MASON CITY — NIACC’s expanding athletic complex is prompting Mason City to relocate land reserved for a future water tower on the city’s east side, with the City Council set to consider a land swap involving the college and NIACC Foundation.
The council will hold a public hearing Tuesday, September 1, on transferring city-owned property to North Iowa Area Community College and acquiring replacement property from NIACC and the NIACC Foundation.
The unusual land exchange stems directly from NIACC’s new baseball and softball complex.
(TOP PHOTO of Highway 122, looking east toward the NIACC campus.)
Mason City currently owns property within the area surrounding NIACC east of College Drive. The city acquired the property as a possible location for a future water tower intended to serve the east side of Mason City.
The existing site includes a roughly 200-foot-by-200-foot area large enough to accommodate a water tower, along with access to College Drive. A city water main also runs through the property.
But NIACC’s expanding athletic facilities have changed the equation.
In March, the City Council approved a letter of agreement with NIACC outlining a land swap because the college’s new baseball and softball complex would encroach on the city’s existing future water tower site.
The athletic development has since moved forward rapidly.
NIACC broke ground this summer on the first phase of its “Let’s Light ’Em Up” athletic facilities project, which includes new synthetic turf baseball and softball fields along with improvements to the college’s soccer facilities.
NIACC officials have said the project is intended not only to improve facilities for Trojan athletes but also to help Mason City attract high school games, tournaments and other events.
Under the proposed land arrangement now before the Mason City Council, the future water tower would be shifted farther east onto adjoining property owned by the NIACC Foundation.
City Engineering officials believe the replacement site is actually better suited for the eventual tower.
The proposed new tower property would measure approximately 300 feet by 300 feet, compared with the roughly 200-foot-by-200-foot area currently reserved for the structure.
A strip of land would extend from the replacement tower site west to College Drive, giving the city access immediately east of an existing parking lot.
Mason City would transfer its current 200-foot-by-200-foot water tower parcel to NIACC, clearing the way for the college’s athletic development.
The city is not building the water tower as part of the current transaction. Rather, the land is being preserved so Mason City has a suitable location available when an additional east-side water tower is eventually needed.
One complication created by the land exchange is that part of an existing city water main would wind up on NIACC property.
To address that, the city has prepared a public utility easement giving Mason City continued access to the water main. That easement would be executed after the property transfer is completed.
City staff says the land transaction itself will have no impact on the city budget.
Development Services Director Steven Van Steenhuyse is recommending that council members approve the exchange following Tuesday’s public hearing.
The proposal illustrates how NIACC’s major athletic expansion is beginning to reshape not only the college campus but some of Mason City’s long-term infrastructure planning around it.
The Mason City Council’s regular meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Mason City Public Library.