During last Monday night’s meeting, the Marshalltown City Council briefly discussed a request to vacate West Linn Street east of 12th Street to accommodate the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) Reimagine Miller project and voted unanimously to move forward with the proposal.

Public Works Director Heather Thomas explained that the school district has obtained several nearby properties as part of the project. Some of them are on the east side of 12th Street south and north of the dead end on Linn Street, and Thomas said the city was in favor of honoring the district’s request.

She also noted that the land could be gifted to another government entity legally, and Thomas shared a recap of the utilities running through the area. Alliant Energy has requested an easement, and Marshalltown Water Works offered no objection to the vacation while Mediacom did not need its own easement as it is already using Alliant poles.

The project also offers an opportunity to clean up a portion of 11th Street and get it all within the city’s right of way. Councilor Sue Cahill asked for specifics on how the road would be modified, and Councilor Gary Thompson asked MCSD Superintendent Theron Schutte, who was in attendance, if the need for additional easements would affect the construction timeline in any way.

Schutte replied that the area in question was set aside for retention and parking, and Thompson said he had no issue with swapping land with the school district as the two entities had done so in the past. Councilor Marco Yepez-Gomez sought clarification on the term Bluebird, which is a utility provider. A motion to proceed passed by a unanimous 7-0 vote, and it will return as a formal agenda item at a later meeting.