Kurt Allemeier
The Scott County Auditor’s Office will soon be sending out bills totalling $148,266.62 to school boards and municipalities. The city of Davenport will get the biggest bill, $46,199.01, for the general election and the primary election in the 3rd Ward.
The bills for the school board elections are:
- Davenport, $17,818.25
- Bettendorf, $4,214.91
- North Scott, $3,630.57
- Pleasant Valley, $2,246.96
- Eastern Iowa Community College, $28,146.69
The bills for the municipal elections, that also included a primary in Buffalo, are:
- Bettendorf, $12,269.80
- Blue Grass, $4,570.03
- Buffalo, $9,050.66
- Davenport, $46,199.01
- Dixon, $1,244.18
- Donahue, $,225.31
- Eldridge, $2,314.06
- LeClaire, $4,752.13
- Long Grove, $1,390.58
- Panorama Park, $344.30
- Princeton, $1,290.01
- Riverdale, $,282.63
- Maysville, #354.45
- McCausland, $1,223.16
- New Liberty, $393.05
- Walcott, $1,305.88
Kurt Allemeier
Part of the contract between the Public Professional and Maintenance Employees Local 2003 and Scott County includes a one-time-only holiday on Nov. 12.
The day gives workers in the county’s secondary roads department a four-day weekend.
“It is coming at a time when the employees want it because it comes after Veterans Day,” said Joe Rasmussen, business representative for the PPME. “Some are going hunting and some are doing fieldwork before things get busy.
The Board of Supervisors will vote on the contract at its Thursday meeting.
Kurt Allemeier
It is that time of year to replace squad cars and the Scott County Sheriff’s Department went out for bid for six new Ford Crown Victorias. The low bid of $25,610 came in from Reynolds Ford of East Moline, but one of the bidding dealerships offered a bargain.
Stivers Ford, of Waukee, had four 2009 Crown Vic models still available for $22,616 each. The savings is nearly $3,000 per unit, but even with slightly higher costs for wiring of aftermarket equipment, a savings of $6,000-$10,000 total.
The sheriff department wouuld also purchase two Crown Vics from Reynolds Ford. Sheriff Dennis Conard budgeted $150,000 for squad car replacements. The recommendation to the county board was $141,554.
By Steven Martens
Voters in Clinton and Low Moor will head to the polls again Tuesday for run-off elections in City Council races.
In Clinton, incumbent council member Ron Mallicoat, At Large, is being challenged by newcomer Charlie Mulholland.
Voters in Clinton already have elected three new faces to the City Council. In November, Jennifer Graf was elected to one of two At Large seats up for election, and Bev Hermann and Maggie Klaes were elected over incumbents Darrell Smith and Bob Soesbe, respectively.
Mallicoat and Mulholland were the top two vote-getters among the other four At Large candidates, but neither received enough votes to win the seat.
In Low Moor, Karl Greve and Robin Marlowe were the top two vote-getters as write-in candidates for an At Large council spot in the November election, and are vying for the spot in Tuesday’s run-off. If the vote ends in a tie, the winner will be selected by drawing a name from a hat.
By Steven Martens
The start of a special city council meeting in Clinton was delayed Friday morning by an effort to comply with Iowa’s open meetings, or “sunshine” law.
After Mayor Rodger Holm called the 11 a.m. meeting to order, council member Mike Kearney, 2nd Ward, spoke up and said the notice of the special meeting had not been e-mailed to council members and the public until 11:11 a.m. on Thursday. Iowa’s open meetings law requires that the public be notified of council meetings at least 24 hours in advance.
So Holm adjourned the meeting, and everyone in the council chambers sat and waited for about five more minutes until 11:11 a.m., when the meeting was opened a second time, including a second recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
I don’t know when Mike Kearney received his notice, but the e-mail notification about the meeting I received, which was sent as part of a group e-mail sent to council members, city department heads and other members of the news media, was received in my inbox at 10:12 a.m. on Thursday.
Kurt Allemeier
From tune-ups to using outdoor LED lights to turning down the thermostat two degrees in the winter, the Scott County Board of Supervisors heard several ways to go even greener.
Earlier this year, the county, that has a “green team” to consider implementing environmental practices, purchased the first two hybrids to its vehicle fleet.
During a recent committee of the whole meeting, Dave Donovan, director of facility and support services, ran down a checklist of environmental practices provided as part of the Bi-State Regional Commission’s Clean Air Partnership.
Donovan told the board the county is within the acceptable air quality standards, but only barely, so that every little bit helps.
