City hopes new state program will add housing units in MP

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Build it and they will come.

Some of them, however, are already here, but the Mt. Pleasant City Council and local developers are looking at tapping into a state loan program for housing development.

During Wednesday?s Mt. Pleasant City Council, approval was given to authorize Mayor Steve Brimhall to sign an application to apply for a $1 million low-interest loan from the Iowa Department of Economic Development to create a multi-family housing project.

The loan would go to support Ryan Matheney and Tony Fedler?s goal of creating 24-market rate rental units in Linden Heights. Three of the units would be one-bedroom, 18 units would be two-bedroom and the remaining three units would have three bedrooms.

City Administrator Brent Schleisman said the state has set aside $4.5 million in a fund to generate housing in Iowa. The loan would be for 20 years at one-percent interest.

?A needs assessment (completed a few years ago in Mt. Pleasant) said we need 800-900 rental units,? Schleisman noted. ?Just because we apply doesn?t mean we will get it. The program is very competitive.?

In another housing matter, Jack Swarm, city building and zoning administrator, said the city would be mailing postcards to 226 home owners, advising them that the home?s address must be clearly visible on the front of the home.

Swarm said city code requires that addresses be displayed on the front of all homes and businesses. City code requires the address to be four inches tall on a contrasting background.

He said the address is needed for emergency and rescue personnel in the event of a fire or other incident.

Jack Warner, of Warner Engineering Associates of Mt. Pleasant, the city?s engineer on several street projects, said the extension of Baker Street from Walmart to Palm Avenue is virtually completed.

The patching on Mapleleaf Drive from Lincoln to Cherry streets, Warner said, is 80-90-percent complete. ?What they have left doesn?t take much time,? he added.

Reconstruction of Mapleleaf from Grand Avenue to Iris Street also is progressing, Warner added. On Tuesday, 1,100 yards of concrete were poured on Mapleleaf east of Harvey Drive. He also said some work remains on finishing the intersection of Mapleleaf and Harvey Drive.

Other agenda matters had the council approve the second reading of a proposed ordinance to increase fees charged for fines that can be enforced on offenders of dogs at large. Currently, the fine is $10. However, the proposed ordinance would increase the fine to $50 for first offense and $75 for the second and all other subsequent offenses.

?We?re trying to put a little sting in that (dog at large fines),? Brimhall remarked.

Council members approved an encroachment permit for Calvary Baptist Church, located at 803 E. Mapleleaf Drive, so that gates could be installed that would open and close off the church?s parking lot.

Approval also was given to a change order on the Mapleleaf Drive project, reflecting a price decrease of $4,309.75. Schleisman said the decrease was because not as much patch work was needed between Lincoln and Cherry streets.

Council member Al Huisinga said the Mt. Pleasant booth at the Iowa State Fair was successful. He said about 160 volunteers worked at the booth. ?It was good for Mt. Pleasant, and I think it paid off.?

The council meets again in regular session Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 5:30 p.m., at City Hall.