City Hall Project Underway

We have begun the renovation of the old library building at 204 Center Avenue North to the new City Hall. City Offices will be moving in Spring 2009. The current building will become the Public Safety Building and will allow for space for Police, Fire and EMS. The new city hall will offer improved accessibility and functionality to the citizens of Mitchellville. There will be a larger counter space with ADA (Americans with Disability Act) standards. There will be a small waiting area and lobby. The city council chambers will offer improved use of information technology with a built-in ceiling projector and improved connectivity. There will also be more space for storage of city documents, a small meeting room and an office for the mayor. Look for information in the spring about the opening.

Capital Projects can have unpredictable timetables

Many people have voiced concern to me about limited progess over the last month on the Center Avenue Project. Our contract gives our contractor until October 1st to be finished. After that time they are subject to penalty.

We do realize the extent of the inconvenience this project is for residents of Center Avenue North and 4th Street NE.

We believe that when the project is completed it will be an upgrade residents can be proud of. The City has many capital upgrades in the last three years; a new water treatment plant, a new waste water treatment plant, fresh internal & external painting of the water tower, paving on 3rd, 1st & Mill, the current Center Avenue Project, and the rail crossing upgrades. Residents can take pride in the quality of all these improvements for the city.

Upgrading Roads in Mitchellville

Mitchellville has a large amount of chip seal roads and a ditch system for drainage. This is true especially in the NE and NW Parts of town. We have determined that investing in such a system is not cost effective over time. To that end, we are making the move to concrete and asphalt surfaces. Because of the cost of oil, concrete is actually more cost effective currently. A section of 4th street is being changed to concrete where the new storm sewer was installed. Center Avenue North is being widened and converted to concrete with better storm water drainage. We did work on 3rd, 1st, and Mill St NE last year. We did work on 2nd and Jasper the year before. Currently, the city receives approximately $55,000 for road construction annually from the State Road Use Tax. We are using a general obligation bond for Center because of its use by almost all residents of Mitchellville. Funding is always a concern. $55,000 does not do a whole lot of upgrading.

It is possible in the future the city will have to evaluate other methods such as possibly issuing a bond using Road Use Tax revenues to make the payments. This would help move up the rate at which we can upgrade the streets.

Of course, storm water issues will be a big part of this as we go along. The Council authorized our city engineer Veenstra & Kimm to complete a storm water study for the city. From that we will develop a plan to address those issues in coordination with planning for streets & sidewalks.

City Hall Moving

By early 2008, City Administrative Offices and the City Council Chambers will move to the location of the old library on Center Avenue. We will have improved counter area for the public as well as a lobby area with some seating. We will also have improved audio/visual capabilities in the council chambers. The police and fire departments will use the space vacated by the move and the current location will become the public safety building. Because of sound financial practices in the past, we will be able to do this project without any tax increase. There will be an addition to the back of the library building for the council chambers and a remodeling of the old library space for offices. We hope it will be a facility that Mitchellville will be proud of.

Moving to Mitchellville

After having to commute for a long time from Eldora, and then having to spend a year in a small duplex in Altoona, we are finally moving to Mitchellville. We recently bought a house and will move in August.

My family and I are making a multi-year commitment to the City. I have enjoyed my time so far as your City Administrator and look forward to the years ahead. We have many projects going on and will continue to work to make Mitchellville the best it can be.

Center Avenue Project to Begin

As many of you know, we will be doing a major re-construction of Center Avenue between 3rd and 6th Streets. The old asphalt will be removed, and the new section will be concrete with complete storm water drainage and wider than it is now. This will go along with the maintenance of the rail crossing to greatly improve the condition of this important street. Look for the project to start in the last week of June and be completed by October. If you have any questions, please contact City Hall.

Summer Activities for Youth

Many of the young people who have spoken to me have indicated a desire to have some structured sports activity over the Summer. I will be having soccer night for kids 12 and under on Thursday nights at 6 PM in June & July. We need people willing to supervise an activity be it basketball at the park court or flag football at the ballfields under the lights. On Tuesdays, DART will have a shuttle bus that can be taken to the Altoona Pool. Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering for youth summer programming.