Iowa City may raise Taft Speedway

The city of Iowa City may elevate Taft Speedway in an effort to protect the Idyllwild neighborhood, which was swamped by last year's flood.

City staff went over the proposal with the City Council for the first time at a work session Monday night It was part of a broader discussion of several infrastructure projects for which the city plans to seek nearly $100 million in federal and state stimulus funds.

The council approved applications for all of the projects, although staff stressed that does not commit the city to undertaking any of them.

Idyllwild gained some notoriety after the flood when its 92 units were classified as one property because they are part of a condo association, a situation state officials said was unprecedented. Most of the units sit outside the 100-year flood plain and all homeowners are ineligible for federal buyouts. City officials were interested in using other funds to buy some Idyllwild property but that has not worked out.

Taft Speedway will have to be elevated if the city raises nearby Dubuque Street, which is a high priority for the city. An eight- or 10-foot levee on Taft Speedway would protect Idyllwild and even allow the construction of 12 more condos, said Jeff Davidson, the city's planning and community development director.

The project would cost an estimated $10 million. The neighborhood generates more than $20 million in property taxes annually, according to the city.

“We really don't have another way of protecting it,” Davidson said.

Homes on Taft Speedway are eligible for buyouts, but several owners have said they will not sell. This project would leave them on the wet side of a levee. Six people who live on Taft Speedway have signed a petition objecting to the project.

Thirty-seven homeowners have moved back into Idyllwild and soon about 30 more units will be rented out, said Sally Cline, who lives in Idyllwild and is president of its condo association.

Cline said before the meeting that she thought most Idyllwild homeowners would welcome the project as added protection against future flooding, although she assumed it would be at least a few years before it's done.

The city also is seeking funding for: raising Dubuque Street and Park Road Bridge, relocating a wastewater treatment plant, a new fire station, an affordable housing project, levees south of town, and a lift station and flood gates on Rocky Shore Drive.