Recovery Continues

The picture with this entry is of the Benton County Law Enforcement Center (LEC) being demolished. The demolition began about a week ago. The LEC was destroyed during last year's flood despite a valiant effort by many volunteers to save it. A new LEC will be built in its place above the level of last year's flood. This week, the City of Vinton is also closing on the first six properties in its buy-out program. These are good examples of how the community is still moving forward in the flood recovery process.

New Airport Sign

The Vinton Veteran's Memorial Airport Commission has been moving right along with making improvements to the airport and, with some help from the city's airport engineer from Clapsaddle-Garber in Marshalltown, has been able to secure grant funding for the improvements. Today a new entrance sign was installed to replace a wooden one that had stood at the entrance for many years. This picture shows the sign shortly after installation. Landscaping and lights will be added later. An open house is scheduled for Friday, October 30 as the Commission hosts the Vinton Unlimited After Hours.

Fire Department Training

By state law, a city fire department can have three fire trainings per year where a structure is intentional set on fire and the department personnel train to combat the fire. The City of Vinton Fire Department did this last night. In the words of my daughter--it was awesome. But even better was the chance to see the firefighters in action and the careful but deadly force they use to put out a fire. They also had a chance to try out an aerial ladder truck that may soon become part of the city's fire fighting arsenal. Check out more pictures by clicking here.

9th Street Update

Our project on 9th Street Reconstruction Project has been delayed slightly. The contractor had some delays on other projects due to the recent bad weather so they won't be able to get here until next week. We are very eager to see this project go forward as it will take care of two blocks of street that have deteriorated badly and it is our first project with Local Optional Sales Tax funds which means no new debt obligation for this project.

In Case of an Emergency...

This past week, I have spent time in two separate meetings dealing with emergency planning. The first meeting was on Wednesday. This meeting dealt with developing a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan for Benton County. The second meeting took place yesterday to discuss how to prepare for the activation of an emergency shelter in Vinton. As we have seen over the past couple of years, emergencies are not just something that might happen, but rather a thing that will likely happen. We have had two situations (ice storm in February 2007 and the 2008 flood) severe enough to have a shelter. I feel good about the processes we have started with these meetings since we will likely have more emergencies in the future. Some might think that it is not good to discuss the likelihood of these types of events because it only scares people. Well, if the event will probably happen, like we have seen so far, then only by discussing the events now, will we be better prepared to handle them in the future.

Water Tower Washing

The City of Vinton recently had the water towers washed. If you had seen the towers for the past couple of years, you would have noticed a thick layer of mildew growing on them. Now they are cleaned and a protectant was applied to keep the mildew from growing, at least for a few years. Check out the story and pictures at: Vinton News

Airport Makeover

We have a rather large project underway at the Vinton Veterans Memorial Airport. The airport received a 95 percent federal grant to construct a 4-stall T-Hanger and taxi lane. The total cost is over $500,000, but the city's share will only be five percent of the cost. There are already several people waiting to rent hanger space at the airport. The airport commission also applied and received two grants; one for a new entrance sign and another for a Jet A Fuel system. The entrance sign will really improve the airport's appearance. The jet fuel system will enable those users with turbine engines to be able to refuel their aircraft, thus opening the use of the airport to more aircraft.