City Manager’s Column:  Five-Month Review.  

12/22/2003  

OK…I guess it has been July 22, 2003 long enough.  That was the last time that we updated the stories on our web page.   

To open up our site and see “Around Maquoketa as of July 22, 2003" kind of reminded me of one of those shows where someone is stuck in a time-warp and relives that day over and over again.  In this case, you relived it for 5 months.   

Some things have happened since the last time I wrote a column, which was actually in June:  

1.)  If you are familiar with the reports of the closure of the Maquoketa Housing Authority Office in early December, then you are likely familiar with the circumstances that closed the office and don’t need me to repeat them here.  

What I would like to report is that the housing office will reopen in the next few weeks with the Eastern Iowa Regional Housing Authority stepping in to help us.  EIRHA will begin by providing interim administrative services to bring the records of our office current, assist with rental vouchers for low-income tenants, and provide inspections to rental units.  This interim arrangement will last until March 31, 2004 .  

If the Maquoketa Public Housing Authority Board chooses, it can enter into a long-term arrangement with EIRHA or seek other options to run the local office.  But, at this point in time, a relationship with EIRHA seems the most likely option of all.      

2.)  One City Committee has had some quiet successes in its first year of existence.  I’m talking about the Property Maintenance Committee.  By working with this Committee and the City Attorney, we have managed to do some things that were not envisioned possible only one or two years ago.  

In the first year, we concentrated mainly on structures that had visible holes or collapses in them.  As the Council put it, we were to focus on the “worst of the worst.”  

Below are some photos of some of the buildings that we have worked on in the past year.  The “before” photos are on the left, the “after” photos are on the right.  Though you might recognize some of these buildings, I didn’t list their addresses.  In the last set of photos, below, the home was actually demolished and a cleared site is now the result.   

As they say at the White House, this is a “no-gloat zone.”  We should try to remain humble about our successes and thankful to the property owners who worked with us to achieve them. 

3.)  On December 10, the future Council of 2004 met and discussed goals for the upcoming year.  These initiatives or programs were listed as top goals:

a.  Retool the Contact Team.  The Contact Team is a local group of people that assist the City in evaluating and recruiting economic development prospects.  The Mayor and Council would like to consider the role and membership of the Contact Team to try to access what changes, if any, are needed to allow for a more efficient use of this group.  

b.  Mapping of City Utilities.  The City has a water utility and a sewer utility.  Water mains of various ages and sizes distribute the water in our system, and sewer mains of various ages and sizes collect it for eventual treatment.  The Council wants to get an idea of where these mains are, their sizes, and their condition in order to anticipate problems before they happen.  

c.  Get a Revolving Loan Fund Started.  Within the City’s general fund reserve, there is a budgetary line called "Economic Development, Revolving."  It currently shows $176,614 in it.  Its specific purpose is for use as a revolving loan fund.  The origin of the fund was due to some IDED financial aid that was awarded to the Hoof Company before it became Dynagear.  But, instead of paying back the State, the agreement was that the company paid its low-interest loan back to the City to create a revolving loan fund or RLF.  This goal would involve setting up criteria for lending this money to assist with economic development projects by setting up our own RLF.  (Incidentally, the Hoof/Dynagear loan has now been paid in full.)

d.  Update Subdivision Ordinance.  The Council wants to update and simplify our process under which people subdivide their property into lots or parcels.  We are looking at using the City of Dubuque's ordinance as a model because it is more streamlined than ours, it allows a "staff approval" of some types of subdivisions or plats, and it offers some other options to the developer's bonding requirements--such as a bank CD, letter of credit, etc.   

Dubuque's ordinance doesn't describe its public infrastructure design standards or its city specifications.  Their ordinance refers to these items which are laid out in a stand-alone document.   

Maquoketa’s subdivision design standards are from the 1980s.  Our city specifications for building streets, water mains, storm mains, sewer mains, etc. are from the 1970s.  I have discussed an update with the City’s engineering firm, IIW of Dubuque.  I've also exchanged information on this with the City of Bellevue.  We have invited IIW to give both towns a proposal that would update the specs for both towns so that we can split the cost.   

Along with the list of top initiatives, these were listed as goals for capital projects (for example, improvements to City-owned property or City-owned real estate):  Pursuing storm water improvement projects, working toward the completion of the ARC, executing a street repair and replacement program, improving the brush pile site, and completing the water improvements that will deal with the radium situation in our water system.  

