City of Polk City

Newsletter

Volume 11, Issue 2 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2008

City Hall : 112 3rd Street PO Box 426

Monday—Friday 8:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m. Phone: 984-6233

Fax: 984-6177 E-mail:

snickles@polkcity.org Web site: www.polkcity.org (Clerk, building permits and inspections, water billing)

Police & Fire: 309 W. Van Dorn

For an emergency dial 911

For non-emergencies: Police: 984-6565 Fire: 984-6304

County Dispatch: 286-2333

Library: 1500 W. Broadway

P.O. Box 259

Phone: 984-6119

Mon.-Thurs.:10 a.m.–8 p.m. Friday: 10 a.m. – 6p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m.– 4 pm.

E-mail: library @polkcitylibrary.org

Web site:

www.polkcitylibrary.org

City Maintenance: 301 Northside Dr.

All city offices will be closed on Monday,

September 1 to observe Labor Day.

Water Meter Replacement Program Continues

Approximately 1/3 of the town’s 1500 meters have been converted to the new automated water meters through the Updated Mandatory Wa-ter Meter Replacement Program. The goal is to update older water meters with a more uniform meter reading system and to provide better customer service. The new meters will be able to be read through a radio frequency. Northern Water Works has been contracted to replace your old water meters with new ones. It takes ap-proximately 15 minutes for the instal-lation and there is no charge for the

work. Property owners that will need a new meter should have received a letter detailing the project. To schedule your appointment call Northern Wa-ter Works at 1-888-497-4171.

Van Dorn Street Reconstruction Project

To Begin Late September

Van Dorn Street Reconstruction Project will begin late September. The project will include total replacement of pavement from 4th Street to Booth Street. Curb and gutter will also be added to the street. Rehabilitation of manholes, sanitation sewer and water valves are included in the project. Sidewalks on the south side of the street will either be fixed or replaced. Bid letting will take place September 4 and a Public Hearing is set for September 8 at 6:30 p.m.

Pictured is Bo Bransford who is the installer for Northern Water Works that is doing the installation of meters in Polk City during August and September.

Park’s September’s

Meeting

Date Changed The Polk City Park Commission

will be holding it September’s meeting on Tuesday, September 2 due to Labor Day.

Thank You For Donating

Cell Phones

The Polk City Police Department would like to thank everyone who donated a cell phone to help raise funds for the association’s Community Educa-tion.

Tree Branches Over

Sidewalks

Need To Be Trimmed

Is it time to trim your tree branches over your sidewalk or street? If you own or occupy property adjoining a public street or sidewalk it is your re-sponsibility to prune your trees in a manner that so they do not obstruct or shade street lights, obstruct the passage of pedestrians on the sidewalk, vision of traffic signs or street or alley intersections. City Ordinance 151.05 states that all trees or shrubs, whether on public or private property, which have branches overhanging a public street or sidewalk shall be kept trimmed to a clearance height of four-teen (14) feet for branches overhanging a street and ten (10) feet for branches overhanging a sidewalk.

Trees May Be Planted In

City Right-of-way

Did you know you could plant trees in the pub-lic right-of way? But did you also know you need a permit and only certain trees are permitted? City Code, Section 10.06, Chapter 151 addresses this issue. An application may be picked up at City Hall. After the application is filled out and returned it is then reviewed by the Public Works Director and the Tree Board before the plan is approved or denied.

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Farmer’s

Market Each Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. you can attend the Farmer’s Market on the Town Square. The

market is sponsored by the Polk City Chamber of Commerce and runs though October 22.

Polk City Fire

Department

Needs Your Help!

With the rash of severe storms, it has come to the Fire Department’s attention that there may be a group of individuals that could re-quire an in-home check or additional assistance in the event of a natural disaster or extended power outage. The department would like the commu-nity’s help in identifying these residents.

