May 7 Council Meeting

Had everybody for the meeting, tho CM Sargent had to leave at 7. I think the meeting took about an hour and a half.

We had a presentation, small discussion around street repair. We did have some past pondering about paving East Maple--the concrete section. Though two different engineers said it is still in good shape, and just needs some minor repairs. So that is going to be put off for now. Take a look at that street sometime. It was poured in 1963. That thing has held up great for being a 50 year old road.

We had an extended discussion regarding leasing of city property--at our city sheds on the north side of town---to 1 Source Wireless, which wants to put up a tower which will have Verizon cellular equipment. One neighbor to the property was opposed to the plan, and came to the meeting to give his reasons against the tower. He did present a petition of people opposed to the tower, but he was the only one that came to the meeting to speak against it.

I get why folks may be opposed to a cell tower. But just like power lines, and sewer lines, they have to go somewhere. And I think on city property, on the edge of town, in an area zoned Industrial, is an appropriate place for a cell tower. In a previous meeting, the Board of Adjustments approved the tower 5-0, and in this particular council meeting, the city council voted 5-0 in favor of signing the lease.

So at some point, the tower will go up, Verizon will put their gear on the tower, and those of you who have Verizon service will have improved coverage in town. But just sayin'...US Cellular has cared about the folks in Roland for about the last 10 years. Their repeater is still transmitting from the water tower.

The council also approved an increase in compensation for our City Clerk Jodi Meredith. Jodi has recently completed her Certified Municipal Clerk classwork. We have in the past given city employees raises as the increase their professional certifications. Jodi is doing a nice job for the city, and I certainly felt the increase was worthy.

The council finalized the ordinance for the No Parking Zone by Britson Park. Pretty basic stuff there. Another basic task was approving our contract with Wellmark for employee health insurance. We only had a 1% raise in rates this year, so that was good, and certainly atypical for most employers.

Lastly, the council approved, with one dissenting vote, to go forward with the trunk line sewer by boring it under Samson Street. We could never work out an arrangement with most of the property owners along Samson Street to take the less expensive route along the creek. So here is the deal Roland residents.....

This plan is going to cost an extra $200,000. So because of the unwillingness of those people to be a little flexible for the good of Roland, with approximately 550 households in Roland, you are going to have to pay an extra $350 or so because those folks aren't team players. So those folks just handed you a bill for $350.00. Enjoy.

Britson Park receives $1000 grant

Got word today that the Alliant Energy Foundation has awarded $1000 to Britson Park for the purchase of fence toppers. I filled out the grant request a couple months ago. This is a nice thing to get, and certainly a help for the safety of players. And for the dads who prefer to stand up and lean on the fence to watch games. It is a lot more comfortable on the forearms! Here is what they will look like, color to be determined.

Here is the news release I sent out.

Roland's new Britson Park has received a $1,000 grant from the Alliant Energy Foundation. The grant request was for the purchase of fence toppers for both the softball and baseball fields at the park.

The fence toppers are corrugated plastic tile that will go on top of the chain link fence. The fence toppers have a dual purpose. The main reason is for safety, as it will protect players from sharp edges on the top of the fence. An added bonus is that it will provide a more comfortable arm rest for fans who may wish to lean on the fence while watching a game.

"This is a nice grant to receive, " said Roland Mayor Roger Fritz. "We really like our new fields, and this a great way to help protect the players who use them. Alliant is our city's electric and natural gas provider, and I'm appreciative that the Alliant Energy Foundation chose to contribute to Britson Park."

The toppers will be installed before the start of the 2014 season. Britson Park's grand opening was held in June of 2013. The Britson Park Committee continues to fund raise for the construction of the restroom/storage/concession stand. For more information on the park, or to purchase a Memorial Brick, visit www.britsonpark.org

July 17 Council Meeting

A little late on commenting on this meeting. Summer stuff interests me more than blogging. Anyway, we only had 3 council members there, so just enough for a quorum. The meeting took about 75 minutes or so I think.

We started off with a Public Hearing regarding our proposed lease with 1 Source Wireless in regards to construction of a tower near our city sheds on the north side of town. Verizon will be placing their equipment on the tower.

