T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Clapsaddle Garber Associates President/CEO Matt Garber addresses the Marshalltown city council with a cost sharing request for the removal and relocation of the company’s utility vault during Monday night’s meeting. CGA is headquartered inside the City Centre building at 16-18 E. Main St.

During Monday night’s meeting, a representative from the local civil engineering firm Clapsaddle-Garber Associates asked the Marshalltown city council to reconsider a policy requiring downtown property owners to assume all costs related to the relocation of private utilities and fire protection systems previously housed in vaults that are being removed as a result of the Main Street reconstruction project.

As City Administrator Carol Webb explained, all five affected property owners have thus far chosen the second of three available options, which requires them to assume the cost of eliminating their vaults and relocating their infrastructure. CGA then submitted a letter asking the council to reconsider that policy, and company President/CEO Matt Garber, who is part of the ownership group at the City Centre building at 16-18 E. Main St. and the Northwestern Mutual building at 14 E. Main St., approached the speaking podium to elaborate on the position.

In gathering cost estimates for the relocation to a new room inside the building, Garber said the company is looking at an expense of about $58,000.

“That doesn’t make any sense because that doesn’t really solve the problem of getting it out of the right-of-way, it doesn’t update any of the equipment, and it was kind of pricey,” Garber said.

Ultimately, they decided to pull the utilities all the way in, take space out of the finished conference room in the basement, create a mechanical room and pull everything outside of the right-of-way. Garber was curious to see if other downtown building owners had faced similar expenses, and he cited the Franklin Field project as an example where the city and the school district have utilized a cost-sharing approach.

As he opened the floor up for questions, Councilor Gary Thompson said it was never his intent to place a burden on downtown business owners, sought information on what others had paid and suggested leaving the vault where it is. Garber countered, however, that it would be the most expensive option based on estimates.

Councilor Jeff Schneider felt that moving the vault outside of the right-of-way was the best long-term solution, an assessment with which Garber agreed, and Schneider asked about the feasibility of exploring a 50/50 cost-share option for CGA and other affected property owners.

“The city does get (the) benefit of getting this out of the right-of-way. We’re the ones pushing the project forward, granted, it will benefit all the building owners on Main Street, but I think I’d like to see what our options would be with a cost share,” he said.

Fellow Councilor Barry Kell offered a similar assessment, and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Ladehoff also shared his support for a 50-50 plan as part of an effort to “modernize” the downtown area and remove vaults. Garber told the council he would be happy with such an arrangement.

During the public comment period, Lonnie Hogeland chastised the council for not having the situation figured out before the work commenced, and Ladehoff responded that many people fail to understand how complicated the project is.

“You don’t know what you’re gonna get into until you get into it, and that’s why we have contingency funds to be able to take care of things that pop up. But we are doing it right to begin with,” Ladehoff said.

Dave Grieve, a downtown building owner, commended city staff for their communication on the project thus far and described himself as a “fire sprinkler enthusiast” but also noted that he’s looking at an estimated cost of $120,000 even with the city bringing a six inch line into the building.

“Sometimes as the owner of a building, you’ve gotta suck it up and pay for it. That’s my opinion,” he said.

Councilor Melisa Fonseca, communicating remotely, asked Webb how quickly the council would need to decide on revising the policy before Phase II of construction begins for that area. Public Works Director Heather Thomas explained that of the five affected properties, two are located on Center Street and have already had their vaults removed. Of the remaining three, one has already made the changes, and another is part of the third phase.

Fonseca contended that other property owners had already made improvements at their own expense and hoped they would also be reimbursed if the council agreed to a cost-share with CGA. Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall recalled previous conversations about cost sharing on sprinkler systems for downtown buildings and advocated for a similar approach to vault removals.

Finally, Erin Carpenter advocated for consistency and fairness to avoid “an erosion of public trust.”

“I would like to suggest, if the council wants to revisit this policy, if you could tie any support to broader community value. Does the investment preserve affordable housing? Does it protect a historic structure? Does it support a longstanding business that provides good jobs or community services? So in other words, would the exception serve the public good and not just shift public costs to private benefit?” she asked. “I think there is absolutely room here for nuance, but that nuance needs to be principled.”

As the item was only listed on the agenda for discussion, no official action was taken.

In other business, the council:

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved a new retail tobacco permit and device retailer permit for Smoke & Vape at 901 S. Center St. by a 5-2 vote with Schneider and Mark Mitchell opposed.

• Approved a contract between the city and RDG for the completion of a comprehensive plan and a housing market analysis and development strategy.

• Approved a 28E agreement for services between the city and the Central Iowa Traffic Safety Task Force.

• Approved the second reading of an ordinance amendment to Chapter 133 regarding offenses concerning minors.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.