Community News

Several residents of Riverside have been taking an in depth look at various aspects of Riverside that may affect landscape enhancement planning as part of the 2009 Community Visioning Program. Members of the Riverside visioning committee will meet on May 7th, 2009 at 6:00 pm at Riverside City Hall to compile the results of community inventories recently taken as part of the visioning process. The goal of the program is to develop a landscape plan that illustrates the values, identity and vision of Riverside. An important part of this process is gathering input from community residents.
Participants will discuss discoveries they made about Riverside and what opportunities and constraints exist in terms of landscape change. Information about the visual quality, community resources and events, and bioregional characteristics will be mapped on a large aerial map of Riverside so that the committee can identify relationships among Riverside’s features. All residents are encouraged to attend this meeting to take part in the mapping exercise and the discussion.
The Visioning Program is a transportation enhancement planning program that assists members of Iowa communities in creating roadside enhancement plans. The program gives residents a chance to participate directly in the design process and encourages public involvement.
Residents who want more information or who are interested in participating in the visioning process should contact Tina Thomas at 319/648-3501
or Roger Hunt at 319/728-2064.

By Mary Zielinski
Cedar Rapids KCRGTV (Channel 9 ) is joining with the Kalona Chamber of commerce in a campaign to promote the Quilt Capitol of Iowa that is known for his Old Order Amish presence. During the Kalona Chamber luncheon meeting Monday, P. J. Cahill of Channel 9 outlined plans for a series of television and internet promotions to air this summer.
The Chamber has applied for a $25,000 grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) to aid with the plan. Additionally, Channel 9 is contributing $10,000, said Cahill, and the Chamber allocated $1,000 for it. The Chamber previously received a tourism promotion grant from the WCRF for a large scale print media campaign for inserts in St. Louis, Minneapolis and Kansas City newspapers.
The WCRF grants will not be announced until June, although work on the program was to start in May.
Featured speaker for the Chamber meeting was Lke Newton, landscaping engineer with MMS Consultants who are preparing the plans for Kalona’s downtown revitalization. MMS began last month with survey work, identifying key problem areas with sidewalks, streets, drainage and alley accesses. As MMS has told the council earlier, before streetscape changes can be made, the infrastructure needs to be addressed.

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By Mary Zielinski
Thanks to the city of Wellman, the Mid-Prairie Alternative Learning Center has tripled its space, which is good because since January, 2008, it has had 38 students. The ALC is housed in the former Senior Dining Site, given to the district rent free. Mid-Prairie pays only the utilities and has the use of the space until the city needs it for library expansion which is at least five years away.
Monday, the Mid-Prairie Board received a report from Amy Shalla, the At-Risk Coordinator, and Kelly Swift, the new At-Risk Advocate, that currently it is serving 26 students. For many of these students, said Shalla, “This is the closest to family that they have.”
With 20 of the students (age range are 16 go 19) living on their own (one is officially homeless), “many have full time jobs. They have to support themselves,” said Shalla, and that obviously makes it difficult for them to attend regular, structured classes.

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submitted by Dan Bontrager, CPA, EA
I wanted to inform everyone of a situation that is taking regarding the individual state income tax return that is due this Thursday, April 30.
The Iowa Department of Revenue reported today that it will not be adopting certain federal income tax provisions on the 2008 return, which is contrary to the instructions it printed a few months ago. When the Department of Revenue printed its instruction booklets this year, it “made an assumption” that the Iowa Legislature would adopt certain federal provisions (commonly referred to as ‘extenders’) that are not a permanent part of the federal tax code. This session of the Iowa Legislature adjourned over the weekend without addressing the issue of whether or not it would adopt the federal extenders this year. The Department of Revenue is now stating that by default, it must change its instructions relative to the federal tax extenders.
As a result, state income tax returns that have been filed using the instructions printed by the Department of Revenue may be incorrect and therefore will have to be amended. Taxpayers who have already filed for 2008 (most of them, presumably), will need to review their returns to see if they took a deduction that is not allowed.
The federal extenders not being allowed on the state income tax return this year are:

1. Educator Expenses – up to $250 in unreimbursed classroom expenditures that teachers are allowed to deduct directly against taxable income
2. Tuition and Fees Deduction – parents who have children in college (or students who claim themselves) may have benefited more from taking a deduction against income rather than a tax credit
3. Itemized Deduction for Sales Taxes – certain taxpayers have been able to deduct a calculated ‘state sales taxes paid’ as opposed to state income taxes paid as an itemized deduction on their Schedule A.

In defense of the Department of Revenue, the State Legislature did couple with these same three federal extenders in 2007. I was also recently informed by a State House Democratic Staff member that the legislature has not fully coupled with federal changes only three times in the past. In each of those instances, the Legislature let everyone know in advance that they were not going to couple with the federal changes so taxpayers and their preparers could plan accordingly.
I encourage anyone with questions to speak to their local state representative, the Iowa Department of Revenue, and/or a qualified tax professional.

