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Council approves Crossroads Church site plan; church asks council to cover $5,461.50 re-engineering cost
Summary
The council approved the Crossroads Church site plan for Lot One, Thunder Valley, while deferring the question of whether the city will reimburse the church $5,461.50 paid to rework engineering plans after an entrance location changed from Uliana to Thunder Hills Road.
The Peosta City Council voted to approve the Crossroads Church site plan for Lot One, Thunder Valley, but postponed a decision on whether the city should cover $5,461.50 the church paid to an architect and civil engineer to redesign the plans after the recommended entrance location changed.
Pastor Matthew Beers, who identified himself as pastor of Crossroads Church and said the congregation is fully donation-funded, told the council the church hired consultants and paid $5,461.50 to redo calculations when the approved entrance was moved from Uliana to Thunder Hills Road. "We're a church. Everything that we have to operate is done through the goodness of everyone's hearts and their generosity," Beers said, asking the council to consider covering the cost.
Planning staff and council members described the history: an earlier site plan showed a temporary entrance on Uliana with the permanent access to be built on a future street; development changes and a later reduction in the posted speed limit on Thunder Hills made an entrance there more appropriate, prompting design changes. Staff said the original plan approval dated back to about 2022 and acknowledged communication gaps during the intervening years.
Council members discussed precedent and responsibility for re-engineering costs. Staff answered that when a developer brings an engineered site plan and the city requires changes, the expense is not typically borne by the city; several council members proposed separating site-plan approval from the financing question, approving the plan while referring the reimbursement discussion to a work session so staff can research records and options.
The council then approved a resolution to accept the Crossroads site plan; votes were recorded in favor and the motion carried. The council directed staff to look for documentation of earlier approvals and said the financing matter would be revisited at a later work session.
Council did not decide at the meeting whether the city will reimburse the $5,461.50 engineering cost; that issue remains pending.
