The long road to Lacey begins

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November 20, 2009

By ANDY GOODELL

OSKALOOSA — It was the first step on a long road ahead.

On Wednesday night, a joint meeting between the Oskaloosa City Council, Mahaska County Board of Supervisors, Mahaska Community Recreation Foundation and the George Daily Trust was held. The complicated issue of road access to the Lacey Recreation Complex was slowly chipped away at throughout the meeting at the MCRF building on 238th Street.

Eventually, two separate votes from the city council and board of supervisors approved a motion by Mahaska County Supervisor Willie VanWeelden to proceed with plans for the city and the county to commit to the development of Green Street and Laveen Avenue. This roadway includes both city and county land, running north and south near the Lacey Complex.

“The county has money, the city has a little bit of money — let’s get something done,” said Oskaloosa City Manager Michael Schrock Jr. “That’s the bottom line.”

Before deciding “Green/Laveen” was a priority, the entities at the meeting mulled over the various access routes to the complex including 238th Street, Green Street/Laveen Avenue, 230th Street and Kirby Avenue. East and west access to Lacey connecting to highways 63 and 163 was also discussed.

Joe Crookham, representing the George Daily Trust on the MCRF board, said one of the issues placing urgency on developing better access to the Lacey Complex includes future development of the area.

“One of the issues is that, we’re looking at a stadium that’s $2 or $3 million,” said Crookham. “For the stadium to go forward, the road issue has to be solved. It seems that Green/Laveen is part of the long-term solution no matter what you do.”

Crookham said the stadium design includes a full track surrounding a soccer/football field, with a second stadium beside it that could provide a venue for “top level” soccer tournaments.

There’s another wrinkle in this road.

Mahaska County Supervisor Vice Chair Lawrence Rouw brought up the issue of annexation of land by the city of Oskaloosa. He also expressed concern over who would be more obligated to fund any road development — the city or the county.

Schrock acknowledged past annexations may have been unfair, but that the city is not “looking to swindle” the county. He added, one solution could be to divide a master plan for access to the Lacey Complex into phases.

Schrock also stressed the city’s financial dedication to improving access to the Lacey Complex, which could include IJOBS money from both the city and county, as well as city bonding money.

“We’re going to put all our bonding money for this,” said Schrock. “That’s how big a priority it is.”

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Herald City Editor Andy Goodell can be reached at news2@oskyherald.com

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Reg Randau speaks at a candidate forum at Smokey Row back in May. At the time, he was running as a Republican for a seat on the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors. Now he’s running as an Independent.