SOLON — Jordan Creek Church is seeking to build a new facility along Highway 382 northwest of town, but the project faces hurdles due to annexation requirements, fragmented land parcels, and infrastructure costs.
City Council members said last week they support the project in principle but have questions over how to fund necessary road access and utility extensions without relying on taxpayer dollars.
Jordan Creek Church holds its meetings at the Solon Community Center, which is owned by the school district and leased to the city. However, the school district plans to demolish the building within the next few years, leaving the nondenominational Christian church, started in 2017, without a place to meet.
The property Jordan Creek wants to build on is owned by Bob Upmeyer, assistant director of External Programs at the University of Iowa, who spoke at the Council’s Feb. 19 meeting at City Hall. Upmeyer Farms LLC has 110 acres across six parcels with a combined land value of $155,000, all of which is farmland north and south of Highway 382.
The concept is considered an out-of-order development since the land where the church wants to build is not contiguous with city limits.
“It’s a unique piece of landscape and so I know that throws a bit of a wrench into the works and we appreciate you working with us,” Upmeyer said.
Solon would need to annex the land, a process City Administrator Cami Rasmussen said has been done in the past, but the complication lies in the multiple parcels involved.
“It’s not just the Upmeyers’ property, there’s a couple corner parcels that are going to need to be addressed,” Rasmussen said.
As the concept is still in its early stages nothing is set in stone, but the land would have to be annexed to become part of Solon.
The property Jordan Creek Church wishes to buy is not developed or connected to any of the city’s systems, so roads, water, septic systems, etc. will all have to be routed to them from Solon. Solon Mayor Dan O’Neil said taking on this project and having the city pay for it would be unfair for taxpayers.
“That’s not something the city should be responsible for,” O’Neil said.
All of the other members also agreed that the plan is fine but without the cost estimates for expanding infrastructure it wouldn’t be right for taxpayers to foot the bill.
A key question left unanswered was whether the church would cover the cost of building the street or if it would only be responsible for creating an access point—both options have significant financial implications.
“We don’t need a road all the way through there right now,” Rasmussen said. “How much of a road do we need for Jordan Creek to proceed with their project? Who pays for the road? You know typically in an orderly development the developers take up the roads and the infrastructure to the end of their properties so the next developers can hook on.”
Since the council doesn’t yet have that information, church leaders will have to plan out those details and come back at a later meeting.
“They obviously have a budget, and if that budget includes having to put in part of a street, then that budget changes significantly,” Rasmussen said.
Jordan Creek Church has continually been on the rise with attendance and fundraising, starting with around 30 members in 2017, to about 220 in 2024, while yearly donations jumped from $189,000 in 2021 to $354,000 in 2024, according to the church’s fundraising materials online.
The church estimates a 16,000-19,000-square-foot building including an auditorium, large lobby, gym and offices will cost between $6.5 million and $7.5 million to build.