More housing for Mt. Pleasant may be coming soon

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Build it and they will come.

Well, many of them are already here, but there appears to be some progress toward relieving the housing crunch in Mt. Pleasant.

Supervisor Greg Moeller told fellow supervisors during Tuesday?s regular meeting that the Great River Housing Trust (GRHT) has awarded a $100,000 loan for an upper-story housing project in the Hoaglin Building on the city square.

The project calls for four two- and three-bedroom units.

Moeller also reported that the City of Mt. Pleasant has submitted a loan application for $1 million for a 24-unit apartment complex.

In other news impacting Mt. Pleasant, he said the city did not receive a recreational trails grant that the city was going to use for its trail system on the perimeter of the community.

During the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission (SEIRPC) meeting, GRHT also said it was looking for additional owner-occupied housing rehabilitation projects in Wayland.

The new spec house in Mt. Pleasant, Moeller said, that is being built by the housing trust will be finished this week.

Finally, it was announced that SEIRPC is looking for a new director of the SEIBUS transit system.

Supervisors hosted a public hearing on the vacation of alleys, streets and roadways in the county?s three unincorporated communities ? Lowell, Swedesburg and Trenton.

No written or oral objections were registered either prior to or during the public hearing.

A considerable portion of the property is grass alleys or roadways seldom used and much of the vacation was requested by adjacent property owners.

In Lowell, Michelle Hubbell requested the vacation of an alley bordered by Archbald and Second streets.

The property in Swedesburg is south of Sunset Drive.

Trenton?s list includes property in the southwest corner of town. One of the streets was a route to Faulkner?s Access near the Skunk River. Another is land being farmed south of 170th Street.

Tuesday, Oct. 18, is the date set by the board for the sale of the properties. Adjacent property owners have first preference on purchasing the vacated property, county officials said.

Henry County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss said, in construction updates, that an Ash Avenue bridge replacement subcontractor is working on open rail this week. The county is awaiting the contractor to arrive for the 140th Street and Hickory Avenue culvert project. The contractor is tentatively planning to arrive next week.

Shoulder work on county road X23 near Lowell should be wrapped up this week, Hotchkiss noted. ?The project is to rebuild approximately 1,600 feet of shoulder on the east side of the road and also fixing a crossroad pipe,? he said.

The engineer also informed supervisors that he is reviewing the applications for the equipment operator position.

Preston Ready Mix was awarded a $583,605 contract for crushing approximately 148,500 tons of rock at the Henry County Quarry. Rock is crushed every three years and the amount crushed is generally around 150,000 tons, Hotchkiss said. Three bids were received for the project, ranging from Preston?s low bid to $891.000.

Hotchkiss said the crushing operation will include some stockpiled lime. ?We are incorporating some better stone into the crushing and that will change the dynamics of the stone by mixing the better stone in,? he said.

Last week, the secondary roads department continued mowing shoulders, worked on the 150th shoulder pull and the county road X23 shoulder rebuilding and installed entrances on 150th Street.

Supervisors will meet again in regular session Thursday at 9 a.m. in the Henry County Courthouse.