The first resolution before the council was to accept a low bid of $1,895,933 from Con-Struct Inc. for the Ann C. Keyser Trailhead and Emerson Bridge projects, which came in under the engineer’s estimate of $2,137,809. Con-Struct of Marshalltown was the lowest of three bidders and submitted change orders that reduced the overall cost by just shy of $100,000 from the original base bid. With no discussion from the council or the public, a motion to approve it passed unanimously.

The next item before the council was to award the contract for the Apgar Family Water Plaza, which is set to be constructed near Mega-10 Park. Edge Commercial LLC of Grimes submitted the low bid of $1,887,325 after a change order that reduced the total cost by $388,375 from the original base bid of $2,275,000. The engineer’s estimate on the project was $2,194,854, and with no discussion from councilors or the public, the acceptance of the bid passed unanimously.

From there, the council unanimously approved an $85,000 amendment to the professional services agreement for the trailhead and bridge project before moving on to a discussion of an amendment in the professional services agreement with Bolton and Menk for the water plaza in the amount of $190,185. It was then that the council finally heard from a public commenter, Splash 4 Life cofounder Leigh Bauder, who asked if a final rendering of the project was available for the public to view and where the fundraising efforts currently stood.

Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall, who is leading the private fundraising efforts along with Arts+Culture Alliance Executive Director Amber Danielson, responded that he believed a page on the city website had the most recent renderings. He added, however, that changes to the overall site plan were still likely as the project progresses.

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Marshalltown Police Department (MPD) Sgt. Chris Roush, right, was honored for five years of service during Friday afternoon’s city council meeting. Pictured with Roush is Police Chief Mike Tupper, left.

On the second question, he said just shy of $2.5 million has already been privately raised, on top of the approximately $900,000 the Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC) was able to bring in initially. Hall added that the Chamber had committed a little over $95,000.

“Really what that was was, I approached my board last week about making a commitment to these projects to give you all confidence that if we fall short of the remaining fundraising efforts, that the city is not gonna be expected to pick up that amount, but that we are gonna guarantee that amount while we know we are still pending with four major donor asks, both private individuals and companies as well as a handful of grants that we are still navigating and working through,” Hall said. “We still have confidence in achieving the full fundraising goal. We’ve reached the expected fundraising goal, the initial fundraising goal, and now are working to bring a few more resources into the project and have additional items and stretch goals that we can add if we are oversubscribed on the fundraising as we continue forward and start to see these projects come to light.”

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Ladehoff commended Hall and Danielson for doing “a great job” on the fundraising. A motion to approve the amended agreement with Bolton and Menk then carried by a unanimous tally.

According to documents provided as part of the council packet, the substantial completion date for the Water Plaza is Sept. 15, 2025, and the final completion date is Nov. 15, 2025. Additionally, the substantial completion date of the trailhead and bridge is Oct. 1, 2025, and the final completion date is Oct. 15, 2025.

In other business, the council:

• Approved the consent agenda as listed, with one item pulled for further discussion.

• Recognized Sgt. Chris Roush for five years of service to the Marshalltown Police Department. In total, Roush has worked at the MPD for over two decades, but he left to take a job in the private sector before returning five years ago.

• Approved the second reading of a change to Chapter 156 of the zoning ordinance by a 5-2 vote with Jeff Schneider and Mark Mitchell opposed and waived the third reading by the same tally.

• Approved a resolution suspending the civil service commission and city council approval of civil service police officer new hire lists as a means of expediting the process.

• Approved awarding the contract for the new Riverview Park playground equipment to Midwest Playscapes in the amount of $246,738.70.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.