Shipley receives nod for Iris Street reconstruction

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Shipley Construction trucks and equipment will be dominate the eastern edge of Mt. Pleasant this summer as the Burlington construction firm was awarded the bid for the Iris Street reconstruction project.

Shipley had a year hiatus last summer after spending the previous three summers in Mt. Pleasant reconstructing Washington Street?s passage through the community.

There were four bidders on the project and Shipley?s bid of $2,041,087.59 was accepted by the Mt. Pleasant City Council during its regular meeting Wednesday night.

?There is an easy $2 million spent,? quipped Mayor Steve Brimhall following the council action.

Jim Warner of Warner Engineering Associates Inc. said the city received a good bid on the work. Warner?s estimate for the project was $2,138,144.10, 5 percent higher than Shipley?s bid.

Reconstruction of North Iris Street will be from Washington Street to Winfield Avenue.

Warner said he did not know when work would begin. ?We won?t know until we meet with Shipley,? he reported.

The project must be completed in 95 working days. Warner anticipated work would begin in April.

Moving to other agenda items, the council approved both the preliminary and final plats for the Crossroads Business Park second addition. The plat involved dividing a section of the land, located east of Hy-Vee Food Store, into lots for development. Henry County owns the land.

City Administrator Brent Schleisman noted that it is the third subdivision of the land, but ?we have a potential buyer for a portion of it (the land).

?The subdivision will provide actual lots and you can move quicker if you have someone interested in purchasing it,? he added.

Mt. Pleasant also has applied for a RISE grant that would fund half of the construction costs of two streets in the subdivision (East Savannah and South Prairie). The land is zoned B3 as is the land on which Hy-Vee and Community First Credit Union are situated, which neighbor the Crossroads Business Park.

Continuing with land regulations, council members hosted a hearing and approved the first reading of a proposed ordinance to rezone 38 acres of land at the junction of North Grand and Winfield avenues from AR (agricultural residential district) to B4 (highway service commercial district).

Pending the waiving of the remaining two readings, the second reading on the matter will be at the Feb. 26 council meeting and the third and final reading scheduled for the March 12 council meeting.

The land is owned by Thornton LLC.

Remaining agenda items saw the council approve the assignment of the cemetery mowing contract from Bob Boese to Stewart Services LLC of Omaha, Neb. Boese was awarded a three-year contract by the city in 2013 but is selling his business to Stewart.

Stewart will be paid $68,000 for mowing at Forest Home Cemetery and $5,950 at Old City Cemetery.

Personnel matters had the council approve the hiring of Kevin E. Elmore to fill a full-time position in the public works department, created by the retirement of James W. Schadt. Elmore will receive a beginning annual salary of $26,000 ($12 per hour) with an increase to $27,040 annually ($13 per hour) after a 60-day probationary period during which he needs to receive his commercial pesticide applicator?s license.

The appointment of Christopher Cooper and Martin Lunsford as firefighters was approved as was the appointment of Dustin Thomas, Matthew Simons and Matthew Calcagno to the fire department reserve unit.

Brimhall said the city is fortunate to have people willing to answer the fire department?s call. ?Some other communities struggle to get volunteer firefighters and we are fortunate to have the volunteers we do. It is really a mission of love, they are dedicated so thanks to the firefighters and reserves.?

The mayor also reported on the recent Great River Days in Des Moines. Annually, city officials, Chamber officials and economic development officers travel to Des Moines to meet with legislators for a couple of days.

?You learn something at these meetings, and I think it is a worthwhile thing to do,? Brimhall said.

He said the city is concerned about the commercial and apartment property tax rollbacks and will be watching closely. Currently, the state will replace the lost tax revenue.

?The state has money now, but what happens when the state doesn?t have money? he asked. Brimhall said the rollbacks, when fully implemented, will cost the city $100,000 in tax revenue.

Finally, the council:

? Set a public hearing on a fiscal 2014 budget amendment for the Feb. 25 meeting.

? Will have the public hearing on the 2015 fiscal budget during a special council meeting March 5 at 5:30 p.m.

? Authorized the police department to apply for grant funds to purchase an in-car camera. Police Chief Ron Archer said the city has cameras in its four primary cars and one reserve vehicle. One more camera will have all department vehicles equipped with cameras.

Council members meet again Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. in City Hall.