Many of the practices were already in place, Donovan said, adding that others weren’t practical. Here are the practices the board is considering implementing:
- Tune up vehicles every 5,000-10,000 miles, adjust brakes and check tire pressure regularly.
- Practice “right size vehicle” policy of the proper vehicle for the task for which it’s needed.
- Avoid quick starts, excessive idling and maintain a constant speed over the course of a trip.
- Implement anti-idling policy.
- Offer telecommuting and teleconferencing, especially for out-of-county meetings.
- Encourage carpooling with preferential parking spaces. Donovan said this will be implemented at the new consolidated dispatching center and could be added at the county’s downtown campus.
- Encourage biking and walking to work by providing showers and secure bike racks. Donovan told the board bike racks are available and that showers could be made available to employees.
- Offer employee education on smart driving techniques.
- Use LED outdoor lighting.
- Use Energy Star and energy efficient equipment.
- Set thermostat two degrees warmer in the summer and two degrees cooler in the winter. Use timers to turn down heat/air conditioning in the evenings and on weekends. This practice spurred the most discussion from board members who said it is hard to please everyone by doing adusting the thermostat.
- Use low energy mode or shut off electronics when not in use.
- Invest in alternative energy or implement building-level alternative energy. The new dispatching center will have a geothermal heating/air conditioning system.
- Implement a recycling program that incorporates paper, plastic, cardboard, glass and metal. The county already recycles some of these items.
- Reduce mowing times by using native landscaping.
- Purchase non-toxic and water-based office supplies.
- Buy recycled products and choose products with recycled/recyclable packaging.
- Buy products from environmentally responsible companies.
- Use and advocate alternative transportation.
How many of these are you doing at home?
The ad hoc committee formed in August to find an operator for the Clinton marina restaurant will present information about a potential candidate during Tuesday’s Committee-of-the-Whole meeting. The meeting will immediately follow the City Council meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
The identity of the potential candidate has not been revealed, but the committee will ask council members to place the issue on the agenda for a regular Council meeting to begin negotiating a lease agreement.
The restaurant, which has room to seat 200 people inside and another 100 people on a deck that overlooks the new Clinton marina and the Mississippi River, remained unopened all summer as city officials worked to find an operator for the restaurant. The interior of the restaurant is not finished because city officials wanted to let the restaurant operator make decisions about the interior design.
Jim Golinvaux, who has 45 years of restaurant experience and served as an advisor to the committee, told council members in August it would take nine to 11 months to get the restaurant opened once an operator had been chosen.
Kurt Allemeier
The low bid for a geothermal system may not make the agenda of Thursday’s Scott Emergency Communication Center board when the board is expected to approve the $7.28 million construction project.
The bids were fairly broad, ranging from the low bid of $298,555 to $444,550, said Dave Donovan, Scott County director of facility and support services. One contractor expressed concerns on the specifications. The project is budgeted at $400,000.
A meeting with the contractor is scheduled for Thursday, potentially knocking it off the agenda for the SECC board meeting at 5 p.m. He also plans to talk to the project engineer to see if a delay would cause any problems in construction.
“We may pull it just to do due dilligence on this,” Donovan said.
The low bid was submitted by Barker Lemar, of West Des Moines. No local companies submitted bids.
Kurt Allemeier
The Scott County Board of Supervisors offered words of praise at its Tuesday morning meeting about a pair of awards that seem to arrive like clockwork at this time of year.
The county received Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. This is the 22ndstraight year the county has received the award, and Scott County six counties in Scott County to receive the certificate.
The award also shows the continuing quality the county has in its accounting and management since half the team that gained praise from the board, Auditor Roxana Moritz and Treasurer Bill Fennelly have been in the job for about a year.
Along with Craig Hufford, financial management supervisor for the Treasurer, and Wes Rostenbach, accounting and tax manager for the Auditor, county administrator Dee Bruemmer and budget manager Sarah Kautz, who joined the county with the retirement of administrator Ray Wierson, were singled out.
Also, this is the fifth year in a row the county has won a Digital Counties award from the National Association of Counties, recognizing innovation and hard work. The county received third place for its population size. Illinois’ Peoria County finished just below Scott County in fourth place.
Kurt Allemeier
Davenport residents spoke at Davenport’s council meeting Wednesday asking the council to change the language on an ordinance for maintaining boulevards and private property. The changes would set new requirements for drainage areas, like creeks and retention ponds.
In response, several aldermen had stories to tell about drainage problems in their wards, whether it was water backing up near shopping centers or washing out part of a creek bank.
In the end, the council voted to approve the second consideration of the ordinance but asked city staff to adjust and tighten the language to ease residents concerns before the vote on the third and final consideration of the ordinance.
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