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Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Council approves final reading on sewer rates Edwards visits Manchester Area summer activities ...

Council approves final reading on sewer rates by Latisha Sand

The Manchester City Council approved the final reading of the sewer rate increase ordinance on Tuesday, May 29. As of the June 29, 2007 billing, the monthly-based charge will increase to $7.88 and the charge per 1,000 gallons will increase to $4.03. The ordinance also states that another increase will take place on the June 30, 2008 billing. The council also discussed the possible rate increase for the communications center. City Manager Tim Vick recently sent out letters to Delaware County towns, Regional Medical Center and the Board of Supervisors requesting a time to meet and discuss the increase rates. However, according to Vick, the discussions have been “unfruitful.” “They all said the center needs an increase but we couldn’t agree with how much or who’s going to pay for it,” said Vick. The first proposal was to raise it by 15 cents per population, however, the city employees present at the meeting didn’t think they could get their city councils to approve such a raise. “It’s strictly coming down to costs and who is going to pay for them,” said Manchester Police Chief Bruce Trapp, who has been involved in the discussions. “I haven’t heard any complaints of how it’s working or the rates. It’s just who is going to pay the increase of fees.” Trapp mentioned that Governor Chet Culver signed into legislation that possibly the Emergency Managements could hear the rate increases and could levy them. “It could be an option,” said Trapp, who hasn’t read the legislation completely yet. Vick mentioned that no other options were mentioned from the other towns, that all the ideas for the increase were coming from Manchester. Vick wanted the Manchester City Council’s approval to form a committee with the two biggest users to come up with a solution. The council agreed and Vick will be setting up a time and date for a public hearing between the council and the Delaware County Board of Supervisors. The council also held two public hearings for the first consideration for rezoning a lot within the North Oak Subdivision and for rezoning of lot 307, near North Wayne Street. The motion for the first consideration for the North Oak Subdivision was approved, with the council receiving no written or verbal comments regarding this issue. The second public hearing was put into recess, to be continued at a later date, because the Planning and Zoning Commission hasn’t recommended an action yet. The council awarded the well number seven improvements to Tschiggfrie Excavating Company. Tschiggfrie came in 8.6 percent lower then the estimated bid at $49,958.21. The council also approved: • the second and third consideration for an ordinance regulating the 2007 RAGBRAI event within Manchester • the ordinance that stated a 45/45/10 split for the hotel/motel tax if residents vote for the 7 percent tax to go into effect in November • to help demolish two homes within Manchester, one on South Wayne Street and another on South Madison Street • to make a motion to release the mortgage for a resident on Prospect Street if the resident agrees to pay $5,000 within 60 days.

Edwards visits Manchester by Ken Boesenberg

KEN BOESENBERG / Press Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards listens to a question from the crowd during his visit to Manchester on Sunday, May 27. Some 250 people came to listen to Edwards speak at the Community Center.

Former Senator, John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth were in Manchester for an informational meeting, Sunday, May 27 at the Community Center at the Delaware County Fairgrounds. More than 250 people signed in to listen to Edwards unveil his plan to repair the country’s sacred contract to honor and support veterans and military families. “We need a new sacred contract with the members and veterans of our Armed Services. We can and should give them quality health care, support their families and open doors for them when they return. Actually, we owe them no less,” stated Edwards. When asked about the rising gas prices, Edwards replied. “We need to look into whether there has been any price gouging. However, we have to cut our dependence on oil by the use of solar, wind or ethanol as alternative energy sources.” His stop in Manchester was his fourth of the day, having already visited New Hampton, Decorah and Oelwein.

Area summer activities ... by Ken Boesenberg

With the beginning of June, school is out, or nearly out, and it is time to explore the county for interesting things to do. Within the surrounding area there are going to be many happenings during the summer months, all of which will be worthwhile to attend. Starting this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Strawberry Point will be holding their annual Strawberry Days. There will be a carnival all three days, as well as a parade on Saturday starting at 11:00 a.m. Also on Saturday there will be a Classic Car Show on the baseball field that will run from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. On Sunday, (June 10) the Hartwick Husky’s will have a their Home Show starting at 3:00 p.m. on Lake Delhi. Monday, June 11, the annual Tractor-Cade will go through Strawberry Point. This is an annual event that is sponsored by WMT radio in Cedar Rapids. On Friday, June 15, the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce will be holding its annual golf outing at the Manchester Golf Club. Also don’t forget that there are races every weekend at Tri-State Raceway. This Sunday, June 10 catch the Quick 16 points race number 6. Edgewood will be holding their Rodeo Days on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 21-23 with rodeo action each night beginning at 8:00 p.m. Also on Saturday the 23rd there will be a parade starting at 2:00 p.m. On Sunday (24th) the Rodeo Days Demolition Derby will begin at 1:00 p.m. On Tuesday, June 26 the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce will be putting on a Special Olympics Duck Race fundraiser on the Maquoketa River behind the Northeast Iowa Telephone building. The public is welcome to come join in the fun and help raise money for Special Olympics. There will be food and beverages served starting at 11:00 a.m. On Friday, July 6 the second First Friday at Five will be held in the parking lot of Community Savings Bank on East Main Street. The event will run from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with plenty of music and beverages. On July 9 the Delaware County Fair kicks off with its annual parade. There will be plenty of action and entertainment for the whole family at this years fair. Tuesday, (July 10) the motocross racers take to the track starting at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, the ever popular Figure 8 racers will be on the track starting at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, the very popular singer, Gary Allan will take the stage around 8:30 for what promises to be an outstanding concert. Friday night is VIP Night with Eddie Money doing the entertaining. Saturday the Truck and Tractor Pulls take center stage with competition getting underway at noon with the Stock Classes and at 7:00 p.m. with the ECI Classes. The fair will conclude on Sunday with the ever popular Demolition Derby starting at 1:00 p.m. Also from Tuesday through Saturday there will be music on the Free Stage and the Beer Tent Stage. On Friday, July 27 RAGBRAI will be coming through Manchester as they continue towards Dyersville. Watch for details of the route and activities surrounding their visit as that date draws near. That is the line up in the area for the just first six weeks of summer. Hope you are able to attend some of if not all of these fine activities.

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