FY2013 SEIRPC Annual Report by SEIRPC

Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission FY2013 Annual Report

Dear Citizens of the Southeast Iowa Region, The Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission marks its 40th anniversary in September, 2013. Since its inception, SEIRPC has focused on providing excellent service to the region through planning, technical assistance, grant writing and regional collaboration. The organization has gone through many changes over the course of time. Staff, office locations, availability of local, state, federal funds, projects, priorities and other external forces have shaped the organization to what it is today.

Relying on strong board leadership and participation, the organization is prepared to continue and improve its service. Bolstered by a new office environment and professional staff presence, SEIRPC looks to build upon the last 40 years of service to southeast Iowa. Over $220 million in outside funding has been secured by SEIRPC from outside sources over the last 40 years. SEIRPC continues to produce results for the region. In FY2013, $12.32 million was secured by SEIRPC from outside sources for use in southeast Iowa. This is a 152:1 return on investment from member dues. As the economy continues its slow recovery, SEIRPC has worked diligently to improve the economy in southeast Iowa. The Iowa Fertilizer Plant project is an excellent example. Assisting Lee County and Lee County Economic Development with planning, process and economic issues, SEIRPC brought its resources to impact a regional project. The Iowa Fertilizer Plant will invest $1.8 billion into its facility and employ nearly 200 workers to begin production. Nearly 3,000 workers will construct the plant over 24 months. Other ongoing opportunities in freight, maintenance, supply and other services will be needed. The project has generated national and international attention for southeast Iowa, resulting in additional interest from industries planning capital investments. The Iowa Fertilizer Plant has generated new interest and cooperation in regional economic development. SEIRPC is fulfilling its role in the process, chairing the Great River Regional Partnership, and fueling regional collaboration.

Through the next year SEIRPC will continue to strive for excellence in the services it provides to the region. Thank you for your continued partnership with SEIRPC and efforts to strengthen southeast Iowa. Sincerely,

Sincerely, Brent Schleisman 2013 SEIRPC Board Chairman

Mike Norris SEIRPC Executive Director

2013 SEIRPC Board of Directors Executive Committee Brent Schleisman, Chair Sue Frice, Vice Chair Hans Trousil, Treasurer Mark Huston, Secretary Gary Folluo, Member at Large

Des Moines County Jim Davidson, City of Burlington Hans Trousil, City of West Burlington Robert Beck, Des Moines County Bob Hesler, Private Sector

Education & Workforce David File, Iowa Wesleyan College Dr. Michael Ash, Southeastern Community College Sue Frice, Workforce Representative

Henry County Brent Schleisman, City of Mount Pleasant Mark Hempen, City of New London Greg Moeller, Henry County Klay Edwards, Private Sector

Louisa County Mark Huston, City of Columbus Junction Andy Truitt, City of Wapello Chris Ball, Louisa County Jim Howell, Private Sector

SEIRPC Management Staff Mike Norris, Executive Director Jeff Hanan, Assistant Director Zach James, Planning Director Bob Kuskowski, Transit Director Lori Gilpin, Finance Director

Lee County Byron Smith, City of Fort Madison Michael Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor, City of Keokuk Gary Folluo, Lee County Steve Bisenius, Private Sector

2013 SEIRPC Committees

Transportation Advisory Committee Jim Davidson Gary Folluo Mike Holtkamp Rich Mullin Chuck Reighard Bill Richards Larry Roehl Bill Small Eric Tysland Ex Officio: Jason Huddle Mark Bechtel Tracy Troutner

Great River Housing, Inc. Board of Directors Pam Broomhall Sue Frice April Girard Jim Howell Deb Massner Brent Schleisman Dan Spray Hans Trousil Eric Tysland Greg Moeller

Transit Advisory Committee Karen Bates-Chabel Paula Buckman Pat Colthurst Pam Erhardt Bob Hoxie Ken Hyndman Zach James Sarah Kaufman Bob Kuskowski Mary Maine Mike Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor Doug Roelfs Brenda Sayre Gary See Terri Smith Connie Storms Ryanne Wood Dennis Zegarac

Finance Committee Sue Frice Gary Folluo Mark Huston Brent Schleisman Hans Trousil

Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Committee David File Randy Foor Gary Folluo Sue Frice Melissa Garth David George Elias Gutierrez Terry Knoke Matt Morris Al Muhlenbruck Randy Richards Brent Schleisman Don Schmidgall Phil Thomas Dan Wiedemeier

2013 Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Committees About SEIRPC Revolving Loan Funds After experiencing a lull in activity for several years, inquiries and project funding through SEIRPC revolving loan funds continues to grow substantially. In FY2013, four loans totaling $530,000 were made through regional RLF funding pools, with an additional $50,000 made through the Henry County RLF funding pool. Loans included: • • • •

River Ridge Dental Care (Burlington) Manning Ventures (Mount Pleasant) Reunion Vineyard (Mount Pleasant) Gabel Real Estate.

