Eighteen Iowa communities (including Clearfield, Lenox, Stanton and Stuart) are getting grants of 100-thousand dollars from the Iowa Economic Development Authority to redevelopment of buildings under the Community Catalyst Program. Jim Thompson oversees the new program which has a simple goal. “Communities select a building that’s in need of remediation that will not only serve as an economic catalyst — thus the name — but also serve as an example to other property owners that are adjacent. To be able to see that economic activity can happen, even in the smallest of towns,” Thompson says.

The program is open to all communities, but the rules require 40 percent of the grants to go to those with populations of less than 15-hundred residents. Fifty percent of those size communities that won grants in this first year. “Smaller communities have less capacity,” Thompson says, “and it’s not just always in dollars. Sometimes it’s in administrative function and in leadership. So, we have been really working hand-in-hand with these communities as applicants for these buildings.” Fifty-three communities applied for the program and 18 received the maximum 100-thousand dollar award.

“One unique thing about this program is that it did not require any local match — although it was scored competitively against the other applicants based on their match,” Thompson says. “So, it didn’t’ have to be just a cash match. We also allowed communities to come up with an in kind contribution.” He says communities provided the in-kind match in a lot of ways, such as waiving building and other permit fees.

He says they allowed the communities to be creative and some are supplying trucks and labor to help renovate the buildings. Thompson says some of the projects are already in the works and are paying off. He says the program saves old buildings that may’ve been torn down and turns them into something that creates new things.

The communities have two years to complete the projects. Locally:

• The City of Clearfield received a grant to rehabilitate300 Broadway, for a 1st floor rehab to entice business development 2nd floor apartment and 2 rentable overnight rooms. The total project cost is estimated at $190,000.
• The City of Lenox received a $100,000 grant to rehabilitate the Bunn Jewelry Building Mexican Restaurant & Woodworking Shop with four apartments upstairs (a $571,000 project)
• The City of Stanton received $100k to rehabilitate the Historic Mason Building Mixed Use Renovation Adds Downtown Living & Additional Business Spaces (a $284,000 project)
• The City of Stuart received a grant to rehabilitate the Hotel Stuart: 1st floor restaurant Upper level hotel suites (a $761,964 project)

And, the City of Mapleton received a community technical assistance planning grant of five-thousand dollars ($5,000).

(Radio Iowa)

AMES, Iowa (AP) — An Ames manufacturing plant has been fined following the workplace death in January of an employee. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Danfoss Power Solutions $12,000 following an investigation into the Jan. 18 death of 45-year-old John Lavery.

Officials say a safety hood on a motor testing operation fell on Lavery, killing him.
In the days after Lavery’s death, officials for the hydraulic motors plant said the company was replacing all the other safety hoods with a new design in an effort to prevent similar accidents.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa board has put on hold plans to require public workers in the state to preregister to vote in key union elections. The Public Employment Relations Board announced Tuesday it would not move ahead with proposed administrative rules that would have required a registration process before so-called recertification elections.

Board chairman Mike Cormack says officials received negative feedback about the idea. Representatives for several unions told lawmakers last week that such a system would suppress voter participation.

The board says its election vendor initially sought the changes. The board may seek a new vendor, which could increase costs. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved a bill last year that scaled back collective bargaining rights for most public workers. It required more frequent elections on whether public workers should stay unionized.

Road construction work for the expansion of U.S. 20 in Ida and Sac counties will require closing the roadway to traffic between Ida County Road M-25 (near Galva) and U.S. 71 (near Early) from 8 a.m. Wednesday, Apr. 11, until Friday, Sept. 28, weather permitting, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 3 Office.

Motorists will be directed around the work zone on a signed detour using Ida County Road M-25, Ida/Sac County Road D-15, and U.S. 71.

A bridge replacement project on the U.S. 71 bridge over Lone Tree Creek, 0.1 miles south of Cass County Road G-35, and 3.1 miles south of Atlantic, will require closing the roadway to traffic beginning Monday morning April 23, until Oct. 1, 2018, weather permitting, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Creston construction office.

During this closure, traffic will be detoured around the work zone using Iowa 92, Iowa 148, and Iowa 83.

The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As always, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa House Republicans hope to unveil a key bill on tax cuts by the end of the week. Rep. Guy Vander Linden, an Oskaloosa Republican, says Tuesday the “complex” bill could even see a vote this week in the tax-writing committee that he chairs. For now, he says they’re “still making sausage.” On Monday, the Republican-controlled House solicited general input on tax cut proposals at a public hearing.

Senate Republicans passed a bill along party lines in late February that would cut Iowa taxes by more than $1 billion annually. Senate Republicans did not explain how they would pay for the cuts.
House Republicans say they’re working off a separate tax bill by Gov. Kim Reynolds that would reduce tax revenues by about $1.7 billion over several years.