At Monday night’s meeting, the Marshalltown city council approved the plans and specifications for the second phase of the project on East Main Street from Center Street to 3rd Avenue, with a base cost estimate of $8.35 million. Bids are due next Tuesday, March 4 and will be considered at the March 10 council meeting.

At the county meeting Wednesday morning, Thomas provided a high level overview, noting the full street and sidewalk reconstruction, streetscape amenities, utility replacements and storm sewer improvements — although, fortunately, she added, unlike State Street, there are no sanitary sewers running under the affected streets as they are in the alleys.

They will also be switching to back-in angle parking in some areas. From there, she brought up the idea of an event plaza created in collaboration between the city and county, and with limited real estate downtown, she felt the north side of the courthouse would be the ideal place to emphasize as the “focal point” of the community

“If we think back to the tornado, the Marshalltown Strong symbol, it had the courthouse in it, so really, it’s a symbol not only for the city of Marshalltown but also Marshall County,” Thomas said.

CONTRIBUTED GRAPHIC — A rendering shows the proposed new gateway arch in downtown Marshalltown as part of the Main Street reconstruction project.

She then went into more of the details on the streetscape amenities including standing tables and explained the plan for a downtown gateway arch in the block between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue. After explaining the two bid alternates for the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) Orpheum Welcome Center parking lot and the city parking lot on the south side of the road in that area, Thomas offered a blunt assessment of the short-term it will have on the downtown area and Main Street businesses.

“We know there (are) going to be impacts to downtown. This is going to be a challenging project. I’ll even go as far as to say it’s going to suck,” she said. “But we’re gonna work through it, and hopefully the public will continue to support these businesses. We’re phasing it so that we don’t have to have five blocks closed at once, but there are still going to be some impacts.”

The estimated cost of the event space, according to Thomas, is around $906,000 with a five percent contingency bringing the total number to $951,473.25, and she went on to discuss the potential impacts to county facilities during the reconstruction. Phase Two is expected to be complete by December of this year.

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Carol Hibbs said she had been involved in previous discussions with both Thomas and County Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke, and she wondered why the cost estimate for the event space had jumped around $200,000 from a previous $700,000 figure. Thomas responded that the initial estimate was just for the paving without some of the other elements included.

Hibbs and Thomas then discussed how a cost share arrangement would work, and Thomas said the city would be “very flexible” with the expense potentially being spread out over three fiscal years. During a recent tour of the courthouse, Thomas noted that the bell at the top was inscribed with the names of both the city and the county, and she felt that the event space was a rare opportunity to collaborate in a similar vein.

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — City of Marshalltown Public Works Director Heather Thomas came before the Marshall County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday morning to propose a cost share for the event plaza on the north end of the courthouse. The board voted unanimously to fund half of the project if the upcoming Local Option Sales and Service Tax (LOSST) renewal vote is successful.

With the unincorporated Local Option Sales and Service Tax (LOSST) special election upcoming and potentially having a major impact on the county budget depending on the result, Thomas also suggested the possibility of making the board’s motion contingent on the passage of LOSST. Supervisor Jarret Heil said the supervisors wanted to commit but could wait until after the election to do so, but Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson did note that the council will be considering bids before the next supervisors meeting.

Hibbs floated economic development dollars as a possible funding source. According to Thomas, bids on public infrastructure projects have finally started to “level off,” and she’s confident about the prospect of receiving bids from multiple contractors.

“We feel like the estimate, when we look at the unit prices, is in line with (how) the bids are coming in right now, but I guess it depends on how hungry the contractors are,” she said.

She added that she didn’t think looming tariffs would have a strong impact on product costs, and Baedke stepped forward to express his approval for the project and its goal of making the courthouse Marshalltown’s centerpiece. Heil broke down the 50 percent commitment as about $159,000 annually over a three-year period beginning in FY2025 based on the cost estimate and then motioned to commit up to $475,736.63 and make it contingent on the outcome of the March 4 special election based on a suggestion from fellow Supervisor Kevin Goodman. It passed by a unanimous tally.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved a three-year lease with Black Iron Barbell to store court records at a cost of $750 per month. The records were previously stored at the Marshalltown Mall, which is now under new ownership.

• Approved a medical services agreement between Marshall County and Integrated Nursing Solutions of West Des Moines for inmate, arrestee and detainee care at the jail.

• Approved the purchase of a Caterpillar 962 Wheel Loader from Ziegler CAT of Altoona at a cost of $394,995.50.

• Approved a resolution endorsing a Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy (RISE) grant application for Marshall County, Binford Avenue and 245th Street paving and U.S. 30 turn lane improvements to accommodate the development and expansion of Marshall Ridge Farms near State Center.

• Approved a zoning variance request for Isaac Hodgins allowing for the construction of an Alliant Energy substation west of State Center.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.