City of Ely, Iowa
Your Information Gateway for Ely, Iowa
|
|
New & Happening |
|
|
November 3 City Council Election. The election for two positions on the Ely City Council is Tuesday, November 3, 2009. Candidates for the two City Council openings are:
The Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Ely City Council election will be at the Ely Public Library at 1595 Dows Street. The election site will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. You can register to vote at Ely City Hall or the Linn County Elections Office at Linn County West, 2500 Edgewood Rd SW in Cedar Rapids. You decide the outcome - vote November 3! |
|
|
Absentee Ballots for November 3, 2009 Election Now Available. Absentee ballots for the November 3, 2009 Ely City Council election are available now from the Linn County Elections office at Linn County West, at the Westdale Mall, 2500 Edgewood Rd SW in Cedar Rapids. Voters may vote absentee in person at the Linn County Elections office Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Voters may also request absentee ballot forms from the Linn County Elections office, or they may be downloaded from the Linn County Auditor’s Website at www.linncounty.org/auditor. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Monday November 2, 2009 |
|
|
Halloween in Ely. School has started, and Fall Fest has come and gone, so Halloween is just around the corner. The Ely Volunteer Fire Department is continuing their tradition of giving glow-sticks to Ely’s trick-or-treaters to help them be more visible while going about their ghoulish rounds, and so everyone has a spooktacular time. Glow sticks will be handed out to trick-or-treaters at the Ely Fire Station from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m. Another great thing our dedicated and hard working Volunteer Fire Department does for the Ely community! There are not official trick-or-treat hours in Ely, but, trick-or-treaters are encouraged to do their eerie errands between 4:30 and 8:00 p.m. Please remember to make sure costumes have some bright colors, reflective tape or other reflective material so they are visible when crossing the street. Also, please remember to made sure masks do not inhibit vision. Please remember to turn your front light on so the ghosts, goblins, pirates and princesses know you are home and ready to be tricked-or-treated. |
|
|
Individual Disaster Assistance Available to Qualifying Households. The Individual Disaster Assistance is available to qualifying Linn County residents who sustained damage during the flash/creek flood event of late August. This program is offered by the State of Iowa and administered by the Department of Human Services. It is processed by the local emergency management coordinator. Goldberg emphasized that it is very important that people closely review the eligibility requirements. “This is a program that reimburses for eligible expenses for eligible households,” Goldberg stated. “This is a reimbursement program with a limit of $5,000 and receipts are essential.” Completed applications should be brought to the Emergency Management Agency located on the Kirkwood Community College campus prior to October 25th. Emergency Management staff will verify that the location was in an area affected by the flash flood – creek flood event. Applications must be delivered to Linn County Emergency Services by October 25th. |
|
|
Ely’s Holiday Lights. Can you see them now? The beautiful display of lights in Ely during the holiday season? A wonderful sight that brings warm fuzzy winter feelings! The entire display of lights, replacement bulbs, and any necessary repairs are paid for strictly by donations. Our local volunteer fire department works each year to check the bulbs, hang them up at the beginning of the season and take them down at the end. The staff at Solon State Bank of Ely works hard to keep inventory of displays and supplies ready for the season. Please show your appreciation and send a thank you to them all! Your donations for Ely’s holiday lights can be mailed or dropped off to: v Solon State Bank of Ely, 1540 State Street, P O Box 166, Ely, Iowa 52227 v *** Make checks payable to “Christmas Decoration Fund”*** Your support is greatly appreciated. |
|
|
Ely’s Living Roadway Visioning Committee The Ely Living Roadways Visioning committee is a volunteer community group who worked Trees Forever, the Iowa Department of Transportation and Iowa State University’s Extension Landscape Architecture Department to put together a shared vision for the future of Ely’s transportation system and future enhancements to the Ely community and our community’s landscape. The ELR is working to design and install new welcome signs for Ely. Community signs for both the north and south entrances were considered an important improvement Ely during the Living Roadways visioning process. Residents who want more information or who are interested in helping make this goal a reality should the local committee chair Tim Grimm: Ph: 319-848-4181 or Aaron Anderson at 319-848-4103. |
