Tackling the T-Bone Trail

Tuesday night I had the opportunity to sit on a committee of city, county and local officials looking into options for bringing the partially completed T-Bone trail into Atlantic. It was a good meeting and in the end we identified three possible routes we’d like to explore further. That, in my book, is progress.
For the first time city and county officials are sitting down together and trying to come to a solution that works for everyone. You can thank Atlantic Mayor John Krogman and city councilmen Dave Jones, for meeting with the county and organizing the committee. It should also be noted that the county didn’t hesitate to join the effort and have four representatives on board. All together there are 17 members all committed to finding, and implementing, the best possible plan.
It’s that kind of commitment that gives me hope that this is more than the typical committee who’s efforts result in nicely bound reports collecting dust on a shelf somewhere. The goal, in everyone’s mind, was a completed trail. That’s exciting.
The first step was to identify the best routes into the community with the goal to tie the trail into the planned trail system in Schildberg park. The trail currently ends about three miles north east of the city on Dunbar road. Three routes were identified, one, using existing railroad right of way to reach Fair River Road and eventually Olive Street, was determined to be the top choice of the committee.
Earlier this year county was informed following a bi-annual inspection, that the bridge across the Nishnabotna River on Fair River Road was dangerous and would have to be closed. According to that report five of the six pilings on the north side of the bridge were in need or repair and the bridge was no longer safe for vehicular traffic.
County officials have said that the 100-year-old bridge will not be repaired to allow traffic, so in effect there are only two options, remove the bridge or use it for pedestrian and very light recreational vehicles.
Other routes included looking into acquiring more railroad right of way east of Olive Street and routing the trail down Great River Road to the Atlantic Municipal Utilities wellfield.
No route was perfect and all have advantages and disadvantages. Sorting those out, along with assessing costs and finding funding sources, will be the work of committee at future meetings. There’s lots of work to do, but the commitment to find a suitable route and finish the trail is there. It’s a step in the right direction.

The committee:

Roland Landsness - Nishna Valley Trails
Sandy Landsness - Nishna Valley Trails
Tim Teig - Snyder and Associates
Ron Crisp - Atlantic City Administrator
Jeff Lundquist - Atlantic News Telegraph
Charles Marker - Cass County Engineer
Duane McFadden - Cass County Supervisor
Dave Dunfee - Cass County Supervisor
Steve Livengood - Atlantic City Councilman
Dave Jones - Atlantic City Councilman
Micah Lee - Cass County Conservation Director
Steve Gardner - Atlantic resident
John McCurdy - Swipco
John Krogman - Atlantic Mayor
Dave Chase - Nishna Valley Trails
Nancy Fredricksen - Atlantic Parks and Rec Committee
Travis Garrett - Atlantic Parks and Rec Commissioner

(INSIDE BASEBALL (JOURNALISM) STUFF – Because I sit on the committee, I don’t believe it would be appropriate for reports of this committee to appear on the news pages under my byline. But I do think the work being done by the committee is important and should be covered. So I will be “covering” the committee’s activities on the editorial page as part of my blog. As a result the reports may (Ok, WILL) include my opinions along with an accounting of the meetings. In the unlikely event that controversy should arise in the committee, another NT reporter will be assigned to cover it)

Read it for yourself!

Here is a link to the actual building code on the city's website, cityofatlantic.com.

The Ordinance itself in PDF form

Building code pdf

A link to a page on the city's site that contains the code (saves you a step from the top link)

Link to the Building Code

Councilman Steve Livengood's
Comments on the Building Code Ordinance

During last weeks city council debate over the adoption of a city-wide building code, Councilman Steve Livengood read a statement he prepared voicing his view on the role of elected representatives. It was greeted with a round of applause and I've been asked about the comment by a number of people. So I've posted it below, in its entirety.

