(Spencer)– The Spencer City Council Monday evening authorized staff to proceed with a grant application through the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy, or RISE Grant program. City Manager Kevin Robinson says the application is under a new disaster-related provision the Iowa D.O.T added to the RISE program…
“Under normal RISE Grant conditions these would be tied to a specific project related to specific jobs and other specific criteria, so the grant would come in more on the back end of the project. So this is on the front end. It’s a disaster plaus, if you, will that the D.O.T added to the RISE Grants.”
Robinson says the grant, if awarded, would go toward two different projects…
“One is on Fourth Avenue West completing the paving from QRS up to the Overland Addition by Dollar General and then one is the extension to the north at the south technical park. That is where the spec building is, Arnold Motor Company, Merrill Supply paint building-warehouse, Johnson Automotive. So it will take that paving north up toward the railroad tracks. So on the south tech park we’ll have eight lots that are opened up. Two fairly significant ones that will have railroad access. On the West Fourth it will open up three lots on West Fourth, and then the owner of that property also has an interest in doing additional paving out there if potential businesses are interested. It would be in addition to a project that we’re talking about now. West Fourth is paving only. We’re not going to run infrastructure to that. Out at the south technical park we will run storm sewer, sanitary sewer and electric and road.”
Robinson says the grant would cover roughly 70 percent of the cost of the projects. Two other entities, Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative and Cornbelt Power, are also involved in the project in the south Technical Park.