|
|
Code Red The Linn County E911 Services Board has instituted the Code RED Emergency Notification System - an ultra high-speed telephone communication service for emergency notifications. This system allows us to telephone all or targeted areas of Linn County in case of an emergency situation that requires immediate action. The system is capable of dialing 60,000 phone numbers per hour. It then delivers our recorded message to a live person or an answering machine, making three attempts to connect to any number. Examples of emergencies include evacuation notices, bio-terrorism alerts, boil water notices and Amber Alerts. CodeRED system is a geographical based notification system, which means street addresses are needed to select which phone numbers will receive emergency notification calls. Businesses will need to enter their phone numbers into the emergency notification database, as will households with unlisted phone numbers or households without landlines. Households with published phone numbers will likely already be included in the database. The information will only be used for emergency notification purposes. |
City Projects & News
|
|
Water Main Flushing. Beginning Monday October 26, the Ely Public works will be flushing water mains throughout Ely. This is routine maintenance we perform from time to time to make sure we are delivering you the best water we can. You may notice some temporary discoloring of your water while this is being done. If this happens your water is safe to drink, the routine flushing if water mains does not create a health risk. Be sure to check your water before doing laundry and adding clothes to the washer. Discolored water will affect the brightness of your laundry. Please run the water until it runs completely clear if you notice any discoloration while we are flushing the water mains. |
|
|
Local Sales & Services Tax Approved Ely voters approved the 1% local sales and services tax on March 3rd. The local sales and services tax takes effect April 1 and will continue through June 30, 2014. In Ely local sales tax money will be used for: Ø Community improvements, including streets; Ø Storm sewer/Runoff managements; Ø Wastewater treatment; Ø Sanitary sewer and water infrastructure improvements; Ø Park/Recreation improvements; Ø Reduction of short terms debt; and Ø Other community improvement projects.
Local Option Sales tax money is being used right now to pay for the Dows Street Resurfacing project, and about one-half of the cost of the grading and drainage improvements project for the Ely City Park. |
|
|
Voluntary Annual Garbage Tag. Are you tired of having to track down those City of Ely garbage collection tags and have $52 in your pocket? Then head on down to Ely City Hall to pickup a voluntary annual Ely refuse collection tag that is good for an entire year. Okay, it’s actually only good until December 31, so it will cost $26 if you purchase one before September 30 and $13 if you purchase it after October 1. The annual tag would allow you to place one container (up to 40 pounds) of waste at the curb for pickup every week. Just slap the tag on the container and you’re set through December 31. You can purchase your annual voluntary garbage tag at Ely City Hall during regular office hours (8:00 a.m. To 5:00 p.m.). The annual tag can only be purchased at City Hall; the regular $1.00 tags can be purchased at City Hall, Casey’s General Store and Cleppe’s 66 Service. Don’t worry if you’ve already invested a bunch of cash in the regular $1.00 garbage tags, they’re still good and will be for a long time. The voluntary tag is an additional option available to Ely residents; we will also continue with the $1.00 tags. It’s your decision; you can get the annual tag or continue using the regular $1.00 tags. |
|
|
Golf Carts & ATV’s. Ely allows golf carts and 4-wheeled ATV’s on Ely Streets up a permit process that would allow golf carts and ATV’s (with at least 4 wheels) to drive on streets in Ely, except State Street. The person operating the golf cart or ATV must have a City of Ely permit, be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver’s license. Click here for more details. |
|
|
City Council’s Two-Year Goals. On January 28, 2008, the City Council conducted a goal setting workshop to identify goals for the next two years (through 2010) and to prioritize projects and activities. The three highest priority new projects were:
Read the entire report in MS Word format or web page format. |
|
|
Sidewalk Improvement Ordinance Property owners who request a building permit for work $10,000 or more in value will be required to install a sidewalk, if no already sidewalk serves the property. Sidewalks will be required if the conditions on the following slide are met.
