City recognizes longevity, hears report on facade improvements
by Charlie Comfort
Oskaloosa, Iowa- Four employees with a combined total of 110 years of service were recognized at Monday’s regular Oskaloosa City Council meeting. The employees were recognized for their many years of service to the City of Oskaloosa, and is an annual tradition. Among those recognized were: Oskaloosa Fire Department Captain Dave Christenson (35 years), Oskaloosa Police Chief Jake McGee (30 years), Oskaloosa City Clerk Amy Miller (25 years), and Oskaloosa Library Employee Susan Hasso (20 years). Mayor Dave Krutzfeldt said that the employees have become fixtures of Oskaloosa through their service.
“These are the people who become the backbone of the culture of Oskaloosa,” Krutzlfedt said of the four employees.
He added that the employees have all had to make changes as culture in the community has changed.
“Those adjustments have to take place as time goes on. There’s a continuous learning that takes place of how can we do this better, how can we do this faster, continuous improvement,” Krutzfeldt said.
The city council also heard a presentation on the status of the ongoing downtown facade improvements project. Area 15 Regional Planning Agency Senior Planner Brad Grefe reviewed the qualifications for the grant that the city received for the project. He also reviewed some of the progress that was made this past year with the project.
Grefe noted that the current overall project cost is $1.134 million, which includes asbestos testing, architecture contract, Area 15 staff contract, and construction costs. Currently, four buildings are “substantially complete”, four are “close” to substantially complete, five are currently under construction, and five are waiting for construction to begin. The project should be done by June of 2018.
According to Grefe, the project will be the first completed of those communities that received 2016 CDBG funds. Grefe said that technically, no buildings will be considered complete until the end of the project, due to the 5% retain age that has to be released. A final “punch-list” must also be completed before the end of the project. That likely will be completed in spring of 2018. Grefe also said that there had been very few “surprises” discovered during the project, with the biggest one being that of Sieda building, where glass and an old storefront were discovered.
In other action , the city council:
Approved a resolution levying special assessment against a private property owner for cutting and removal of weeds by the City of Oskaloosa.
Approved a resolution levying special assessment against a private property owner to clean up and abate a nuisance existing pursuant to the order of the Mahaska County District Court.
Approved a resolution accepting completion of Sheriff Ave reconstruction project.
The next regular meeting of the Oskaloosa City Council will be on December 18 at 6 pm in city council chambers.
