Oskaloosa Hardee’s To Relocate

Oskaloosa City Hall

Oskaloosa City Hall

By Eduardo Zamarripa, CRI Weekly News

Oskaloosa, Iowa – On Monday night, the Oskaloosa City Council unanimously approved two resolutions that will allow Hardee’s to relocate and redevelop.

The first resolution approved selling 0.72 acres of city-owned property, that is currently being used as parking at Penn Central Mall, to 4 G Properties, LLC. That’s where Hardee’s will be located now. The second resolution approved purchasing the 0.33 acres of land where Hardee’s is currently located (208 A Avenue West). That location will eventually be demolished.

“I’m very happy to see it (the project) come to fruition,” says City Manager Michael Schrock. “The arrangement that we’re making, I believe, will benefit both parties, and the community at-large through, not only just the redevelopment of a new site, a new building, which will be assessed at a higher value than the existing site, but also it provides the city an opportunity to present new parking options.”

Construction of the “new” Hardee’s will happen as weather permits. Until then, Hardee’s will remain in its present location and lease the land and building back from the city.

The city council also unanimously approved endorsing an application for road improvements funding to Burlington Road between South 17th Street and the East city limits of Oskaloosa. The application will be submitted to the Area 15 Regional Planning Commission (RPA 15) Surface Transportation Program (STP). STP funds are allocated to RPA 15 by the Iowa Department of Transportation on an annual basis. After that, these funds are allocated to entities in the region.

The section of Burlington Road that would be improved is a chip seal street with no curb and gutter. The reconstruction consists of new thick concrete pavement, a concrete curb and gutter, and storm water piping and intakes. The project costs approximately $185,000. The grant funding is for up to 80 percent of the project cost (roughly $148,000). The remaining 20 percent is the local funding match.

In addition to that, the city council unanimously approved supporting an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields assessment grant application. EPA defines Brownfields as “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” The city is applying for up to $400,000 in funding. The funds would be used for community-wide environmental assessments to remove contamination.

Schrock says the city isn’t targeting a specific area.

“We do know that we have potential sites, but it’s not like we’ve discovered something we’re trying to address at this point,” Schrock says. “This is just us trying to be proactive. Especially when there’s no match required, that’s something that we get excited about.”

In other agenda items, the city council unanimously approved the following items:

  • An ordinance to establish a ‘no parking’ zone from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, along the South side of 5th Avenue East between South 7th Street and South 8th Street (2nd reading)
  • An ordinance to establish a ‘no parking’ zone along the South side of E Avenue East from North 11th Street to 100 feet East of North 11th Street (3rd reading)

Because they were re-elected in November, and because this was the first council meeting of 2014, Mayor Dave Krutzfeldt, Councilwoman Scottie Moore, and Councilmen Tom Walling, Doug Yates, and Aaron Ver Steeg, took the oath of office.

The next city council meeting is on Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. The council will meet on a Tuesday, instead of a Monday, because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Posted by on Jan 7 2014. Filed under Local News, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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