The citizens that require in-home care could be in need of assistance at a moments notice and the Fire Department wants to make sure these citizens are getting the care and assistance they deserve and that the department is equipped to handle any emergency they may have. The department feels our citizens are our most prized possession and it is our goal to make sure they have access to skilled medical attention whenever needed.

If you or someone you know in Polk City re-quires in-home care or medical attention, please contact us so we may get the needed information. Contact: Peg Back, Paramedic Specialist, Public Educat ion Coordinator by e-mail at: Peg.Back@polkcityfd.com, Fire Departments web site: www.polkcityfd.com or you may call the de-partment at 984-6304.

Congratulations! Peg Back

Congratulations to Fire Department member Peg Back who recently completed the Paramedic Specialist certification class. Peg finished the class with a 4.0 GPA and was also on the Presi-dents list.

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Sharon Nickles Celebrates 25 Years Of

Service To Polk City In July of 1983 Sharon Nickles was hired for twenty hours at $4.45 an hour as Polk City’s Deputy City Clerk. At that time city hall was located in the Big Creek Historical Mu-seum’s 1st floor. It was not only the City Clerk’s office, but it was also the office for Public Works, Police and the City Council’s chambers. In twenty-five years Sharon has gone through City Hall be-ing remodeled twice, four mayors and is now City Clerk. Sharon said the biggest changes she has seen in her twenty-five years has been technology and the growth of the town. When she first started she hand-typed the water bills. Now water billing is done on computer and soon meters will be read electronically. The number of building permits has in-creased along with the number of parks the city now has. Sharon was recognized at the July 14 city council meeting and was presented a clock for her years of service.

Thank You To All Who Helped With The Flood Of 2008

The city would like to thank all those who helped with the flooding in June. Over 500 volunteers filled over 28,000 sandbags to help keep the city’s sewer lagoons from being flooded. Thank you again to:

• Iowa Air National Guard

• Ankeny Fire Department

• Tournament Club of Iowa

• Polk County Cool & Heating,

• Army Corp of Engineers

• Salvation Army,

• North Polk Football,

• North Polk Baseball,

• Beautiful Beginnings Daycare (kids for sandbagging)

• United Way, Granger Fire Department

• Polk City Churches

• Joan Hart, Charlotte Loter and Rosemary Taylor for preparing food

• and all the volunteers of all ages that came from not only Polk City

• but from surrounding communities.

We would also like to thank the following for donations:

• Ankeny Hy-Vee (food),

• Hinckely Springs (water donation),

• Beautiful Beginnings Daycare (bus for transportation)

• Polk City American Legion (use of facility),

• Kum & Go,

• RSC Rental

• Sunbelt Rental

• JMT Trucking

• Andrea Fisher (food)

Open Scrap Booking Do you like to scrap book? If you do then join us on Wednesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. We have the tables, you bring the rest!

Secrets to Arranging

Flowers Yourself

Bring your garden inside; learn the art of fresh flower arranging from Debbie of Carmen's Flowers on Thursday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m. Pre-register at 984-6119. The cost is $5 if you bring your own flowers or $20 if Debbie brings them for you.

Saturday Book Club - All Iowa Reads

The All Iowa Reads Committee, Iowa Center for the Book, has chosen Anne Tyler's novel "Digging to America" for 2008. The purpose of All Iowa Reads is to encourage Iowans statewide to read and talk about a single title in the same year. The Saturday Morning Book Club will be discussing this book at their meeting, September 13 at 9:00 a.m. For a syn-opsis and review of the book clip on the library’s web site: www.polkcitylibrary.org.

Monday Night Book Club

Join us on Monday, September 15 at 7:00 p.m. as we discuss The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It is a rich story about secrets, ghosts, winter, books and family…

Happenings at the Library

Back to School Special

The library is holding a “Back to school” spe-cial for K-12 grade students. Visit the library the week of August 18-August 22 and check out a book even if you have a fine. You will be given a pencil to erase fines up to $10.

