March 13 Council Meeting

March was a bit odd for council meetings. We cancelled the regular first meeting because with the short February, we didn't have enough time to meet the publication rules regarding the budget. Then because we moved that meeting to the 2nd Wednesday, we just decided to cancel the regular meeting that was scheduled for the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Follow that? Hey we saved the city $75 by cancelling a meeting (since each council member gets $15 a meeting)

Anyway on to the meeting on the 13th. And since I was slow posting, I barely remember it. But I have a couple notes.....

I think I have this right. Still have 50 houses that haven't had their sumps inspected, and 20 that need re-inspections. Those folks will have a $100 sewer surcharge added if they don't get that taken care of by June.

We approved our 2013-2014 budget, we approved a closing of Maple for the 5K run, and as mentioned above we cancelled our March 20 meeting.

We also had a discussion about the county's offer of assistance in paying for a capital improvement plan. We decided to carry on with what we had already started. We will get assistance for our city administrator, and should get 75% of the plan paid for, so that is nice.

Next meeting is April 3.

Spring Training 5K Run/Walk route map

Just a reminder that the Spring Training 5K Run/Walk is a couple weeks away. This is in support of Britson Park. We had just over 100 runners a year ago, and just under 100 runners when we did it last fall. As a reminder, runners get a T-Shirt and free pancakes after the race. (You could get them before the race too, but I'm guessing that is not a good idea.)

The fence is going up this week at Britson Park. The posts have been up since December. So it is nice to see some activity in the park.

You can get the registration form for the race at www.britsonpark.com

This time around, we are going to run by the park itself. It is difficult to get out to Britson Park and offer some protection to the runners. We are going to try this time, by closing off the eastbound lane of Maple Street between Logan and Norseman. The runners will have to back track on that section, but we would like them to get out by the park and see it.

Here is a map of the route. It will start and end at the northwest corner of the school. Ignore that is says 5.2 KM. That is center of streets to center of streets. When running and you cut corners, it actually is a real nice 5K. Click on the map to expand it.

No Council Meeting this week

We are moving this week's council meeting to the following Wednesday. There are various legal hoops needed to jump through regarding publication of the budget notice in the paper-the key one being number of days notice in the paper. With February being a short month, those loss of a couple days hurt us. So we will have our official budget hearing on the 13th. then we will get back on schedule and having a meeting on the 20th.

P&Z opening

Just got notice today that someone that is on the Roland Planning and Zoning Commission is going to be moving from Roland. So we will have an opening there. If that interests you, let me know, or please contact City Hall.

Phillip Keicher Cancer Benefit

Just wanted to pass along some info concerning the Benefit being held for Phillip Keicher of Roland.

On January 21, Phil Keicher was admitted to the University of Iowa Hospital after weeks of dealing with headaches, back aches, dizziness, loss of balance, and confusion. After completing several neurological tests, the doctors ordered an MRI, and found fluid on the brain, along with a golf ball size tumor. That very evening a tube was surgically placed to allow the fluid to drain off the brain, and an additional surgery was scheduled for Thursday to remove the tumor. This surgery was a success!

However, in addition to the brain tumor, doctors found one other small tumor behind the collar bone on the left side. Tests also showed 3-4 lymph nodes directly below the collar bone & behind the sternum that are enlarged. Doctors have diagnosed Phil as having Lung Cancer. Because Phil has no health insurance, the family is going to have to make regular trips from Roland to Iowa City for his treatment. Prior to getting sick, Phil was an over the road truck driver for R & J Trucking in Ankeny, Iowa, and his wife, April, a stay at home mom. Their 14 year old daughter, Morghan, is an 8th Grader at Roland-Story Middle School. Phil’s medical condition has also created a financial crisis for the family.

Friends will be holding a spaghetti dinner benefit with a silent auction on Saturday, March 2, 2013 at the Story City American Legion located at 301 Washington Street, from 5pm to 7pm, with a dance to follow from 7pm to midnight. Please come and help make this benefit a success, as the family is encountering heavy travel expenses and mounting household bills. A free will donation is requested for this event. We will also be accepting canned food donations for the family. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Another 6 months, another 5K run

Having a good time, keeping in shape, eating breakfast, racing, walking, and supporting Britson Park continues in Roland. The Spring Training 5K Run/Walk is on the docket for Saturday, April 6. It is going to be a different course than the previous ones, as it is actually going to run out to Britson Park. To do so, we are going to drop Maple to one lane between Logan and Norsemen, and have the runners run down Maple.

Entrants will also get a breakfast, or if you don't enter, you can come down and get a breakfast yourself. Whether you run or walk, it is a good time, you get a T-Shirt, you get to eat, and you get to help our new park.

HERE is the link to the entry form.

Regular Council Meeting Feb 20

Had a good regular meeting on the 20th. Had me and 5 council members for the first time in awhile, so that was nice.

I got the authorization to sign a doc to potentially participate in a Administrative Review and/or Capital Improvement Plan that may be partially funded by Story County. It has some merits, but I'm no sure I am going to sign it yet. We actually are handling a bunch of that in house. It is only a couple hundred bucks, so it is not that big of deal. So I shall see if more info is forthcoming before I sign that.

Our biggest time spent in the meeting was regarding the budget. And thanks to some tough decisions, and penny pinching, the council and I were able to come up with a budget where we could keep the mil rate (property tax charge) the same as last year for general operations.

One caveat to this, we are going to have a 2 cents per thousand increase because our bond payment schedule required us to increase the payment on the Bryan/Arthur street project. So on a $100,000 house that will be about a dollar and ten cents higher payment to fund the increased debt payment this year.

So Roland is going to go from $10.07 per thousand to $10.09 per thousand.--and again the increase is strictly for the debt payment--funding our general operations will stay exactly the same as last year. AND THAT IS FREAKIN' AWESOME!

With what those jackwagons in Washington do, our city staff, our boards, and our council/mayor have made the tough decisions that allow us to hold the line on spending.

With that said, we are not starving the city either. We still were able to fund a good portion of our proposed new city hall, provide for some more construction in Britson Park, maintain services at our library, get some fixes done at the pool, and pool park, as well as street and water/sewer planned maintenance. And when we can keep taxes down, that is more money you get to keep, and make Roland a more attractive place to live, which helps maintain home values.

So I'm really excited about what we were able to pull off, and again, the credit goes to a lot of people within Roland.