Community Beautification Update

Community Beautification will soon move into the next phase.  More than 40 hanging baskets of colorful wave petunias have been ordered from James.  Our own Ernie Wilcox has designed and is in production with new basket hangers for our lampposts.  The new welcome banners provided by our friends at the Light Department are due to arrive today.  And a call to pick-up 12 additional sidewalk planters that are made by an eastern Iowa company is also expected anytime.  Thank you to Matt at Roorda Transport who has agreed to pick the planters up for us.  The fire department will also soon reveal the anticipated World Trade Center Monument.  The community still needs your help!

• Volunteers needed for Plant Up! on Friday & Saturday, June 1^st & 2^nd
• Volunteers needed to join the roster of helpers for daily maintenance.
• Need four groups to adopt maintenance at city gateway signage.
• Volunteers needed for an exterior painting project for Historic Society.

Here is what you need to know about volunteering:  Most people think someone else will probably do it.  That’s not it.  The adage, “it takes a village” is true.  Give the MCD office a call or drop and us an email to offer your service.  Thank you for your participation!

South Housing Development Corrections

There were several inaccuracies reported this week on the city council’s actions to continue moving on the south housing development.  Costs for lots have not been set at $30,000.  Costs will not be determined until the council has an opportunity to review the final plans provided by MMS Consultants of Iowa City.  Those plans will include estimates for infrastructure build-out.  The city is hopeful that lot prices will be at a competitive price point, and reports that an inquiry to purchase one lot has already come in.   The earlier report also implied that a council member said this development was the city’s response to the affordable housing need expressed in last year’s housing study.  Again, this was in accurate.  Newly constructed single-family homes at the development will not meet the criteria for affordable market rate housing.  And finally, the council did not charge MCD to re-engage the former housing committee.  The function of the housing committee was to provide input on housing trends and need. The conclusions of their study are still fresh and relevant.  The city will determine next steps on the south housing development.  MCD will continue to communicate their progress, and work towards addressing the need for affordable housing in Montezuma. 

Director’s Quill

I realize that I missed last week’s edition and I’m sorry to those who were sitting on the edge of their seats waiting.  It was a very busy week leading up to three days in Des Moines for the Iowa Economic Development SMART conference.  A part of the conference included a one-day intensive community economic analysis training and certification through Business Retention and Expansion International.  The second day was very motivating and included keynote speaker Rebecca Ryan of Next Generation Consulting.  She gave a fantastic talk on understanding our changing world and how Iowans in economic development are beginning to understand how to do it right!  I also attended workshops on industrial site development, TIF financing, downtown revitalization and economic gardening.  The final day was a meet-n-greet session “Getting to Know Iowa Economic Development Authority.”  Each department in the IDEA gave a 10-minute elevator speech to talk about their efforts and highlight key resources available to Iowa communities.  Afterwards I participated in small roundtables to discuss rural broadband development, downtown revitalization, green energy, and export.  Several personal connections were made during the roundtables which will offer peer support and helpful resources for initiatives within our community.  A representative from Connect Iowa will be able to assist us in understanding our broadband issues and advocate on our behalf in our future dealings with Windstream.  I have also reached out to the IDEA’s Downtown Resource Center to host a two-day downtown visioning encounter for Montezuma.  Last Monday night I presented a consideration for the city council to include the city’s financial participation in the $2500 cost to bring the visioning team here in the fall.  This would be another step towards applying for a downtown façade improvement grant.  Overall, it was a very valuable three days.  Thank you to Montezuma Community Boosters and Brownells for their support of sending me to the conference. 

                                                                

Terence Blain, MCD Director

Downtown Revitalization Group Meets

Two informational-work sessions were offered this week for community members to begin talking about downtown revitalization.  Business owners, community service providers, educators, and retirees participated in a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis of our downtown.  There was great participation and honest discussion about where members of our community see our current position and vision for the future (what could be).  For those who still wish to participate, there will be two additional and identical sessions offered in June.

Tuesday, June 5^th 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Montezuma City Hall

Sunday, June 17^th 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Montezuma Public Library Community Room