City approves urban renewal deal with county

FORT MADISON – An urban renewal zone agreement is paving the way for the county to move forward putting a new Lee County Health Department on county property within the city of Fort Madison.

The Fort Madison City Council approved a resolution at Tuesday’s regular meeting that was required by Lee County of Supervisors to move forward with opportunities in the zone.

The agreement is the next step in constructing a $5.5 million Lee County Health Department/EMS facility on 7.7 acres of property donated to the county by the Glen Meller family where the Iowan hotel was located at 5001 Avenue O in Fort Madison.

The county has been moving forward with the project and expects to go out for bids on the 14,000 square foot project tentatively in the spring with construction hopefully starting in the spring.

Officials with Carl. A. Nelson, the construction manager for the project, are setting early construction completion plans for the winter of 2024.

County officials have moved the project from a steel frame construction to a wood-frame building due to engineering estimates coming in at about $2 million over what county officials budgeted for the structure.

The building will hold office and client space for Lee County Health Department employees and the department services. It will also hold living quarters and a double bay for EMS equipment and ambulances.

The County has secured $975,000 in a USDA Rural Emergency Health Care Grant and has submitted an application for a Community Development Block Grant for an additional $600,000. The project also garnered the attention of U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who has taken the project to Congress as one of her 15 appropriation projects.

The county submitted the project to Miller-Meeks and could be awarded up to $2.3 million if the project slips through the litany of other appropriations in front of the U.S. Congress.

The county is also currently paying $90,000 annually in lease payments to the Iowa Department of Corrections for space in the John Bennett Correctional Center on the former Iowa State Penitentiary grounds.

Supervisor Chuck Holmes said if the county had to borrow up to $1.3 million to finish off the project, the $90,000 annually would about make up the bond payments so it would be a wash for the county.

Supervisor Chairman Garry Seyb said that the county has about $3.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds obligated to the project. But budget constraints facing the county through September may require the city to borrow against those funds to keep the county afloat.

But he said the county is keeping $1 million aside to add to funding for the health department.

In other action, the City Council:

• voted, 7-0, to approve placing Monte Butler on the Fort Madison Housing Authority Commission. The appointment still leaves one spot empty on the commission.
• voted, 7-0, to approve a contract with Voltmer Electric out of Decorah, Iowa for $247,294 to upgrade the Fort Madison Airport’s Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS).