Community foundation outlines cemetery grants, early housing talks and broadband options

During the public‑comment portion of the Madison County supervisors’ meeting, Ryan Markhart, speaking for a community foundation, described three initiatives the foundation is pursuing.

Markhart said the foundation has set up a continuously open matching fund for cemetery work — allowing counties, trustees, municipalities and nonprofits to apply for matching dollars for stone repair, fencing, tree removal and other exterior maintenance. "The goal is to leave that fund open and just kind of continually fill projects as they come in," Markhart said.

On housing, Markhart said early discussions are underway with a private developer and the Iowa Finance Authority about owner‑occupied homes that could qualify under aggregated area income limits. He said the program can produce two‑ to three‑bedroom, two‑bath homes with two‑car garages that still qualify for the subsidy when incomes are aggregated with larger metro areas.

Markhart also raised broadband costs in rural locations, estimating that running hard fiber to some homes could cost $25,000 to $35,000 per residence because of geography and rock ledge. He said the foundation and partners are exploring hybrid approaches that use shorter towers (sub‑100‑foot) to deliver connectivity where full fiber is prohibitively expensive.

Markhart asked the board to stay engaged as projects move from planning to application.