The City of Belle Plaine was invited to re-submit its request for Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant funds from the Vision Iowa Board following a meeting in Belle Plaine Wednesday.

Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey, who is the chair person of the Vision Iowa Board, along with Alaina Santizo, Vision Iowa/CAT program manager, met with Mayor Jim Daily, City Administrator Bill Daily, Jennifer Zahradnik, president of the Belle Plaine Community Development Corp. board and Sue Riherd, who operated True Value Hardware Store with her husband, Dave, for many years in downtown Belle Plaine.

The city had applied for over $500,000 from Vision Iowa for a planned streetscape project in the downtown area. But the board turned down the application, citing the need for more broad-based support and more information. This came after representatives traveled to Des Moines earlier this spring and gave a 10-minute presentation, complete with nearly a dozen artists’ renderings of the project.

After receiving word that the application would be denied, local officials were led to believe that Vision Iowa was no longer in favor of funding streetscape projects. But Bill Daily said after this week’s meeting, he was assured that wasn’t true. He said the indication he received from the board representatives was they would be more selective in future streetscape funding projects, looking for projects which would more directly enhance a downtown economic development goal.

They also indicated that they wanted to see more green elements in any future streetscape applications, although the Belle Plaine plan includes many areas for landscaping and art.

Bill Daily said local officials certainly had some concerns, many of which were conveyed to Iowa Gov. Chet Culver in a letter from Mayor Jim Daily. That letter was referenced during Wednesday’s meeting, Bill Daily said.

Although the board had indicated to local officials that it was seeking more broad-based support for the streetscape project, Bill Daily told the representatives that the city would not consider a special downtown taxing district for the project, due to the current economic climate.

The deadline for resubmitting the city’s application to the Vision Iowa Board is Oct. 15. Meanwhile, local representatives will be in Des Moines on Aug. 12 to make a presentation on another CAT grant application, for just over $100,000 for the new aquatics center project.

Bill Daily asked Bailey and Santizo if the board was leaning toward cutting back on the number of aquatics grants it would fund. But he said he was assured that the city would get a fair hearing on this grant application in August.

As for the larger streetscape grant, Bill Daily said he wasn’t sure whether the city would re-apply. But he said after this week’s meeting, he might recommend it to the other local officials.