The Jefferson City Council met Tuesday night in regular session.
The Council set three public hearings at 5:30pm on June 28th. One was for the plans and specifications for a water main improvement project on Russell Street from Highway 4 to the wastewater treatment plant. The second public hearing was for the plans and specifications of the City Hall front entrance improvement project. Both projects have a July 7th bid opening date. The final hearing was for the status of funded activities for a project at 200 East State Street, as part of the Community Development Block Grant process.
Next, the Council waived the review of a plat of survey for a property at 1669 N Avenue, which is within two miles of city limits. Building Official Chad Stevens said the owners of Iowa Cover Crop plan to build a warehouse on the property that is south of the Raccoon River bridge. The Council also approved adding $25,000 for a total not to exceed $65,000 for a contract with Cemetery Information Management Systems to digitize information on the cemeteries in town. The Council previously approved $40,000, but some items were not included for that price.
Additionally, the Council approved a $6,030 expense for additional soil testing at the new animal shelter site. Stevens said the contractor wasn’t comfortable with installing supports for the foundation at 20 feet and they want to drill to 50 feet.
Finally, Jefferson Matters: A Main Street and Chamber Community gave their quarterly report. It was mentioned that since January, the volunteers with the organization have given 1,300 hours. There is a total of $67,000 available with the Jefferson Wants You Initiative. New businesses can apply for up to $5,000 to offset startup costs and remote workers can apply for membership with Gravitate Coworking. Voting for the Ring Out for Art contest continues at the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower until August 15th. Finally, the carnival at Bell Tower Festival made over $7,000, of which 20-percent remains with the festival for a total of over $3,000.