Town Meeting last Wednesday--this is a long one

Some citizens hosted a town meeting at the community center last Wednesday regarding their concerns regarding a proposed sewer trunk line. I wanted to address some of the statements that were in the flyer that went out to the homes in Roland. I also want to address some of the comments that were brought up during the meeting. First the flyer.

First the headline: TAXES AND SEWER BILLS TO INCREASE IN ROLAND

If the word "MAY" was in there, I'd have no problem with that. The headline makes it sound like a done deal. It is not. If the city council carries through with its plan, yes they will. But it is far from a done deal. So that is a minor quibble, but a quibble nonetheless.

Next line: City may spend up to $4,000,000 of OUR MONEY

This is simply fear mongering. The city council has never mentioned, considered, or put forth any plan to spend that amount of money on the sewer system. The city does have an engineering estimate for two sewer upgrade possibilities that could cost that much should the DNR force an upgrade on us. In fact, the city council is trying to avoid spending that, so has taken on other efforts to keep the DNR happy with our sewer system. Implying that the city council is planning such a thing is simply incorrect.

Next line: The City of Roland has changed direction since the last "Town Information Meeting" that was held in February....

That again, is incorrect. There was no decision made at the town meeting, because it was simply that, a forum to share information. At the next regular council meeting, on March 7, the council decided to hold a work session to discuss the various options. At the special work session meeting on March 19, the council members decided to go ahead with the trunk line sewer project. Then in the regular council meeting on Wednesday, March 21, that path was reiterated. HERE is a link to the minutes. To say that the council has changed direction is completely incorrect. The council has stuck with that plan since the first work session after the February town meeting. In that same meeting, if you read the minutes, you will see the city council also authorized slip lining the worst sewer lines in town, as general funds were available. As noted in the community meeting, slip lining the entire system would cost $2,000,000.

As we go down further in the flier....General consensus delivered to the City at these meetings.....

This is simply subjective opinion offered by the creator of the flier. There were many viewpoints offered at the meeting, including viewpoints that were different than the direction that the city council ultimately chose. But there was no consensus reached, as to reach consensus, the decision makers would have to buy off on a plan. The council made no decision at that meeting.

Next part....Several taxpayers have been attending Council Meetings trying to understand what this means....

Yes that is correct, and though I am generally not in agreement with those folks, it is nice to have engaged citizens. The "change of direction" is again mentioned in this paragraph, and see above for my dispute with that claim.

Down a bit....We believe you should be informed and concerned when there are large financial projects in the works that will require YOUR MONEY to complete and may reach $4,000,000.

I have no problem with that either. The thing is, the city council is trying to avoid spending $4,000,000. We can sit here and do nothing, and the DNR can come in and say, "Bang, you are doing this." Or we can make a good faith effort to get to where the DNR wants us, at a much slower pace. And the city council has to consider the entire town of Roland. Flooded basements of storm water and sewage are not good for people on an individual basis, or the town as a whole. It can be a drain on the property values of the entire community. The city council has taken a look at many options and directions to go for the good of Roland. I think the decisions that have been made so far are good for the long term health of entire sewer system of Roland.

Last paragraph...This meeting is for informational purposes so you are aware of what is happening....it is NOT to ridicule the City and we will conduct this meeting in a civil adult-like manner.

I think the folks that put this on did a pretty good job with that. I think the meeting was indeed civil, and didn't beat on the council members in a personal way. I do disagree with some of the conclusions they put forth. I would hope any observer of the meeting would step back and consider what the motivation for hosting the meeting was. These folks, while possibly having concern for the taxpayers of Roland, also have their own personal self-interest in this project based on where the proposed trunk line will run. The city council has to look at what is best for the city as a whole. And unfortunately, that includes making decisions that some people in the community are not going to be happy with. And so that led to this meeting, which these folks were using their right to organize citizens to encourage the council to go in a different direction.

