Council to consider Hotel Maytag, housing extension Monday

The Newton City Council has a full agenda for its final scheduled meeting of 2017. Among the topics up for discussion is another amendment to the Hotel Maytag project, a public hearing on a resolution approving the final plat of the Fairmeadows North extension and the purchase of a police video system.

The approval of the final plat at the Fairmeadows North housing development extension consists of 23 lots. The final development plat is very similar to the preliminary plat, which was approved by council earlier this year.

Minor adjustments were made at right-of-way for North Seventh Avenue Place East to account for lot size, but no changes were made to the actual roadway.

The council will also look to approve a conditional master service and purchase agreement with Axon Enterprises Inc. for the purchase of a police video system. The cost of the system is $94,820 over a five year period.

The Newton Police Department tested and evaluated police video systems from three nationally recognized vendors to determine which products met the current and future needs of the departments operations. The system selected includes 10 body cameras, seven in-car dash cameras, hardware infrastructure, software, digital evidence storage, IT support and maintenance fees.

The new system will replace in the in-car dash cameras installed in each patrol vehicle. The current units range from six to nine years old and have experienced operation issues requiring significant staff time to maintain, repair and operate.

This second amendment to the agreement for private development with Hotel Maytag Investors, LLC would reduce the number of installment payments from the city to the developer from five to four, make the city a co-guarantor on an $8 million construction loan from Bankers Trust Company for no more than 18 months and approve an increased number of workforce housing units as part of the project from 50 percent occupancy to 80 percent.

The amendments comes on the heels of Congress potentially repealing two major tax credits for the project. If the tax credits were to be repealed by the federal government, the project would lose out on more than $6 million.

In order to keep the financing, an expedited process to close the project has been proposed by developer Jack Hatch including the new amendment to the city.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson a
t 641-792-3121 ext. 6534
or jpierson@newtondailynews.com