The pink areas are potential certified sites.

The City Council of Webster City voted, unanimously, to both greatly expand and certify the city’s Southeast Industrial Park on Monday.

The park, presently 36 acres in size, could expand to 600 acres under the plan.

In a related move, the city will move quickly to certify the new, larger industrial park to improve its marketing appeal.

Certification is a key initiative in the State of Iowa’s arsenal to spur economic development. This statement, from the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s website, leaves no doubt as to its importance: “IEDA’s Certified Site program launched in 2012 and continues to be one of the most robust and effective certification programs in the nation. It is responsible for Iowa’s recognition as a top 10 state for site readiness, by Area Development magazine.”

A quick check of the IEDA website listed 22 “credentialed Iowa certified sites.” The largest by far is the Mills Crossing Mega Site in Glenwood, with a total of 1,650 developable acres. Other, very large sites include the Cedar Rapids Land & Air Super Park, with 582 acres; and Innovation Park in Oskaloosa, with 499.6 acres.

At 600 acres, Webster City’s certified industrial park would rank among the state’s largest, an attribute that might attract the attention of companies planning very large development projects. Such prospects are rare, but without enough land, and the investment in certifying it as “shovel-ready,” the local community wouldn’t even be in the race.

And certification can produce results. Again, quoting from IEDA’s website: “. . . communities within the state have now seen more than $2.2 billion in capital investment on certified sites.”

In his agenda statement, City Manager John Harrenstein wrote to the Council: “Should the Council determine to move forward with site certification, it is estimated the site will be certified within 12 months.”

Brenda Dryer, senior vice president of the Ames Regional Economic Alliance, which both the City of Webster City and Hamilton County joined last year, urged the Council to support both the enlargement and certification of the industrial park, saying: “This larger industrial park sets up a recipe for success in Webster City. Certification of the site will really put us on the map.”

Harrenstein put the total cost of certification to be $220,000, but added: “The city has received a $50,000 grant from the IEDA for the project.”

He further confirmed the city has been authorized to use $45,000 toward certification by Corn Belt Power Co-Op, the city’s electricity supplier.

Finally, Harrenstein expects an unnamed telecommunications company will contribute $20,000.

This leaves the city to find $105,000 to fully fund the certification effort.

The Council’s approval of amendment No. 35 to an agreement for professional services provided by engineering firm Snyder & Associates of Ankeny will allow certification work to begin quickly.

The city presently uses this amendment, first enacted by the Council in February 2017, to ensure it can quickly call in a “paving specialist” from Snyder to make necessary reviews and inspections, avoiding delays while the pavers are onsite and working on street repairs.

The same kind of arrangement would allow the city to bring in other Snyder specialists to do the certification work, as required.

What does that entail?

The answer can be found in Snyder & Associates detailed, 12-page proposal, encompassing 25 separate investigations, analysis and testing activities required, in its experience, for the kind of certification required by IEDA to market the industrial park as truly “shovel-ready.”

These range from contacting owners of the land earmarked to expansion of the industrial park, to ensure their property will be available for development — and at what cost — for a minimum 48 months, the term of certification.

Then follows a deed search, title attorney opinion, boundary survey and a host of federal and state environmental, cultural and historical assessments. Detailed transportation and utilities plans will assure the site is fully able to meet the needs of any likely development project.

Finally, Snyder will prepare a “master development plan” summarizing all the foregoing work.

At a total cost of $219,000, Harrenstein acknowledged certification wasn’t cheap, but added: “We got three quotes for this work, and Snyder’s is competitive.” Dryer, the official from the Ames Regional Economic Alliance, told the Council, “Your costs for certification are going to be higher due to the size of the site, but it will be a solid investment for the future.”

In other action, the Council passed a second reading on approval of a development agreement with Wilson Estates LLC. The Council waived the third reading of the ordinance as Harrenstein explained, “The developer is hoping to close on the real estate for their development in March.”