Mayor's Corner

MAYOR'S CORNER August, 2010

Recycling: Just a reminder: the Community Club has placed a container for beverage cans at the recycling center to support the Grump Days Fireworks. Also, next month we may be making a change that may affect the way we sort our material at the recycling shed. We will keep you posted with various signages in the building. We are getting a little sloppy on the way we are breaking down the cardboard. We would like to get 3 weeks before we need to dump the cardboard material. Stretching it to every 3 weeks would save approximately $1500 a year. I do not know if this is possible, but I would like to see us approach that goal. We continue to do a pretty good job on our recycling program. Hopefully, next month, I hope that I can tell you that each community would share some return funds from this recycling program. Thank You.

Recreational Trail: The majority of the rough grading work is done. With a long stretch of dry weather we should make the October 1st deadline. The next step is to put down and compact the sub base which is 6” of compacted rock. This is followed by 3” of asphalt. The major road crossings will be 6” of asphalt. I believe that the Ľ-section bridge in the first mile from Denver is almost completed.

City Hall: As a review of priorities, the Council has tabled the City Hall project at this time. This is disappointing to me personally, however, I understand with the rain we have received this summer and other issues the Council felt that the storm water and sanitary sewer problems needed to be our highest priority. For those of you that have worked on this project, a big THANK YOU. A New City Hall is still needed as we did get water inside the City Hall during the mid-July rainfalls. This issue and other maintenance concerns pertaining to the City Hall need to be addressed. If there are residents that believe we need a New City Hall as I do, please let your opinions be known to any Council member. My e-mail address is hjclemen

Storm Water: By the time you read this article, we should have completed approximately 25 inspections of storm water discharge system. This is a long, drawn-out process. We will tackle one part of the community at a time. If you are adjacent to a storm tile, I would suggest that you get connected to this tile immediately. We plan on visually inspecting with cameras another portion of sanitary sewer lines yet this summer. After this inspection, we will have almost 2/3 of the community’s sanitary sewer lines inspected with cameras. Depending what is found, we will correct the largest problem areas as budget dictates. During this month, we have by-passed a lot. We have to report this to the DNR every time we do a by-pass. We are being diligent in getting an ordinance passed concerning sump pump discharge and are correcting the major sanitary sewer problem when we know about them. What we have done in this community should satisfy the DNR and alleviate any possible fines to the city. Who knows though, they can change their regulation any time and their enforcement and interpretation.

Community Club Building: The council has approved the final special permits for the Readlyn Community Club to erect a building on city property. This building will be a 28 X 30 foot building that will be built at the north east corner of the lot where the recycling area is located. We will also install a fence on the eastern boundary line adjacent to the new building. This will be completed after the building is built. The Community Club will use this building to store their seasonal decorations.

MAYOR'S CORNER July, 2010

Recycling: The Community Club has placed a container for beverage cans at the recycling center. This will allow all residents to recycle their material at one location and will also help the Community Club in their fund raising effort for fireworks. Keep up the good work and thanks for recycling.

Recreational Trail: With the continued good weather the construction should pick up. They have been working on the first Ľ-section bridge lately and have been hauling fill and grading on the rest of the trail. We will place the signage within the Readlyn city limits sometime this summer. It remains on schedule with the completion date in October this year. For your information, the city does not allow any motorized vehicles on the recreational trail. The only exceptions would be motorized wheel chairs and scooters for handicap mobility.

City Hall: We are continuing to work on plans for a new City Hall/Community Center facility. The next step is to obtain some engineering services for the actual plans for this project. According to state law we must get a Certified Engineer to develop the official plans. Hopefully, the council will make that decision next month. We plan on presenting these plans to the public for their input. This will take a few months to get this work done. We will keep you informed every month until the project has been completed or the project has been rejected. This is a long process and I personally would like to hear from everyone on this project whether good or bad. My e-mail address is hjclemen hjclemen@netins.net.

Storm Water: We will be starting the inspection process next month. We have had a lot of people set up appointments already. If you have been notified about the pending inspection in writing, please make your appointment as soon as possible. Lois is making a schedule so that we can complete these in a timely way. We have by-passed a lot in the last month. According to our records it is mostly due to inflows from the west portion of town. We will also do some visual inspection with cameras in the sewer lines to check the condition of those lines. Depending what is found, we will correct the largest problem areas as budget dictates.

