The Shelby County Supervisors have approved an Economic Development Assistance contract for a company located just outside of Harlan. During their regularly scheduled meeting today (Tuesday), Jane Nielsen, director of Shelby County DevelopSource, told the Board the contract with Proliant had been amended from $225,000 to $336,000. The award to Proliant came from the Iowa Economic Development Authority or IEDA.

The company will use the money as part of their $22 million expansion project, which is currently under construction. Al Leinen, manager at Proliant, told the Shelby County Supervisors the expansion will add 25 additional employees to the already 36 current workers. Proliant is the biggest plant making stocks and broth in the United States. The expansion of the plant will not require the of use any tax dollars.

Leinen said at the meeting, if all goes well in the current expansion, the plant will see another phase and expansion right away. Proliant is expecting the construction and expansion to be completed by the end of the year.

In other business, the Shelby County Supervisors sold a tiny piece of land to the city of Irwin. The 10-foot by 100-foot section of land was near the ball diamond in Irwin. The City’s bid of One-dollar, was the only bid the Board received. And, Shelby County Auditor Marsha Carter reported to the board on the recent Hotel/Motel Tax Committee action. Carter said the committee had approved $10,000 to the city of Harlan for the “Today in America” program, and the county had received $10,000 for the improvements completed on the Shelby County Courthouse. Both the City and County had submitted proposals before the change to the Hotel/Motel Tax Committee.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

The Atlantic City Council is scheduled to meet Wednesday evening in the Senior Center cafeteria room, while renovation work continues on the City Hall building. During their session, the Council may act on a Resolution approving a Bond Purchase Agreement not to exceed $2.72-million, for the City’s 2013 Capital Improvement Plan. Approving the agreement would lock-in the interest rates, and is the next step in the process to pay for the construction of improvements to the City’s streets and storm sewers.

In other business, the Council in Atlantic will act on a Resolution setting April 3rd, 2013 at 5:30-p.m., as the date and time for a public hearing on a Loan Agreement not to exceed $6.6-million, for Sewer Revenue bonds. During the last Council meeting, City Administrator Doug Harris said it would be advantageous for the City to issue the bonds at current interest rates, rather than draw-down on the remaining $6.6-million from the State Revolving Loan Fund (SRL) to finance the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Harris said it would save the City an average of $23,500 per year for the first 17-years of the bond maturity structure, for an over-all savings of about $391,000.

And, the Council will discuss and consider a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) application from Sonntag Development, for a $250,000 grant from the City, for the construction of 10 duplexes. The matter had been referred to the Community Development Committee, which said the proposed Southern Heights II Subdivision was a good project and public assistance could be considered, since it met the minimum standards under the new, broader TIF Policy. However, the Atlantic CDC did not offer a conclusive opinion on whether public funding should be granted. The Committee decided to forward the application back to the Council for its consideration, without  a specific recommendation for action.

Whatever action the Council takes, if any, on Wednesday, will set a precedence for the standards and purpose for the use of public funding when similar TIF requests are made, along with how much public assistance will be the standard.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular meeting in Atlantic Wednesday morning. During their 9-a.m. session at the courthouse, the Board will act on approving a two-percent Cost Of Living increase for Child Support Recovery employees, as covered under the Intergovernmental Cooperative Reimbursement Agreement between the County and Department of Human Services.

The Supervisors are also expected to act on funding for the Cass-Audubon Border Economic Development Agreement (CABEDA), and paying for a Valley Business Park property loan. They’ll also receive and possibly act on bids for sanitation and recycling services at the courthouse and jail, as well as approve the hiring of an Operator 1 position applicant for the Secondary Roads Department.

Members of the CAM School District’s Board of Education, Monday, approved a change order for the new multipurpose building to be constructed this Summer north of the CAM North Elementary School. Superintendent Steve Pelzer told KJAN News the change makes the building a little bit wider and changes the slope of the roof.  It also adds $20,000 to price of the original bid of $584,800, from Jensen Builders, of Ames. When complete, the building will house a gym with storage areas, restrooms, drinking fountain and music room. The building is expected to be finished by mid-to late-August.

The Board also discussed, but took no action on, replacing the football scoreboard with an LED-type board. Pelzer says the Board will likely approve replacing the current scoreboard with a new one, because it’s cheaper to replace it than to retrofit the current scoreboard with LED lights. He says they are also looking into the purchase of Play Clocks for the end zone, but no decision was made on that, either.