On to some of the comments made by the organizers during the meeting that I disagree with. One is in regarding to the current trunk line, and it being new. It is 30-40 years old. It is indeed new compared to much of the town. But it has issues. We have videoed the line. It has "waves" in it, where it does not all flow downhill. This pipe may be fine if it was as it was installed. But because it is not flat, it reduces the capacity of the pipe. Go to City Hall and watch it yourself. We can all wish it were in good shape, but it is not.

Second is in regards to the pump at the sewer plant being unable to keep up. During our last flood event, it was cycling on and off, which means it was able to keep up. The folks running the meeting say it was running continuously. Our sewer superintendent and a council member that lives near the plant say it was cycling. The council as a whole has to make a choice as to which opinion is correct. If the pump can keep up right now, that is approximately $200,000 we don't have to spend now.

One statement in particular said by a leader of the meeting really frosts my behind. It was something to the effect of, "and Roland city taxes are already one of the highest around here." That is simply not true, and an unwarranted shot at the city council, city staff, and our boards that budget for our various city features. All of them are very conscientious about spending our tax dollars. Making public statements like that start to get a buzz out there in the "world" and put doubts in people's minds about Roland being a good place to live. Here is the truth:

Of the 15 communities in Story County, Roland has the 5th lowest city tax rate.

If you don't believe, HERE is the link from Story County with the rates for all cities, school districts, and all the other folks that levy property tax.

If you don't want to go to the link, here are the levy rates (dollars levied per $1000 of assessed valuation.) Sheldahl $2.98, Cambridge 8.00, Kelley 8.10, Story City 8.28, Roland 10.07, Maxwell 10.16, Zearing 10.62, Ames 10.72, Gilbert 10.94, Collins 11.33, Huxley 11.83, McCallsburg 12.24, Colo 12.81, Slater 14.35, Nevada 15.42.

One last note regarding a question that someone in the audience may have asked, and was presented one way by the presenters, albeit with some uncertainty of what would happen. So this is no particular beef I have with anyone, just passing along the info. And that was regarding whether the city council could push through this expenditure without a city wide public vote. If the city council were to carry through with the plan for a new trunk line and pump (we would need a new pump in this case, because we would have a larger line feeding into it), it would cost about $900,000. If the city council chose to fund it completely via sewer rates, they would not have to hold an election to borrow that amount of money. If the project was funded with property tax, any amount over $400,000 coming from property tax would have to go to a public vote, and pass with a 60% super majority.

I think when the meeting ended, because this meeting was not set up in a debate format, that the seeds of doubt were placed on the rationality of the city council. The purpose of this blog post is to offer a counter to some of what was presented. City Council meetings give citizens an opportunity to challenge decisions and ideas.

I would like to add the council moved forward in an unanimous way on this particular project. I am not going to sit here and say the council acted completely on facts. Much of it is opinion, based on weighing various facts and opinion, to come up with a best course of action. Folks can disagree on this course, and that is fine. But I would like to pass along some of the if/buts the council had to consider.

If we do nothing, the DNR may force a $4,000,000 sewer upgrade upon us. We need to get inflow and infiltration out of our sanitary sewer system to cut down what we must treat. We want to keep sewage out of people's basements. There were backups in several geographic sections of Roland. Much of our sewer system is over 100 years old. If we go down the backyard of the folks on Samson with a new trunk line, we will have to get an easement and disrupt their lives/yards for some amount of time. If we run the new trunk line down the middle of the street, it will cost an extra $600,000. Is the disruption of the back yard of 12 people worth flood and backup prevention for 50 or 100? We could institute a sump pump inspection plan, to make sure people weren't running their sump water into the sanitary sewer. We could force around 100 people in Roland to have costly changes to the drainage systems around their houses to potentially keep water out of the sanitary sewer system--maybe around an average of $2-3000 per homeowner. We could slip line the entire town at a cost of $2,000,000. However sliplining the entire town doesn't cure I/I water that gets in from the house to the sewer main. We want to get this done soon, to prevent more backups. Will the sliplining fix the problem of I/I? Will a new trunk line prevent sewer backups? Will sump pump connection changes solve the problem?

