River Currents

Southeast Iowa RegionalPlanning Commission211 N Gear Avenue,Suite 100West Burlington, IA52655

S E R V I N G D E S M O I N E S , H E N R Y , L E E A N D L O U I S A C O U N T I E S

S I N C E 1 9 7 3

W e s t P o i n t ,

W e s t B u r l i n g t o n

H O M E S F O R

( S O U T H E A S T ) I O W A

F o r t M a d i s o n ,

M o u n t P l e a s a n t

R O A D S A N D T R A I L S

C O M P L E T E D

A Newsletter from the

seirpc.com I www.facebook.com/SEIRPC I www.instagram.com/seirpc I 888-753-5107

J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 1

Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission

L o u i s a C o u n t y

C O M P R E H E N S I V E

P L A N U P D A T E

Thank you to our dues-paying members!

City of Burlington

City of Columbus City

City of Columbus Junction

City of Danville

City of Donnellson

City of Fredonia

City of Fort Madison

City of Grandview

City of Hillsboro

City of Houghton

City of Keokuk

City of Letts

City of Mediapolis

City of Middletown

City of Montrose

City of Morning Sun

City of Mount Pleasant

City of New London

City of Oakville

City of Olds

City of Salem

City of Wapello

City of Wayland

City of West Burlington

City of West Point

City of Westwood

City of Winfield

Des Moines County

Henry County

Lee County

Louisa County

Dues enable SEIRPC to perform grant writing and technical assistance services tomembers by matching federal planning grants. Since 1973, SEIRPC has securednearly $250 million in outside funds for southeast Iowa.

SEIRPC serves its members through free grant writing services, grant administration,planning, technical assistance and managing public programs and funds.

THANK YOU

The Wellmark Foundation is now accepting applications for the Large MATCH (MatchingAssets to Community Health) grant program, which can fund up to $100,000 per project.Southeast Iowa has benefitted substantially from this program in recent years, withprojects that include improvements to existing park/recreation facilities, as well asrecreational trails construction. In 2020, SEIRPC staff assisted with applications for twoprojects (Mount Pleasant and Wayland), both of which received $100,000.

WELLMARK FOUNDATION MATCH GRANTS

Applications are due onFebruary 17, 2021. SEIRPCcan assist you with questionsor in preparing an application.Contact Jarred Lassiter at319-753-4321.

For smaller scale projects, Wellmark offers the Small MATCH grant program, which canfund up to $25,000 per project. This year, applications are due on May 26, 2021. For further information, please see www.wellmark.com/foundation/traditional-grants.html.

FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENTS

DERELICT BUILDING GRANT PROGRAMDoes your community have an old, vacant building that has become an eyesore, orpresents concerns for public safety? The Derelict Building Grant Program is an annualfunding opportunity provided by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) forcommunities with 5,000 or fewer residents. It can be used for deconstructing orrenovating abandoned commercial and public structures, as well as removing asbestosand/or limiting the amount of construction/demolition materials that go to a landfill. Letts,

Mediapolis, Middletown, and Wapello have recently been awarded funding through this program.

This year's Derelict Building Grant applications are dueon February 26, 2021. SEIRPC can assist you inpreparing an application, or if you have questionsabout the program. Contact Kansha Tiwari at 319-753-4312.

For further information: www.iowadnr.gov/Environmental-Protection/Land-Quality/Waste-Planning-Recycling/ Derelict-Building-Program

On December 3, 2020, a truck carrying some unusually large cargo rolled into West Point,Iowa, on County Road 103. The freight in question wasn't building supplies, equipment, ormachinery, but an entire 3-bedroom, 1,200 SF home, bound for a pre-poured foundation on7th Street at the south end of town.

This was the first of what is anticipated to be many homes that Southeast Iowacommunities will see from Homes for Iowa, a non-profit initiative that provides skilledtraining in building trades for offenders at Iowa's Newton Correctional Facility. The homesare stick-built at the facility just south of Newton, and then transported by truck in one pieceto various locations around the state, by Ferneau & Sons House Moving and Raising ofMarshalltown.

HOMES FOR IOWA makes its mark in

Southeast Iowa!

SEIRPC Executive Director Mike Norris serves as the President of Homes for Iowa, andwas closely involved in its initial concept planning and establishment, in which it wasmodeled off of a similar program in South Dakota. Development of the West Point home isby Michael Mohrfeld and MBM Real Estate of Fort Madison.