We had one individual speak against it. I think it would be a good idea for Roland. People want to live where there is cell service, and frankly Verizon's coverage, especially in building, in Roland, is terrible. This tower is a good thing for Roland, and it is situated in a good spot based on our zoning. It is going up in an area zoned industrial, which is why we didn't plop it down in the middle of a residential district.

The council heard some information from the individual opposed to the tower, and decided they wanted to investigate the merits of the claims. So the council took no action on the lease, and it will be on the agenda for next meeting. If you are a Verizon customer, and want better coverage in Roland, please contact one of the council members and encourage them to vote for the lease. Even better, come down to the meeting and speak in favor of the city's lease.

As an aside, the Board of Adjustments already approved the variance to allow the tower in a 5-0 vote. Our city ordinances do not allow any structure over 60 feet tall, without special approval.

As for other stuff in the meeting, the council approved several resolutions--accepting the recommendation of the Board of Adjustment on the tower, and closing streets for a couple of events. The council also approved the first reading of an ordinance adding a no parking zone near Britson Park.

The council approved a plan to go forth with a resurvey of family incomes in a section of town that reported near 50% low to moderate income. If we can get survey results above 50%, that makes us eligible for a Community Block Development Grant, which we can used towards storm and sanitary sewer work, and will save Roland taxpayers some big bucks. No one verifies what is reported during the survey. So hopefully we find more people who report low to moderate incomes.

In another vote that affects everyone in town, the council agreed to renew the contract with Stone Sanitation for our city's garbage pickup. I think any of the choices would have been good. We received a bid from Waste Management, which was about .25 a month lower for the first year, but with a 3% per year increase. They are the biggest garbage provider in the USA. I'm sure they didn't get there by doing a bad job. Chitty's came in with the same first year bid as Waste Management. I have had some experience with them with my employer, and always had good luck with them. As for Stone, in my 8 years on council, and almost 4 as mayor, I have never had a phone call complaining about the job that they do. That is pretty amazing, so I saw no need to divert from them. I don't have a vote, but the council voted 3-0 in favor of staying with Stone Sanitation. I think they really go the extra mile in taking care of that extra bag you may throw out or whatever.

Lastly, I appointed or re-appointed 7 individuals to various boards and commissions in Roland. Terms had expired on June 30. That is one of those small things, that it is nice that people step up to do. As a reminder, I still have an opening on the Park Board to fill, or the Pool Board if you are interested with that (as one person would flop between Pool to Park if need be.)

Got this email...

Ah, the decisions a mayor must make. I got this email, and I'm torn as to whether Roland should apply. I really want to battle climate change.

City of Roland is invited to submit a Proposal to become The Host City of AS ONE

Unfortunately the battle against climate change will not be over in a year or even a decade. It will take a century or more, to turn the tides on human induced global warming. And the ensuing conflicts, mass migrations, famines & economic collapses, will test to the limit, our abilities to share the ever dwindling resources of our fragile planet.

Hence all global communities & cities need to develop strategies, organizations, & unifying symbols, that will be strong enough to survive decades, so allowing future generations to carry on the battle from where we will surely be forced to leave it.

AS ONE will be one such structure. Destined to become one of the most important, recognized & visited structures built this century. An interactive edifice, utilizing traditional Bronze Castings with state of the art Audio Visual special effects, will draw tens of thousands of people from hundreds countries across the globe, each year, to pay homage & interact with the legendary people of the AS ONE Structure.

The global business community is leading the way in financing the construction of AS ONE. Now it is time to select the Host City where AS ONE is to be built. AS ONE will initially bring more than 50,000 international visitors per year to the Host City, which should inject more than USD15 million per year into the Host City’s economy. However the most exciting aspect of the AS ONE Project for the Host City, is that AS ONE is a 100 year project, which will see the unveiling of a new iconic human being, nominated by millions of people from all around the world, within the AS ONE Structure each year. This ensures the number of visitors to the AS ONE structure will continue to grow each year. Hence the overall economic impact for the Host City should be in the order of USD 3.5 billion over the 100 year time frame of the project.

