The Marshalltown City Council has approved using local option sales tax revenues to help pay the costs involved with completing an extensive trails project within the community.

On Monday, the council approved contributing $250,000 in “lost” revenues toward the Iowa Rivers Edge project.  The funding appropriation will allow Trails Incorporated to reach a 60 percent funding threshold to apply for a Destination Iowa Grant.’  The grant would cover the remaining 40 percent of the project.

Trails Incorporated  and the City of Marshalltown  have $550,000 available to pave an estimated 1.8 miles of the Iowa River’s Edge Trail between two bridges.  With the council’s $250,000 pledge, Trails Incorporated will be responsible for contributing the estimated $40,000 remaining to reach 60 percent funding.

The bridge replacement portion of the project is scheduled to take place in 2023.

At Monday’s meeting, the council also heard from Casey Byers, a landscape architect with Bolton and Menk Corporation, who presented architectural drawings for a proposed improvement project at Riverview Park.

The idea of enacting an urban tree fee as an added source of revenue for the city was again revisited  by the council at Monday’s meeting.  City Administrator Jessica Kinser noted there was a problem with wording with the current  proposal in order for that to occur.  Thus, the issue would need to appear on a ballot and be voted on by the public before a fee could legally be assessed by the city.

The council later voted to remove the language referring to the urban tree fee with the item to be brought back for further discussion at a later date.