SEARGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (KTIV) -
Sioux City and Woodbury County are at odds again.
After months of progress over future development and infrastructure improvements, the collaboration suffered a setback Monday night.
City leaders withdrew their support for the Liberty Industrial Park, saying county officials haven't held up their end of the bargain.
Last year, the city agreed to support the Liberty Project and the county agreed to support a second interchange near Sioux City's industrial park, Southbridge.
The county promised to send a letter to the Iowa Department of Transportation, but never did.
Now, the DOT is moving forward with a county project, the Port Neal Interchange, with the money the city was hoping to use.
"The city has about $70 million invested in the Southbridge area right now, and the interchange is a big deal. It's important to us. There will be some competition between the two. It's your tax money getting used twice," said John Fitch.
Despite concerns about competition, county leaders argue both industrial parks could bolster business in the region. One official says the state has even looked at combing both industrial parks.
"They were looking at this area as a megasite. This would be only one of four megasites in the Iowa area. So, if this does not come through, we may not be a megasite," said County Supervisor George Boykin.
Boykin says the county still supports the second interchange, and that they were waiting for a citizen group to sign-off on it. They did Monday night.
The county's hoping it can convince the city to get back on board, because they can't use tax incentives to lure industry to Liberty Park, unless they get the city's support.
However, they also have to get century farm owners to agree to give up their land. Something, that's proving just as difficult.
"You can never get your farm land back. Once you take it and put a building on it, it's not farmland anymore, and you can't get the farmland back," said Colette Godfredson.
The City says they're not against Liberty Park at all. They say the county changed the rules, so they want to start the discussions from scratch.
The Siouxland Chamber of Commerce plans to mediate.
Meanwhile, county leaders say officials in Salix, another community that pulled its support (when the county agreed to support the second interchange possibly risking Port Neal's future), is now talking about getting back in.
