-Messenger photograph via Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, 2nd from proper, stopped via the brand new Sparky’s One Forestall comfort retailer north of Rockwell Town on Tuesday and visited with native citizens concerning the close by Calhoun County Trade Park and different well timed subjects.
ROCKWELL CITY — When U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra stopped via the brand new Sparky’s One Forestall comfort retailer north of Rockwell Town Tuesday, he visited with native citizens concerning the close by Calhoun County Trade Park and different well timed subjects.
“I’m a ‘widespread flyer’ at this retailer and prefer to forestall right here after I’m touring to and from northwest Iowa,” Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, mentioned. “I’m so appreciative that you simply rebuilt it.”
In overdue November 2021, a blaze destroyed the busy comfort retailer, situated on the junction of U.S. Freeway 20 and Iowa Freeway 4. All the way through 2022, Sparky’s rebuilt the shop, which re-opened in early 2023. The industry has turn into a well-liked vacation spot now not just for native citizens, however motorists and over-the-road truckers touring on four-lane U.S. Freeway 20.
The ease retailer/truck forestall is situated simply south of the 115-acre Calhoun County Trade Park, which gives a number of room to develop at a main location alongside U.S. Freeway 20.
“We’re all for growing alternative,” mentioned Theresa Hildreth, govt director of Calhoun County Financial Building Company, who visited with Feenstra whilst he used to be in Calhoun County. “If you happen to’re able to construct a warehouse/distribution facility, value-added agriculture industry, resort or eating place, the whole thing you want to prevail is to be had proper right here.”
-Messenger photograph via Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Theresa Hildreth, left, govt director of Calhoun County Financial Building Company, and Calhoun County resident Andrew Lauver, proper, have been a few of the native voters who spoke with U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, heart, when he visited Calhoun County on Tuesday afternoon.
The Calhoun County Trade Park is situated within the middle of west-central Iowa’s agricultural area. 4-lane U.S. Freeway 20 supplies an instantaneous 56-mile pressure to Interstate 35 and a 90-mile pressure to Interstate 29 from the industry park. The devoted freeway interchange close to the industry park makes it an excellent location for warehousing, distribution, chilly garage, and different logistic provider suppliers, Hildreth mentioned.
Because the of completion of the four-lane U.S. Freeway 20 mission in overdue 2018, site visitors counts have soared close to the Calhoun County Trade Park. Site visitors counts rose just about 55 % via the summer time of 2023, when put next the primary quarter of 2021.
“The typical day-to-day site visitors rely is roughly 9,000 automobiles touring throughout the Freeway 20 and four intersection,” Hildreth mentioned.
Those numbers will most probably keep growing, Feenstra added.
“As Freeway 20 will get busier, the Calhoun County Trade Park generally is a high location for a distribution heart or different companies,” he mentioned.
-Messenger photograph via Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The 115-acre Calhoun County Trade Park, situated simply north of the Sparky’s One Forestall comfort retailer/truck forestall, gives a number of room to develop at a main location close to the junction of four-lane Freeway 20 and Freeway 4 north of Rockwell Town.
The Calhoun County Trade Park is situated in a federally-designated Alternative Zone, which is designed to spur financial enlargement whilst offering tax advantages to traders. The industry park may be in the neighborhood designated as an city renewal house, providing doable monetary incentives for construction.
“We’ve advanced 23 acres inside the industry park up to now and feature 13 sellable acres, together with 4 rather a lot starting from 1.5 acres to 4.7 acres,” Hildreth mentioned. “We will be able to additionally accommodate a lot higher land requests.”
Electorate proportion luck tales, considerations with Feenstra
The Calhoun County Trade Park mission is spearheaded via a construction group together with the CCEDC, the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors, the Calhoun County Electrical Cooperative Affiliation, and Corn Belt Energy Cooperative (CBPC) in Humboldt. Over time, CBPC has partnered in 25 plus business parks with its member distribution cooperatives, together with CCECA.
“A part of our project is to supply a greater high quality of lifestyles for the folk we serve,” mentioned Keaton Hildreth, CEO of the CCECA. “Supporting this industry park will assist draw in companies to the world, which creates jobs and helps the native tax base.”
Hildreth and different house citizens visited with Feenstra now not most effective concerning the industry park, however quite a lot of quality-of-life problems affecting rural Iowa, together with the desire for extra daycare choices, the loss of to be had housing in rural Iowa, and considerations concerning the U.S. Environmental Coverage Company’s overburdensome rules focused on energy vegetation.
Keaton Hildreth mentioned that renewable power resources like wind energy are treasured, however they can’t change baseload era resources, together with coal-fired energy vegetation. (Baseload energy refers back to the minimal quantity of electrical energy had to be equipped to {the electrical} grid at any given time.)
On Would possibly 23, the EPA launched its long-anticipated draft laws geared toward each new and present coal and herbal gasoline energy vegetation. EPA’s proposed laws comprise timelines which can be unrealistic and unachievable, in step with the Nationwide Rural Electrical Cooperative Affiliation. Compliance time limits endanger new and present herbal gasoline vegetation and necessarily make sure coal devices will decide to close down via 2035, in step with NRECA.
“The proposed laws will undoubtedly affect the affordability and reliability of electrical energy,” Keaton Hildreth mentioned all the way through his dialog with Feenstra at Sparky’s.
Using financial construction in rural Iowa
Dependable, reasonably priced electrical energy is essential to financial construction, together with the Calhoun County Trade Park.
Challenge leaders are these days imposing Segment 1 of the Calhoun County Trade Park’s deliberate four-phase construction. The world features a devoted avenue front to the industry park, drainage and stormwater detention, and water and sewer infrastructure get entry to for buildable rather a lot.
“Any of those rather a lot can also be subdivided as soon as with out the want to replat the land,” mentioned Theresa Hildreth, who added that covenants are in position to hide signage, mud, smell, truck loading docks and extra.
