The City Council, Mayor, and Mayor-Elect held an annual planning session on December 19, 2001. The session was meant to set a list of goals for 2002.

Pat Callahan, a governmental consultant and former Maquoketa city manager, conducted the session.

The planning session began with Callahan making an introductory statement about the process for the meeting.

The Council members who were present included Steve Flynn, John Cressey, Bill Potter, Tom Schueller, and Alvin Barten. Mayor Jack Rosenberg and Mayor-Elect Tom Messerli also attended as did a number of City Staff members. The only actual participants in the planning session were the elected members of the city government.

Callahan lead the participants through a brainstorming session that included a list of accomplishments that our elected people found to be notable over the last year.

These accomplishments were at the top of the list:

1.) Development of the west side of Maquoketa.

2.) Development of the new Highway 61 Industrial Park.

3.) The Clinton Engines clean-up and demolition project.

4.) The newly upgraded Mediacom cable television system.

5.) The formation of a Sidewalk Committee to consider where new sidewalk should be installed.

6.) The adoption of a building code for new construction that is effective on July 1, 2002.

7.) Housing development.

8.) Funding for East and West Platt Street Trails which will be constructed in 2002.

9.) Horseshoe Pond development.

10.) The development of a more positive attitude about the how things are going in Maquoketa.

The next part of the process involved Callahan asking the Council, Mayor, and Mayor-Elect for examples of what they saw as concerns for the future. This is a partial list of the concerns that were mentioned:

1.) Finding a method for nuisance abatement enforcement. This includes nuisances such as weeds, junk, and bad or unsightly buildings.

2.) Finding a way to complete the ARC (Area Recreation Center) project which would provide for a new indoor pool and other indoor recreational facilities.

3.) Finding methods to make affordable housing more available.

4.) Review of Tax-Increment Financing (TIF) to see how it is used and if it is over-used.

5.) Review of physical growth within a 2 mile radius of the City.

6.) Review of water and wastewater systems that, in several places, are either extremely old or undersized or both.

7.) The possibility of extending sanitary sewer (and water mains) to the west of Maquoketa, primarily along Hwy 64.

8.) Developing a street improvement plan.

9.) Studying the feasibility of future of the Maquoketa Municipal Airport.

10.) Considering how City services can keep up with growth.

11.) Reviewing traffic patterns.

12.) Downtown parking.

13.) Review of the City's urban revitalization program which offers tax exemption for people who improve the taxable values of their properties.

14.) Funding for the building code.

Callahan then asked the participants to consider their top goals for 2002 and vote for them by placing colored stickers next to the various goals or issues that had been listed on large sheets of paper and placed in a row.

1.) Funding a Building Code. In December, the Council adopted a building code that is set to take effect on July 1, 2002. However, the method of providing for how areas of new construction will be inspected, how inspections will be paid for, and establishing who will perform inspections are all open questions.

2.) Performing a traffic flow study. The Iowa DOT was going to participate with the City in a corridor study of traffic on Platt Street in hopes of better understanding how long-term problems with traffic congestion might be anticipated and corrected. Due to budget problems, the DOT opted out of the study. The Council is interested, however, in continuing with a traffic model study for the entire City to both anticipate congestion problems and give us an idea of how future land use might be linked to the results of the model.  

(At the left, votes for doing a traffic flow study and a comprehensive plan are shown.)

3.) Creating an inspection process for rental units. This goal is somewhat related to the building code goal. The Council sees a need to make sure that properties that are involved in the business of renting residences to citizens meet a minimum level of safety and other factors that the Council might set.

4.) Developing a new comprehensive plan for the City as a means to better plan for growth and the provision of city services. The City's last comprehensive plan was done in 1981. Such plans often consider issues such as growth, land use, and the supply of city services over several years to come.

This was the second tier of goals for 2002:

5.) Update the City's current nuisance ordinance and enforce it. The City's current nuisance ordinance covers situations such as weeds, junk, and unsafe buildings. The Council is interested in expanding the definition of what constitutes a nuisance to also include unsightly buildings and structures that may not be "unsafe" but might otherwise be in a state of disrepair.

6.) Perform a Water/Sewer study on aging and future infrastructure. Some water and sewer lines in Maquoketa are over 50 years old. Some are over 80 years old. Such a study would consider the replacement of aging infrastructure.

7.) Continue funding the City's capital improvement plan or CIP. The City's CIP is another type of planning tool. The CIP was developed on a departmental basis to list various pieces of equipment that will eventually have to be replaced and an estimated date for when that might happen. The City then puts away funding each year so that there will be enough money on hand to replace the item by the time of its estimated replacement date. Such a plan helps to reduce the chances of a shortfall in funding for equipment replacement.

8.) Develop and improve downtown. The issues here involve trying to encourage the proper mix of business for the downtown area, wrestling with parking problems, developing options to provide for more dwelling units, and cleaning-up the appearance of buildings.

9.) Consider whether or not to hire an in-house engineer. The City often spends several tens of thousands of dollars per year for various types of engineering (streets, water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, wastewater plant, etc.) The suggestion here was to see if the City could save money by hiring its own engineer as opposed to hiring an outside firm.

10.) Find a way to finance the purchase of an aerial/ladder truck for the Fire Department. The Fire Dept has a 1965 aerial truck that is becoming more and more difficult to repair because a number of parts for it are no longer made. The aerial truck is important to potential fire situations at multi-story buildings such as in the downtown area. A used truck is anticipated to cost $250,000. The Fire Dept's CIP has not yet accumulated $100,000 for the current truck's replacement.

Pat Callahan stressed that the goal-setting process should be seen as a flexible planning tool that is not carved in stone. While these are goals that can be pursued, factors such as future events and the availability of financing could cause the Mayor and Council to focus on other goals.