M-8 - CMReport - 2-17-23

______________________________________________________________________________ CITY OF TIFFIN CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL February 17, 2023 • A quick update on the new public works building is simply that Brian Detert, Brian Shay, Bill and Frank have moved into their offices. Nick will be moving over next week and we’ve started to slightly rearrange the space at City Hall. Johnson County Sheriff’s Department has been here and we will be setting up an office for them soon. Johnson County’s IT individual is coming on Friday to see what their computer, internet and access needs are going to be. • Progress continues on the Well #5 Pump, Controls and Watermain Project. Attached is an updated project schedule. One thing to note would is ID #8. No work will be done next week as Boomerang has a mandatory company-wide safety training. Work will resume the week of February 27th. • I hope to have more information on this item at the meeting on Tuesday night but we continue to work with both the DOT and the Iowa Interstate Railroad on options to replace the crossing on South Park Road. This crossing has been earmarked for replacement by the railroad. With the DOT using South Park Road as a haul route for the I-80/I-380 Interchange project, they will also be contributing to the replacement costs. The City will have options on whether to participate in this project based on the desired materials that will be used for the crossing and the length of the replacement. For example, if the crossing is replaced with timbers (which is currently there now) and does not extend to include the Clear Creek Trail Crossing, there would be no cost to the City. However, if we wanted to upgrade the crossing to concrete pads and extend it past the trail crossing (like was done at the Roberts Ferry Crossing two years ago) then the City’s cost share would include that. I spoke with the DOT yesterday about their participation in this project and I am trying to get a hold of the railroad to set up a conference call to solidify all the options and potential costs. Again, I hope to have more information on this for Tuesday night. • Last fall I was contacted by the Director of Rural Development for the Iowa City Area Development to see if Tiffin would be interested in their ‘Downtown Walk Around’ assessment program. Essentially, this will be a coordinated visit with ICAD and the Iowa Downtown Resource Center which is part of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. We will be looking at the ‘center’ block of the Original Town. The group will be in Johnson County for two days with walk arounds and meetings in Hills, Lone Tree, Oxford and Swisher. Once completed, we will receive a report that will identify and highlight local assets, resources, recommendations and challenges of developing this area. The walk around is scheduled for March 14th. I will be putting together a small team of individuals to participate in this.