East Central Iowa News

The Marshalltown City Council approved relief programs for the community, including a stormwater utility billing reduction program and an application for a federal lead hazard reduction program, during the board's meeting on April 10.

The amendment to the city's stormwater utility billing reduction program has been in place since 2013, Public Works Director Heather Thomas explained. The program allows residents to apply for a reduction to their stormwater utility bill if they meet certain requirements outlined by the city, most of which involve providing detention on site in excess of city requirements. Thomas shared request to add to the to the policy a partial reduction for those who have only parts of their property discharge to the city, which would allow residents to pay a percentage of their bill depending how much of their stormwater drains to the city.

"The applicant or the property owner, the tenant, those types of people can submit an application requesting this reduction for level six that's being added to the amendment," Thomas told the council. "What they do is they're required to submit some documentation to show what parts of their property are discharging to the city and which ones are discharging away from the city. So that can be something as simple as, you know, a topographic map showing the clear drainage lines. So that does have to get into the level of detail of showing, you know, a rough structure and what gutters are going to the back of the property, which ones are going to the front, depending on the layout. And then we're able to determine how much of that property is draining inside city limits for residential properties." The council approved the amendment as explained by Thomas.

The city council also discussed an application for lead paint improvements, as the city is coming up on the end of its current grant cycle with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants, and city staff advised the council to approve a new application for the HUD Lead Hazard Reduction Grant Program. Michelle Spohnheimer, Housing & Community Development Director, explained that the city has a maximum grant amount of $5,000,000 for the four-year cycle, with an additional $700,000 for healthy homes. It is a matching grant requirement, meaning the city would have to add 10%, or $500,000, of funds from the city's budget, she said.

If the city is awarded the HUD grant, it would become available in September when the current cycle ends. The department has administered a lead grant program since 2003 and has amassed $16,195,830 in grant funding for the program, not including property owner or city funding additions, Spohnheimer said, estimating that around 100 projects could be funded with the grant over the next four years. April of 2023 marks 20 years of lead mitigation efforts in the city, which drastically improves the quality of homes and residents’ lives, she added.