FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield City Council approved setting the date for several public hearings later this month that relate to funding for projects, and one that relates to the sale of city assets.
The council set three public hearings for its next meeting on Nov. 28, all scheduled for 7 p.m. at city hall. One relates to the funding of the Cambridge Little Achievers Center under construction near the Jefferson County Health Center. The building is a child care center that could hold as many as 185 children, and is expected to open in 2023.
The public hearing is being called because the project is receiving funds through a Community Development Block Grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
A Community Development Block Grant is also being given to another project that will be the subject of a public hearing on Nov. 28, for the Fairfield Food Garden Initiative Pandemic Response Project.
The Fairfield Food Garden Initiative began earlier this year, a program aimed at low- to moderate-income households in Jefferson County who wish to perform their own gardening. The program seeks to help Jefferson County households overcome the challenges of food insecurity through organic gardening. Tiffany April Raines told The Union in April that the initiative hoped to serve 100 people during its first year, and to grow about $150,000 worth of produce.
Lastly, the council will hold a hearing for the sale of accessory structures near the former DOT buildings on West Briggs Avenue. The city will disconnect the buildings from utilities prior to their removal. The city is inviting bids for the buildings because it needs to move them to make room for a new fire station, which Fairfield voters approved in March. That month, the city’s voters approved bonding up to $5 million to build a new fire station. In the months since, city staff and the city council have been working with the architectural firm Klingner & Associates to create a more detailed floor plan of the building, which has not been finalized.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
