Plans for Maple Street continue with CBDG grant approval

Hiring a new city administrator wasn’t the only thing Colfax City Council got done at the Jan. 14 meeting.

City council unanimously approved the rate analysis proprietary fund necessary for the water main project on Walnut Street. That includes a resolution authorizing Speer Financial to conduct a rate analysis of sewer and solid waste, as well as a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign an engagement letter to allow a loan for the main water project.

David Mast, mayor of Colfax, said they made progress during the meeting, especially since they know they will need an important loan to go toward the water main project.

“We accomplished quite a bit. That $500,000 loan is officially going to be signed,” Mast said. “The water main project will be moving forward as fast as it can.”

The money came from when the city of Colfax was awarded a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, which the city found out about in November, according to the Colfax city council packet.

The grant money will contribute to the project, which is estimated to cost about $1.5 million, Mast said.

Highway 117, one of the busier roads in the area, goes through Colfax. Underneath it is a 30-year-old water main that has been breaking with some regularity.

“It’s only a four-inch main. So we need a larger main and a newer main not just to prevent leaks, but to allow us better (fire water) retention,” Mast said. “(The grant) allows us to spend our money on paying off the new project instead of using our money to pay for repairs.”

During the meeting, Colfax City Engineer Steve Klocke updated the board on how the project was going at this point. He said he was waiting to hear back from the DNR before proceeding with the next stage of the project.

“We’re still progressing with plans,” Klocke said. “We’re focusing on streets and getting patching back in and that kind of thing. We’re hoping to have the plans more or less wrapped up in the first part of February. That’s on our end, before getting things turned over to the DNR and IDOT for their permitting.”

One of the city council members asked Klocke when the city can start the bid on that, to which Klocke guessed April but said he really had no way of knowing for sure.

“It was a six-month-long process I didn’t realize would take that long on the DNR’s end. We got started on that in October,” Klocke said. “We’re kind of at their mercy, unfortunately.”

Contact Orrin Shawl at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or at oshawl@newtondailynews.com