Iola will extend utilities to accommodate what they hope will be new housing development on the north edge of town.
City Council members voted, 7-0, to extend water, electric and street infrastructure through what will be known as Cedarbrook Third Addition.
The first two phases of the Cedarbrook Housing Project included dozens of income-based rental homes and then a senior living complex on what had been Cedarbrook Golf Course.
The impetus for Monday’s vote was a recent discussion with a developer interested in initially building at least six duplex rental homes in the area with another possible 14 lots available for development.
Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock estimated the utility extension work for the water, wastewater and electric utilities at about $386,000. Funds would come from those respective utility budgets.
“Those funds are in good shape,” City Administrator Matt Rehder said. “The costs aren’t going to break the bank. We can easily absorb those costs.”
The city also has applied for a Moderate Income Housing (MIH) grant that, if approved, would pay for street extensions, Rehder continued.
The costs would be recouped through utility sales after homes are built there, he noted.
“It would be a long haul, but we’d collect,” Rehder said.
The biggest hurdle will be in getting materials on hand, Schinstock added.
It would likely be next spring before much of the work would be done.
THE NEXT key conversation in terms of the Cedarbrook development may center on incentives because the city owns the land in question.
Schinstock noted the city received $7,500 per lot in 2008 from Tom Carlson, who built the River Valley Homes complex in Cedarbrook.
That said, Mayor Steve French noted any costs incurred by the developer in terms of land acquisition would eventually be calculated with such things as rent costs for future tenants.
“There just aren’t many developers interested in coming to Iola to build,” French said. “In essence, if we want to have housing, and we want to address our problem, we’re gonna have to look at incentives. We’re gonna have to provide something to get someone interested in coming to Iola.”
