East Okoboji Beach
Dickinson County, Iowa
Work is complete on the $4 million+ East Okoboji Beach Grading, Paving and Low Impact Development (LID) Project!
This project involved installation of underground storm sewer and culverts as well as concrete paving streets in the 75-acre subdivision located on East Okoboji Lake. The work was completed in four stages to minimize disruption to the residents.
Low impact development (LID) work also was included as part of this project and involved the installation of 2763 square feet of rain gardens, 1607 square feet of bio-retention cells, and 28,800 square feet of enhanced swales. A $386,000 Water Quality Improvement Grant was obtained to help pay for the LID portion of the project.
The rest of the work was paid for with Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and State Revolving Fund (SRF) monies. TIF is a public financing method that uses future gains in taxes to finance current improvements, because those improvements will ultimately increase the value of the area properties, thus allowing an increase in taxes. SRF monies are low-interest loans from this fund through Iowa Department of Natural Resources. These funds can be used for projects involving wastewater treatment; sewer rehabilitation, replacement and construction and storm water quality improvements. The latter was what qualified the East Okoboji Beach project for this funding. Since 1989, the DNR has loaned out over $1 billion in financing for water pollution control.
Please contact Scott Brunsvold or Jeff Rose at Jacobson-Westergard & Associates (712-362-2647) with any questions or comments regarding this project.