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Eagle Grove moves forward with projects

EAGLE GROVE — The city of Eagle Grove continues to move forward in its Downtown Revitalization Project and Northeast Housing Rehabilitation Project as it plans to hit new marks of progress in October.

A public hearing is set for Oct. 21 for residents to give their input on the scope of the downtown revitalization project as the city reviews cost estimates based on actual survey data.

The facade rehabilitation of 12 buildings will bring in approximately $275,000 from Community Development Block Grants.

“We did a 3-D survey of downtown as well as topography points to make sure that businesses and elevations and slopes were all as accurate as possible, to define features by October 7,” said City Administrator Bryce Davis.

The public hearing, he said, will look at the project in its “semi-final form.”

The process, in the works for over a year, has incorporated productive feedback from the community to this point, he said.

The council still needs to decide whether they want to remove downtown lights, too, and make final decisions on traffic control.

The first draft of the project estimated its cost at $2 million based on three blocks, though the removal of lower priority or non-essential items could lower the cost yet.

Davis said the city is planning to reduce the scope to two blocks, doing just repairs on the third block, which should lower the overall cost substantially.

The Northeast Housing Rehabilitation Project is also putting to use $213,000 in federal funds awarded to the city in July by the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

The three-year process is in the stage of finalizing policies and procedures. Simmering-Cory, Inc., of Clear Lake, whom the city has contracted with for administrative services, will soon reach out to those who previously expressed interest in the project. Moving forward, they’ll gauge interest and collect more information from stakeholders.

“Once they have that information, we will work on the construction side of the project,” Davis said. Houses may start to be renovated in the spring.

The program will work with about six homeowners to help with necessary repairs such as roof replacement, siding replacement, radon testing or asbestos removal. The cost per house is limited to $24,990, per the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidelines.

With administrative fees, the total per house comes to about $29,000.

A five-year mortgage will be placed on all properties taking advantage of the funds, but will be forgiven as long as the property is not sold within five years.

“There’s a little bit of give and take depending on costs,” Davis said, as all parties involved negotiate their needs.

Overall, the project attempts to lower the cost of living for qualified homeowners.

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