Fireworks in Roland

Early reminder about fireworks...they will be held on the night of Wednesday July 3. Rain makeup will be on the night of Friday, July 5.

If you didn't know, fireworks are paid for by the donations of cans and bottles across from City Hall. If you ever want to be a helper in Roland, being one of the can gatherers is a job we are always looking for. If you are interested, please contact City Hall.

Games being played at Britson Park

Yesterday saw the first softball games being played at Britson Park. The official grand opening is Thursday, June 13. There will be food and drinks and some general ceremonial stuff. Nice to see the park in use after all the work that has gone into it. Still a lot to go, but a positive step for making Roland an even better place to live.

Potential Abuduction Attempt in Roland

Got word today of a potential abduction attempt in Roland last night. Obviously it is not the guy in Dayton, since he offed himself, but there are still bad guys out there. And whether this was some idiot just fooling around, or a real bad guy, it is something to be vigilant about. The password thing (as mentioned below)that this mother had is a real good idea.

Here is the text of an email we got from the Story County Sheriff's Office that went out to law enforcement agencies in the area. It gives some details of what happened. If you see a vehicle with a person matching this description, please contact the Story County Sheriff's Office or simply call 911.

At approximately 2056 hours this evening in Roland, near the pool, a 13 yom was approached by a suspicious subjects offering a ride home. The boy was told that his mother send the subject to get him and give him a ride. The mother and son have set up a password for events like this and the guy did not have the password. The boy went around the pool and walked away. The guy did not follow, to what the boy could tell. The description of the vehicle is a newer red 4-door truck (possibly Ford), with tinted windows and a "rusty" plate. The subject is described as a white male in his 30's with short (but styled) hair wearing sunglasses on top of his head. No other descriptions were available

High water update

I will be putting "live" updates regarding rising water and/or other flooding issues on the City's Facebook page. Go there for the latest. City of Roland Facebook They will also auto update on our City's Twitter feed @cityofroland

Garage Sale Days on May 31-June 1

The garage sale days are in Roland next weekend. Just wanted to put a reminder here. I don't have the link yet to the maps and stuff for sale, but will do so as soon as they get forwarded to me.

Pools

Still a little fuzzy on when the pool will open. Theoretically the crack repair company is coming Wednesday. Hope that is the case. If so, we should be able to open about 5 days later.

Got a call from Story City about sharing pool services, as they have just discovered a big crack, and they might be looking at a 2 week delay in opening.

Pools drive me nuts. They always seem to have leaks and are breaking. In theory, we could just keep refilling, we have the wells. But what gets expensive is the chemicals needed to keep the pool at the right ph levels to meet state standards.

I would think someone would have invented some sealer to put on a pool's basin to keep it from leaking, but apparently not. I'm sure the changing seasons and temperatures just cause havoc on that stuff. Part of the deal too is our cold and wet weather. We needed warm days to fill the cracks, and we haven't had enough planned consecutive ones. The thing is today, as I type this at 1PM on May 27, it is 61 degrees out, and the pool wouldn't be open today anyway.

So hopefully the contractor shows up, and hopefully it warms up and dries out.

Property Tax changes from the Capitol

The Iowa House and Senate just finished their session and it included reforms on property tax. The thing is, property tax money does not go to the state, it goes to various local entities. So the legislators grandstand on this, but they never have to make the tough choices on spending. It falls on local officials, such as school boards and city councils. That kinda annoys me. They never talk about state income tax reform or cuts---stuff that would affect them.

But in any case, it got passed, and the cities will have to deal with it. Roland came out pretty well. Mostly because our main property tax base is residential housing. Not much changed there, other than limiting growth in valuation.

I think cities like Ames are going to take a big hit. Cities that have a lot of rental properties and commercial areas are really affected by this new law. Residential housing has had a rollback, where one is not assessed as much as the valuation. But rentals and commercial property paid full freight. Those properties are now going to start getting rolled back. That will shift more of the burden on residential properties. But here in Roland, for the most part, with very few commercial properties, and even fewer rental properties, home owners are paying the bill anyway, so it is not going to change what we do much here in Roland. But there are some other cities where the councils are going to have to make some tough choices.