Photo Source: Chuck Vandenberg, Pen City Current

But that's not all! A second Homes for Iowa home made its way into Southeast Iowa inearly January 2021...

Just over a month after this region's first Homes for Iowa home arrived in West Point, asecond home was delivered to West Burlington on January 7, 2021. Midwest Realty Group,Inc. is the general contractor for this home, working in partnership with the City of WestBurlington and our own Southeast Iowa Housing, Inc. and Great River Housing Trust Fund.Midwest Realty, headed by local real estate investment professional Ryan Nagrocki, willalso be working with us on several additional home projects in the region.

Look out for additional Homes for Iowa homesarriving in our region in the near future. Twosuch homes will be arriving later this year inKeokuk. If your community is interested inparticipating in this program, you can contactMike Norris at 319-753-4310, or visitwww.homesforia.com.

This project was part of a multi-phaseeffort by the City, to clean up twodilapidated properties on the city's eastside, along West Burlington Avenuebetween Mount Pleasant Street and USHighway 34. The two old homes weredemolished and the lots were combined,so that a portion at the north end couldbe retained as permanent green space,to facilitate better surface drainage intoa nearby creek.

HOMES FOR IOWA (cont'd)

Over the past several years, SEIRPC staff have been assisting Downtown Partners, Inc(DPI) in efforts to save and redevelop a historic building on the north side of DowntownBurlington. This is the Elks Building at 300 Washington Street, previously home to TheTypewriter Shop. It was first built in 1883, with the fourth floor added in 1907.

The building was first acquired from private ownership in December 2015, after aninspection revealed a serious structural problem with the building's roof. With SEIRPC'sassistance, DPI has since applied for and obtained several grants to pay for necessarystructural repairs and assessments.

Unfortunately, with several major roof repairs already completed, bricks started falling fromthe southeast corner of the building in summer 2019. SEIRPC then helped DPI obtainadditional funding for emergency repairs. The Iowa Economic Development Authority(IEDA) awarded $100,000 to the project through its Community Catalyst BuildingRemediation Program, and the State Historical Society of Iowa awarded an additional$15,000 through a Historic Resource Development Program (HRDP) Emergency Grant.

To restore the building's structural integrity, a series of concrete masonry units wereinstalled in the interior of the building to reinforce the exterior brick. The original brickswere salvaged and reinstalled as a facade to match the remainder of the building once thisinterior retrofit had been completed.

Finally, in January 2021, SEIRPC partnered with DPI and Terrus Real Estate Group toissue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for interested developers, detailing the building'shistoric context, the repairs that have already been undertaken, and the local aspiration forhaving this building reoccupied for commercial or mixed use development.

Progress Continues withHistoric Downtown Building

In Fort Madison, a 4-block stretch of Avenue H was reconstructed using funds from theregionally competitive Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program. This includesthe section between 2nd Street/the Illinois toll bridge and 6th Street, at the east end ofdowntown. This is the first of several roadway segments that will be reconstructed,resurfaced, and/or reconfigured so that the former US Highway 61 corridor through town isfunctionally compatible with its new role as a city street and business route for the Highway61 bypass.

*REGIONAL PROJECTS UPDATE*

Former Highway Becomes a 'Complete Street'

As 2020 drew to a close, two long anticipated construction projects involving federaltransportation funding wrapped up in Southeast Iowa.

In addition to its conversion from 4 to 3 lanes (with reversible middle turn lane), thesidewalk was expanded to a multi-purpose pathway for both bikes and pedestrians, and theintersection by the toll bridge was reconfigured to improve motorist safety.

For over 3 decades now, the City of Mount Pleasant has been working to establish, build,and expand a citywide trail network to serve residents and visitors alike, with connections tothe Old Threshers Grounds, East Lake Park, and employment and retail centers on thecity's east side. But for the longest time, the toughest nut to crack was Saunders Park, withthe expanded footprint of the Henry County Health Center and its various access roadsserving as an obstacle for pedestrians and bicyclists to access the city's oldest park, oncethe site of a cabin where its namesake (and town founder) Presley Saunders first settled.But through some creative, 'outside the box' thinking, a unique solution was found. You'veheard of 'rails to trails'? Well, say hello to 'roads to trails'!

Just north of the hospital, aseldom-used, narrow one-wayroad extended into the parkbetween Van Buren Street andSaunders Park Road. It was aremnant of an early 20thcentury loop road around theperimeter of the park.

