SIREPA board looks at back up plans for Montrose property

CHILDCARE CENTER

We certainly hope we can figure out a way to make that happen here. The statistics are staggering around the need for child care.”

Mike Hickey, SIREPA Board Chairman

LEE COUNTY – The regional port authority that owns the Lee County Economic Development building in Montrose is mapping out contingencies for the property now that the Career Advantage Center operations have been moved to SCC’s campus in Keokuk.
At a regular board meeting Tuesday morning, Southeast iowa Regional and Economic Port Authority administrator Mike Norris presented the board with options for the property going forward.
The board, along with LCEDG, is hoping for a Community Project appropriation from Congress that would infuse more than $2 million into the facility to help kickstart a Lee County child care Center.
The appropriation was carried to Washington D.C. by Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks as one of her key projects to be funded in the federal fiscal year 2026 budget to be considered by Congress this year. Typically, the budget is signed sometime between March and August.
If the money is appropriated, construction would begin in 2027 with operations of the child care center to begin in 2028. In the meantime, Norris said SIREPA should focus on shoring up short term leases before construction begins and then pause that activity while construction is underway.
LCEDG CEO Emily Benjamin said the center would launch as a countywide, collaborative 3-year-old preschool operated by all three public school districts - Fort Madison, Keokuk, and Central Lee - with future expansion to include infant and toddler care. She said initially they would target 55 slots for 3-year-olds.
SIREPA Board Chair Mike Hickey said child care is a priority in Lee County.
“We, as a group, and not only this group, but LCEDG, has identified child care as one of the biggest issues we have to deal with in the county for future growth,” he said.
“We certainly hope we can figure out a way to make that happen here. The statistics are staggering around the need for child care.”
However, if the funding isn’t secured in the budget, Norris said then SIREPA and LCEDG should consider long-term leases and possibly selling the 8.2 acres north of the facility.
“LCEDG plans to lease as much space as possible in the near term as Congress deliberates on the FY 2026 budget,” Norris wrote in a report to the board.
“The building has garnered wide acclaim for its usefulness to Lee County as a real and symbolic place of discussion and collaboration.”
He said SIREPA is the only port authority in the state under Chapter 28J, to own a building and remains one of the most active authorities in the state.
LCEDG is responsible for all subleases on the property and is also responsible for funding the account that pays expenses associated with the building.
Connection Bank currently holds the note on the building and has been rolling an interest-only loan since 2021. Through 2024, LCEDG was paying that loan at .9% interest. The bank is offering another interest-only loan at 1.85%, which Norris said was still a very friendly rate.
However the income on the building through subleases to PV Pallet, Heartland Research, and Fox Valley Credit Union are not sufficient to pay for expenses. Benjamin said those leases only make up about 50% of the costs.
Board member Bruce Hardy asked if there was a value on the property to the north of the building.
Norris said there is a wide range of values there and it would depend on the eye of the beholder, whether it be for farming or retail or industry.
“There’s a theoretical floor and ceiling in that,” he said.
Hardy said there had to be an average in there and he was curious to what that would be, but no number was kicked around.
The board is looking for ways to make principal payments on the note with Connection Bank that may include funding that SIREPA has received as part of its lease buyout of fiber optic work done by Danville Telecom. SIREPA received a $400,000 buyout of that lease in April. SIREPA’s interest was secured in an America Rescue Plan Act grant from the county at $1.9 million. That money was moved to Danville Telecom to build a redundant fiber loop just north of Keokuk, and build out high speed Internet in the Wever area. Since SIREPA provided the funding, that also triggered a state broadband grant, they agreed to a 10-year ownership of the infrastructure in exchange for lease payments for a decade. Danville Telecom then bought out the 10-year lease before being acquired by ImOn earlier this month.
No action was taken at the meeting as the board wants to see what will happen with the congressional appropriation for the child care center.