There will be a date change for the next Carroll City Council meeting to allow members to attend the Carroll Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet on Monday, Feb. 12. The first meeting of the month for the group will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 13 in the second-floor council chambers at the Farner Government Building. City Manager, Mike Pogge-Weaver, provided a preview of the items to be discussed at the upcoming meeting, saying that the Highway 30 and Grant Road intersection project will be a major topic Tuesday night.
He adds, when you have five competitive bids, it becomes clear this is really the cost of construction, even though it is higher than the estimate. Overall, when all costs are factored in, the engineering, the construction and the larger amount of right-of-way parcels that had to be purchased, the total comes in at more than $86,250 over estimates. The staff will be planning to propose that the shortfall to the over $2.6 million project be funded with Tax Increment Financing (TIF) dollars. Other items on the agenda include a grant submission to the Regional Planning Agency for federal transportation money to resurface West Street as well as a professional services agreement for Northeast Park.
Developing the phasing of all these projects will allow for moving forward with Kellan’s Kingdom playground late spring or early summer. Pogge-Weaver says the target date for having the all-inclusive playground equipment in and ready for use is August. Two public hearings will also be set at Tuesday’s meeting.
Pogge-Weaver says they are working to make improvements to their website for more transparency and more easily understood documentation for the city budgets. At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, the council will enter a closed session for union negotiations. This is mainly to get ready for the Carroll Police Department union negotiations, but also for the new labor attorney, Ahlers and Cooney of Des Moines, to be present and discuss some of the collective bargaining changes. Pogge-Weaver says they will explore the differences between law enforcement and non-law enforcement union groups. The meeting will begin at 5:15 p.m., and the public is encouraged to attend. A link to the council packet can be found below.
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http://www.cityofcarroll.com/Uploads/agendas-minutes/CouncilAgendaPacket021318port.pdf
