The clinic board has identified a nine-acre parcel of land located on East Merle Hibbs Boulevard east of Wal-Mart to construct a three-story facility of approximately 66,000 square feet in size.

The new structure would be built against a hill, utilizing the landscape to expose a walkout basement floor on the southeast side. Its main entrance would be on the west side with parking to the east, west and north.

McFarland chief operating officer Roger Kluesner told the Marshalltown City Council the process has begun to purchase the land during a regular meeting on Monday. He said the hope is to have a design completed to bid in January.

Space has been left open on the south side of the initial designs for future expansion.

McFarland Clinic executive director Deb Wollam and chief operating officer Roger Kluesner presented designs for a prospective new clinic to the Marshalltown City Council on Monday.

The new facility would combine the services provided by the two existing clinics in Marshalltown. McFarland would still have an express care service available at Hy-Vee on S. Center Street.

The location of the proposed new site is designated an urban renewal area, but McFarland is seeking to take advantage of tax abatement incentives available for the urban revitalization area. The incentive sought is a three-year, 100-percent abatement.

The council will discuss amending the urban renewal plan and setting a public hearing for the project during its Oct. 26 meeting.

Some of the benefits outlined by McFarland’s presentation to the council include:

• Proximity

• Ownership of the building instead of leasing space

• More efficient use of space

The current family medicine department hosts 12 providers. The new building would accommodate 16.

Deb Wollam, executive director of McFarland Clinic, is also a member of the Marshalltown Chamber of Commerce. She suggested building a new facility would help further develop the community.

“I would like to call out that I feel this supports one of the goals of removing barriers in the community for growth,” she said. “We believe improving healthcare in this community will support the chamber’s growth goal.”

Council member Sue Cahill voiced support for the project but highlighted a concern that more practices need to be available in Marshalltown to attract families.

“In the last 10 years I had some concerns where our healthcare was going,” she said. “Continuing to offer services and expanding services is something I really hope we can do. I’m concerned we don’t have full-time OB-GYN services in the community. We know to bring young families to be in our community – they want to have those services available to them.”

Kluesner noted McFarland has not delivered babies in decades, in part because recruiting obstetricians is “difficult.”

“At this point we see a real need for prenatal and postnatal care,” he said. “I don’t think having a delivery out of town is ideal. We’ve had good dialogue about it. It is a need of the community.”

After McFarland bids out the new clinic project it will tentatively choose contractors in February or March. The goal is to break ground in April and open the facility in 2022.

Marshalltown Chamber of Commerce vice chairman discusses a proposed homebuyer incentive to the city council.

Homebuyer incentive

The council unanimously approved a new homebuyer incentive that would give $10,000 to homebuyers in Marshalltown. The Chamber of Commerce has pledged to put forth $2,500 to homes built at a value of $180,000 or more. It is seeking the city, county and local banks to match.

“The biggest question up there — are you in?” said Joe Carter, Chamber of Commerce vice chairman.

Marshalltown has a tax abatement incentive in place of 3 years under the Urban Revitalization Act, but Carter said the study conducted by McClure Consulting found that while tax abatement may result in a larger cash incentive, more homebuyers would prefer $10,000 up front.

“Spencer, Iowa, did this,” said Mayor Joel Greer. “It was wildly successful. It really did increase the population.

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Contact Joe Fisher at 641-753-6611 or jfisher@timesrepublican.com