Community Club Building: The council has given permission to the Readlyn Community Club to erect a building on city property. This building will be a 28 X 30 foot building that will be built at the north east corner of the lot where the recycling area is located. We will also install a fence on the eastern boundary line adjacent to the new building. This will be completed after the building is built. The Community Club will use this building to store their seasonal decorations.

MAYOR'S CORNER June, 2010

Recycling: After the first of July we will eliminate the containers for plastic bags. You should recycle these bags back to the retailer such as Wal-Mart, K-mart and Hy-Vee. Overall our residents have been doing a great job in recycling. Thank you for your excellent participation in this program. We welcome residents from the rural community to use our recycling shed as well.

City Park Restrooms: The newly-constructed restroom is open for use. The concrete has not been poured for the sidewalk as yet but we will continue with that and connect it to the recreation trail sometime later this summer.

Recreational Trail: As you know by now, the construction of the recreational trail has begun between Denver and Readlyn. The necessary culverts and bridges have been completed from Readlyn to the first quarter section near Denver, even the Crane Creek crossing. Some issues remain with the some of the culverts just outside Readlyn. However, I am confident that these concerns will be addressed and corrected. The weather has held up some construction lately, however the project is on target and is scheduled to be completed by 1 October 2010. We will place the signage within the Readlyn city limits sometime this summer. Last Wednesday I accepted a grant from the Bremer County Community Foundation for the purchase and installation of a handicap drinking fountain to be placed near the concession stand at the ball park. This will be installed this summer. There is no truth that the city is paying for any repair of any county roads adjacent to the bike trail or that the project has stopped or on hold for any reason. They are just rumors and that is it.

City Hall: We are continuing to work on plans for a new City Hall/Community Center facility. The task force will get together again in the near future to finalize the drawings and layout of the facility. The Food Bank has requested space in the new facility so this issue will be evaluated. We have received some budget numbers for the facility and are spending additional time to evaluate various funding sources. Some people have asked if this issue must be voted on by the public. We have asked the city attorney and the city’s bonding agent this question and they have replied that a public vote is not required for the amount of money the city needs to borrow for the project. There will be a public hearing on the financing of this project in the near future. We are planning to pay back the money borrowed with local option funds and/electric funds. I do want your input on this matter. So please send me your opinions and questions. My e-mail address ishjclemen hjclemen@netins.net.

Storm Water: I know that there are residents that have their perimeter tiles or sump pumps drain directly into the sanitary sewer lines. If you have been notified to set up an appointment for an inspection, please respond as soon as possible. We will try to make these appointments at your convenience. We must do this to validate the information that has been received in the previous months. We have gathered some monitoring flows on selected sewer lines in the community. With all of this information gathered, we should be able to develop a plan to upgrade our sewer system for the future. The City Engineers (Shive-Hattery) will compile this data and make some recommendations to the city. This summer we will view another portion of the city with the cameras to check our existing sanitary sewer lines. We will evaluate what we find and some additional repairs will probably be needed. Because of these excess water inflows into our sanitary sewer system, we must pump out our finishing pond again this year. This will cost an additional $25,000 that has to come from our sanitary sewer budget. For this reason and other repair expenses, we must raise our sewer rates. At the next council meeting we will have the new ordinance on the agenda.

Herbert Clemen

Mayor, City of Readlyn

MAYOR'S CORNER May, 2010

Recycling: We are continuing to get plastic bags into the recycling shed. We have left containers to receive these bags however we must look at removing these containers to help our patrons to discontinuing bringing these bags to the shed. After the first of July we will eliminate these containers for plastic bags. You should recycle these bags back to the retailer such as the Wal-Mart’s and K-mart’s and Hy-Vee’s in the area. Overall our residents have been doing a great job in recycling. Thank You for your participation in this program. Again! We welcome residents from the rural community to use our recycling shed.

City Park Restrooms: By the time you read this article the roof portion should be on the new restroom. The shingles might not be installed yet but will be completed very soon. We will still have to complete the sidewalks to the restroom probably after the Grump Days. Weather permitting we may get them partially completed. We will not be able to complete this sidewalk until the main portion of the trail north of the new school is completed.

