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The segment of uptown Creston to be eligible for facade grant funds was approved by the Creston City Council during Tuesday evening’s regular meeting.
Presenting the proposal was Jeremy Rounds, regional planner for the Southern Iowa Council of Governments.
Rounds said about 20 buildings in uptown Creston would be eligible for the facade grant, though he expects a few to drop out as the project progresses.
In order to receive the grant funds, the eligible area of uptown Creston had to be designated a “slum and blight area.”
“The slum and blight area is just the boundary of where we’ll do the facade renovations,” Rounds said. “And the slum and blight is kind of a negative term, but all it really means for us is there’s enough deterioration in these properties that it warrants this kind of investment. It doesn’t mean it’s a slum area or anything like that.”
The facade grant is a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Funding for the grant comes from the federal government, and is distributed by the state to city governments.
Rounds said for the 20 or so interested property owners, the total repair cost is estimated somewhere in the $1 million range. On a property by property basis, about 50 percent of the repairs will be paid for by the grant, 25 percent by the property owner and 25 percent by the city.
Rounds said he has received generally positive feedback from the property owners so far, and expects most to be willing to participate in the program and pay their part. He expects about 14 of the 20 owners to follow through with the program.
The city’s bill for the entire project will be somewhere around $250,000. City Administrator Mike Taylor said the plan is to pay that $250,000 using tax increment financing.
The repair cost estimate for each building is only a rough estimate so far, Rounds explained, as the contracted architect has not had very much time to spend inspecting the buildings.
Each building will be assigned an interest level in renovations and an intervention level (between light and intensive) that will determine the cost of the work. Estimated construction costs for each of the properties ranges from about $10,000 to more than $200,000 for a few properties.
Rounds said work done will range from simple paint jobs to constructing completely new storefronts, including new windows, doors and tuck-pointing. For some of the buildings with historic elements, restoration work may be done.
“It’s basically the first 2 feet back into the building,” Rounds said. “So we’re not doing the roofs [and] we’re not doing interior renovations.”
“And the level of intervention may change on some, too,” Taylor said. “That could make a significant change in what the property owner decides to do. But even with light intervention, it would be a noticeable difference.”
A future public hearing will be held by the city council to hear public feedback on the project, and to provide more information about the project. Look in future editions of the Creston News Advertiser for the details.
In other Creston City Council news:
• The council approved the sale of city-owned property located on the west side of McKinley Lake to Michael Tamerius for $4,000 plus all publications, recording and legal fees required to close the transaction.
• The council approved the McKinley Park Aquatic Center endowment.
• A contract with Iowa Sound for the Party in the Park was approved for $3,780.
• The council approved the placement of a “No Parking” sign on the south side of Monroe Street between North Elm Street and an alley to keep vehicles off a lawn.
• The council approved a parade permit request from God’s Outreach Deliverance International Church to hold a Cross Walk on March 30 from 6 to 8 p.m.
• Will Shields and Galen Zumbach were each reappointed to the Creston Civil Service Commission with terms expiring April 1, 2022.
• The council approved a noise permit request for the March For Our Lives March on Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m.