Oskaloosa City Council Approves Re-bid

April 18th, 2023

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa City Council met on Monday, April 17th, 2023 at 6 pm inside the Council Chambers at the Oskaloosa City Hall.

The Council heard from Oskaloosa Fire Chief Scott Vaughan regarding code enforcement over the past quarter.

The goal of code enforcement, according to the City of Oskaloosa, is “To encourage private property owners to maintain their properties within established community standards; and to uphold the city council’s directive to eliminate nuisance conditions that negatively affect community appeal, reduce community pride, and threaten to reduce property values.”

Vaughan explained that in the first quarter of 2023, there were 47 cases handled by the code enforcement officer, and 37 of those cases have been taken care of.

According to the statistics provided, 37 of those calls were for garbage or junk on the property, with the second biggest infraction either parking on a non-hard surface area or the vehicle is inoperable.

After no bids were received, the Council also passed a resolution to re-bid the Edmundson Playground Park project.

The city says that bids need to be received by the City of Oskaloosa at the office of the City Clerk at City Hall at 220 South Market Street until 10:00 AM on Tuesday, May 2nd.

The projected cost for the project is $548,000.00 with a contingency of 10% of $54,800.

The Council also approved, on a split vote, an application for the 2023 Healthy City Grant in the amount of $30,000 for funding and building an outdoor fitness court. –

“The proposed fitness court is called the Fitness Court Studio, this will include fitness, art, dance, yoga, Zumba, Pilates, etc. The cost of this project is approximately $190,000. Project is consistent the city’s Strategic Plan goals, including but not limited promoting recreational amenities and opportunities for utilization,” says the City.