Sinclair plant now expected to bring $19 million for other uses; Shey recalls hoots council got in 2007 for spending $2 million on the place

CEDAR RAPIDS - By June 30, the City Council hopes to decide how it will spend millions of dollars in special federal disaster funds that the city will receive because it cannot replace certain flood-damaged city facilities.

The largest single amount of these funds is tied to the former Sinclair meatpacking plant, which is slated for quick demolition now that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has deemed it an “imminent threat” to public health and safety.

Last night, Greg Eyerly, the city's flood-recovery director, upped his earlier estimate of about $16 million, and said the city now could see as much as $18.9 million for use in an alternative project.

This prompted council member Pat Shey last night to recall that the city paid $2 million for the Sinclair property in January 2007 - the Hall Perrine Foundation also contributed $2 million for the purchase -- in a move that garnered some criticism at the time. He noted that council members Justin Shields and Chuck Swore had been instrumental in the purchase, and, with now the prospects of an $18.9-million payment from FEMA for the site, Shey attributed the purchase to Shields' “genius” and Swore's “dumb luck.”

Eyerly reported to the council that the city's department heads had offered dozens of ideas on how to use the money from the Sinclair plant and other city-owned facilities that won't be repaired, including the hydroelectric plant at the base of the 5-in-1 dam, the former Quality Chef buildings on Third Street in New Bohemia and the First Street Parkade.

Mayor Ron Corbett has suggested that the Sinclair money could be used to provide the city's required $17-million match for the new $67-million Event Center project.

The estimated $13.8-million that FEMA may pay for the hydroelectric plant could help pay for a new waste-to-energy incinerator at the city's Water Pollution Control facility or could be used to build two wind turbines at one of the city's water treatment plants, Eyerly noted.