(Update 8:40-a.m….)

Officials with the Adair-Guthrie County Emergency Management Agency say a BOIL ADVISORY is in effect for the City of Stuart until further notice. Emergency Management Director Bob Kempf says the advisory was issued after a 10-inch water main ruptured below east Front Street in Stuart, between Sherman and Harlan Streets.

Stuart Utilities was able to repair the main, but Kempf says because contaminants may have worked their way into the water supply during the break, residents and persons who get their water from the City of Stuart are urged to boil all water before consumption. You should let it boil for one-minute before letting it cool, or use bottled water, until further notice.

In addition, some areas of the community may not have water, due to the pressure loss. If you have any questions, please call Bob Kempf at 515-523-2915.

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, set March 13th as the date for a public hearing on the City’s proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget.

Atlantic City Administrator Doug Harris (Ric Hanson – photo)

City Administrator Doug Harris said there were some changes to the budget since the Council held a work session to try and hash out the numbers. The changes overall reflect a slight decrease in the budget, but it won’t affect the projected rate of $17.68 per thousand dollars taxable valuation, which is an increase of 44-cents. The majority of the increase in the tax rate is due to a 38-cent increase in the Debt Service levy.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council approved a resolution awarding a contract to KWS, Inc., for the 7th Street Traffic Signal Improvement Project, for $139,900. They tabled however, the awarding of a contract for the Sunnyside Tennis Court Re-Construction project until March 20th, based on the recommendation of Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring and the engineer for the project. Only two bids were received, but officials were hoping for more, because crews with the City Street Department worked to remove the asphalt court surface, which saved a good chunk of money. It’s the second time the project had gone out for bidding.

Dostel’s Construction in Nebraska bid $259,000, while Midwest Tennis and Track bid $278,000. Dostel’s bid was unchanged from last July, when bids were first requested and later rejected. Both the engineer and Herring felt the lowest bid of $259,000 was still too high. They requested the awarding of the contract be tabled for up to 30-days, because they still hope to come up with financing options necessary to help pay for the project.  Herring said right now though, they don’t have the means come up with another $20-to 30,000 to cover the gap between the engineer’s estimate of cost and the lowest bid. Councilman Steve Livengood asked Herring how they plan to come up with the extra money, since Herring said they don’t have those extra funds in the Parks and Rec Budget. Herring said they will look at all options, including receiving private donations

The Council also approved the second reading, and suspended the rules to pass on the third reading, an amendment to the City’s Zoning Ordinance that allows some lots in the Southern Heights 2nd addition to be reclassified from R-2 (Single family) to R-4 (Multi-family) housing. Developer Don Sonntag said he would likely be coming before the Council at a later date with an application for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to help make the housing project financially viable.

It may take up to 10-years, but Atlantic is on-track to receive high-speed passenger rail service. That was the word from City Administrator Doug Harris, during Wednesday night’s meeting of the Atlantic City Council. Harris said with the first three phases of a study to bring high-speed passenger rail from Chicago to Omaha, and an environmental impact study having been completed, the five routes being considered have been narrowed down to one.  He said the only route being considered now, is the Iowa Interstate Railroad line, which goes through Atlantic. The next phase he is a financial feasibility and cost/benefit analysis.

Harris said transportation officials have approved moving forward with a Chicago-to-Moline route in 2015. Tenative approval has also been given for the next phase, which is from Moline to Iowa City in 2017. The third phase is from Iowa City to Des Moines. No date has been set yet, for that segment. The fourth and final phase is from Des Moines to Omaha. Harris said officials are exploring the possibility of putting a train station in Atlantic. The proposal will be included in a “Station Analysis Report.”

Harris said the key is trying to determine the cost and benefit, and how many people the route will serve. The study projects 31,637 passengers per year would board and depart the train, from Atlantic. The preliminary cost of building a new train station in Atlantic to accommodate those passengers, according to the report, would cost around $3-million. Harris said officials assumed there wouldn’t be an interest in using the existing depot in Atlantic, but Harris asked them to include that as a possible alternative to keep the costs down.

He said if the project moves forward, and a new terminal is built in Atlantic, there is an 80-percent Federal match for the minimal basic cost of providing the station. If the City wanted to do something extra,  anything above the minimal cost, would be at the City’s expense. Harris said the report weighs heavily “Intermodal transportation connections” as a factor in determining the need for a new train station, and he had to point out to officials, that Atlantic has that type of service available through SWITA (the Southwest Iowa Transportation Agency) buses. Harris said officials were excited to hear about that SWITA has buses which cover and eight-count area, and will incorporate that into their decision making process.

He says he hopes to know within the next six-months what the DOT’s timeline is, but there are additional public comment periods remaining, and it may be as much as 10-years before any significant movement on bringing high-speed rail to Atlantic, is realized.