Council Bluffs City Council Meeting and Study Session – December 15, 2025
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Council Bluffs City Council Meeting and Study Session – December 15, 2025
The Council Bluffs City Council met on December 15, 2025, starting with a study session featuring presentations from the Iowa West Foundation and Advance Southwest Iowa Corporation, followed by a regular meeting with three public hearings, approval of numerous resolutions and an ordinance, and tributes to outgoing Mayor Matt Walsh and Councilman Chris Peterson.
Study Session: Iowa West Foundation Cycle 3 Grants
- Brenda Mainwaring of the Iowa West Foundation presented the Cycle 3 Grant Awards. She highlighted grants supporting basic needs, housing, and food, including: New Visions, Habitat for Humanity (new construction and rehabilitation), United Way (new program with school districts to address potential homelessness), and Corporation for Supportive Housing (training for organizations). New food recovery provider Saving Grace was added, and the foundation made its annual contribution to Advance Southwest Iowa Corp. The foundation again provided event sponsorship for city signature events and a grant to CBCV/Unleash Council Bluffs to leverage state dollars for sporting events. Council members thanked Mainwaring for the foundation's regional support.
Study Session: Advance Southwest Iowa Corporation Annual Report
- Paula Hazelwood, president of Advance (formerly Advance Southwest Iowa Corp), presented the organization's 2025 year-to-date report. Founded in 2013, Advance has grown to four employees and serves all of Pottawattamie County. As of November 30, the active pipeline contained 45 projects. Year-to-date activities include: 290 business meetings, 25 community presentations, 8 community events/training sessions, and engagement with 72 food entrepreneurs via Kitchen Council. The Kitchen Council 2.0 strategic plan will launch January 1.
- Hazelwood reported 10 landed projects in 2025, creating/retaining 158 full-time equivalent positions. The largest capital investment project in her nine years is under a non-disclosure agreement. Advance accounts for 10 of the 21 landed projects listed by the Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership, representing 97.5% of the investment and 39.6% of job creation attributed to that partnership. Examples of landed projects include KM Tires (new warehouse/distribution, 25 employees), Project Tallgrass (CO2 pipeline, 60 employees at build-out), Project Edge (data center on 90 acres, 33 employees, $200 million minimum assessment), McClure Engineering, Hillcrest Health/Trivium, and Accurate Accounting.
- The Rev Pitch competition awarded $20,000 in prize funding: $10,000 to Southern Hills Veterinarian Services, $5,000 to Coffee Alley, $5,000 to Jarvis Meats, and a $500 People's Choice Award to Delise Del Pan. Alejandra Valdez of Viva Fit Kitchen was named Entrepreneur of the Year. Hazelwood also highlighted staff transitions and expressed appreciation for city staff and elected officials.
Consent Calendar
- The council unanimously approved the consent agenda, which included several annual reports (waterworks, library, city streets). The council also received and filed an email from Sam Irwin dated December 11.
Public Hearings
- Resolution 25-302 (second amendment to a purchase, sale, and development agreement with 34th and First Holdings LLC): No written protests or speakers. Approved. One council member commented, "This project needs to get done. It's taken way too long."
- Resolution 25-303 (FY25–FY31 Capital Improvement Program): No protests or speakers. Approved. A council member clarified that Sam Irwin's email misinterpreted the CIP; approximately $81 million in projected local option sales tax revenues through 2031 are designated for streets and sewers.
- Resolution 25-304 (final plat for L43 subdivision): No protests or speakers. Approved.
Ordinance and Resolutions
- Ordinance 6662 (amending sewer tap-on fees): Approved unanimously.
- Resolution 25-287 (maintenance funding agreement with Southwest Iowa Nonprofit for Collective Impact for Riverfront/River's Edge): Approved after discussion about adding a sprinkler system and building an endowment to reduce taxpayer impact.
- Resolution 25-286 (transfer and assignment of Mid-America Energy Adventure Tower license to Southwest Iowa Nonprofit for Collective Impact): Approved. A council member stated he was not originally a fan of the project but is "cautiously hopeful and optimistic."
- Resolution 25-305 (engineering services with HGM Associates for Richard Downing Avenue Reconstruction): Approved. Discussion noted the road work was intentionally delayed until levee repairs were complete.
- Resolution 25-306 (Power Tech LLC bid for Swale Backup Generator Addition): Approved.
- Resolution 25-307 (notice of intent to fill city council vacancy by appointment): Approved.
- Resolution 25-308 (housing development program funds for West End Roost at 28th and First Avenue): Approved.
- Resolution 25-309 (first amendment to private development agreement with Western Ridge Apartments LLC): Approved.
- Resolution 25-310 (temporary use permit for a warming center in Belmont addition): Approved. A council member noted this is the fifth year, and the center also helps residents who may lack heat or hot water.
