Over the three-day period that it took to make repairs, the city lost some 900,000 gallons of water.
The mayor and City Clerk/Treasurer Sharon Rosenow relayed the good news about the financing of the Waste Water Treatment facility improvements. Mayor Larson telling members of the council that the $1.8 million dollar project received grants and debt forgiveness that brought the total cost for the city and the Village of Downing to less than $800,000. Rosenow adding that the funding carries an interest rate of .99 percent.
And, finally, the council approved purchasing a new police car from Hudson Ford at a cost of $32,500.00 with Police Chief Robert Darwin informing the Council that to equip it will add another $10,426. The Council had previously approved the purchase of a new Dodge, but Darwin stated that Dodge was not able to meet the requirements of the bid.