Recreational Trail: As most of you know by now the construction of the recreational trail has begun. Rough grading has started and some culverts have been installed. The challenges will be at Crane Creek and the first quarter mile crossing. The project is scheduled to be completed by 1 October 2010. The city portion of this trail will start at Rich Peine’s drive. It will continue on First Street to Malone Ave. It will then proceed to 4th street and will connect to the trail in the corner of the City Park. At this time no markings will be on the concrete itself. We will have signs designating the bike route through the community. This will be a shared route with motorized vehicles on the street until we reach the City Park.

Walking Residents: Again this year I have heard of some near accidents with pedestrians in the early hours of the morning. When walking please walk on the left side of the road facing traffic and wear some reflective clothing. This will help keep everyone safe.

Pets: We are start getting complaints of barking dogs and dogs that seem to relieve themselves on the neighbor’s property or on public property. If you are walking your dog please pick up after them. Always when walking your pet have a plastic bag on your person for this reason.

City Hall: The Task Force has come up with plans for a New City Hall/Community Center and has presented it to the City Council. The next step is to get some cost estimates for the project. These cost estimates should be available for council consideration by the next council meeting which will be on June 14th. I must point out that no new taxes will be used to finance this project. At this time we are planning to use existing funds and local option tax and electric funds. The majority of this building will be used for our municipal utility purposes with the option of a small community center and severe weather and mitigation resources.

Storm Water: We have completed the spring monitoring of the sanitary sewer flows. We have had 7 separate monitors on the main sanitary sewer lines going to the first street main sewer line to the waste treatment facility. We have hoped to get some additional rain during the test period to simulate the worst case scenario. We may have to try again to get more data. The City‘s Engineer (Shive-Hatery) will compile this data and make some recommendations to the City. The repair work that was performed last year on the east portion of town has helped considerably. I must also thank everyone that has already disconnected there sump pump and perimeter drainage from this sanitary sewer system. It is too early to tell, however the last 3.5 inches of rain that was received we did not have to by-pass at the co-op lift station. Usually we would have had to. We are making progress. We plan on having another 3rd of the sanitary sewer system inspected this summer or early fall. Depending on what is found we will repair the worst areas. Again, as a reminder; everyone must have their sump pump and perimeter drainage system disconnected from the sanitary sewer system. We will be sending out letters to verify sump pump and foundation drainage system later this summer. The Engineers will recommend what areas we should concentrate on.

Herbert Clemen

Mayor, City of Readlyn

MAYOR'S CORNER April, 2010

Recycling Please start returning your plastic shopping/grocery bags to the retail stores (Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Hy-Vee and Younkers) or other retailers that will accept these plastic bags. The City had accepted these bags in the past but can no longer recycle them at our regional recycling agency in Sumner. We will have to dispose of them in the city garbage trucks if there are received at the recycling shed. This just created additional work for the city employees. The city will have to dispose these plastic bags in the trash. Let’s all help in keeping this recycling area clean and the material properly sorted.
We welcome residents from the rural community to use our recycling shed. .

Parks The concrete work for the restroom has been poured. The underground plumbing has been completed. The block will be delivered this week or the next week. We are on schedule and remain optimistic that we can complete this project prior to Grump Days. .

The construction of the recreation trail has begun. The first phase of the construction will be to put in the bridges and prepare the bed for the asphalt trail. Two good weeks of construction has put this trail back on schedule. At least people can see work being done..

Temporary Recreation Trail/Sidewalk in City Park: As part of the agreement with the new school building project, a ten foot wide trail/sidewalk was installed through City Park. As you may have noticed, there are numerous cracks in the concrete. I have met with the contractor and he has agreed to replace the cracked of this walk. He will have this concrete replace after Grump Days. .

2010 Spring Leaf Burning Just a reminder that the spring leaf burning time is between April 1st and May 15th. Please be considerate of your neighbors..

2010 Spring Clean Up The council has set May 10th, 11th, and 12th as spring clean up days. Material that is to be picked up must be set in front of your home after 8:00 am on Monday the 10th of May and no later than 8:00 am on the 12th of May. The city hall has the stickers for all items that require a charge to be paid prior to pickup. Call city hall 279-3411 for further information on the clean-up days and the charges.