T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY During last Monday night’s meeting, the Marshalltown city council discussed and eventually approved moving forward with repairs to the rear of the building at 21 W. Main St., which is currently vacant and owned by the city after being acquired through a court-ordered sale.

Although the discussion was interrupted for a legislative update from Sen. Kara Warme (R-Ames), the Marshalltown city council unanimously agreed to proceed with improvements to a dilapidated property at 21 W. Main St. during last Monday night’s regular meeting.

Public Works Director Heather Thomas explained that the city has some leftover funds from its DTR projects on five downtown buildings and could put it toward the rear work at 21 W. Main St., which is currently owned by the city after being acquired through a court ordered sale.

Thomas said it was “very evident” that the rear of the property is dangerous and dilapidated, and former Housing and Community Development Director Michelle Spohnheimer consulted with an engineering firm to determine the best course of action.

Tometich, the engineering firm, advised the city it would make the most sense to remove and rebuild the back single story portion of the building.

“It’s been a couple years since they’ve had a chance to look at this building. There’s been some additional deterioration. We also had some water damage on the wall between 19 and 21 W. Main St.,” Thomas said.

As a few buildings have dropped out of the project, Thomas said there was about $200,000 in Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) money available and asked if the council would be interested in putting it toward the aforementioned project or declaring the property surplus and disposing of it without making the repairs. Councilor Barry Kell said the city has thus far solicited bids from prospective buyers on the property but seen “extremely limited” interest knowing the extent of the improvements needed, and he favored exploring the proposal to take care of some of the most pressing needs and increasing the value for a future buyer.

“Obviously, it’s a prime location. It’s right in the middle of the block. We want to make sure that we’re good neighbors to the adjoining business owners. I think there’s a lot of potential, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” he said.

Councilor Jeff Schneider agreed that the money should be invested into the property as part of an effort to revitalize the downtown area. Councilor Gary Thompson clarified that 21 and 23 W. Main St. will be sold as one unit, to which Thomas responded it would under the current understanding she has.

After the discussion was suspended for nearly 25 minutes to allow Warme to address the council, Thompson motioned to give staff direction to perform the repairs before putting the property back out for sale. It passed by a unanimous vote.

——

Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.