City News

Due to an equipment failure, the North Liberty pool is closed. It is expected to reopen on Thursday, May 23, 2013. The equipment failure shouldn’t delay the opening of the outdoor pool this Saturday, May 25, 2013.

Because of some maintenance needs, the indoor pool locker and changing rooms will be closed today and are expected to re-open in the middle next week. The pool will remain open.

Following the maintenance, there will be a strong odor for the next two weeks that may be unbearable for some patrons. Patrons can use the locker rooms in the Community Center during this maintenance.

— This spring, the City of North Liberty broke ground on a new 40-acre community park on the west side of town near North Bend Elementary School. The park has an address — 1565 St. Andrews Drive — and will be the home of North Liberty Blues & BBQ in 2014 and other community events for years to come. But it still doesn’t have a name.

We need your help.

The public can submit names at northlibertyiowa.org/namethatpark until June 15, at which point city staff members will sort through the suggestions and present five to 10 to the Parks and Recreation Board during its July meeting. The board will send three finalists to the City Council who will select the park’s new, official name.

Jones Boulevard from Forevergreen Road to St. Andrews Drive will be closed to through traffic starting at 7 a.m. on Monday, May 6, due to reconstruction of the road. This closure is expected to last until the end of the construction season in the late fall of 2013.

The reconstruction of south Jones Boulevard will be similar to reconstruction that took place on north Jones Boulevard. The inconvenience of the closure will ultimately result in North Liberty having a safer north-south connection from Forevergreen Road to Penn Street as development continues on the city’s west side.

Updates on this project and others in North Liberty can be found at northlibertyiowa.org/projects, on the city’s Facebook page, and its Twitter account.

Residents in North Liberty and Johnson County who experienced property damage from last week’s torrential downpour should start by reporting their damage to Johnson County Emergency Management via the organization’s online form.

Reporting your damage allows the city, county and state to work toward a potential federal disaster declaration and potential federal funding. Federal assistance requires that we collect local data to show the size of the disaster. Currently, only the state’s individual assistance program is active (for information on the state’s program and its income and other guidelines, visit DHS’s disaster assistance section).

Additional resources could be available from the United Way of Johnson County, the Salvation Army of Iowa City, and the Eastern Iowa Red Cross. Residents can contact those agencies to find out what programs they might be eligible for.

Residents should also be sure to take photos and document losses, and to submit claims to their insurance companies. Water-damaged property can be disposed of this week by placing it on the curb for city workers to collect.

Beginning at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24, Highway 965 at 230th Street in North Liberty will go to a single lane as part of construction to extend Pheasant Lane. The work is expected to last through Thursday, April 25. Contractors will close Highway 965 to two-way traffic at 8 a.m. and hope to reopen it by 5 p.m. both days. North- and south-bound traffic will be able to use Highway 965 during this phase of the project, but may have to wait at a signal.

The road work that follows over the next month should allow Highway 965 to remain open to traffic in both directions, except for a few days during the project to complete some phases of the construction. 230th Street is expected to be accessible throughout the project.

Updates on this and other projects will be available at northlibertyiowa.org/projects throughout the construction season. Residents can sign up for e-mail news, follow the city on Twitter, or like the city on Facebook.

The North Liberty Community Library will be closed from Monday, May 6, through Sunday, May 12, so library staff and volunteers can move into the new addition. This will allow renovation of the existing space to begin. The library will operate with a limited collection until the entire project is complete, but don’t worry, we’ll still have something for everyone.

The entire expansion and renovation project is expected to be completed by late summer or early fall. Then, we will close for another week to get the library in order before our grand re-opening. Our curbside drop box will also open at the main Library entrance in mid-May.

The library offers a huge thank you to the community and our patrons for their continued patience and support as we grow! If you would like to contribute to the project, we are still accepting donations and pledges.

Regular business hours and weekly programs will resume on Monday, May 13.

The City of North Liberty will be collecting flood-damaged property curbside for its residents following last week’s torrential rains. Originally scheduled for April 25 and 26, the collection will now take place all week. Residents need only place flood-damaged items at their curb.

Other items will not be collected at the curb, but can be brought to the public works facility on South Front Street from 7 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 27. Items that can be discarded at the facility are furniture and other bulky items, appliances, tires and auto batteries, metal and car parts, and electronics.

Additionally, the North Liberty Police Department is partnering with local pharmacies to collect and dispose of expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs, no questions asked. Officers will be available at Liberty Pharmacy, 555 West Cherry St., and Liberty Matters, 1765 Lininger Lane, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27 to collect medications.

None of these collections require residents to register or notify the city in advance.

(This post contains updated information.)

North Liberty received more than 8 inches of rain over 28 hours Wednesday and Thursday, which left our sewer system overwhelmed, the ground saturated and some streets flooded. City staff across departments worked to deal with street flooding by closing roads, clearing drains and monitoring flash floods. Our thanks to residents who were able to help by clearing drains near their homes, which allowed city employees to clear others.

Since yesterday, our wastewater plant has been operating at 100 percent capacity, even with the city bypassing its normal sewer collection processes, and has been staffed around the clock. Residents can help by reducing their water and sewer usage as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Johnson County Emergency Management has requested that we provide a list of addresses that have had water damage to their property. If you have had water damage to your property, or know of property that has, please send that information to Tracey Mulcahey at tmulcahey {at} ci.north-liberty.ia(.)us.

With the influx of storm water increasing the flow through North Liberty’s sewer system by nearly 400 percent, the city will temporarily bypass its normal sewer collection process Wednesday evening to protect homes from sewer backup. The move, which has been approved by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, will allow the storm water to enter Muddy Creek and continue downstream instead of bottlenecking at the city’s treatment plant. When the threat to homes and other property has subsided, North Liberty will resume its normal collection. Residents can help reduce the load on the sewer system by lowering their water usage tonight.

Today, North Liberty received more than 4 inches of rain, a torrential downpour that we haven’t experienced in some time. The rain left the city’s sewer and storm water systems overloaded and the ground saturated. City staff across departments have worked to deal with street flooding by closing roads, clearing drains and monitoring flash floods. Our thanks to residents who were able to help by clearing drains near their homes, allowing city employees to clear others.

As the flooding subsides, we will continue to monitor water levels and checking and clearing storm water intakes. This afternoon, when the local school day ends, we will help buses and students get home.

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood advisory for Johnson County.

The North Liberty Recreation Department is hosting a trip to see the Cardinals take on the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, May 8. $75 includes a ticket to the classic rivalry and a bus charter to the game.

The charter is scheduled to leave the North Liberty Community Center, 520 W Cherry, at 6 a.m. First pitch is 1:20 p.m. The bus is scheduled to leave Chicago at 6 p.m. and return to Community Center around 11:15 p.m. This trip is for ages 18 and up unless accompanied by an adult. No alcohol is allowed on the bus.

Sign up by Tuesday, April 30, in person at the North Liberty Recreation Center or online through Activenet (a convenience fee is charged if registering online). For additional information or questions, contact Jason Egly or Matt Fielder at (319) 626-5716.

In early May, reconstruction of Jones Boulevard in North Liberty from St. Andrew Drive to Forevergreen Road will take place in four phases. The completion of the project will take the entire construction season.

More details on the anticipated timing of the phases will be available after the contract has been awarded and the contractor provides its anticipated schedule.

The North Liberty Centennial Committee is looking for information from anyone in North Liberty about houses or other structures that might be included on a historic tour of the town. “Historic” can mean either an older, historic building or any structure in which something significant to North Liberty took place.

There are plans for two types of tours.” One will be an walking tour of at least some of the historic sites around North Liberty, to be held from 6 pm to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 7, 2013. The other tour will be a virtual or online tour in which people will be able to see photographs and read information about many of the historic North Liberty sites. If they wish, people will be able to use information from the website to make their own individual historic walks or drives around North Liberty. The plan is to place signs in the yards of structures that are part of the tour; the walking tour will not go inside the houses or structures except for those that are willing to open their facilities only on June 7.

If you have information to share about your own house or a recommendation for a house or other structure in North Liberty that you think should be included on either the actual or the virtual tour (or both), please send your ideas to Assistant City Administrator Tracey Mulcahey at tmulcahey {at} ci.north-liberty.ia(.)us. by April 30. Include the address of the structure, date of construction (if known) and a summary of any relevant information, and a phone number or e-mail address where you can be reached.

Spring Clean-Up Day is Saturday, April 27, 2013, from 7 to 11:30 a.m.

Spring Cleanup Day is for residents of North Liberty only. Please be prepared to verify that you are a North Liberty resident with a water bill stub or driver’s license. North Liberty residents pay $.30 each month on their recycling bill for this service.

Miscellaneous large items are to be brought to the Public Works Facility, 620 Calvin Street. (Go south on Front Street to Golf View Drive. Turn right and go to Calvin Street. Turn right to Public Works facility.)

The following items will be accepted:

• Furniture and other bulky items.
• White goods (appliances)**
• Brush and tree limbs
• Tires and batteries (car & truck)
• Metal and car parts
• Electronics

Dumpsters will be delivered on Saturday morning and each type of refuse will have a designated location.

Assistance will be provided to the elderly or handicapped. