By Sam Parsons

The Pella City Council met this week and discussed the schematic design of the proposed Indoor Recreation Center. The meeting began with several citizens of Pella speaking out against moving forward with the recreation center with many of them citing financial uncertainty, and councilmember Lynn Brandenhorst requested to table action on the project. However, the council did approve the design in its proposed form, which currently entails a 78,000 square foot facility. The cost of the design development phase is expected to be around $550,000 while the total estimated cost of the facility is just over $43 million.

City administrator Mike Nardini said that it’s the largest chunk of the city’s long-term facilities plan, which has projects currently totaling about $58 million. Between private pledges and city funding, Nardini said that over $35 million has already been raised, but that still leaves about $23.3 million still to be funded. With the council approving the design of the rec center, Nardini said that Shive Hattery expects the design phase to take about 3 months to complete.

The council also set the date for the public hearing on their Maximum Property Tax Dollars for the upcoming fiscal year. The date was set for April 4. Nardini said that the city has one of the lowest property tax rates in the state and it’s been the same for 21 years. The council directed city staff to proceed with the same maximum levy as last year.

The next Pella city council meeting will be held on April 4.