Those are just some of the questions the council had to ponder. Some of those things we have gone forth with. And after pondering all that stuff and more, the course we are on is what the council came up with. Again, I don't presume to speak for the whole council, but I think the decision really came down to two things. How can we quickly keep sewage from backing up in people's basements, and how can we avoid dropping $4,000,000 on a new sewer plant.

So there ya go, long winded yes. If you have questions, feel free to contact me, or one of the city council. Or you are certainly invited to the next city council meeting on November 7. Or comment right here. I get hits, so I know folks are reading my blog, but rarely do people comment. I encourage that here.

Post Office changes

Roland residents should have received a questionnaire from the USPS regarding how to best handle a reduction in hours at the Roland Post Office. The USPS also held a meeting at the Post Office on Thursday regarding that possibility.

I went to that, and they handed out the results of the survey. 652 surveys went out, 266 were returned. 239 or 90% wanted a realignment of hours, 4% wanted city wide delivery option, 1% wanted to go to a village post office option, nobody wanted complete closure and 5% made no selection.

Based on what was handed out, a change in hours is going to be likely to 10AM to 4PM on weekdays and remaining from 10AM to Noon on Saturdays.

So anyway, it is what it is, but just passing along what came from that meeting.

The Election

I generally enjoy the political stuff that goes on, unlike most people. Just from a marketing standpoint, I find it interesting how the spin doctors try to pump up their candidate, or tear down their opponent. Despite the horse race of it all, it is important who gets elected, especially the lower the race. I must admit being jaded about the presidential candidates tho. But there is one race that those of us in Roland can vote for that the differences between the candidates are clear and defined.

I wholeheartedly endorse and encourage Roland residents to vote for Steve King for US Congress. He is a guy that understands what it takes to get the economy going, get people jobs, and create the personal freedom that happens to individuals when they have money in their pockets.

I could link in an ad here touting King. But that is all part of the marketing thing that so many people get sick of.

So instead I will link in the last debate between King and his opponent that was just on Iowa Public TV. Watch it yourself. There is an obvious person that has a command of the issues, that doesn't stammer during tough questions, and is a good fit for the average person in Iowa's 4th District. Steve King.

Iowa Public Television 4th District Debate

Oct 17 Council Meeting

Not much on the agenda. All council members were there except CM Proctor. No word yet on the resurfacing of the north block of Logan. It will get done when Manatts gets done with some project they have going on, on Hiway 30. No particular update on sump inspections. We still have a few homes that need inspections.

We had a brief discussion regarding a potential contract with JCG regarding hiring them for easement negotiations along the proposed route for the trunk sewer line. They were unavailable to be at the meeting, and the council had some questions, so no further actions were taken.

I thought we were done, but then we got into another circuitous discussion about the trunk line sewer project.

We also had our city attorney at the meeting for a discussion around Freedom of Information Requests to the city. We do not have a policy regarding that. We may wish to adopt one in the future. He showed us one of another small city in Iowa that seems to work well for them. Basically it is to make sure citizens have access to any documents they are interested in, but also that the city doesn't take a financial hit coming up with them, so the requestor would need to pay the standard copy charges, and the labor costs of a city's staff used to search for the documents. So more to come on that.

Mayor meetings

Been to a couple different things as part of my Mayor duties that are outside of the City of Roland here in the past week.

Today I got to eat lunch and freeze outside the Ames Resource Recovery Plant. They had a little presentation for the folks that use the ARRP. In case you didn't know, our garbage goes to Ames, gets mixed with coal, and makes electricity. Yay. I saw a chart they we provide something like 1.4% of the garbage that goes to that facility. Due to more environmental regs, they may have to do some upgrades, which of course means more cost to the consumer. So I imagine we will see our garbage rates go up.

I also, as mayor, am a member of the Story County 911 board. We had a quick meeting to approve the consultant for the needed 911 equipment upgrade. Some of the radio equipment is getting on the old side, so we are working on getting prices and vendors, and stuff like that. That is paid for out of the 911 fee that is added to your landline and/or cell bill.

