Waterloo council to consider Crystal expansion

Feb 1, 2010 — Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Tim Jamison

Jan. 31, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- WATERLOO -- Crystal Distribution Inc. appears ready to begin an expansion at its Rath Brownfields Area location.

Waterloo City Council members are scheduled Monday to consider making a $2.2 million loan to the company from a pool of federal funds received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The low-interest loan would help Crystal construct a new cold storage facility south of its existing cold storage building at Vinton and Sycamore streets on the former Rath Packing Co. site.

Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson said the project would create or retain 45 jobs at the company, with many of those workers living in the surrounding neighborhood.

The financial arrangement is part of a relatively complicated Section 108 loan and Brownfields Economic Development Initiative grant the city received through HUD in 2002.

While the city has loaned itself money to pay for downtown river wall construction and street repairs in the Rath area, it must still make the loan to Crystal to avoid potentially having to pay back part of the BEDI funds.

In other business, council members will consider a request from Contemporary Urban Development to rezone land on the northeast corner of Idaho Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive for the development of a convenience store.

The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday in the council chambers on the second floor of City Hall.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0150-41666042