March Madness has ended, with the Final Four this weekend and the NCAA Championship Game on Monday night, which will feature UConn vs. Butler.
Major League Baseball has opened for 2011. How long will Chicago Cubs fans carry there hope in 2011?
On May 3Rd, the City of Cedar Rapids voters, along with voters throughout Linn County will consider a twenty year extension of the Local Option Sales Tax. The Pro-Tax folks in Cedar Rapids have started to place blue yard signs supporting the Tax. The group called, Protect Cedar Rapids Committee, is going to be campaigning throughout the month of April holding daily neighborhood meetings during the work week.
In February, the City Council approved the ballot language for the May 3, 2011 vote.
On Friday, April 1, the first Pro-Tax neighborhood meeting was held at Harrison E.S. in NW Cedar Rapids. A neighborhood hit hard from the Flood of 2008.
Cedar Rapids Holds First Public Meeting on LOST Extension - Eastern Iowa Government Option sales tax in Cedar Rapids draws a crowd at a local elementary school. ... Corbett has planned until the LOST vote happens May 3 of this year. ...
Prior to starting the neighborhood meeting circuit, the Pro-Tax supporters meet with The Gazette Editorial Board.
Baird, Corbett test sales-tax pitch before neighborhood meetings - The Gazette
Top Stories - New L.O.S.T Campaign Ad Featuring CR ... - KGAN CBS 2 Mar 24, 2011 ... The Push is on Ahead of May 3rd L.O.S.T. Vote · Iowans Get First Glimpse at New Iowa ... Your 2 Cents with Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett ...
There are groups opposing the Local Option Sales Tax extension in Cedar Rapids. One of the leaders of the local Tea Party group suggested orally they would have an alternative for how Flood Protection for the east and west sides of the river should be funded, but we haven't heard formally how it should be handled differently?
- Sales Taxes
- Property Taxes
- Do nothing - Flood Insurance?
- new local Income Tax
Another group is very vocal against our current Mayor, City Council and the proposed extension of the local sales tax. This group prides itself with the following slogan: "We commit to the citizens of Cedar Rapids that we will work to protect the citizens from the antics of the CR City Council." There web site has the following statement: "Vote No on the Local Option Sales Tax Extension on May 3, 2011." The group has said it is not a political organization.
The another part of the $375 million proposal to build flood protection on the east and west sides of the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids will come from the State of Iowa.Cedar Rapids flood protection funding begins to take shape in Iowa Legislature - The Gazette DES MOINES – A plan that could provide up to $30 million a year for Cedar Rapids area flood recovery is beginning to take shape in the Iowa Legislature. Although the plan is in draft form, meaning no bill has been filed or assigned to a committee, representatives of Cedar Rapids reminded a 12-member legislative ...
City Manager Pomeranz: “We can never let Cedar Rapids flood again” - The Gazette CEDAR RAPIDS — Invite the public for a visit with high-profile, hotel-buying, Second Avenue-closing Mayor Ron Corbett, and you’re apt to get a crowd. Last night, though, City Manager Jeff Pomeranz held the first of three, Thursday-evening “meet-and-greets” as a way to introduce himself to the community and had only about 15 residents come out to ...
The final step will come from the Federal Government. Sadly, the U.S. Corp. of Engineers recommendation to the Feds does not include funding any protection for the west side of the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids.
Flood Report for Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Calls for Better Protection ... - Insurance Journal Sep 7, 2010 ... The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released a draft report that calls for a better, if limited, flood-protection system in Cedar Rapids, ...
Cedar River, Cedar Rapids, IowaFlood Risk Management - US Army Corp of Engineers
The upcoming ballot item is extremely important for the Citizens of Cedar Rapids and throughout Linn County. Hopefully, the community dialogue will be a productive one that gets out the facts and truth about the issue coming before the public.
peace
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Additional Information from the U.S. Corp. of Engineers report:
"On April 5, 2006, Congress authorized a feasibility study, and the Feasibility Cost Share Agreement was signed on May 30, 2008. In June 2008, the City was devastated by a flood of record proportions. The floodwaters covered 10 square miles and caused an estimated $2.4 billion in damages. The damaged property inventory conducted for this Study counted 7,846 properties damaged by the flood. This included 6,865 residential properties, 754 commercial/industrial properties and 227 public properties. The damaged public properties included the City’s Water Pollution Control Facility, police station, the potable water wells, the wastewater collection system, City Hall, the Linn County Correctional Center, and the Linn County Courthouse, along with many other critical infrastructure elements."
Why no mentioned of the damaged U.S. Federal Court House? It is true that a new Federal Court House is being built now, but the Feds were conducting business out of the old one at the time of the Flood.
peace
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