Boomp3.com

Slow down and give the public a voice

Following Wednesday nights Atlantic City Council meeting, a person told me that they had never seen such arrogance. I have to admit, it’s hard to disagree and that’s too bad, because the issue, the adoption of new building codes, is one I support and think is a good idea.
But unfortunately a good idea is being overshadowed by the city council’s ham-handed efforts at forcing the law through with, what certainly appears to be, little concern for public input. That’s too bad and has led to yet another unnecessary controversy at city hall.
It’s true the council did allow members of the public to speak to the issue Wednesday night, but it was reluctant and often contentious. At least one member of the public who spoke was treated rudely by council members and subjected to what, to many, felt like a cross examination.
The thing is, it’s not the council’s job to cross examine the public. It’s the council’s job to answer their questions, not intimidate, attack or harrass them.
Wednesday night’s display was disgraceful. The public should not be made afraid or intimidated when addressing their own representatives.
The fact that there are misconceptions out there, and no doubt there are, is not the fault of the public. The city has done a poor job of inviting the public into what will be a far-reaching and important issue. From the start the city has never explained the urgency behind the ordinance.
The state has passed a law requiring state certification of electricians and plumbers. Part of that law will require electrical and plumbing inspections, which can be done either by city inspectors in cities that have adopted building codes, or by state inspectors.
The electrical code will be the first adopted with the plumbing code to follow, but it was unclear when that would be. Surely the city could survive a month with state inspectors, if needed, while the concerns of the public are addressed.
It didn’t help when Atlantic Mayor John Krogman announced that only those that supported the idea would be appointed to the ad-hoc committee putting together the ordinance. He may have had a point in that the city had already decided to move ahead with putting the ordinance together and that the role of the committee was not to question the adoption of a building code, but to work out the details of its adoption.
But what would have it hurt to have a differing opinion on the board?
City officials point out that nine public meetings have been held on this issue and few members of the public attended. True enough, but it also true that at some of the meetings public input was not allowed. In addition the ordinace was not available to the public until recently. The ad-hoc committee meeting that I attended, the first, consisted of four people discussing a document that wasn’t available to the public. It was hard, to say the least, to follow along considering the new ordinance is over 50 pages long.
My opinion on the need for a code has not  changed. As I've stated before, building codes are a good thing. They are there for the public’s protection. Most people are unfamiliar with construction materials and methods and have no way of determining if their home is being built safely. A building code sets out minimum standards that everyone must adhere to. Simply put, it makes homes safer. That’s good.
It will also benefit low income residents, forced to rent in homes that may not meet those standards. Landlords won’t be required to bring homes up to standard, but any new construction, or remodel work, will have to meet the standard. As new homes are built and old homes retired, the overall housing standard in Atlantic will rise and the number of unsafe homes will be reduced. 

The council should slow down and immediately schedule public meetings and workshops in which the ordinance is available for inspection and city and JAS officials are available for questions. In that meeting the city needs to clearly explain why these codes are important, how much they will cost and why we need them now.
Those are not unreasonable questions and they deserve a reasonable and courteous response.

Finally Nebraska!

Running On Empty!

Well it's October and the Des Moines Marathon is this weekend (Oct. 19) and it's pretty apparent I won't be running the 1/2 marathon. That had been my goal, and still is, but I have to accept that it just isn't going to happen this year.
Sigh
It's been a pretty good year overall, I ran the Dam to Dam 2ok, just days after fighting off a flu bug. I ran the entire race, finished and felt good. Heather ran the 5K and Sarah ran in the 10 year old race. It was a good day.
But after that, for some reason, my motivation dried up. I had nothing. On top of that my performance sucked. I could barely run at all. It all led to a downhill slide that ended with me taking a two or three week break from running and several weeks of very limited walking or slow jogging.
Now I've started again and am trying to keep my goals modest so as to not be disappointed. I feel like it's going ok, but I can't help but viewing the whole thing as a set-back. Even so I'm not upset or unhappy. It happens, I'll work through it and try again next year.
I WILL run a marathon, if I have to live to 90, I WILL run a marathon.
As a result of the layoff I've also managed to gain a bunch of weight. So I want to really focus on losing weight this year. I think that will probably do more to improve my running than actual running will do at this point.

So here are my major goals for next year.
1) Drake 1/2 marathon in April - A longshot right now, but reachable with work
2) Dam t0 Dam 20K - its becoming a family tradition!
3) Des Moines ?????