SEIRPC staff continues its outreach and marketing strategies throughout the year, having made approximately 60 personal visits with potential clients. In addition, staff also met with several economic development officials, cities, counties, and business groups throughout the region.

Henry County RLF Loan Review Committee SEIRPC RLF Loan Review Committee Steve Brimhall Bill Small Klay Edwards Chris Grimm Chad Hudson Mark Huston Mike Pribyl Jerry Krause Larry Kruse Jim Olson Rob Ritson Jason Samples

Keokuk RLF Loan Review Committee Archie Logan Carole Betts Les Fowler Ivan Hasselbusch Mike Pribyl Ex Officio: Chuck Betts Joyce Glasscock

Scott Bayor Klay Edwards David File Robert Meyer Stan Young Ex Officio: Gary See

Fort Madison RLF Loan Review Committee Larry Kelch Moudy Nabulsi Jacqueline Lumsden Amy Hull Jason Samples Ex Officio: Mayor Brad Randolph 5

Planning Department 2013 Highlights Traffic Counting Program – SEIRPC traffic counting program provides regional communities with an opportunity to get current data on local traffic including total number of vehicles, type of vehicles, and speed of vehicles. In FY2013, 13 entities took advantage of this program including Burlington, Fort Madison, Franklin, Keokuk, Lee County, Louisa County, Mediapolis, Morning Sun, Mount Pleasant, New London, Oakville, Rome, and Wayland. Des Moines County Land Use – Since 2004, SEIRPC has provided direct contract services to Des Moines County for land use administration. Staff coordinates and administers the county’s zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance, and floodplain development ordinance. Fort Madison Housing Enterprise Zone – SEIRPC staff worked with the City of Fort Madison to create a housing enterprise zone on the west edge of town off of Bluff Road. The enterprise zone will be utilized to promote new housing developments in this area of town that has seen significant development over the past few years. Agency Marketing – Website, Facebook, and Newsletter – SEIRPC has continued to work on its marketing presence through the web, social media, and monthly newsletter. In FY2013, SEIRPC had 5,766 visits to our website with 17,380 page views. The SEIRPC Facebook page increased by 29 likes and continues to provide updates weekly on accomplishments and activities of SEIRPC. The SEIRPC monthly newsletter was reintroduced in FY2012 and has continued each month through FY2013. You can visit our sites at www.seirpc.com and www.facebook.com/seirpc.

Regional Traffic Speed Indicator Sharing Program – SEIRPC purchased two sign mounted and two trailer mounted speed indicators to be shared amongst participating agencies in Southeast Iowa. The program initially included 7 entities, with 2 additional entities joining the program including: Lee County, Fort Madison, Burlington, West Burlington, Columbus Junction, Danville, Mediapolis Mount Pleasant, and the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant. The trailers have been in use for nearly one year with over 30 uses of the speed indicators. SEIRPC recently won a Transportation Innovation award from the National Association of Development Organizations for this program.

Flint River Trail Progress Construction is nearly completed on the 2 northern most phases of the 20 mile trail system. This includes the area from Big Hollow Recreation Area south to the intersection of Highway 61 and Flint Bottom Road. Construction is expected to be completed on this roughly 8 mile stretch of trail by October of 2013. The final phase of the county trail project will begin engineering in the fall of 2013 with all phases of the trail expected to be completed by 2015.

Complete Streets Event As part of the Healthy Iowans Initiative in the Greater Burlington Area, SEIRPC staff assisted Des Moines County Living well with efforts to educate residents about Complete Streets. This effort included presentations to community groups included Kiwanis, Lionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club, Rotar, Great River Medical Center Board of Directors, Burlington City Council, West Burlington City Council, Downtown Partners, Greater Burlington Young Professionals, and the Greater Burlington Partnership Board of Directors. This also included a temporary transformation of Main Street in Downtown Burlington into a Complete Street for one week. This included a one day event called Better Block Burlington to attract people to Main Street to use the Complete Street. SEIRPC staff is continuing work with Des Moines County Living Well for the adoption of Complete Streets Policies by the City of Burlington and West Burlington.

