OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Community leaders in Ottumwa will be holding a community outreach meeting Thursday evening to discuss Brownfield properties within city limits.

The city has received a $400,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to study and test the environmental impact of these properties.

“One of the reasons that these properties were designated is because there are large parcels of property down there that are vacant. These properties maybe have been used for industrial purposes over the years, maybe 50 or 60 years ago. Now the property is not being used for much of anything. So we would like to be able to get that property into someone’s hands that would be interested in developing it,” said Jody Gates, Director of the Ottumwa Health Department.

Gates told KTVO that this program allows the city to go into the property and make sure that it is not contaminated.

“Sometimes there is a perception that the property is contaminated. The Brownfield program that we have, will allow us to conduct assessments on the site to determine whether there is contamination or to rule out contamination and that there is just no problem with the property,” said Gates.

The meeting takes place Thursday evening from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Elks Lodge on South Iowa Avenue. The city is asking the public to attend so that they can discuss this initiative in detail with community members.