AROUND MAQUOKETA by Judy Carr

10-22-02

On Wednesday, September 18, 2002 the City of Maquoketa was hit with a hail storm that lasted about 15 minutes and produced hail the size of a marble all of the way up to the size of a golf ball. Citizens could do nothing but watch as their homes and vehicles were pelted with hail which did damage throughout the whole town. Since that time, City Hall has been visited by anywhere from 15-20 contractors inquiring about licenses to do work on residential homes. Flyers have been distributed and signs are posted all over town advertising for out of State contractors.

(The damage in the photo on the right wasn't done by a shotgun.  It was done by the recent hail storm.  Many such buildings were damaged similarly.)

Various City buildings incurred about $40,000 in damage, mainly to roofs.

The City has also been bombarded with paintless dent repair businesses from various states. Driving through town, a person can see up to 20 companies set up on various properties waiting to make repairs to vehicles.

Citizens are slowly recovering from this sudden storm. Insurance companies had adjusters sent to Maquoketa almost immediately to inspect homes. Adjusters also set up various locations within the City for people to take their cars for an inspection. All in all, the insurance companies had a very quick response time, and you can already see contractors hard at work trying to make repairs.

The Maquoketa City Council has passed the necessary resolutions to begin loan proceedings for approximately $875,000 in capital loan notes for the Prairie Creek Project. Once the paperwork is signed it will be forwarded to the bonding attorney to process. These funds will aid in the construction of new streets, water main, sewer main, storm sewer, and electrical service to the new commercial subdivision.

The Street Committee has been discussing the issue of maintaining the City right-of-way and who should be responsible. This will be presented to the City Council when a decision has been made.

Mayor Tom Messerli will appoint a Council Committee to work with the ARC Committee and the School District regarding the design of the ARC and to look at alternate funding options.

The City Council has adopted a timetable for the 2003-2004 Budget and CIP process. This includes meetings between the department heads to prepare the budget and CIP and then will involve a presentation to the Finance Committee and then the City Council. This is the same process the City has used for the past five years and seems to work very well. The City will broadcast the Special Council meeting on February 4, 2002 when the Budget and CIP will be presented.