What Would Make Oskaloosa A Better Place To Live

Community members took time out of their schedules to give their input on a community place making project.

Community members invested hours this past week telling what they believe is good, and what needs help, in Oskaloosa.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Community members came out in large numbers this week to give their input on an initiative to help build the Oskaloosa community.

The City of Oskaloosa has hired McClure Engineering Company to help the city better understand the needs and desires of its residents.

Oskaloosa Mayor Dave Krutzfeldt welcomed the approximately 40 individuals to the first session of the day.

“As community leaders, we know a lot of things are going right. Oskaloosa is doing really well as a community,” said Krutzfeldt, who highlighted new businesses and employers coming into the community, as well as new housing being built.

“We’re making some very big investments in infrastructure. Infrastructure is one of those things people hear about and go yeah so what. It’s all in the ground anyway,” added Krutzfeldt of the needed repairs and upgrades.

Often officials like council members and mayors hear the complaints, but Krutzfeldt said that “we don’t spend the time thinking enough about where we make our strategic investments. How are we able to prevent problems going forward, so our people that live here are delighted with the place they live.”

“That’s what we’ve got going on here today,” said Krutzfeldt. “If it’s done right, it’s going to help us think creatively about the resources we have and how to put them to work to make this a great place to live, work, and play.”

Those in attendance offered up nearly an hours worth of suggestions and ideas, including unique things of Oskaloosa like the bandstand, it’s parks and trails, and summer activities.

Amenities like golfing opportunities, arts, and history were discussed.

Those in attendance also spoke about what they feel is missing, such as more restaurants, housing, hotels, a “we can” attitude, workforce development, and retail opportunities.

Education opportunities in the area were also discussed, but concerns remain about the Oskaloosa School system, and how people moving to the city are perceiving the test scores.

Also discussed was how to entice William Penn graduates to stay in the community after graduation.

The community input was the first step in the process. Planners will then look at the feasibility of individual projects and how those could be funded.

Development Services Director Andrew Jensen said the process would help the city identify some “key community development projects to help move the community forward in the next three to five years.”

The time spent with the community and McClure is the visioning part of the process, to better understand how the city sees their community and how they envision it going forward into the future.”

Oskaloosa News asked Jensen what the difference between the work taking place now, and when Roger Brooks did their work several years ago.

“That project was really focused on branding specifically. This is a broader community development,” to find what the community sees as important.

“This process will include things like infrastructure and roads that really weren’t addressed in the branding,” said Jensen.

Oskaloosa News asked Jensen if this was an opportunity for the city to tell developers that the community is open for business, after many years of being known as difficult to work with.

Jensen added that the success of the project will only happen if there is buy-in from different community organizations and individuals.

For the city, regulations and incentives to help attract new businesses are something Jensen believes will help.

In regards to the perception that the city has been difficult to work with, and not developer friendly, Jensen says that many actions have been taken to be more developer friendly “because if you look at where the city is now, compared to what it was about five years ago, things have changed quite significantly.”

“When people tell me that Oskaloosa is not developer friendly. What I tend to see is individuals who have hit a specific regulation that they don’t like. When we look at what is developer friendly, is look more at the full body of policies and regulations that we have in place,’ said Jensen. “And we’ve made some significant strides in being a development-friendly community.”