Schlabaugh gives update on city projects, Y, & FEMA

It is hard to believe that fall is officially upon us and that the Fall Festival is this upcoming Friday and Saturday. Please take some time to visit the Historical Village and take in one of the truly great events in southeast Iowa. Nancy Roth and the Village board along with a ton of volunteers put on a great event that we should all be extremely proud of.

With everything going on we felt it appropriate to update the community on the status and direction of a few projects the city has going on right now.

Revolving Fund Sponsored Project: On Friday we were notified that our $112,400 grant application was supported by the review committee and recommended for funding. In early October we will begin the process to work with the State on the overall scope of our project and then enter into the contract for engineering and construction. The grant was written with the goal of providing bank stabilization along Salvesen Creek just north of the Hwy 22 bridge. This would be done by installing up to 1,000 linear feet of two-tiered riparian buffer.

English River Watershed Management Authority: We are half way through our $150,000 DNR planning grant and have made huge strides in understanding the make up of the watershed. The end result will be that we have a working document that will act as a road map for future water quality, soil erosion and flood mitigation projects within the 639 sq. miles of the watershed. With the watershed being so large and primarily focused on the rural area, we have requested $75,000 through additional DNR grant to conduct a comprehensive urban assessment of Wellman, Riverside and Kalona. One of the key components to our new grant proposal, which will stand out in the review process, is the fact that the Iowa Flood Center has contributed $110,000 of in kind staff and support to the project. Being able to leverage our resources with the help of the Iowa Flood Center has been instrumental in being able to scientifically understand how rain events affect our watershed and communities.

Recreation Partnership with YMCA: In early August after the resignation of our Parks and Recreation Director the City of Kalona reached out to the YMCA of Washington County to discuss program management for the community center. Since our first meeting the YMCA has outlined how they would manage the facility and what programs they could bring to the community. Over the course of the next week we will be looking to outline any potential contract to the Parks and Recreation Board for review. Currently we are only in discussions for the internal management and programming for the community center. Programming for outside baseball / softball and club team programs as well as the pool would continue to be managed by staffing currently in place. One of the big factors that we have been working though right now is crafting a potential agreement with the YMCA that works within our budget structure as well as maintaining our rate structure. We are excited and look forward to continuing our discussion with the YMCA and crafting a relationship that will provide more consistent and meaningful programming for both youth and adults.

WCRF Grant Request: At its last meeting the City Council directed staff to write a grant proposal that would improve our community center and possibly renovate roughly 2,300 sq. foot of space. The improvements that would be most visible to the pubic would include a drop ceiling, new flooring and new heating and cooling vents.

Cemetery Signage: We have completed the masonry work on the signage at the Sharon Hill Cemetery and are working on the wrought iron repair, sandblasting and painting of the original sign. Once complete the original sign will be affixed to the pillars on J avenue and allow us to maintain and save the historical element for years to come. This week we will also be doing groundwork within the cemetery that includes leveling out and reseeding of certain areas.

FEMA Mitigation Efforts: The City of Kalona has begun working with FEMA on our claim for reimbursement on the damage that occurred during the flash flood event of June 30th. Included in our discussions is our request for public assistance to access the FEMA 404 hazard mitigation funds for future planning and construction. After Presidential major disaster declaration the FEMA 404 program is designed to help participating National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) communities in assessing where efforts can be placed to mitigate future flood events. The 404 grant program is less competitive, based more on the cost-benefit and is administered at a level of 75% Federal, 15% State and 10% local match.

Building Projects: We have two projects that have been awarded and slated for work yet this fall. The larger of the two is an addition to the west side of our maintenance shop. This addition will allow for the upgrade of storage, shelving, appropriate office space for city staff and allow us to have all equipment stored in a climate-controlled environment year round. As well we will be removing the old material storage shed and putting up a new structure for salt, sand and other bulk materials that we use. The second project is to put a new roof and soffit on the city-owned Kalona Post Office. The roof structure will mirror that of the community center and replace the worn out existing asphalt shingled roof.

Road Construction: On the 29th LL Pelling will look to be in town to do asphalt work in two areas of town. On 3rd street from A Avenue to C Avenue the existing material will be milled out and 5 of asphalt put back in. As well on 3rd street north of G Avenue the concrete will be milled out at a depth of 2 and an overlay of asphalt put back. The work should take 3-4 days.

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Schlabaugh gives update on city projects, Y, & FEMA