Capital improvements plan, DNR grant for dam improvements on Mason City council agenda tonight

MASON CITY —

The City Council in Mason City tonight will consider the proposed capital improvements plan and entering into a grant agreement with the state on the proposed removal of a dam on the Winnebago River:

== The city was recently awarded a $125,483 grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to complete safety improvements of the low-head Dam #1 on the Winnebago River, which is located just south of the bridge on 12th Northeast. The city’s operations and maintenance manager Bill Stangler says in a memo to the council that the grant does not fully fund a half of the project and it will not start until other funding sources can be obtained. Stangler says the work on the dam primarily involves the design of several large wave features to improve recreation, such as kayaking and tubing. He says the city is currently working with the DNR to identify other sources that can be applied for to obtain additional construction funds. The council is being asked tonight to formally approve accepting the DNR grant. 

== The council is also being asked to approve the city’s Fiscal Years 2021-to-2025 Capital Improvements Plan. It’s a total of $29 million in capital projects to be included in the city’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget. General obligation bonding would cover about $12.5 million for various police, fire, development services, transit, museum, airport, cemetery, street, water and sewer projects. Another $7.6 million worth of projects are funded with grants, donations or Tax Increment Financing revenues, with very little city money needed to help fund those projects. The largest of the projects is the Airport Taxiway A Relocation Project to be funded by federal grants and general obligation bonds. 

The council meets tonight at 7 o’clock in the Mason City Room of the Public Library.