Once Fonseca took the oath of office and received a hearty round of applause, it was back to business as usual for the council, which is now back at full strength with seven members for the first time since Al Hoop’s passing in March.

Two items on the agenda pertained to the Freedom Hills First Addition on East Merle Hibbs Boulevard past Walmart that includes the already constructed but not yet open Veterans Affairs Clinic and two additional as yet undeveloped adjacent lots. The first was the matter of accepting the plat for the development, which passed unanimously with little discussion other than Mayor Joel Greer commenting on his excitement for the future of the area.

The second was a discussion item on a development agreement with RISE M LLC, the company that owns the 11.5 acre parcel with plans to split it into at least three separate lots for commercial development. In a letter to the council, RISE CEO Eric Card requested up to $800,000 in tax increment financing (TIF) over a 10-year period.

“This particular developer is also the owner of Freedom Hills Development and would use it not only for some of their expenses on the clinic but also on development on the rest of the parcel that you just took action on accepting,” City Consultant Cindy Kendall said.

The new VA Clinic at 201 E. Merle Hibbs Blvd. is pictured Monday night. The city council voted unanimously to accept the plat for the Freedom Hills Addition and, by a 5-2 margin, moved forward with a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement with the company behind the development.

Councilor Gary Thompson, in a question to Kendall, estimated that the agreement would cost Marshalltown taxpayers about $250,000 over five or 10 years. She said that was likely an accurate figure when factoring in the shares of the other taxing entities, but she added that any future legislation curtailing the city’s ability to provide such a rebate would render the contract null and void.

“Our general fund has a hole in it, and this money would go to the general fund, if I”m correct, and so we’re just giving away a quarter of a million dollars,” Thompson said.

Councilor Jeff Schneider quickly responded.

“Gary, I think where your logic is breaking is you’re assuming that they’re gonna build this if they don’t get this money. If they don’t get this money, there’s gonna be a lot,” he said.

“It’s already built. This is the VA Clinic,” Thompson said.

Marshalltown Firefighter Cody German, left, and Lt. Matt Gorder, right, posed with Acting Fire Chief Christopher Cross on Monday night after they were honored for their years of service. Gorder has been with the MFD for 20 years, and German hit the five-year mark.

Kendall explained that the VA Clinic would be used as the increment to generate new property taxes, and referencing the letter from Card, said the tax rebate would “encourage and incentivize” the company to develop the other lots. Fonseca then asked Kendall what they planned to do with the other lots, and she responded that it would be aimed at retail and possible residential development.

“Zoning and so forth is compatible with both of those ideas,” Kendall said.

In addition, Lafrentz Lane would also be extended at some point in the future to connect to the south end of the lot. Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall then stepped to the podium and recalled some of the roadblocks that have emerged throughout the process, including turnover at the city administrator position, since conversations began in 2022.

“I apologize (for) how long it has taken to get to this point, but these developers have really operated in good faith with our community because they were kind of promised some assurances up front from city administrators that we would bring this forward under the principle that, really, we were looking for larger development here,” he said. “And so, the rationale around the way this development agreement was proposed is to saddle the VA Clinic with, ultimately, the infrastructure improvements necessary to provide for the lots, the other adjacent lots, to be development ready.”

Although the current plat calls for two additional lots beyond the clinic, Hall felt there was still a possibility of going back to the original plan for four more lots, including a larger one to the south.

“In the conversations that we’ve had, I know additional adjacent medical facilities like the VA Clinic are something that they’ve actively been pursuing. I know we’ve heard retail has been considered in that area, and then to the south, we’ve been in active conversations on multi-family housing down there. This is zoned commercial, which does allow for multi-family residential in the area,” he said. “Those have been the active conversations that have taken place with this developer. Again, the guidance through city administrations has been to wait to bring this forward to you, and so I am here apologizing that this has not been in front of you sooner but to assure that those developers have been operating in good faith with the intention of always doing more development here in our community.”

Councilor Mike Ladehoff asked Hall for an estimate on how much total investment could be made in the area, and with the approximately $5 million already spent on the VA Clinic, Hall believed the total figure, on the high end, could be between $25 and $30 million. He was also complimentary of the clinic, noting that the builders had not spared any expense.

A motion from Schneider to bring back a development agreement and an amendment to the urban renewal plan passed by a 5-2 vote, with Thompson and Mark Mitchell opposed.

ouncil:

• Recognized Lt. Matt Gorder for 20 years of service to the Marshalltown Fire Department and Firefighter Cody German for five years of service.

• Approved the second reading of an ordinance to rezone Creekside Lane from mixed use to medium residential by a 5-2 vote, with Thompson and Mitchell opposed. In explaining his opposition, Thompson claimed that the developer owes a business owner in town “a substantial amount of money.” The council then voted to waive the third reading by the same tally.

Approved the first reading of an ordinance amendment to Chapter 157 land regulations by a 6-1 vote, with Mitchell opposed.

• Approved the consent agenda unanimously with one item pulled for further discussion.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.