Dear Citizens of Belle Plaine:

To put it very simply, the Mayor’s Office has been busy!!!!!

Trying to handle the mayor’s job and pick up the city administrator’s job with that position open gives me plenty to do. If I do not get right back to you on a situation, it is not because I’m ignoring you or I don’t think the problem or situation is essential. It is as simple as my desk is full and it may take some extra time to get the information I need to respond to your request. It will get done but maybe not as fast as you would like. If you feel I’m not responding in an appropriate time, then please call me at city hall (319-444-2200 or mayorfish2012@gmail.com) just in case I did forget or lost the message. If it was a Facebook message, I would try again. We are working thru some computer problems at city hall. Primarily after they loaded Windows 10 on my computer, we discovered I almost don’t have enough power to run anything else. A power upgrade is in the future. Also, try the e-mail or call;
Facebook messaging is not a great method to get ahold of me.

Also many thanks to all our experienced city workers who take up the slack when we are operating without a city administrator.

Along the line of replacing Mr. Horne, the council is working very hard along with the Callahan Municipal Consultants, LLC to fill that position. We have had eleven very qualified candidates apply for the job, and we are in the process of determining who we want to interview. Then after the interview process, we will pick a candidate to offer the job to and see if we can fill that office by somewhere between the end of October & the middle of November.

I know numerous people have told both myself and the council on what type of person we should be looking to find and we probably don’t disagree with any of your thoughts & ideas. But what looks like a superstar on the resume & thru the interview process may not end up filling the job that way or in your opinion does not fill the position that way. All I can tell you is the council works as hard as possible to find someone who will care about Belle Plaine as much as those of us who currently live here and those who have lived their whole lives here. Along the way, we hope to find someone who can find us more grant money, is good with budgets, has some knowledge of housing development, & can continue to guide a community that has a proud past & an unlimited future. (Gee is that too much to ask?)

Elections are coming up Tuesday, November 5, 2019, for the NW District council seat (which is currently empty), a council at large seat, a Park & Recreation Board seat & the Mayor’s position. There is a candidate for the open seat & the incumbents have taken out nomination papers for the seats they currently hold. Also under the new Iowa Code, the school board elections will be held at the same time. If the local grapevine is correct, there will be incumbent candidates running for the three positions they hold & there are challengers for all three seats. Study the candidates but more important than anything is getting out & vote on Election Day. Seldom do we have to wait in line but there are people all over the US & in other countries who stand in line for hours to express their right to vote.

Just a quick note from the last council meeting: the City approved a contract with Veenstra & Kimm, INC to do a water study. This is the start of the City looking to replace at least one of our shallow wells so we can get increased security for our water supply. At the same time we will pursue grants from the United States Department of Agriculture to aid in paying for test wells & drilling of a new well. We will also explore if there is a cheap way to make well #6 a quality, good supply of daily water. The City is trying to put us in a situation where we will not have to use water restrictions in a typical dry year. Stay tuned for more news in the future.

Also, Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation is changing their Trunk or Treat Adventure to Sunday afternoon October 27 on Main Street. Same procedure as before, but they want to try something different than the previous time.

The City also approved the typical Trick or Treat times from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Thursday, October 31, 2019.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!
In this day and age, it is better to be safe than sorry! If you notice something in your neighborhood or anywhere else in town that does not look right, please call it in. (319-444-2323) (Obvious emergency 911) As a community, we have decided to have full-time police protection, so do not be afraid to use it. Our officers are on duty to protect and serve the citizens of Belle Plaine, so do not hesitate to call them into action if you see something that should have the police involved. There have been a few strange incidents in town the last couple of months that we were pleased to have the citizens call in the police.

In that same vein, if you see a city code violation that you believe, should be addressed, please call that in. It can range anywhere from blowing grass or leaves into the street to illegal burning to a property nuisance complaint. Our police department has only one car on duty so it is impossible for them to see everything. Again if you see something that you want to report please call it in. During the day call city hall at 319-444-2200. Use the police #319-444-2323 for all evening non-emergency calls. Please use 911 for only serious emergencies, don’t call 911 if your neighbor’s dog is running thru your yard.

Time is running out for various fall sports. They will be starting the playoffs sometime in October. So if you have not seen XC, volleyball, or football or the marching band, you better check the schedule to see when their next game is being played. Homecoming is scheduled on the school calendar for October 4 vs. BGM.

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

October- 2018- Mayor Dave Fish