Monona Council approves submittal of grant application for sewer improvement project

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

The Monona City Council, at its March 7 regular meeting, approved submittal of an application for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) to fund the city’s upcoming sewer improvement project.

If approved, the grant would cover $291,500 of the $646,500 total project cost, according to Diana Johnson of Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, which is administering the grant. A loan through the Iowa Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) would pay for the remainder of the project.

The project will include cured-in-place lining for sewer reaches where most of the pipe joints show signs of infiltration or where most of the pipe is cracked or broken but is still round in shape. This method is recommended for approximately 9,250 linear feet of vitrified clay pipe sewer reaches of assorted sizes. 

Open cut spot repairs involving excavating and replacing short sections of damaged pipe may be used to rehabilitate sewer reaches that have only a few damaged areas that are deteriorated beyond the use of cured-in-place or chemical grouting rehabilitation methods.

The grant application will be submitted by April 1, and the city will know if it’s successful by June. Funds would be available in August, allowing the city to receive bids in September and start construction in October. The project would be completed by June 2023.

City approached about purchasing property

Councilman Andrew Meyer said MercyOne informally asked the city if it would be interested in purchasing a property at 107 S. Page St. The property has a parking lot, which council members agreed could provide additional parking near the downtown. They added the building could also be a good fit for the police station, which has limited space at its current location. The council opted to table further discussion, though, until gathering more information.

Council discusses dangerous building

The council authorized the city attorney to proceed with obtaining the building at 114 W. Center St., in downtown Monona. In February, the attorney sent a letter to the owner stating the city would offer to purchase the building, which has been deemed unsafe, or proceed with legal action. The owner did not respond to this letter or other previous requests to maintain the lawn/weeds, remove snow and improve the building’s condition. The city will work to obtain the building using the Iowa Code’s “Abandoned or Unsafe Building - Abatement by Rehabilitation.”