Joan Hayward-Helm addresses the Tama City Council encouraging them and the group present to form a committee that could attend to the long-term funding efforts needed to continue to preserve the Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

A crowd of close to two dozen community members again filled Tama City Hall in hopes of hearing discussion or voice opinions on the future of the Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama.

Two weeks prior, the council learned there had been no bids received for the project when the city’s engineering firm re-let the project in January, leaving the council to investigate a pathway forward for the aging and deteriorating bridge.

Ahead of council discussion a public comment period was opened and comments were received from a number of concerned individuals speaking in favor of preserving the 115-year-old bridge.

A consistent theme running through the comments made at Monday’s meeting was a concern that altering or moving the bridge out of it’s original location could have a negative impact on area tourism should the bridge lose its designation under the National Register of Historic Places.

The council heard from 2021 Tama Citizen of the Year Charlie Betz who provided examples of the historic and cultural connection the community has had with the bridge and the Lincoln Memorial Highway for over 100 years.

Charlie Betz of Tama hands Mayor Doug Ray an award that was presented to the city in recent years for preservation efforts made toward the Lincoln Highway Bridge. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

Betz pointed out a handful of instances that Tama and the Lincoln Bridge appeared in mass media including Popular Mechanics magazine from 1919, a Smithsonian magazine from the 1980s and a local article about an award given to the city for its efforts to preserve the bridge in 2007.

“There’s probably not a guidebook you’ll find on the Lincoln Highway that doesn’t include a picture of our bridge,” Betz said. “We’ve been relevant in media for more than 100 years now. I just think it’s important that we realize or recognize the importance that the bridge has to our community.”

Others, like Joan Hayward-Helm, encouraged the council to form or participate in a committee that would act toward the long-term financial interest of the bridge.

“What we would like is not to kick this down the road,” Hayward-Helm said. “Yes, we need to make some repairs. But I think we should have long term goals here. And long term fundraising for on down the road. We would like to see our communities get together and try to resolve this once and for all.”

Following the public comment period the council held discussion on the options for the future of the bridge but ultimately took no action.

Anna Gahm, Structural Engineer with Shuck-Britson, presents a series of options the Tama Council may consider in moving forward with the future of the Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama. There was a crowd of around two dozen members of the public as well as a TV reporter packed into the council chambers to hear discussion of the bridge project. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

The most likely course of action appeared to be allowing the Iowa Department of Transportation to conduct the bidding process for the bridge restoration project rather than the city’s contracted engineering firm as would normally be the process.

Should the council make a decision to pursue letting bids through the DOT, the bidding documents would have to undergo some alterations to meet DOT standards. The estimated timing of that scenario would see bid letting occurring in September of 2022 with construction to happen during the 2023 construction season.

Council member Brian Hanus suggested the council attempt to form a committee as suggested by members of the public and look to come back with a decision on the whether or not to pursue bidding with the DOT in late March.

In other business…

-Following the resignation of Paramedic Alea Sylvia, the Tama EMS Department recommended a salary increase for part-time Advanced EMT Jeremy Cremeans. Cremeans has been at a $15 per hour wage since the part-time EMTs positions were created over a year ago. The department wishes to bring his salary into a more competitive range with other area Advanced EMT positions. The council unanimously approved a salary increase for Cremeans to $18 per hour effective immediately. He will remain as a part-time employee but is expected to pick up additional hours while the department is searching for a replacement to their full time paramedic staff.

Charlie Betz shows off one of a number of examples where the Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama has appeared in mass media over the past 100 year. Examples shared included an edition of the Smithsonian Magazine from the 1980s and a Popular Mechanics magazine from the early 20th century. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

-City Street Superintendent Stuart Eisentrager requested the council allow for a job posting for a city water operator. Eisentrager indicated that current City Water Superintendent Kent Campbell had announced recently his intentions to retire within the coming year, though an exact date was not yet finalized. City Sewer Superintendent Nick Peshel advised the council that when he was hired in a similar situation to take over for a retiring staff person that he felt the six months he had with the person he was replacing was not an ideal amount of time and that if they could hire somebody now and have longer to train that person with Campbell, it would be a benefit to the department. The council unanimously approved posting for a Grade 2 Water Plant Operator.