By Belle Plaine Mayor Dave Fish

Dear Citizens of Belle Plaine:

July 4

I thought we had a great Fourth of July celebration and around town I have heard nothing but positive comments about it. The car show was successful despite the rain and I thought the new-styled trophies were fantastic. Not sure about the street dance, but I leave that up to the music experts and I know they are working on a new group for next year.

The parade was great and as big as ever with everything going well for all the groups at Franklin Park. (Maybe a touch hot for some of the youngsters). The fireworks crew capped off a great two days with a very successful show. Nothing is ever perfect, but I thought all our activities were well done.

Also thank you to the Belle Plaine 4th of July Committee, the Lions Club, BPCDC, and all other groups and individuals who give up their time to make this a fun filled two days. (If you want to make the BP Fourth of July a better event please contact one of the groups I have mentioned and volunteer your ideas, time, and ability to serve to make it better next year.

We always need more help.) Also many Thanks to Emma Willett, Dani Montgomery, and Hannah Cook for their help during the July 4th parade.

August

It is really hard to believe that it is August already and the county fairs have wrapped up with the state fair just around the corner. When I was still teaching as August first rolled up on the calendar I knew the enjoyable carefree days of summer were just about gone. Remember those school zones will become very active in a few short weeks with more pedestrians, bike riders, and traffic in general. Be careful during the school hours. Please slow down and follow the traffic laws.

Meeting date

By the way the city council is looking at the idea of switching our monthly meeting to Wednesday night instead of Monday nights. If you have strong concerns about this possible change please let your council person know or contact the Mayor.

Administrator

In case you have not heard we are losing our city administrator. Actually by the time this newsletter gets out Jeff will have already left for his new job. Many thanks to Mr. Horne for his five years here in Belle Plaine and good luck in his new administrator’s job in Ely. During Jeff’s tenure we have done a number of improvements to the city including but not limited to a $3.1 million upgrade to the sanitary sewer plant and putting many of the city properties on solar. Again many thanks to Jeff for his service to Belle Plaine.

Garbage service

When this newsletter comes out we will have completed the first year with our new garbage service from Republic and like the start of any new contract it has had its ups and downs and its smooth spots and rough patches. It has taken some time to get this operation so it works smooth but the reports I have been getting from the city clerks is the last two months have started to see a complete smooth transition.

One of the major problems has been the difficulty for Republic to acquire new workers to run the routes. A big part of that problem is the low unemployment rate. A couple things that you should note: if you are going to throw out one of those major free items (chair) or you are going to get rid one of the non-free items like a freezer or TV, etc., please call the city clerks and get on the list so it can be picked up. When in doubt please call city hall and ask for help.

Also glass bottle recycling bin is located at the Fisher Building City Shop at 806 3rd Avenue. Do not put this in your recycling bin. Again, recycling schedule is every other week but if you can’t remember, the dates are published in the city newsletter every month and on the city website or call city hall. You could also look and see what your neighbors are putting out! What I have truly learned by representing the city on the landfill commission is landfills are costly; they are big business, and the days of cheap garbage systems are over.

No longer can you just dig a hole and bury it.

Clean-up day

I have been asked if we would ever have a clean-up day and the answer is probably no. With the free item you can send every month, (which by the way is not free because this goes against the Belle Plaine tipping fee at the landfill so the city is paying for it), with the large size of your new garbage bin, with the fact you can send any other item you want if you pay a fee and make arrangements (TV, computer, humidifier, refrigerator, etc.) , with the cost of the tipping fees at the landfill and because as a city we have a considerable smaller work force than we had in the days when they did a clean-up day, I don’t see the council ever approving a clean-up day again.

Again that decision is always in the hands of the city council.

Clerks

I would also like to thank our clerks: Jacki & Sandy for the great job they have done in this whole change over from Johnson County to Republic. They have answered questions and soothed frayed nerves for months as we made the switch. They also have had to handle the problems on missed garbage and explaining the new system

I personally think they do a great job! Thanks Ladies.

Golf carts

Last year the city council revised our golf cart ordinance so that golf carts and UTV’s are legal for only legal drivers. Plus they must have a Belle Plaine registration sticker on them to operate on our streets. There are some other restrictions so please check the city website or our code book on the website. ATV’s are not legal. By the way the sticker is an annual sticker so a new one will be due in January.

New director

Now begins the search for a new director which takes a lot more than just running an ad in the local newspaper. This will require a fair amount of extra work by the council, the Mayor, and some staff members as we sort thru the resumes, do the interviews, eventually find hopefully the right fit for Belle Plaine. The ad for this job can be found in the city newsletter. The City will be hiring Callahan Municipal Consultants LLC to help in the search.

Hopefully we will welcome someone aboard by the first of November.

City election

That brings up another situation if you are interested in city government and how this community operates then now is time to think about taking out papers for the city election in November. The Mayor’s job, a council person at large, and the representative from the NW district will be up for re-election. If interested stop by city hall and get the election materials from the city clerks. (As of right now I am planning to run for re-election!)

Genesis

Many thanks to the group from Genesis who pulled all the weeds in our Memorial Flower bed at Box Park. Again we probably need some more volunteers to finish the new sound park on Main Street and re-do the bio-cells. Please give Morgan a call at Belle Plaine Community Development and see what we need help with or what we have planned.

Sports

Congratulations to both the Plainsmen softball team and the baseball team on great seasons. A thirteen inning battle to see who goes to state and then lose 1-0 is true heart-breaker for the girls. Almost makes you say there should be a way for both teams to go. Great seasons and great kids!

Get ready school is just around the corner so it will be time to get out and support the XC team, the volleyball squad, the football program, the band and the cheerleaders.

As always “Go Plainsmen.” Remember it is up to all of us to make Belle Plaine the best hometown in Iowa!