A decision will be made by the Pella City Council on Tuesday on whether to advance two key quality-of-life projects to the bidding phase.

While not listed as formal resolutions, an agenda item has been placed under petitions and communications, listed as “Long-term Facility Plan Discussion.” This will be a continuation of several meetings worth of conversation and deliberation about whether to ultimately proceed to construction bids on both the proposed construction of a new indoor recreation facility and renovation of the Pella Community Center. Also listed is expansion of University Street east to 250th Place from 240th.

In total, the three projects are estimated to cost just over $50 million, with 59% coming from city funds. Mayor Don DeWaard indicated at the December 3rd meeting that bid documents for the rec center will be covered by a private pledge.

Read the full city council memo, which details the financial impacts of each project here. While there is no formal resolution on the agenda, if four council members join the mayor in their support, the projects will go to bid, with contracts to be considered in the spring. City Administrator Mike Nardini stressed in the documents that final decisions would be made at those meetings with specific details about costs for construction, as opposed to now, which would be based on engineers’ estimates.

Tuesday’s Pella City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Pella Public Safety Complex.