The Muscatine County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 9 approved a second amendment to the City of Muscatine’s indoor sports complex American Rescue Plan Act Grant Agreement with Muscatine County that will allow the project more time to use ARPA funds.
The amendment will extend the deadline from Dec. 31, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, to allow for the use of $400,000 in the ARPA grant from Muscatine County for construction of an indoor sports complex in Muscatine.
The new complex, to be known as the Musco Sports Center, will be located at the Muscatine Soccer West site across from the Muscatine Soccer Complex. The total project cost was estimated at $7,232,000, according to a City of Muscatine Agenda Item Summary of Aug. 15.
Merit Construction Company of Cedar Rapids is the contractor for the project. Construction is underway.
“It is behind. Supply chain has crushed us a little bit here. Labor has crushed us a little bit here. Some design elements have changed a little bit,” said Richard Klimes, director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Muscatine.
Klimes requested the deadline extension and for the board to make the donation for the ARPA money “not the final money in because of the costs that have exceeded and the deadlines have exceeded our expectations.”
“Whereas, the completion date for the project has extended into fiscal year 2025-2026 and because the timelines for distribution of the ARPA Funds will expire before the funding is fully obtained, the Grantee has submitted a request to extend the deadline to September 30, 2025 to allow for the use of the same committed funds for a portion of the project outlined in the Original Application and then again in the specified sum not to exceed $400,000,” the second amendment said. “Whereas, the County is willing to extend the deadline from December 31, 2024 to September 30, 2025 and remove the funder of last resort requirement, but in all other respects is to remain the same.”
An ARPA Grant Agreement was executed by the county and the City of Muscatine on Jan. 9, 2023.
On May 20, 2024, the board of supervisors authorized the chair to sign an amendment to the ARPA Grant Agreement to extend the expenditure deadline from June 30, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2024, according to board minutes.
The project will include an indoor, temperature-controlled, multi-use facility with a synthetic turf field and an inflatable, year-round dome structure. Restrooms and a concession area will be on site. The facility can “host regulation football, soccer, softball, baseball, pickleball, volleyball and general group gatherings and events,” according to the “Agenda Item Summary.”
“We did hold our public meetings, and we’ve had many, many, many people show up, and if we’ve learned anything, we learned that everybody wants to use it for everything, all the time,” Klimes said.
$15K services agreement
Supervisors approved signing a Professional Services Agreement with Schneider Geospatial in the amount of $15,744.
Safety action plan
Supervisors approved signing of the Muscatine County Pledge for Safety Action Plan. The pledge formalizes Muscatine County’s support of the strategies in Iowa’s Five-Year Strategic Highway Safety Plan 2024-2028 and the goal of zero fatalities on Iowa’s public roadways.