Council discusses housing, comp plan

Housing and the future of the City of Red Oak remain top priorities for officials with the City of Red Oak.
At a special work session of the Red Oak City Council, the council heard from Councilperson Tim Fridolph, who attended a recent meeting discussing the city’s comprehensive plan, as well as a round table discussion.
“It’s still a work in progress. We started discussions and prioritizing things. We had a lot of things on the agenda and we only probably made it halfway through, but that’s okay. There was a lot of good discussion on the things that did get brought up. We’re planning on meeting again for further discussion soon,” commented Fridolph.
The goal is to have comprehensive plan review completed by the end of the year.
“We had very optimistic discussion, and barring some unforeseen circumstances, I think we can pull it off,” Fridolph stated.
Fridolph also shared details of recommendations made through a recent housing study. Fridolph said one recommendation involved the Red Oak Public Library.
“We’ve discussed a tool check-out program where people can check out home improvement items to make renovations and improvements to their homes. They’re just checking out the tools. Any accessories they need or materials will not be available,” explained Fridolph. “As an example, if someone checks out a drywall kit, it may come with a trowel and some other different things to do drywall, but they’ll still need to go to a home improvement store and buy the materials. We’re looking to offer a way for people to do home improvement projects with a tool they don’t have to buy, and that they may never need to use again.”
City administrator Kyra Smith said she was preparing to contact local businesses for support.
“I have a letter typed up and ready to go to local businesses that could work as partners, either by us purchasing tools from them, or potential training to teach people to utilize the tools that they don’t know how to use,” advised Smith.
Fridolph felt it was important to utilize experts rather than count on the library staff.
“The library staff will just be there to check people out, they’re not there to explain how to use the items to complete a project. We might be able to have a QR code that will link people to instructional videos. Something like that would be very easily done,” Fridolph said.
Smith said she had confirmed shelving, bins, and other storage items could be purchased via a grant to help keep things organized.
Silvius said another recommendation from the housing study was how to address necessary rehab of homes.
‘Questions have been raised about us providing some kind of funding source for mini grants for owner-occupied rehab. I know the Southwest Iowa Planning Council has done that with us before. It’s been hard to get people to apply for it, but it may be something we should talk with them about,” Silvius commented. “SWIPCO is also offering the Homes For Iowa program. They have things set up so you can bring a home right onto an empty lot. I was hoping we could do something like that for infill lots as long as they’re not in the flood plain. They’re pre-fabricated homes.”
Silvius felt the program gave the city another opportunity to work with SWIPCO and could be very beneficial.
“We have to, in some way, incentivize rehab. Rehab will help people take pride in their homes, while also fix them up and potentially build, or move into the townhomes, which would open up single family homes,” Silvius said.
Silvius also shared an update from Kelly Edmonds, who is coordinating the housing project at the Red Oak Middle School.
According to Edmonds, at some point in August, the building experienced vandalism and theft resulting in a police investigation and a subsequent filing of a claim against the builder’s risk policy. They have been in regular communication with the carrier, as well as their third-party consultants hired to review the extent and cost of the damages and to produce independent estimates for repairs,” Silvius said.
Edmonds added further steps had been taken to secure the site more thouroughly, and it was being monitored. Electricians had been brought to the site to restore power to the building.
No further discussion on housing took place.