- Resolution 25-311 (EPA brownfield cleanup grant): Approved.
- Resolution 25-312 (CDBG disaster recovery contract amendment for East Manawa Phase One housing, $6,873,501): Approved. Discussion highlighted that the 40 units will be sold at $175,000 each, providing affordable first-home opportunities.
- Resolution 25-313 (addendum to federal aid agreement for the city-county connector trail, $1,830,000): Approved. The trail will connect to a trail toward Underwood and eventually Neola.
- Resolution 25-314 (brush removal license agreement with Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium for Western Historic Trails): Approved.
- Resolution 25-315 (construction agreement with A. Perry Construction for 40 affordable housing units in East Manawa Phase One): Approved.
- Liquor licenses 7A 1–3: Approved.
Key Outcomes
- All resolutions and the ordinance on the agenda were approved unanimously, with occasional recorded discussion.
- The council recognized Councilman Chris Peterson with a certificate of appreciation for his service from 2022–2025.
- Outgoing Mayor Matt Walsh received thanks for over 30 years of public service, including 11 years as mayor; speakers cited a new police station, public safety investments, infrastructure, economic growth, and neighborhood revitalization.
- The city council vacancy will be filled by appointment; the resolution authorized publication of notice and procedures for receiving letters of interest.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome. First on the study session agenda is Brenda Mainwaring from the IOS Foundation with the Cycle 3 Grant Awards. Brenda. Good afternoon. This is very old news. The media release actually went out right after Thanksgiving, but this is the first time I've been able to get in to talk to you. And as always, I want to make sure that I get in front of you, let you know what we've been giving awards to, and see if you have any questions. So this cycle was kind of all about basic needs housing and food and diapers and things that people need to be able to take care of for their families. A few things I want to highlight in particular with regard to housing. Our grants included awards to new visions to Habitat for Humanity for both new construction and rehabilitation to the United Way for a new program that addresses potential addresses homelessness before it becomes a problem with in partnership with the school districts. And a new organization called the Corporation for Supportive Housing, which brings training to Council Bluff's organizations that want to get into the supportive housing space, need to know how to do that efficiently and find funding for it. And to in terms of providing food, we added a new provider to Council Bluffs called Saving Grace. They specialize in food recovery, they work with the casinos a lot and with other events to make sure that if people have leftover food, it doesn't go to waste. We also are making our annual contribution to Advanced Southwest Iowa Corp before their operating expenses. They are doing great work, which you'll hear about shortly. And we want to make sure that they're able to continue to do that work in our region to bring in jobs and investment. And then specifically for the city of Council Bluffs. We are once again providing event sponsorship for the city to use for its signature events throughout the year, supporting railroad days, and then we provide a grant to the CBCV, now unleash Council Bluffs, to help them leverage state dollars to bring in in particular sporting events. So those are some of the highlights. Any questions? Any questions from Brenda? Okay, thanks. I just want to thank you for all that the IOS Foundation does for the city of Council Bluffs and Southwest Iowa's people didn't see. There are many small towns throughout Southwest Iowa who got grants for projects that make their community more vibrant and attractive. And there's a long legacy of kindness on your part. So thank you. We're happy to be a part of all the work that the communities in our region are doing. Thanks. Next on the agenda is uh Paula Hazelwood. Don't go up. Good afternoon. And my notes are on here, so sorry while I look down and I get blinder by the day. So reading glasses. Thanks, obviously, for the opportunity to come in and provide you the council with advances. Advance was actually founded in 2013, and I've had the privilege of heading the and leading the organization since 2016. During that time, Advance has evolved significantly from a single focus, one-person operation centered solely on new to market projects to a full service economic development organization with four dedicated employees. Today Advanced serves all communities within Pottawatomie County with a comprehensive approach that includes not only new to market business attraction but also existing business expansion and retention, entrepreneurial development and small business development, site identification and readiness, and most importantly, really intentional trust-based relationship building. The advanced team would not be able to accomplish our shared goal of growing Council Blessed in Pottawatomie County without the strong and consistent support that we've had from city council over the course of I've been in this role, it'll be 10 years next July. As well as your professional staff who are experts in their fields in all of the departments. So I want to make sure I thank them, and I'll probably do it again later because I work with them on a really, really consistent basis. So the support that we receive from the city really does extend far beyond the financial capacity of it. And so myself and my staff are deeply appreciative of the partnership that we have. We really could not do this work without the city. So just some highlights, and these are actually through June 30th. We'll send you our true staff into the year report in your email, like we always do each month. But you'll get the end of the year, probably in the first week of January. So consistently in 2025, between our urban rural and entrepreneurial projects, we've maintained an average of about 40 projects in our active pipeline. This year has been a little bit different than past years. We've worked on a lot of projects, but we've worked, we've landed less projects, but we've worked on much larger projects, if that makes sense.
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