(Milford)– A major residential/commercial development is in the works on the northwest side of Milford, near the site of the new Okoboji Elementary School. The City Council Monday reviewed possible financing for a new sanitary sewer lift station. Mayor Steve Anderson says it would open up a wide area for development…
“The discussion has been with the Finance Committee is getting a new lift station built that could actually go out maybe another mile or so and actually go a mile north of A-34 opening that whole area up for future development for commercial, residential or that type of stuff, so getting the financing in place now for the hopes of that development being able to maybe start breaking ground this spring is kind of the hope, so. We’re looking at using some TIF funding to do that, that we can already have in the mix, using that for that lift station out there to get that in place.”
Anderson says there’s no doubt the construction of the new elementary school is spurring a lot of interest in that area…
“Two things. The fact that when we did that A-34 project we were going to stop our infrastructure at Airport Drive and then discussion here we extended it out past the intersection hoping for future development like this to happen and so with the elementary school going out there, now that’s sparking the housing developments and so what we, we spent a little extra money to get that infrastructure out there and now it’s paying off. And that’s what we’re hoping this lift station, yeah it’s a million dollars for that, but if we can get a mile of housing and some commercial and stuff in there, that’s a huge expansion for the city.”
The city council voted four to one Monday evening directing the city’s financial consultant to begin the process of amending an existing tax increment finance district that would help fund the $1 million lift station project.
Anderson says if things go accordingly, they’re hoping construction on the new lift station could get started sometime this coming summer. He says it likely would take about six months to complete.
