City council to convey lots for residential use
May 20—OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa City Council is expected to sell 30 lots to Kading Properties for residential development in the coming years during Tuesday's meeting at Bridge View Center.
The lots are all city-owned, vacant parcels that would go toward infill development on sites that, in most cases, were former properties that had homes on them. The 30 lots are mostly north of the Des Moines River, and the city would sell them for $125 per lot, as well as pay for all abstract costs. The abstracts, however, would not be ordered all at once, but rather in small batches.
The residential units proposed by Kading, which has worked in 26 communities in the state, would help address the city's growing need for "missing middle" development, that is, market-rate housing that is affordable to middle-income residents.
Some of Kading's previous properties include duplexes and triplexes, and the company manages its own properties.
The development projects would come from workforce housing tax credits through the Iowa Economic Development Authority, provided that the application from Kading is supported by the city and approved by the IEDA.
There will be no tax-increment financing involved with the development, but Kading could receive an urban revitalization tax abatement through the city, as long as the city continues to annually allot funding to the Build Ottumwa program.
Under the workforce housing program, Kading could only be capped at spending $298,021 for single-family homes and $241,643 for multi-family units.
In other business:
— The council is anticipated to approve a memorandum of understanding between the city and Teamsters Local #238 regarding the Municipal Collective Bargaining Agreement. A tentative agreement had been ratified in April, but the parties undertook more revisions that removed wage schedules from the contract and placed them under the city's compensation and classification guidelines in its employee handbook. The new agreement takes effect July 1.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m.
— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury
