Mayor's Corner

MAYOR'S CORNER February, 2008

Web Site: Remember, the Mayor’s Corner is also available on the website at Readlyn.com.

RECYCLE:
When the last letter was sent out we have had some unclear information about our recycling program. In this Mayor’s Corner I will try to give some clarity on the City’s Recycling Program. It is mine and the city council’s position that we will continue with a city wide recycling program. The way we do it may change. Some changes that may be made are the recycling of glass. Presently there is not a good market for recycled glass. Some of the handling problems with glass and the safety hazards of handling of this glass have to be considered. The cardboard also may be put in different containers. We may use some 8 yard dumpsters like we used to do. There has been no final decision on any of this.
We are also working with City Carton from Cedar Falls. They are a private company doing recycling and making a profit doing this recycling. They have presented a plan to the city for review. This plan however has an impact on what the County does and what the rest of the Communities in the County will be doing in the future. They have also presented a plan to the Board of Supervisors. The Board has not made a final decision on that presentation. We have also been in contact with the rest of the communities in Bremer County and had joint meeting with them and the County Board of Supervisors. The city has and is working with the County and our present recycler to come up with a plan for the pickup of our recyclables after the first of July. We will keep you updated with any potential changes.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO RECYCLE THE WAY YOU HAVE BEEN UNTIL NOTIFIED DIFFERENTLY BY THE CITY.

SUMP PUMP AND STORM WATER DISCHARGE:
We have been working with our city engineer to develop a plan for the implementation and construction of storm water discharge lines. They will present a plan and some options for the council to review at the March council meeting on March 10th.

PARKS:
There have been several requests from people wanting to donate benches to the city’s parks. We have selected the type of benches and they are purchased by the city from Kay Park & Recreation Corporation in Janesville. The benches are made of recycled materials and the cost is $500 per bench. Most of the benches will be placed on a concrete slab and anchored. This type of bench also includes a 3” X 5” engraved plate attached to the back of the bench. If you wish to donate a bench, please contact Barney or Lois at city hall.

RECREATIONAL TRAIL:
The trail between Readlyn and Denver has started with most of the engineering to be done by the County. The County has had some equipment on the trail to level it for the surveying crew. According to our County Engineer he hopes to have the bid letting completed by this May with construction to start in early summer. He also would like to have the project completed by September – October 2008 time frame.

Herbert J. Clemen Mayor, City of Readlyn

MAYOR'S CORNER January, 2008

To: All Readly Residents

The City of Readlyn has adopted a Storm Water Utility. The 3rd and final hearing was adopted at our last city council meeting on January 7th. Beginning February 2008 there will be a $4.00 monthly charge on your utility bill for this Storm Water Utility. These funds will be used for the maintenance and installation of needed storm water lines in the community. We have contacted our City Engineering Firm (Shive-Hattery Engineering) from Cedar Rapids to develop a plan. They will study our present systems, both storm water drainage system and sanitary sewage systems. They will recommend a solution and design a system that will satisfy the DNR requirements. The installation and or modification of our storm water system will probably take 3 to 5 years. Be patient, we have a lot of work to do.

At the last council we have also passed the final reading of the new sewer rates and the final reading of the new garbage rates. The new sewer rate establishes a minimum fee for the first 1000 gallons at $6.50 per month. After the first 1000 gallons the rate will remain the same. The new garbage rate will increase to $8.70 per month. All rates will become effective February 2008.

We have also initiated the sanitary sewer inspection and have started the first phase of a 3 year plan to have all the sewer lines visually inspected with remote cameras. This first phase involved the sewer lines on the east portion of town. We were by-passing and were discharging waste water at the south east lift station quite frequently in the past. The DNR realizes that our problems can not be fixed over night. This inspection has resulted in finding some problems in our sanitary sewer lines that need immediate attention. These problems will be repaired in the next few months. This may mean tearing up of some lawns and maybe concrete streets or sidewalks. Every precaution will be made to reduce the damage. I can not emphasize enough that we must due everything possible to eliminate storm water from getting into our sanitary sewer system.

Those residents that are in violation of the new city ordinance pertaining to sump pump discharge should remedy this problem as soon as possible. If you are proposing to fix your sump pump discharge, please contact Jim or Barney for their approval. If there is a storm sewer that is adjacent to your property, your sump pump should be hooked up to it.

In a lighter note we have been notified that our recycler will discontinue picking up our recyclable material. Our cardboard may be picked up in the 8 yard dumpsters located outside the recycle center. Their will be other changes as well. We will keep you informed.

