Around Maquoketa: Community Updates as of January 7, 2001.

Clinton Engines: The City has been given a preliminary grant award of nearly $87,600 from the Iowa Brownfield Program which is administered by the Iowa Dept of Economic Development.

The award does not become official until it is formally approved by the IDED board it meets and votes on the matter on January 17.

The grant program provides up to a 25% match for the cost of cleaning up dilapidated industrial sites, also known as "brownfields."

In Maquoketa's case, the award is 25% of the remaining cost of cleaning up old drums and other debris, demolishing the western structures on site, and setting up testing/extraction wells. The estimated cost of performing these tasks (what is often referred to as Phase 2 of the project) is about $350,000. This cost also includes some of the Phase 1 extra costs of $50,000 to remove old concrete flooring that was about 4 feet below the surface of the ground. The cost also includes the future removal of two tanks and their contents that currently remain on-site.

The City was not eligible to apply for several Phase 1 costs of the project which involved the eastern side of the property because that part of the project was completed before the decision on the grant award was made.

The estimated cost of both Phase 1 and Phase 2 was estimated at $608,000. A revised project cost is now near $708,000. Aside from the $87,600 in brownfield grant funds, the City is financing the project with by using tax-increment financing.

Phase 2 of the project will begin in 2003. CEPCO, the Clinton Engines-related business that is still operating out of the western buildings on the property has leased those facilities until the end of 2002. CEPCO's two-year lease of the western part of the site began in 2001 with the goal being to provide the company time to relocate before Phase 2 is pursued.

Building Code: In December, the Council adopted a building code that is set to take effect on July 1, 2002. However, the method of providing for how projects involving new construction will be inspected, how inspections will be paid for, and establishing who will perform inspections remain as open questions.

Currently, the City is considering these possibilities.

A.) The City is considering the use of a flat hourly charge for the services of an inspector. Many cities typically use a mandatory building permit fee structure that computes a charge that is based on a project's square footage and an arbitrary value per square foot with varying values for different types of construction. The hourly fee could have advantages over this. One advantage would be that the City could be more sure that it is at least covering its hourly costs. Another advantage is that, on projects where a builder or contractor is closely following the building code, inspection time will be cut and the total inspection fees for that project will be less. On the other hand, on projects where the code isn't being followed and the inspector has to return several times, the hourly fee will better cover the occasions when the inspector is needed the most.

B.) Among other ideas, these two are being discussed as to who might perform inspections.

First, the City might send a current employee, such as from within the Public Works Department, for schooling on inspections and utilize him. The City might also be able to work with the current contract operator for our water and wastewater systems to provide this service. Or, the City might be able to utilize two such people in combination.

Second, the local "council of governments" for this area, the East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA) of Dubuque, might make some of its staff available to various communities in its territory for inspection services. ECIA currently has inspectors on staff who inspect homes that have been rehabilitated under grant programs.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Project: On Dec 27, the Mayor and Council participated in a work session to determine whether the course chosen for the renovation and expansion of the Wastewater Treatment Plant was the correct one.

Bids were opened on Nov 29. The projected project cost was $2.2 million. The low bid came in at about $2.5 million, including recommended alternates. The total cost of the project, including engineering, is estimated at about $2.75 million. The project, as designed and bid, was to expand the capacity of the plant and change its treatment process to a more predictable, stable, and more economical method of operation.

The meeting on Dec 27 involved presentations by several engineers from IIW Engineering of Dubuque, which designed the proposed renovations; a representative from the Iowa Dept of Natural Resources; and Roger Kirby, Maquoketa's wastewater plant manager.

The question at hand was whether or not to pursue the project as designed for costs that exceeded the engineer's estimate or pursue a lesser project. The lesser project would have involved a replacement of the plant's headworks, which is the system of piping for sewage as it first comes to the plant. The headworks also screens out grit, sand, and other debris that tend to find their way into the current wastewater treatment process and cause it to misfire. The idea of replacing only the headworks was meant to fix what is seen as the plant's major problem with the hope of saving money to perform a second phase later on.

Charles Cate and Jason Miller of IIW stated that the cost of replacing the headworks amounted to about 75% of the project's cost as bid, but would do nothing to expand the plant's capacity for new growth if the project were stopped there. IIW's design would replace the headworks and increase the plant's capacity by 50%.

By the end of the work session, the Council seemed to reach a consensus that pursuing the project as designed and bid was the correct course to follow.

The City plans to fund the project with a $600,000 grant from the State and a $2.2 million State Revolving Loan (SRF) from the DNR. The interest rate on the loan is expected to be 3%.

The City's strategy to pay for the project is to use a combination of annual revenue from the local option sales tax and freed up funds due to the retirement of old/current debt.

Barring other unplanned project costs, the City is still believes that it is possible to finance of the project without raising the City's sewer rates.