Healthy Iowans Initiative â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Columbus Junction SEIRPC staff worked with the Columbus Development Center to receive a $10,000 grant to be use for creating a work plan and implementing health related projects in Columbus Junction. Staff worked with the CDC on a community wide survey and an asset mapping workshop that generated ideas on how to make the community a healthier place to live. Projects developed from this process included increasing the local farmers market, expanding community gardens, creating maps/websites/signage for recreational facilities, and building a full size soccer field.

Greater Burlington Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan SEIRPC staff completed the Greater Burlington Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan which creates a vision for the future of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in Burlington and West Burlington. The plan includes an inventory and evaluation of all current facilities, types and locations of future facilities, and identifies 5 priority projects. Planning Department Funded Grants in FY2013 Project

Source

Funding Amount

Burlington Bluff Road Reconstruction

Iowa DOT - RISE

$923,000

Columbus Junction Healthy Iowans Initiatives

Iowa Department of Public Health

$10,000

Burlington Edward Stone Trail Connection

Wellmark Foundation

$20,000

Fort Madison Old Fort American Battlefield Protection Program

National Park Service

$51,000

Henry County Hazard Mitigation Plan

Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management

$22,130

Lee County Hazard Mitigation Plan

Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management

$35,000

Lee County 190th Street Extension

Iowa DOT - RISE

Total Funding Secured

$4,900,000

$5,961,130 8

Development Department 2013 Highlights Great River Housing Trust Fund – The Great River Housing was established in FY 2011. with $282,975 from the Iowa Finance Authority and $73,500 in local match. The initial two-year grant is funded by the Iowa Finance Authority, Federal Home Loan Bank and local contributions from cities, counties and business. The funds are used in the region to assist low to moderate income home owners with rehabilitation or down payment assistance and for developer assistance. In FY2013, a grant of $354,469 was received by the trust fund for the following projects: • Des Moines County - 17 completed, one under construction and one pending • Lee County - 26 completed, one pending • Henry County - 14 completed • Louisa County - 19 completed

BEFORE

AFTER

Housing Programs –SEIRPC housing programs continued to grow in FY2013, as they have the past few years. Housing projects from this year include: • Downtown Partners – Closed on nine units • Wayland Upper Story (Multi family new construction) - Three units completed, three under construction • Downtown Burlington Upper-Story (Multi family new construction) - Two units completed • Burlington Downtown Upper-Story - Two completed, three under construction • Fort Madison Downtown Upper-Story - Three units completed • Des Moines & Louisa County Single Family New Construction - Six completed and five under construction • West Burlington Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation - Four homes completed • Neighborhood Stabilization Program #3 - One new home was built on an infill lot and one new home is under construction • Neighborhood Stabilization Program #31 - One new home was built, one rehabilitation project was completed (property sold) and one new home is being built • Closed on 9 down payment assistance grants. These grants are for $5,000 each. Five in Burlington, two in West Burlington, one in Des Moines County and one in Wapello

Community Development Block Grants Several CDBG applications were written by SEIRPC and received funding in FY 2013, including: • City of Wapello - Aerated lagoon sewer system • City of Conesville - Pump station improvements and sewer extension • Community Health Center of Des Moines County - Facility expansion project Housing Grants Applied For: • Keokuk Owner-Occupied – Grant was awarded for 10 homes • Keokuk Project-Based – One Habitat for Humanity home completed and one remaining to be built Flood Recovery • City of Oakville - Final five homes , 21 in total, were rehabilitated by a local non-profit group. Also under this program, 60 homes were demolished • Des Moines County - Closed out program whereby 19 properties were purchased and demolished in Huron Township • City of Oakville and Louisa County - Finalized buyouts and worked with entities for redevelopment Development Department Funded Grants in FY2013 Project Source

Funding Amount

Great River Housing Trust Fund

Iowa Finance Authority

$275,000

Great River Housing Trust Fund

Local Matching Contributions

$71,000

Multi Family New Construction Round #5 – Fort Madison Richardson School – 41 Units