President Mark Patton called the meeting to order at 7:10 am.

Chris Knapp led us in singing.

President Mark noted it was the first day of fall.  In a fall vein, he offered the following riddles:  What is the ratio of pumpkin circumference to diameter?  Pumpkin pi.  What do you give a pumpkin who is trying to quit smoking?  A pumpkin patch.   He closed, thank goodness, with a quote from Charles Schultz, which roughly said, “Don’t worry about today, because it is already tomorrow in Australia.”  Har, har!!

Sergeant-at -Arms report:

Guests & Visiting Rotarians:  Carl Christiansen introduced his best friend and wife, Jan; Deb Ockenfels introduced Caroline Wonick and Deb’s mom, Sandy; Kermit Shekar, RC of Iowa City; Chris Knapp introduced Misha Goodfellow Bergen; Jack Cameron introduced Trina and Soren from Denmark; RebeccaSchultz introduced her husband, John, a Rotarian from the RC of Iowa City and a potential transfer;  Pat Barron, RC of Cedar Rapids

            Make-ups: Liz Loeb; Deb Ockenfels; Myrene Hoover; Chris & Vernette Knapp; Karin Franklin

Rotarians in the news:

Randy Willman reported that President Mark was the only Rotarian in the News that he was aware of.

Where in the World is?   Luxembourg:

Brian Adamec stated he chose Luxembourg because he had been there and could pronounce it.

Luxembourg is landlocked, surrounded by Germany, Belgium, and France.  The population is approximately 500,000 people who live in less than 1000 square miles.  The primary languages are French, German, and Luxembourgese,  The country was founded in 963.  It is governed by a parliamentary democracy headed by a consitutional  monarchy.  Luxembourg was Invaded during WWII by Germany and liberated by the Allies.  The country has the second largest GDP per capita in Europe and sells the most alcohol per capita.  It has a very small army and no navy.

Announcements:

  • Club board meeting is at 6:45 am Thursday.
  • The Fairfield Rotary club is sponsoring a golf outing
  • Joint Service Club luncheon is Oct. 9th at the University Athletic Club; tickets are $15
  • 10/15 Rotary district training
  • 10/23  fireside chat for new members at Jean Bartleys house; 6-8pm; pizza will be served
  • Iowa MOST is looking for team members; applications can be found at iowamost.org.  If you have an interest in going, please apply.  Even if there are not slots this year, a database is being compiled of all who are interested.
  • FAMSCO is  having a workday at the warehouse on Sunday 9/28; 1-3:30pm
  • The District is looking for two people with experience teaching or with ESL experience to fill a Vocational Training Team to Tanzania from Jan. 15 to Feb. 11, 2015. Rotarians and non- Rotarians are welcome.  If interested or for more information, contact Karin Franklin.
  • The Iowa City Downtown District is looking for volunteers for the Northside Oktoberfest for the afternoon of Sept. 26th.  Contact Betsy at betsy@downtowniowacity.org to sign up.
  • Roger Christian asked that everyone please bus plates to the kitchen and don’t rinse just stack.  He needs people for the end of the month for dishwashing.
  • Brian Adamec said we have until 10/15 to order nuts.  He would like to surpass last years participation.  Vernette reported she took forms to a tailgate and also got orders from visiting friends.

Happy Bucks:

Deb Dunkhase; Rick Dobyns; Jack Cameron; Mike Messier; Vernette Knapp; Chris Knapp; Peggy Doerge; Liz Loeb; Deb Ockenfels;  Dick Huber; Ann Romanoski; Brian Adamec; and Connie Pestotnik  were all happy.

Program:  Chris Knapp, in keeping with the month’s theme of the state of local government,  introduced Kelly Hayworth, City Administrator for the City of Coralville, to give us the state of Coralville.

Kelly stated that flood damage was still a topic of conversation, however the City has completed a significant portion of their flood mitigation.  They have spent a little over $60M on flood mitigation, which has worked as tested by the last couple of summers.  The last project is behind Monica’s.

One can observe a lot of work in the 5th Street part of Coralville, the historic center of Coralville.  The City bought and razed a number of houses for redevelopment.  They are preserving the old schoolhouse.  In the future, Fifth Street paving will be removed and a new street with landscaping, sidewalk and improved streetscape will be completed.  Currently under construction is the Watts project, Old Town, which is mixed use, residential and commercial.

Blue Sky Development is working on the south side of 5th Street on another mixed use project—residential and commercial.  West Bank will be moving into Town Centre and a round-about is planned for 10th Ave and 5th St.  A number of the corners of this intersection will be redeveloped.

Coral Ridge Ave and 965 is another work site.  With completion there will be underpass for pedestrians and bikes and a 10-foot bike trail.

Oakdale Research Park is seeing a lot of job growth.  Sedgwick CMS will have 250 jobs; UIHC  support services, 1000 jobs; MediRev is opening their second building with 180 jobs; General Dynamics will add 126 jobs; and the Kirkwood STEM facility is expected to open next fall and will serve 500 students from area schools.

A new interchange is planned at I-80 and Forevergreen Road.  This project is on the DOT’s 5-year road plan and scheduled for a start in 2018.  DOT wants the corridor communities to look at alternative modes of transportation in the corridor which could include buses or a train between Coralville/Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. 

In Iowa River Landing, three new stores opened this week.  The Watts Group is also building a 70-unit condo project with retail on ground level.  The new intermodal facility is under way with office space for transit; a transit hub; parking; bike lockers and showers plus office space for the Iowa Bicycle Coalition.  IDOT is proposing an interchange redesign at 1st Ave and I-80 which would include a divergent diamond pattern.  It is less expensive to build and take less real estate.

Lastly, the Scanlon farm development is going forward.  It will have a new elementary school in 2018-2019.  Utilities such as sewer and water will be integrated between Coralville and North Liberty.  The development will include a variety of housing including a senior complex.

Q & A

  • Brian thanked Kelly for the light at Oakdale and Ist Avenue and expressed concern with interchange proposal for I-80 at 1st Ave.  Kelly stated they had viewed the same pattern elsewhere and it does work well.
  • Will Oakdale Blvd go to Tiffin?  Yes, it will extend across I-380.  In the future, it is also planned to extend Oakdale across the Iowa River to connect to Hwy 1 in Iowa City.  The project will include bike trails.
  • Will the bike trail along Oakdale go to the Amanas?  The County is currently planning sections to Kent Park; ultimately the interest is to get it to the Amanas.
  • Flood mitigation included raising the Crandic; is this complete?  Yes the line was raised.  Iowa City is doing work on Rocky Shore with a major pump station which is integral to the success of the Coralville mitigation projects.
  • Is the NADS working with Google on the driverless car?  Yes, the ability to test the vehicle in winter conditions makes study of this technology perfect for Iowa; the NADS will be used as part of the testing. 

Chris announced that next week will be the city manager of Iowa City.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00am

Minutes submitted by Karin Franklin