RIVERSIDE

A community center in Riverside is likely to feature a full-size gym and a running track.

It’ll have a function room for events.

It’ll have a workout area.

It may have a climbing wall.

But a daycare may not be a part of the planned facility, pending more discussion that will surface in meetings held by a yet-to-be-finalized committee.

Representatives from OPN Architects and Axiom Consultants, both based in Iowa City, met with the Riverside City Council on Monday to talk about preferences and ideas for a potential community center that would be located near Highland Elementary School.

City Manager Cole Smith told The News that a bond referendum would likely go in front of voters in 2025. The price tag for the community center would be about $8 million and Smith said grants and other fundraising will help lower the cost to taxpayers.

City Council member Ryan Rogerson was among those not in support of making a daycare a part of the community center.

The board recently visited the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center in Mount Vernon to get an idea of what could be built in Riverside. Monday’s session included OPN designers getting comments from City Council members on what they liked, and didn’t like, about Mount Vernon’s facility.

Public Hearings

The Council set a public hearing for November 4 for the Downtown Revitalization Project. The public hearing will include the bid letting, proposed designs and estimated costs for the downtown Riverside project.

The Council also set a public hearing for November 18 in conjunction with awarding a contract for the city’s wastewater plant UV system. The Council approved sending a letter-of-intent to Glasco UV of Mahwah, New Jersey, for the purchase of materials for the UV system.

Council Action

The Council approved a resolution to designate Veenstra and Kimm, Inc., as the planner and designer for the wastewater plant’s UV disinfection system.

Next board meeting: The City Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is at 6 p.m. November 4.