State Bank of Waterloo has applied to the FDIC for permission to open a branch in Columbia.

The step is a formality, according to bank president and CEO Kevin Day, and construction is expected to begin in the spring.

“We’ve already hired a design-build firm,” Day confirmed. “It’ll be pushing it, but we hope to be open before the end of the year.”

State Bank of Waterloo currently has two locations in Waterloo and one in Valmeyer. The Columbia location will be at 1525 North Main Street, behind Midwest Petroleum at the site formerly occupied by Hardee’s.

In other Columbia news, the Columbia City Council gave one final review to a food truck ordinance before deciding to send it to the full council for a vote at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting. The council and city staff have been discussing and drafting the ordinance for months.

Among the regulations on food trucks wanting to operate within Columbia city limits are: submission of an application with the city to receive an annual license or permission to operate at a special event; restriction from parking within 750 feet of an existing restaurant, unless they are at a city special event; and prohibition from parking in areas zoned residential.

The full city council will vote on the ordinance during its Feb. 21 meeting.

Aldermen and mayor Kevin Hutchinson also heard an update on the former Video Exchange property at 1019 Valmeyer Road. The building was recently demolished and the land deemed unsuitable for further development due to chronic flooding.

In 2015, the city, realtor Dave Wittenauer and developer Brian Pendleton entered into an agreement to demolish the building and raise the elevation of the property above the floodplain so it can be available for future development while the city agreed to provide dirt from the Admiral Trost Subdivision Park, located across Valmeyer Road from the property, and to install a culvert under Valmeyer Road.

Work on the culvert was completed earlier this year, and Pendleton and Wittenauer are ready for the next step, which involves adding dirt to the lot to bring the elevation above the floodplain level.

Pendleton and Wittenauer have been mum about what might eventually be built at the location once improvements are completed.

“We’re entertaining offers from several end-users, but nothing’s been finalized yet,” Pendleton told aldermen on Monday night.