The Power of Nighttime

Dreams

The Universal Language of Mind is the picture language we all dream in each night. Come learn what nighttime dreams are, where in Mind they originate and how to interpret them on Thursday October 23 at 6:30 p.m. Bring dreams to have interpreted and any questions.

Sit N Stitch

Join us in front of the fire-place with your current project for a relaxing evening of stitch-ing, knitting, crocheting, tatting or any of your favorite handwork starting October 2. Sit N Stitch will be held on Thursday eve-

nings from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

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Position Available on

Library Board

Would you like to help make decisions and policies for the Polk City Community Library? If so, please submit a resume to City Hall. The Library Board meets the second Tuesday of the month, 7:30 p.m. at the Library.

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FLOOD OF 2008

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FLOOD 2008 FOUR SEASONS FESTIVAL

JULY 25 & 26

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FOUR SEASONS FESTIVAL - JULY 25 & 26

City of Polk City Directory

Mayor:

Gary Heuertz 984-6950

City Council Members:

Ron Anderson 984-6365 Dave Dvorak 984-6502 Dan Lane 984-6931 Rob Mordini 984-9256 Tim Rhoades 984-6853 City Council meets the 2nd and 4th Monday’s of each month, 6:30

p.m. at City Hall. Additional meet-

ings are scheduled as necessary.

City Hall:

City Administrator: Gary Mahannah City Clerk: Sharon Nickles Deputy Clerk: Charlotte Loter Finance Officer: Colin Adams Summer Rec Director Tami Leonard McCoy

Public Works:

Director: Mike Schulte Supervisor: Randy Franzen Staff: John Adams Dennis Godfrey Rick Riley

City Newsletter:

Editor: Rosemary Hutton Taylor 984-6653

Photographer: Rich Taylor

Police:

Chief: Mark Bowersox Sergeant: Dustin Bjornson Senior Patrol Officer: Ron Lamfers Officer: Jeremy Christensen Officer: Ben Johns Officer: Adam VanderLeest Reserve Officer: Mark Schwalenberg

Fire & Rescue:

Chief: Jason Morse Deputy Chief -Fire: Roy Bingham Deputy Chief -EMS: Dan Gubbins

Planning and Zoning:

Dennis Dietz 984-6343 Ron Hankins 984-6822 Neal Hawkins 984-7848 Bill Kliegl 984-6718 Doug Sires 984-9091 Paul Swenson 984-9202 Shane Torres 202-5894 Planning & Zoning meets the 3rd

Monday of the month, 6:00 p.m. at

City Hall.

Tree Board:

Jim Hoppenworth 984-6829 Pat Hoppenworth 984-6829 Julie Morse 984-6735 Ken Morse 984-6735 Bill Sharp 984-6948

Historic Preservation

Commission:

Mary Burton 984-6643 Collette Heuertz 984-6950 Herman Poggensee 984-6042 Sandra Thornton 984-6678 Marlene Youde 984-6967

www.polkcity.org

Community Library:

Director: Kim Kellogg Adult/Ref. Librarian: Pam Witt Part-time Librarian: Kelsey Blessman

Library Board:

Dana Capaldo 984-6281 Maureen Mc Guire 984-6636 Judy Nyberg 707-1132 Roxann Swenson 984-9202

Library Board meets the 2nd Tues-

day of the month, 7:30 p.m. at the

library.

Park Commission:

Brian Emerson 984-9217 Denise Franck 984-6200 Bob Fourez 984-6601 David Hiatt 984-6757 Sam Hill 984-7814 Park Commission meets the 1st Monday of the month, 6:00 p.m. at

City Hall.

Board of Adjustment:

Dixie Bequeaith 984-6224 John Calhoun 984-6179 Anthony Capaldo 984-6281 Bill Currie 984-6928 Ken Morse 984-6735 Don Raker 984-6708 Angel Thomason 984-9136 Board of Adjustment meets as needed.

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