I also attending a mock drill at our county Emergency Management Agency. Just kinda went thru what would happen, and in this drill, assuming a bad blizzard, loss of power, and a fire. Didn't take long, but good to see what will all happen.

Green Street

Green Street in Roland is only 2 blocks long, but it looks to be the political battleground street in the battleground state of Iowa. Drove down Green today, and I think they hands down have the most political yards signs in the city.

I like politics, and while I have my opinions on the topic, I am one of the sick individuals that enjoys watching the ads and all the hubbub that surrounds an election. Some of my good friends take an opposite tack as me. I see no need to get all hateful and "unfriend" them. I just give them guff about their screwed up world view!

Back to Green Street, it is interesting to see the back and forth between the candidates there. We have the obvious Republican yards right next to the obvious Democrat yards. When they have a block party, I bet that is a good time.

I'll just give a shout out to those with the King signs in their yard. Good job!

Minnesota Twins Community Fund Awards $10,000 Grant to Roland

Here is the official press release. When I found out we won, I looked as excited as my favorite Twin of all time, Kirby Puckett, looks in this picture:

The City of Roland, the Roland Park Board, and the Britson Park Committee are pleased to announce the award of a $10,000 grant from the Minnesota Twins Community Fund. The grant will be used for the construction of fencing on two new diamonds at Roland’s new Britson Park.

Construction has begun on the two new fields which will have 60 foot base paths, which can host any level of softball, and Little League baseball. The infields are nearing completion, but money is still needed to complete fencing around the fields, dugouts, and the concession stand/storage shed. The grant will allow completion of the backstop portion of both fields.

“This is really exciting for the City of Roland. We have a good start on the fields, and this is a big help in getting the fields competition ready,” said Mayor Roger Fritz. “This is going to be a facility that kids from around Story County are going to be able to take advantage of for many years to come. As Roland’s closest Major League Baseball team, I’m really glad the Minnesota Twins and the Twins Community Fund chose Roland as one of their beneficiaries.”

Primary users of the new fields will be Roland Youth Sports, which participates in a softball league in Story County for girls aged 7-12, and North Story County Little League, which has boys playing from ages 9-12.

The Twins Community Fund is governed by a board of directors representative of the Upper Midwest. Target, Treasure Island Resort & Casino, Best Buy, U.S. Bank and Delta Air Lines are Cornerstone Partners; contributing annually to the Twins Community Fund.

Britson Park is a new seven acre park on the west side of Roland. Besides the two fields, there is open area for soccer and football games and practices. The Roland Park Board is also working on purchasing and installing a new playground at the facility. For more information on the park, to see field layouts, or to learn how to contribute towards construction, see www.britsonpark.org.

October 3 Council Meeting

The council meeting on October 3 took about 50 minutes. We were missing CMs Proctor and Neely, so we had the minimum to meet a quorum.

The council agreed to pay $300 towards repair of a driveway approach on Bryan Ave, due to issues with the street.

The council approved payment for some construction in our housing improvement program.

I officially proclaimed Tuesday, October 30 as Beggar's Night in Roland.

I appointed Adam Wilkinson to the Planning and Zoning Board. Thanks to Adam for doing that. Always helps to get volunteers for such jobs in city government.

The longest portion of the meeting was discussing sump pump inspections. We got the report from MSA, who did the work for us. 74% passed. 6% were unavailable at the scheduled time of inspection. 20% failed, or potentially failed. That 20% is 79 properties. We are highly confident that most of them have a legal connection however.

When the pipe from the pump leaves the sump, and goes directly into a wall, there is no immediate visual way to determine where that pipe goes. We know that all or portions of streets such as Samson, Arthur, Logan, and Ryan Circle have sump collector lines near the street. And that is likely where it goes. To make 100% certain, dye tests will still need to be done at those homes. The council is still deciding whether to have the expense of dye tests on those properties where there is a high confidence of sumps going to collector lines. So more to come on that.