Council tours River Crossing Clinic

Prior to its regular meeting Monday, the Riverside City Council toured the new River Crossing Medical Clinic, operated by the University of Iowa Health Care. The $1.6 facility opened last month, and will have a public Grand Opening April 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the facility just off Highway 22 in Riverside.

We are a commercial retail pharmacy that can handle prescriptions from any provider.

Besides providing family medical care, the new clinic also has a full-service pharmacy, optical shop that also offers eye exams, a complete laboratory and on-site digital radiology equipment.
Todd Shields, the pharmacist, told the visitors “We are a commercial retail pharmacy that can handle prescriptions from any provider.” The pharmacy also has a drive-up window.
He added that it has extended hours, operating from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Additionally, it has standard over the counter medications as well as shampoo, bandaids and similar items.
The clinic itself is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and the Optical Shop from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Friday.
“We tried to do things the most innovative way we could from the beginning,” said Terry Protextor, UI Community Medical Services executive director, noting that applies to the building design as well as state-of-the-art equipment.
He also indicated that the clinic could be flexible in its hours, depending on how needs develop.
The clinic has two full-time physicians and a physician assistant as well as nurse and other personnel in its 7,600 square foot facility.
During its meeting that started at 6:30 p.m., the council, by a 4-1 vote, approved changing he building permit for the Riverside Schoolhouse Condominiums to the University of Iowa Credit Union who, the council was told, will become the property’s new owner April 6. Previously listed as owner was Frantz Construction, Iowa City. The building permit is for completion of the remaining condo units of which there are four fully done and two sold of the 16 total units.
In other business, the council:

• approved the communications contract with Washington County, for a total of $34,861 for 2010-11, to be paid in quarterly installments of $8,715.25;
• approved final payment of $9,741.82 to Metro Pavers, Ic. for the Commercial Drive paving project whos total cost is $179,636.34;
• approved a $400 annual lease agreement for Kucera Systems, Inc. and Business Radio to have an antenna on the city water tower;
• had a lengthy discussion about the possible sale of city property (well No. 5 site) to Robert Schneider who said he has maintained the area for 11 years, noting the well is capped. Council member Todd Yahnke said that Schneider’s offer of last year of $1,500 was “not acceptable”; however, Schneider noted that another well site at the west end was released for $1. No decision was made;
• decided to have the city do the mowing of Iowa Township Park, although it had sought bids and received two. The one from Cody Schneider was $3,300 (figured at $165 per mowing and $30 per trim) and $225 per mowing from John Shalla. Council member Betty Kaalberg moved that the city do the mowing, saying “we lose control when contracting it out.” Council member Ralph Schnoebelen said that all expenses are not figured into the city’s cost, estimating the cost would be $8,000 (for workers, equipment and maintenance). No figure for the city costs was given during the meeting. The motion to have the city do the mowing passed 4-1 with Schnoebelen opposed;
• approved letting Wayne Kauffman put a bridge across the ditch at his property; and
• approved adding Riverside key chains to the city’s Welcome bags.