This road was repurposed as atrail, with the curb-and-gutterasphalt road replaced with a10-foot wide concrete trail.Pedestrians and bicyclists nowhave a safe, off-road pathwayinto the park, which includesthe Mount Pleasant AquaticCenter (public swimming pool).

Repurposed Roadway Makes City ParkAccessible to All

Before...

After...

This was part of a larger project funded bythe regionally competitive TransportationAlternatives Program (TAP). In addition tothe trail within Saunders Park, a trail wasbuilt alongside Warren Street eastward toJefferson Street, and then south alongJefferson to South Street. Additionalfunding came from a Large MATCH grantfrom the Wellmark Foundation, whichSEIRPC assisted the City in applying for.

SEIRPC Planning staff are now assisting Louisa County in an update to their 20-yearComprehensive Plan, last updated in 2002. The new plan will include an exhaustivesummary of the County's current status, in terms of government structure, economics, landuse, transportation, health care, and environmental conditions. It will also contain a set ofgoals, objectives and implementation strategies that can be used in guiding Countyplanning and policy decisions through 2040.

An initial kickoff meeting was held with the Louisa County Planning and ZoningCommission in November 2020. Staff has now begun the intensive process of datacollection and analysis, which will be ongoing over the coming months.

The next phase, one of the most crucial in the development of a Comprehensive Plan, isthe gathering of public input and opinions on Louisa County, in terms of both currentconditions and future aspirations. A public survey has been prepared, and will be mailed toa random sample of 1,000 County residents, in both the nine incorporated municipalities aswell as unincorporated areas. Efforts will also be made to distribute the survey to targetedstakeholder groups such as schools and major employers, and copies will be madeavailable at local public buildings such as the courthouse, city halls, and public libraries.

After a year of design work and other preparations, SEIRPC will soon have a brand newwebsite for use by the general public! It's been a number of years since any substantialformatting changes were made, and we anticipate that this updated version will be muchmore user friendly, and facilitate easier communication and coordination between SEIRPCstaff and our various regional partners, as well as the general public. Over the comingweeks, we anticipate the finishing touches will be completed, and the new website will thengo live! Don't worry about access, as the URL will remain the same as always,www.seirpc.com.

New SEIRPC Website *COMING SOON*

Work Commences on Update to Louisa County Comprehensive Plan

TAKE THESURVEY!

If you are a Louisa County resident, please take our survey forthe County's Comprehensive Plan update. The survey can beaccessed at the link below. There are 25 questions (11 of themoptional) and it should only take about 10-20 minutes tocomplete. Thank you for participating in this valuable process!

Please submit responsesby February 26, 2021. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LouisaCo2040

Upcoming/Ongoing Funding Opportunities

Note: Deadlines and eligibility requirements are subject to change. Contact SEIRPC for moreinformation if you are interested in finding out more about a particular program.

SEIRPC Office Staff Listing (with years of tenure, as of January 2021)

DEBBIE BLACKLEDGE, RECEPTIONIST: dblackledge@seirpc.com (2 yrs)

SUSAN COFFEY, ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR: scoffey@seirpc.com (27 yrs)

CHRIS CROWNER, TRANSIT SCHEDULER, ccrowner@seirpc.com (3 yrs)

JORDAN FRAHM, REGIONAL PLANNER, jfrahm@seirpc.com (<1 yr)

LORI GILPIN, FINANCE DIRECTOR: lgilpin@seirpc.com (8 yrs)

SARA HECOX, GRANT ADMINISTRATOR: shecox@seirpc.com (15 yrs)

ZACH JAMES, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: zjames@seirpc.com (15 yrs)

SHERRI JONES, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT: sjones@seirpc.com (12 yrs)

ROGER KELLER, TRANSIT DIRECTOR: rkeller@seirpc.com (4 yrs)

DAVID LAHVIC, TRANSIT MAINTENANCE MANAGER: dlahvic@seirpc.com (< 1 yr)

TRACEY LAMM, REG. DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR: tlamm@seirpc.com (13 yrs)

JARRED LASSITER, REGIONAL PLANNER: jlassiter@seirpc.com (6 yrs)

CAROLYN LEES, HOUSING ASSISTANT: clees@seirpc.com (2 yrs)

FRANK MASON, BUILDING SUPERINTENDENT: fmason@seirpc.com (1 yr)

LISA MCPHERSON, PLANNING ASSISTANT: lmcpherson@seirpc.com (1 yr)

MIKE NORRIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: mnorris@seirpc.com (17 yrs)

KANSHA TIWARI, REGIONAL PLANNER: atiwari@seirpc.com (3 yrs)