Armstrong Investments LLC purchased a property at 13667 192nd Street on 09/12/2017. This is a 30.06 acre tract located outside of the city limits - however, is located within the 2 mile area in which the city of Council Bluffs had a jurisdictional agreement with Pottawattamie County. It is questionable if this agreement is applicable to this parcel at this time.
Mr. Armstrong met with Rose Brown after purchasing the property and was directed to Matt Wyant - Director of the Pottawattamie County Planning Department.
Mr. Armstrong worked with the County and a rise grant application was prepared in order to assist the county and developer in paving 192nd Street, this application was submitted to the Council Bluffs City Council on 11/26/2018. Due to State requirements for the High Quality Jobs incentive this application had to be re-written and was placed on the Council Bluffs City Council Agenda on 12/17/2018 however, no action was taken by Council at request of applicant.
Mr. Armstrong requested a meeting with me (Council Member White) to discuss this issue. We met, along with Paula Hazelwood, Executive Director for Advance Southwest Iowa, on March 21st. Mr. Armstrong relayed to me that he has been trying to get this industrial subdivision off of the ground for over 2 years and would like to move forward.
I met with Brandon Garret, Matt Cox , Matt Wyant and Paula Hazelwood on 04/23/19. Both Brandon and Matt Cox agree that, barring a future large user wanting to locate in this area, there are no plans to extend water or sewer to this property in the foreseeable future. The location of this property is not favorable for development due to elevation, flooding, etc.
Based on the above conversations, along with Mr. Armstrong's willingness to future voluntary annexation, the improbability of water and sewer being extended to the site in the foreseeable future and the prohibitive costs of improving 192nd street to city standards, I believe that waiving city review under the two mile agreement would be appropriate and reasonable. By waiving this requirement Mr. Armstrong would be able to proceed with his development which is estimated at 7-10 million dollars in capital improvements.