Herbert J Clemen Mayor, City of Readlyn;

MAYOR'S CORNER October29, 2007

RECYCLE:
We have had some problems recently in the recycling shed. There has been a considerable amount of Styrofoam pieces in various areas of the recycling shed and also some anti freeze left in the building. These are not recyclable materials. There is a sign on the wall that specifies the materials accepted. On the back on this Mayor's Corner is a copy of that sign. To help police this recycling area, we have installed a security camera in the area. Please do your part in keeping this area clean and properly maintained.

SUMP PUMP AND STORM WATER DISCHARGE:
We have had our City Engineer look at the problem to help remedy the solution. Some of the residences have corrected their problem with this sump pump discharge. Please continue to do so. We have a long way to go to get everyone in compliance. If you have a storm water drainage system on any of your easements or in the city's right-of-way adjacent to your property, you should be able to hook up to it without too much problem. If you are contemplating correcting the problem, please let the city maintenance personnel help with the solution.

PARKS:
There have been several requests from people wanting to donate benches to the city's parks. We have selected the type of benches and they are purchased by the city from Kay Park & Recreation Corporation in Janesville. The benches are made of recycled materials and the cost is $500 per bench. Most of the benches will be placed on a concrete slab and anchored. This type of bench also includes a 3" X 5" engraved plate attached to the back of the bench. If you wish to donate a bench, please contact Barney or Lois at city hall.

RECREATIONAL TRAIL:
The recreational trail has been completed in the city. The trail between Readlyn and Denver will start this fall with most of the engineering to be done by the County. The County has had some equipment on the trail to level it for the surveying crew. We hope that the engineering can be done this fall and winter and bid letting hi the February or March time frame with construction in the spring of 2008. I personally would like to thank every business, individual and organization that donated to this fundraising effort. The newly formed Readlyn Garden Club will be planting some trees and flowers around the recreational trail and hi the park this fall and in the spring. If you would like to be involved in the Garden Club, donate bulbs, perennial plants or trees, or some of your time and muscle, contact Jackie Clemen or Judy Leistikow.

FALL BURNING: Just a reminder!
The city council has set the Fall leaf burning from October 1st to November 15th. Be kind to your neighbors and refrain from burning wet leaves and other materials. If we get complaints about severe smoke, we may have to restrict this leaf burning period further or completely prohibit it.

Herbert J. Clemen Mayor, City of Readlyn

MAYOR'S CORNER September 2007

Web Site:

Remember, the Mayor's Corner is also available on the website at Readlyn.com.

RECYCLE:

We have had some minor problems with the recycling area. The biggest problem is window glass contaminating our recyclables. We can only accept food container type glass. Please continue to do your part in keeping the area clean and the recyclables properly sorted hi their respective containers.

SUMP PUMP AND STORM WATER DISCHARGE:

We have had a special meeting on this sump pump discharge on the 23rd of July. A committee has been appointed at the last council meeting. Hopefully they can come up with some potential long range solutions to remedy this problem. We have contacted our city engineer (Shive- Hattery) to assist us in evaluating our storm water problem. Some of the residences have corrected their problem with the sump pump discharge. Please continue to do so. We have a long way to go to get everyone in compliance. As most of you are aware of we have had Readlyn's name along with other communities in the press for discharging waste water and or sewage. We sure do not need that type of press.

PARKS:

We will be doing some additional seeding this fall in the parks. The Readlyn Bike Trail Foundation has been awarded a grant for new trash containers, bike racks, and park benches. The amount of the award was $2500 from Bremer County Community Foundation. These items were purchased with some additional money left from the shelter house and playground equipment project. Our maintenance personnel will be assembling this equipment in the near future and placing it in the parks. A big thank you goes to Readlyn Savings Bank for the purchase of a handicap drinking fountain which will be located adjacent to the pump house in the city park.

RECREATIONAL TRAIL:

The trail that connects both parks has been completed. Some additional touch up seeding and leveling has to be completed this month. As you read this mayor corner the FUN-RAISER to be held at the Center Inn on Sunday the 9^th of September should put us over the $125,000 mark of private funding requiredSy the Visioif Iowa Board. With the total funding virtually being secured we should see some construction start on the Denver to Readlyn segment next spring.

GRASS CLIPPINGS on Street:

We have been noticing some grass clippings that are left on the street. There is an ordinance that stipulates the property owner must pick up these clippings if they are blown on the street. Please do your part to eliminate this from happening.

FALL BURNING:

The city council has set the fall leaf burning from October 1 st to November 15th. Be kind to your neighbors and refrain from burning wet leaves and material. If we get complaints about severe smoke we may have to restrict this leaf burning period further or completely prohibit it.