Email Us!

Have a question you'd like addressed? Send it to mikehaverkamp1960@gmail.com

Friday, January 31, 2014

What's Up in Other Small Towns

I happened to run across two news stories today that made me go hmmm.... Tiffin and Riverside at population 1,900 and 1,040 respectively are similar to U-Heights in size and in the issues they face.

The first story is about Tiffin's new city hall which will open in two weeks. This is from the North Liberty Leader/Solon Economist. The new city hall sounds similar in size to a proposed city facility that could be part of  a U-Heights One University Place project. The article mentions that this site would also be available to rent for private functions, or as a meeting site for groups such as scouts. The print edition of the paper has a photo, but the web version doesn't.


The second story is much more cautionary. This one ran in yesterday's Cedar Rapids Gazette:



Since the opening of the Riverside Casino in 2006 city government has had to respond to major changes in city revenue and operation. This had led to a lot of tension among residents and has played out in city government and council meetings. The proposed One University Heights development would significantly increase U-Heights tax revenue. While any increase would not be as dramatic as Riverside's, we would do well to think about how changes would need to be handled.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for commenting. After the moderator sees your comment it will be approved. (providing you're not a spammer)