Sheldon, Iowa — Following a public hearing on a request for a temporary closure of one block of 7th Street, the Sheldon City Council approved that request at Wednesday’s meeting.
No oral or written comments were received by the City on the topic, so the Council voted unanimously to approve the request by ID Excavating to close 7th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue, to allow for the demolition of the Bethel Reformed Church building, which was heavily damaged in a fire on a late September Sunday afternoon in 2016.
Prior to the Council’s vote to approve the request, Public Works Director Todd Uhl related a conversation he had with the demolition contractor about avoiding damage to the street during the demolition process.
Uhl told the Council they had also discussed the route that would be used to remove the debris from the demolition site.
Uhl says the closure request is for a 30-day time period.
ID Excavating has a target date of April 15th to begin the demolition, contingent on weather and any asbestos that must be removed prior to demolition.
Once the church building is razed, the property on the north side of 7th Street will eventually be the site of new multi-family housing.
In other action, following a public hearing, the Council approved MidAmerican Energy’s request for a perpetual easement for underground communication line in the east half of vacated Miller Avenue in southern Sheldon.
Following another public hearing, the Council approved a perpetual easement request by Ag Partners that will allow the company to construct a “Bent Tower”, as well as piles and pile cap along the east side of Railroad Avenue, between 7th and 8th Streets.
The Council also began the process for application for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to facilitate redevelopment of three upper story residential units at 321 9th Street, the former location of Sheldon Vision Center. They approved a resolution awarding Grant Writing and Administrative Services for the project, as well as scheduled a pair of public hearings on the matter at the next regular meeting, which will be held Wednesday, April 20th.