State Senator Becky Schmitz will be available to listen to concerns and ideas at several listening posts along Hwy 22 Friday, February 6, and ending in Hills. The first meeting is at Chat & Chew, 243-8th Avenue, Wellman at 9:30 a.m.; Kalona Public Library, 510 Centre Avenue, at 10:45 a.m.; Murphy’s Bar & Grill, 71 E 1st Street, Riverside at noon; Lone Tree Community Center, 203 1/2 North Devoe Street, Lone Tree at 1:15 p.m.; and Iguanas Mexican Restaurant, 104 Main Street East, Hills at 2:30 p.m. To contact Senator Schmitz during the week, call 515-281-3371. On weekends she can be reached at 641-919-5575 or e-mail her at becky.schmitz@legis.state.ia.us.

by Mary Coblentz
The Wellman City Council Monday approved a resolution to enter into a loan and disbursement agreement not to exceed $530,000. A public hearing was held on the issue; there were no oral or written comments.
The water revenue loan and disbursement agreement is in part for the engineering fees for the design stage of the water treatment project the city is undertaking.
In other business, the council tabled approving a job description for a public works director until all council members can be present; council members Marc Pennington and Bob Goodrich were absent Monday. The item will be on the February 2 council meeting agenda.
Following the regular council meeting February 2, the council will hold a work session.

By Mary Zielinski
The Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) awarded a total of $2,948,683.19 in competitive grants and municipal allocations in 2008. ÊFunds derive from the $3,280,233.04 the WCRF received from the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort last year. ÊLast year, the WCRF received a total of $3,252,952.69 in state mandated funds from the Casino
According to the WCRF’s annual report, it awarded 57 competitive grants in 2008 that totaled $2,129,035. Additionally, there was a total of $819,648.19 to the county’s nine incorporated cities from the WCRF’s municipal allocation. The allocation is 25 percent of the total received from the Casino and is awarded to the cities on a per capita basis.

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By Mary Zielinski
His successful run for the 89th District seat in the Iowa House means Larry Marek will not continue with the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF).
Marek’s term expiries in December, before he takes his state office, and WCRF members November 19 discussed not filling the resulting vacancy.
“If we do not replace the member, we will have an odd number for the board,” said member Patricia Koller. She and others indicated that could be preferable. Not filling Marek’s position would mean a 13 rather than a 14 member board. The board has a representative from eight of the nine incorporated cities. The ninth, Coppock, is in three counties with Henry County as the one of record. The additional members are rural or from Washington.

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By Mary Zielinski
Creation of a transport officers pool for the Washington county Sheriff’s Department not only will pay for itself but also bring some additional funds to the county, Sheriff Jerry Dunbar told the board of supervisors Tuesday.
Cost for the officers, which Dunbar said would be a pool of ten available for on-call service, works out to $7,175 annually. The figure is based on an hour wage of $12.50 for 575 hours annually.
Reimbursement for the transporting of federal prisoners is $20 per hour which, using the 575 hours per year, means payment of $11,480, Dunbar explained.
He added that the department currently has $10,000 in its budget to pay for the officers. He said it would not start until after the first of the new year.

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by Mary Coblentz
The Wellman City Council Monday voted to allow Leslie Holmes to keep Daisy and Bertha, her two chickens. A Wellman citizen had complained about the chickens, and last month the council voted to evict the chickens. Holmes appealed, asking and receiving written permission from the council to keep chickens on her property, and the chickens can stay.

It’s the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard of. Dogs barking, kids screaming, and nobody says a word.

Holmes brought signatures of her nearest neighbors in support of the chickens, refuting the complaint that the chickens are noisy.
Wellman resident Ray Curl said, “I’m probably the oldest resident in town. (People are getting) carried away about somebody having a couple of chickens. It’s the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard of. Dogs barking, kids screaming, and nobody says a word.”
The council noted that keeping livestock in city limits will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
In other business, the council:

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by Mary Coblentz
The Wellman City Council held a special session Monday, September 8.
During the meeting, the council:

• heard from Sheriff Jerry Dunbar regarding fires in abandoned houses in the area. One reason the houses are being burned is to collect the copper once the building has been destroyed;
• agreed to participate in an appeal of the decision by the Iowa Utilities Board for the municipalization of the city’s electric system;
• approved the final payment of legal fees for electric municipalization. The city had earmarked $150,000 for fees and spent approximately $117,000;
• briefly discussed and reviewed the YMCA agreement for operations of the Parkside Activities Center. Action will be taken at the September 15 meeting after the YMCA has signed the agreement. City Attorney Dan Kitchen stated that the contract has been extensively revised.

By Mary Zielinski
The Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) Wednesday gave the East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) the $85,000 needed to raise $100,000 to get $1.5 million federal money. The vote was 9-1.
The $1.5 million will come from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) to create a revolving loan fund primarily to aid smaller businesses.

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