50,000 Visitors/year USD 15 million injection/year into local economy of Host City

This yearly 'AS ONE Unveiling & Inauguration Dinner', to be staged each year at the Host city for the entire 100 years of the project, is expected to attract hundreds of media commentators & crews from all corners of the globe, which will deliver an enormous ongoing, century long, global promotional campaign for the Host City.

The AS ONE Board of Patrons is now seeking Expressions of Interest from cities around the world who believe their city would be the best in the world for the legendary people of AS ONE to call home. (for more information regards the general criteria for any city, please click here)

The size or wealth of a city will not play a big part in the decision making process. In fact the Request For Proposals (RFP) process has been specifically designed to be an extremely low cost exercise, thus allowing all cities, no matter how small, whom believe they have the ideal location for some of the world's most iconic, legendary human beings to call home, the opportunity to submit a proposal.

To register your intention to submit a proposal to host AS ONE, city representatives just need to register to attend the,

Host City General Information Seminar, & VIP & World Media Unveiling Dinner Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam 6th & 7th of March 2014. (Click here to find out more & register).

This one day seminar fee of USD150/person & VIP Dinner of USD175 /person should represent every city’s greatest expense within the RFP process. The Host City will only be asked to provide the land or location for the AS ONE structure. The cost of building the structure will be via donations & contributions made by other governments, corporations & individuals.

Every city which submits a proposal to Host AS ONE will be invited to participate in the, AS ONE Global Cities Project, which will deliver significant outcomes & returns for the local communities of all participating cities. Full details of this program will be explained at the AS ONE Host City General Information Seminar.

The number of cities which will be allowed to register for the Host City General Information Seminar will be limited. Once this number has been reached no further Registrations for the Seminar will be solicited or accepted.

Thank you & I look forward to seeing you at the Information Seminar

Paul Phillips Director

Awesome City Council Ad

Ya never know what you might come across on the net. Found this advertisement for a city council meeting--somewhere in Colorado I think. Roland totally needs one of these ads produced.

North Iowa Tractor Ride Coming to Roland

This Saturday, July 20, the North Iowa Tractor Ride is coming to Roland. We aren't exactly North Iowa, but it is sponsored by some radio stations in the Mason City market. They are starting in Ames, and going out to Ledges State Park on Friday I believe, and then on Saturday, they will be coming to Roland.

There will be about 200 tractors. They will be arriving in waves starting at 10:30AM. They will have lunch at the Roland Community Center, with proceeds going to help support the Community Center. The RADC is putting this on. I think Bergen Church may also be having an ice cream stand.

So it is not quite RAGBRAI, but it is similar, in that we are going to have a large group of out of towners coming into Roland, in slow moving vehicles.

If you want to watch, or avoid traffic, here is where they are coming/going. They will be coming from Ames, up Dayton, and then turning to the east down E-29, past the Milford School. They will then turn north up R-77/Cottonwood (I think they may be turning east on Locust, and then driving north on Main past the school).

To leave, they will be going out Maple/E-18 all the way to the County Line Road, and then south into Ames.

They will be moving about 10MPH or so, so be careful if you are out driving around in the country. The last of them will leave around 12:30PM or so. We will have Main Street closed off, so you will be able to go up and look at the tractors as they are parked. Or you can simply sit along the streets and watch them drive by.

It is a nice thing we can host this, and that they chose Roland. Here is an article that talks about it.

No meeting on July 3

We had mayor/council that preferred to do other stuff that night--prep for fireworks, prep for the holiday, go to kid baseball games and so on. So since we didn't have anything overly pressing or timebound, we just cancelled the meeting.

When I moved to Roland, we only had 1 council meeting a month. However, they got painfully long too, more stuff to cover. Then you tended to forget about stuff, and everything kinda drug on.

I do think 2 meetings a month serves us better. You stay on top of stuff more, and the meetings go more quickly. After about 1.5 hours, meetings really take a turn for the worse. Things at the back of the agenda might not get the attention they deserve, because everybody just wants to get the heck out of there.

Usually the same deal in December, as we usually cancel the last meeting of the month when everybody is in Christmas mode. But we are back on, on Wednesday July 17.