The City of Maquoketa Park & Recreation Commission received donations from the Maquoketa Kiwanis Club to help replace equipment in two of the parks in town. The Kiwanis Club donated $6,300 to replace the two backstops at the Grove Street ball diamonds and $1,048 for playground equipment at Horseshoe Pond Park. The Maquoketa City Council and Park & Recreation greatly appreciates the dollars received to help with the costs of keeping the parks equipped for kids.

The City Council held a public hearing on December 2^nd regarding filing an application for a housing grant in the amount of $686,978 from IDED to help low to moderate income citizens fix up their homes. The City will have to provide a $10,000 match for this grant. The owner occupied single-family housing program is a targeted area within the city and the homeowner assistance program is citywide. Keep an eye on our site for more information.

The City of Maquoketa has submitted a pre-application with the Iowa Department of Economic Development for a storm water project on the east side of town. The original application was for a retention basin near East Pleasant and South Clark Street for a cost of about $360,000. The Council has now decided to change the scope of the project to see if the IDED would fund a project that would pursue installing a storm water main along that area at an estimated cost of about $1.6 million. The Council feels this would be a better solution to the problem.

The City Council has signed a contract with Taylor Construction for the installation of the lift station for the Prairie Creek Development. The City Council also recently approved the purchase of approximately 14 acres of the Shirk-Preston property and the lift station will be located on that property.  The lift station will serve the Prairie Creek Center Subdivision where a new Comfort Inn & Suites is currently under construction.  Recently, two new streets were constructed there, David Street and a portion of Nairn Drive.

During negotiations with the bargaining units within the City, the Personnel Committee had recommended that the City require all city employees on the City’s health insurance to get an annual wellness physical. The idea was to help keep the costs of the premiums from increasing and to offer employees the benefit of the City paying for a physical. The City Council approved this by Resolution on Monday, November 4^th.

The City Council approved the purchase of three new computers for the City Hall office along with the upgrade of the computer software for Utility Billing, Payroll and Budgetary. The upgrade allows for better and easier record keeping and expands the capabilities of the current system. The computer company has been contacted so that the City can be put on the schedule for installation.

The Maquoketa Fire Department has been looking for a new pre-owned aerial truck to replace the existing 1967 aerial truck. Chief Beck has found a used truck for $185,000 but there is not enough money in the Capital Improvement Project to purchase the truck. The City Council has authorized the City Manager and Fire Chief to work out a loan from the CIP to purchase this used truck. Any funds that are borrowed from a CIP other than the fire departments will have a 2% interest rate.

It is time for City employees to start working on the budget for FY 2003/2004. Department heads have been given the paperwork to start preparing their budget and CIP to be presented to the City Council in February. To coincide with this process, the City Council will hold a goal setting session to prioritize goals for the Council. This goal setting session has been scheduled for December 18^th at City Hall.

The Council has passed all three readings of an ordinance that will ban U-Turns by westbound traffic at the intersection of Highway 62 and Highway 64. A citizen had requested that the City look into this because vehicles were doing U-Turns and going up on to private property causing some damage.

Several firms have responded to the City’s request for proposals to study the radionuclide situation in Maquoketa. The City Utilities Committee will be meeting with four different engineering firms on December 11^th and 12^th to review proposals regarding the radionuclide situation in Maquoketa. This process may not be as fast as some people would like, but there is a lot of information involved and it must all be carefully reviewed before any decision can be made.

The City will be sending out a second "Public Notification Radium In Water Exceeds Limit" to all citizens in Maquoketa. Every quarter that the radium exceeds the limit, the City will be required to send out notification. Along with the notice from the Department of Natural Resources, the City is sending an informational sheet that should be easier for everyone to read and explains the situation a little better. We will keep all citizens updated as we get more information.