Council approves conveyance of city property to Bartles Lutheran Retirement Community

The Waverly City Council on July 20 approved a resolution authorizing the conveyance of certain city-owned property to Bartles Lutheran Retirement Community and the execution of a related purchase-and-development agreement.

Paula Geiss, CEO of Bartles Lutheran Retirement Community, told the council the organization has served seniors in the area "for 72 years" and that the proposed development would add a mid-market level of housing within its continuum of care. "We most certainly, have been talking with our board of directors for quite some time about adding some middle market to our different levels of care," Geiss said.

A councilor disclosed a prior role with Bartles during discussion and sought to clarify tax implications after constituents raised questions. The councilor stated, "just because Bartels is a nonprofit doesn't mean that they don't pay property taxes," adding that the nursing care center portion that bills Medicaid is the one exempt from property taxes. That councilor also said they had previously been a member of the Bartles board and expressed confidence in the organization's ability to maintain resident quality of life.

After public comments and council discussion, the council closed the hearing and voted to approve Resolution 26-153. The resolution authorizes the conveyance and execution of the purchase-and-development agreement; specific implementation details and timelines were not specified during the meeting.

The approval follows staff presentations and a public hearing in which no members of the public registered objections at the meeting. The council did not identify additional conditions in the vote record; next procedural steps for recording the conveyance and executing the development agreement were not detailed in the transcript.