T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY UnityPoint Health — Marshalltown Hospital Administrator Shari King speaks at the podium during Monday night’s city council meeting. The council ultimately opted to halt plans for the development of a new road west of the new hospital and allow UPH to install a private driveway and fulfill its need for a second access point.

During Monday night’s meeting, the Marshalltown city council discussed previously considered plans for a new street as a second access road to the new UnityPoint hospital on the south edge of the community but did not take any official action after deciding a private driveway paid for by the healthcare nonprofit — and not the city — would suffice.

Public Works Director Heather Thomas shared some background on the situation and discussions with the leaders of the New Hope Church in 2020 and 2021 to work together on reaching an agreement to create a public street with the potential for new development west of the church.

At the time, the council directed city staff to proceed in that direction, and an engineering firm was hired in partnership with UnityPoint to design the road as a city street. Since then, however, Thomas reported that negotiations with New Hope “have not resulted in a favorable outcome,” and no land has been acquired.

“During that project, also, there are several aspects that a normal new city street would need to meet that were pulled out of this project,” Thomas said. “Marshalltown Water Works indicated that at this time, there’s no development planned down in this area, so they did not care to put in a dead end water main.”

According to Thomas, there was concern that installing sidewalks would be a “dealbreaker” for the church as they would be responsible for removing snow. There were also questions about connecting to a lift station in the future, and staff was now looking for direction on how to proceed, whether city officials are interested in a new street or not.

As the floor was opened up to questions, Councilor Gary Thompson asked what the timeline would be for UnityPoint to put in a private driveway if the city did not pursue the new street. Fire Marshal Josh Warnell said there is currently no specific timeline as it hasn’t been discussed yet.

Fellow Councilor Greg Nichols asked what hospital leadership saw as its current options, and UPH-Marshalltown Administrator Shari King then indicated that they’re looking at several different courses of action.

“We absolutely understand (that) we need a second access, especially with the ambulance service. So yes, we’re eager to get something in there too,” King said.

Thomas then asked for council direction, and Thompson suggested letting UPH put in the driveway and discontinuing street negotiations but asked for other input before making a formal motion.

Mayor and Acting City Administrator Joel Greer asked King about the possibility of dialogue with Center Associates, and King said it was an option as well as having a discussion with property owner Larry Allen. Nichols and Councilor Mike Ladehoff agreed with Thompson that there was no current necessity to install a new street, and with no official action, informal direction was provided to halt any further work on developing plans.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.