Another roadblock has presented itself in the way of the Tama Lincoln Highway Bridge Reconstruction Project.

Engineer Anna Gahm was before the Tama City Council during their regular meeting on Oct. 4 to discuss bids that were submitted from three companies to complete work on the historic bridge.

Previously the city received a commitment from the Iowa DOT to fund the remaining balance of the project not covered by grant funding.

The project cost estimate calculated one year ago projected the amount to be $150,000.

However, the bids received from three Iowa construction firms ranged from $338,873 to $732,900, more than double the estimated cost.

Gahm indicated she would contact the DOT to inquire if they would still fund the remaining balance with the recent bids coming in much higher than expected.

Other options would be to reduce the scope of the project and resubmit the request for bids or to replace the bridge with a box culvert and relocate the historic bridge pieces somewhere they could be preserved as a monument.

Shared Parks and Rec Director

Toledo City Administrator Kendall Jordan spoke to the Tama Council about the potential for creating a shared Parks and Recreation Director position between the two cities.

Jordan said the idea was to make a proactive move to help preserve some of the resources and programs previously kept up by volunteers.

Last year the STC Rec Trail Board was dissolved for lack of membership, giving the Rec Trail maintenance duties over to the city public works departments.

The Youth Rec Board that organizes several local youth sports leagues and the Pool Board are also run by volunteers, though neither appear in danger of dissolving at present.

Jordan’s proposal would split the cost to fund a full-time position that would coordinate and oversee volunteer recruitment for the Youth Rec program, hiring for the Tama-Toledo Aquatic Center, upkeep of the STC Rec Trail and rental of park facilities.

Both the Tama Council and the Toledo City Council during discussion at their Sept. 27 meeting were in general consensus for Jordan to continue exploring the idea and to come back with a proposal for the councils to consider with a salary range and a draft job description.

Police Wages

Police wages are on the rise as all three public law enforcement departments in the Tama-Toledo area have experienced a more challenging hiring climate for openings that have come up in recent months.

In Sept. the Tama City Council heard from Police Chief Jason Bina regarding concerns about one vacancy he was hiring for and potentially two more from Tama officers that had recently put in applications at different departments.

Bina argued that hiring for two or three new officers at the same time would result in having to put multiple non-certified candidates through the law enforcement academy and that a more competitive pay scale might help with retention and recruitment of more experienced certified candidates.

At their Oct. 4 meeting the Tama Council approved an increase to the overall police department salary schedule that would result in a total increase to the FY22 police department budget of approximately $32,250, depending on the starting wage for the candidate who will fill the one current vacancy.

The five remaining full-time officers will see pay increases ranging from $5,500 to $9,000 per year under the new schedule which took effect this month.

Tama last increased its police pay schedule in 2018 when the department saw three vacancies occur around the same time.

A year later, the Toledo Police Department followed suit with increases to their schedule matching what was being offered in Tama.

Toledo recently hired a non-certified officer to fill one vacancy that came up over the summer. That officer is currently undergoing training at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and will bring the full-time Toledo roster back up to six in December following training.

In other business…

The Toledo Council on Oct. 11 approved the hiring of Curt Graff to the Public Works Department. Graff will fill the vacancy left by Mark Dvorak who is retiring at the end of October.

Graff will begin at a wage of $20.75 per hour, which will increase to $21.75 after one year of employment.