CCADC approves agreement for Charles City housing development

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Area Development Corporation took a step toward a potential new housing development during its regular meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

At the meeting, the CCADC Board of Directors approved a development agreement with Commonwealth Development Corporation, a Wisconsin-based development company that has expressed serious interest in the Southwest Development Park.

Tyler Sheeran, vice-president of development with Commonwealth, was available at the meeting via video call to share concept drawings and initial ideas for a 40-unit development, along with the numerous bureaucratic steps that need to happen to apply for and receive approval from the Iowa Finance Authority for the tax credits critical to funding the project.

(See accompanying story for more information.)

To move the project forward, the board took action to petition the city of Charles City to rezone the development area from manufacturing zoning to residential zoning. The council will then send the request on to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which will send its recommendation back to the city.

In other business, the board accepted the resignation of Emily Garden from the board of directors. While Garden is leaving the board of directors, she will remain involved with CCADC, continuing to volunteer for the housing and marketing committee.

“She’s done a great job and we’ll miss her,” said CEO Tim Fox.

In her place, the board approved the seating of Becky Boerschel, a Charles City native who has worked at Zoetis for the last 17 years.

The board also acknowledged Erin Gansen Luong, who is serving as the new Marketing Committee chairperson.

Receiving a report from County Supervisor Mark Kuhn, it was reported that the county is working with the North Iowa Area Council of Governments (NIACOG) to develop a draft ordinance to regulate wind energy farms in the county.

“We’re making progress and looking forward to the next step in the work,” said Kuhn, who said the ordinance should be drafted by July.

Kuhn also said that the county is still waiting on the Iowa Utility Board to make its decision about CO2 pipelines before taking action on that issue.

Moving onto other economic development projects, the board approved the framework to re-start the Home Base Iowa program. Originally started in 2014, the program provided $10,000, 0% interest loans to qualified veterans to help purchase a home.

“It was successful, other than we didn’t have many applicants,” said Fox after the meeting.

The Home Base Iowa program ended a few years ago, but CCADC is bringing it back, with Floyd County budgeting up to $40,000 a year for three years.

Fox also discussed the recently launched Economic Mobility via Upskilling program, which is designed to create an opportunity for people to learn job-seeking skills like resume building and interview preparation.

Finally, Fox talked about the return of the Floyd County Manufacturer’s Exchange, organizing a meeting with the county’s various manufacturing companies to discuss their shared business interests, such as employee retention.

The plan is to set a date for a lunch meeting at some point in April.

“We’ll probably have lasagna, so that will pack them in,” said Fox.

The next meeting of the board will be held on Wednesday, March 27.