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Urbandale endorses Mid Iowa Planning Alliance's pursuit of Council of Governments designation
Summary
The council voted to support MIPA's effort to be added to Iowa Code chapter 28H as a Council of Governments (COG). Staff said COG designation would provide modest state funding (~$20,000), access to IPATE/IPERS options and administrative benefits for federal/state program delivery; MIPA sought letters of support for a Dec. board vote and legislative outreach.
Urbandale City Council voted to endorse the Mid Iowa Planning Alliance(MIPA) as it seeks a Council of Governments (COG) designation under Iowa Code chapter 28H.
Aaron Dionne, Urbandale's economic development director, introduced Andrew Collings, executive director of MIPA, who described MIPA as a regional planning nonprofit serving a seven-county region and explained the implications of state-level COG recognition. Collings said the designation would make MIPA eligible for an estimated $20,000 in state funding, allow use of IPATE banking arrangements, and create access to IPERS retirement options that aid staff recruitment. He emphasized that membership dues and voting structure would not change and that communities would not be forced to join MIPA as a result of the designation.
Councilmembers asked about historical examples of large regional entities that later failed and about whether counties such as Polk and Dallas had participated; Collings acknowledged past regional failures (a large entity that later went defunct) and said Polk and Dallas County had not yet engaged on the matter. Collings said MIPA's executive committee had unanimously recommended pursuing the designation and that the full MIPA board would vote Dec. 11.
Councilmember moved approval of council letter 8364 in support of the COG application; the motion passed. Collings and staff requested local letters of support and contact with state legislators if the council wished to assist the legislative process.
