Council hears Chamber quarterly update at meeting

Eagle Grove Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sara Middleton presented her quarterly report of activities to the City Council this past Monday. Her focus had to do with the upcoming Streetscape and revitalization project for older buildings.

“The project will bring more people to the downtown, and present the downtown area in a favorable light,” said Middleton. “It’s important to keep our downtown vibrant and growing.” She stated that her work includes creating excitement about Chamber activities. “We’ve also tied charitable giving into our activities, which gets residents to buy in and participate,” she said.

Middleton reports about 200 ‘likes’ on the Chamber Facebook page, and that she will soon be creating an Instagram account. She is also excited about seeing the new mural taking shape next year, and plans to do a promotional video about the city.

In other agenda business, the Council members held a public hearing for the CDBG application in regards to water/sewer improvements. The $600,000 request will be matched by over $614,000 which includes two SRF loans. The project is for a targeted area in the northeast quadrant of the city, in which a recent survey shows nearly 76 percent of residents there to be of low and moderate-income. The area is bordered on the west by Eagle Avenue, on the south by both Northeast Second and Northeast Fifth and on the east by North Eastern Avenue and North Kirkwood Avenue. It includes replacement of water mains, spot repairs to sanitary sewer mains, sliplining of sewer pipe and manhole rehab/reconstruction.

Following the hearing, which saw no comments against the plan, the Council approved a resolution for a sub-recipient agreement with Eagle Grove Municipal Utilities and a separate resolution authorizing the submitting of the grant application. As part of that process, Mayor McGrath was authorized to execute the Federal Assurances document, the HUD 2880 document and the certificate of compliance. “This says we will follow the rules and Iowa Code, and also maintain a competitive environment, with this project,” stated City Administrator Bryce Davis.

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