Sunday, July 29, 2012

RAGBRAI in Roland

Didn't get a chance to post on Ragbrai coming thru Roland. I took off on vacay as soon as the bikers were out of town (well, at least most of them). I must admit, I was a little underwhelmed at the community interest in helping pull this off. The Popp family and the Gustafson family did most of the work, and I am thankful to them for the efforts in making Ragbrai go in Roland.

As far as I know, everything went off pretty well. I was working at the Britson Park stand, in that park, though I also hopped on the bike and toured around town, to see how things were going. We had a lot of folks in lawn chairs, cheering, giving good words, and just generally enjoying the spectacle. We got a few more vendors in downtown, and they looked like they were keeping reasonably busy. I haven't heard if the stands were big money makers or not.

Thanks to our EMS folks too. I saw a pedestrian/bike collision that scuffed some people up. Otherwise I heard of no major issues.

At the stand I was at, I head a lot of bikers that were going to call it a day at Zearing. They didn't want the hills or to face the south wind into Marshalltown. I also heard a lot of "Who is Gary Thompson?" Seeing the rocket, most thought he was an astronaut.

I got to talk to people from California to Pennsylvania. That was kinda fun. Ragbrai itself can be a lot of work. And it is a distraction. But it is certainly an "Iowa thing" and a sight to see. With as blazing hot as it was, I'm glad it wasn't me on the bike.

Here is a photo with a biker, who just happened to be wearing the same color shirt as the Britson Park stand workers. She seemed impressed she could get a photo with the mayor and Park Board President

Logo on Water Tower

You may have seen it in council minutes, but the city council approved the addition of a Norsemen head to our water tower. Re-painting should begin within a couple weeks. We will first repaint the inside. During that time, we will connect to rural water.

Then the outside will get pressure sprayed, and repainted. It will be all white, much like now, with the exception of being painted black under the bowl, to hide the mold/mildew that tends to form on all water towers over time.

So here ya go...

Saturday, July 21, 2012

July 18 Council Meeting

Had everybody but Council Member Sargent at the meeting, which took about an hour. We heard that water tower painting is going to be delayed a little bit until Minerva Wireless gets the hardware needed to do standoffs on their transmission lines. Also street repairs will be starting on Bryan Ave in a couple weeks. Cracked and busted concrete will be replaced, with tile lines going underneath. This is on the older section of Bryan.

Our city tractor had something go bad in the hydraulic system. That will cause a slight delay on the infield construction at Britson Park. The tile installation has started under the fields.

The council approved payment for electrical work in the community center. There are a lot of unknown runs of wire that previously went to the refrigerator units that were in that building. They will be pulled out, and will get it up to code. I should add these are in the basement.

We had more discussion about the sump pump inspection implementation. All homes will have inspections start in September. They will be at times convenient to home owners, including on weekends. The goal is to make sure no sump pumps are discharging into our sanitary sewer system. If they are, they will fail the inspection, and the homeowner will have to fix, or arrange to have that fixed.

The council approved the zoning change for the property at the corner of Cottonwood and Walnut from I-1 to R-2. Previously that was zoned industrial, which made sense, as it was right next to where the railroad track used to be, and it is adjacent to the Key Co-op property. However, it is also next to housing, so this change is not spot zoning. R-2 is also that neighborhood, so it fits right in. The property owner also intends to build housing properties similar to his on South Main Street. Always nice to see people investing in Roland.

We had more discussion on the trunk line sewer. The council gave the go ahead to do core drilling along the route of the proposed trunk line sewer. It will be done where property owners have given permission. Knowing what is in the ground and soil types would help any potential bidder make a more informed judgment on how to bid. With reports of a past landfill in that area, I was hoping all property owners would be favorable to having that small 10 inch hole dug in their backyard so we can get a better feel of what is in there before making a decision on whether to proceed. As of now, that has not happened, so that is unfortunate.

Check out the Roland Museum

Just a reminder that on Sundays from 1 to 4, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, you can stop in the Roland Museum. It is at 104 Poplar, a 1/2 block north of Bergen Lutheran Church.

They have old yearbooks, school memorabilia, photos, antiques, and a bunch of other stuff. I didn't grow up here, but I still find the museum to be interesting, with a lot of things to snoop through.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Burn Ban in Effect

Here is the release...

NEVADA- An open burn ban has been issued beginning at 8:00 am on Friday, July 13th, 2012 for all of Story County.

An open burn ban has been instituted to reduce risk to lives and property caused by an increased threat of fire due to dry conditions in Story County. The Emergency Management Coordinator and Fire Chiefs of Story County requested the State Fire Marshall implement this burn ban for all rural and urban areas of Story County until further notice.

Chapter 100.40 of the Iowa Code advises that the State Fire Marshal may prohibit open burning at the request of the local fire departments. Violation of a prohibition issued under this section is a simple misdemeanor.

Open burning in Story County will ONLY be allowed if the Fire Chief of that jurisdiction has issued a permit allowing open burning; or for outdoor fireplaces, barbeque grills, properly supervised dumping grounds, or the burning of trash incinerators or trash burners made of metal, concrete, masonry, or heavy one inch wire mesh with no openings greater than one square inch.

Due to dangerously dry conditions, the forecasted rain this week may not be enough to decrease the risk of fire. Due to this combination of conditions it is likely this will be a long term burn ban.

Further information can be found at: http://www.dps.state.ia.us/fm/main/burnbans/index.shtml or at www.storycountyiowa.gov/ema

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Forgive us our trespasses--uh no.

A Story County deputy caught 3 individuals in our pool at 3AM a few days ago. No real damages other than a bench that mysteriously ended up in the bottom of the pool. But just a note that the city is pressing charges for trespassing and will be seeking repayment of OT and labor for city employees that had to respond to the incident, if the individuals are found to be guilty.

July 2 Council Meeting

The regularly scheduled council meeting for the first Wednesday fell on Independence Day. So we moved it up to July 2. But I couldn't make it. So I like to comment on the meetings, but all I have is the minutes. Sounds like there was some good stuff. Short meeting tho. We never have those when I am there.

Here are the minutes.