|
|
|
Wastewater Treatment Facility. Construction of the Ely Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) is substantially complete, some work remains on the existing lagoons. The new Ely WWTF began treating wastewater in early December, and has been performing very well. This is a mechanical wastewater treatment plant that replaces the lagoon system Ely has used for years. The new mechanical treatment plant is designed with the capacity to treat sewage for at least 3,000 people, with the ability to expand fairly easily to provide capacity to support additional growth in Ely. The new plant will meet existing water quality standards, and even more stringent standards the DNR is expected to adopt in the near future. Look at a picture of the “treatment wheels” in the east tank; or here for a picture of the area “between clarifiers”. |
|
|
Ely Blog. The “City Hall Blog” is new to the Ely website. This blog’s purpose is to present more detailed information on stuff that’s happening in Ely city government, and to allow (dare we say encourage?) comments and discussion. We will try to keep the topics timely and hope the discussion will be open and lively. |
|
|
Hoover Valley Bike/Recreational Trails. We are working with Linn County and the Linn County Trails Association to extend the Hoover Trail through Ely, connecting to Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. The Linn County Planning Dep’t facilitated a community open house to discuss options for bike trail routes through Ely. Linn County decided the railroad right-of-way is the preferred route for the Hoover Valley Trail from Wright Brothers Blvd., through Ely to Dows Street. The Ely Park and Recreation Commission recently began plans for a trailhead with shelter and parking area at the north end of Ely City Park. |
|
|
Hillcrest/Highland Project. Ely’s application to the Iowa Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for one half of the cost of this project was not approved, again. |
|
|
Recently Enacted Ordinances: Ordinance #200: Requires property owners who request a building permit for work $10,000 or more in value to install a sidewalk, if no sidewalk already serves the property under the following conditions: · The value of the work to be done under the building permit is $10,000 or more; · The lot is adjacent to a public street and curb and gutter are available; · Sidewalks have not been installed abutting the public street for the property prior to the request for building permit. This ordinance was enacted November 12, 2007. Ordinance No. 201: Re-zones roughly 20-acres adjacent to Ely’s north city limits and roughly 500 feet west of State Street to “R-2 Multi Family Residential”. Enacted January 14, 2008. Ordinance No. 202: Increases the amount allowed of petty cash allowed at Ely City Hall and the Ely Public Library to $150.00. Enacted February 11, 2008. Ordinance No. 203: Creates a “Voluntary Annual Refuse Collection Tag” that allows one refuse container to be placed for curbside collection through December 31 of each year. The voluntary annual tag would cost $52.00 per year and would be affixed to the container. Ordinance No. 204: Creates a City of Ely permit that would allow a golf cart or ATV to be operated on streets in Ely (except State Street) if the operator is at least 18 years old, has a valid driver’s license and a City of Ely permit. The ordinance further requires that ATV’s may only be operated on Ely streets if the driver is actively involved in snow removal, lawn/gardening work or special city events at the time. Approved June 9, 2008. Ordinance 205: Zones the eastern portion of the “Splendid Villa” Subdivision as R-2 Multi-Family Residential. Approved August 11, 2008. Ordinance 206: Creates the “R-3” and “R-4” Multi-family residential zoning districts, and development standards including minimum lot size, setbacks and other standards. The “R-3” district allows structures to have up to four residential units, the “R-4” district allows structures to have as many as eight residential structures within it. Approved August 11, 2008. Ordinance 207: Designates specific lots and parcels along Northgate Drive, Wrigley Street and Comisky Court as R-3 or R-4 zoning districts. Approved October 13, 2008. Ordinance 208: The City Council did not enact this proposed ordinance. Ordinance 209: The City Council did not enact this proposed ordinance. Ordinance 210: Designates the Serbousek 2nd Addition as an “R-1 Single Family Residential” zoning district. The Serbousek 2nd Addition is a recently annexed parcel on the north side of Vista Road. Approved October 13, 2008 Ordinance 211: (Approved March 9, 2009) Increases the sanitary sewer fee for some users. This ordinance enacts the following sanitary sewer fees: a. Resident Customers. Minimum Charge for 0 to 1,000 gallons $25.72
In addition to the above minimum 1,001 gallons to 3,000 gallons $1.92/1,000 gallons 3,001 gallons to 8,000 gallons $3.53/1,000 gallons 8,001 gallons or more $4.55/1,000 gallons
b. Non-resident Customers. Non-resident customers of city sanitary sewer service shall be charged a sum equal to one and one-half (1 ½) times the monthly rate charged to resident customers. This charge shall apply to each separate use if the customer is a temporary user.
|
|
|
|
|
|