4.)  The Baseball All-Star Game came and went.  In the late 60s and early 70s, I always pulled for the American League, mostly because I liked the Twins and didn’t like the Cubs.  I didn’t like the Orioles or the Reds of that time, either.  But, there was a difference.  In the case of the Orioles and Reds, I didn’t like their supremacy over the rest of their leagues.  In the Cubs case, I couldn’t understand everyone’s affection for their poor play.  

Back then, I remember that the local TV sportscast on KCRG would bump all other sports news—namely, the Twins, who were at least competitive at that time—to report in their lead story that the Cubs had lost again and were now 35 games out of first place.   

Those were the years when the AL lost several All-Star Games in a row to the NL.  Back then, I used to be particularly bothered by Jim Palmer of the Orioles.  He used to mow down the Twins in the regular season, but he’d get “shelled” by the NL in the first inning of the All-Star Game.  

5.)  In September, the City received a REAP grant from the Iowa DNR in the amount of $100,000 toward the construction of a pedestrian trail along the south side of the Maquoketa River.  The trail will stretch from the site of the demolished bridge that was on the former N Main Street, go along the top of the dike, through the eastern side of the Shoreline housing subdivision, through the north end of the County’s Bicentennial Park, through the western side of the Shoreline subdivision, and end at the cul-de-sac at Arcade Street.   

The City’s match for the project is estimated at $108,000.  In all, the trail will be about ½ mile long.  Construction should take place in 2004.  The photo above shows where the trail will be along the top of the dike, heading west.  

6.)  I, too, saw the tape of the kiss-thing that happened between Madonna, Brittany Spears, and Christina What’s-Her-Name at the MTV awards.  I have to agree with most of what everyone said about it.  I also think that Madonna is much too old for either one of them.

7.)  The walking bridge at Horseshoe Pond Park has been repaired.  It had sustained enough damage from the flood of 2002 to qualify for some FEMA money.  Below, on the left, is a photo of how the wooden piers on the south abutment looked before the work was done.  Please note how some of the piers had been eroded away at the bottom.  The shot on the right was taken as the work was being done.  The total project cost about $19,000.

8.)  The Cubs didn’t make it to the World Series.  However, they were a good team this year and deserved the coverage that they got.

  9.)  Depending on the award of tax credits from the State of Iowa in March of 2004, the Hurst Hotel may be seeing a massive redevelopment of both its inside and outside.  If the award takes place, the developer that we are working with plans to put nearly $3 million into the renovation of the hotel.  This would include the establishment of 22 senior apartments and the further development of adjacent parking by further razing the mostly demolished structures on the lot directly north of the Hurst.

10.)  The Maquoketa Airport took some steps in a positive direction this past year.  The biggest step was the relocation of Chartaire, Inc from the Dubuque Airport to the south hangar at our airport.  Chartaire is an airplane charter service that operates three planes.  The signing of this business not only generates some rental income and fuel sales revenue, it also shifts some expenses from having an empty hangar from the Airport to our new tenant.   

In the late summer, the Airport received a grant from the Iowa DOT for a new credit card-operated fueling system, which is pictured at the left.  The system cost about $17,500, but the DOT’s grant covers 70% of this cost.  This equipment now allows pilots to pump their aviation gas on a self-service basis, which has two added benefits for the Airport. 

First, the self-service system allows us to eliminate most our need for part-time weekend help, saving about $4500 per year.  

Second, the new system has already helped to lower our insurance costs by about $6000 per year since the Airport is no longer providing the attendant to run the pump.  

In February 2004, the Airport Commission is scheduled to go to district court to contest the property taxes charged on the Airport’s corporate hangar building.  In the past, the taxes on the building have run in the area of $4500 per year.  More recently, the County revalued the property and lowered its property taxes to about $1600 per year.  

However, generally speaking, the Commission feels that the entire Airport property should be tax-exempt.  The Commission’s opinion is that activities being done on Airport property that create revenue for the Airport only helps to off-set a larger overall deficit that we experience each year.  Further, if the Airport didn’t generate that revenue, the taxpayers of Maquoketa would be asked to support the Airport’s operations more than they do now.  

Along with this, the Airport Commission has traditionally provided incentives, such as below-market rental prices, for tenants to locate in the corporate hangar.  In exchange for these incentives, the tenants have agreed to provide caretaker services that support the operation of the Airport.  Therefore, the Commission feels that its rental of the corporate hangar plays a supporting role to the overall public purpose of the Airport.    

11.)  Clinton Engines site is nearing completion.  The Council and our local Historical Society are working on a proposal that would have the Society owning up to six acres of the site, restoring the main office building, and establishing a historical museum within it.  A possible closing on the site should take place around March 1, 2004 .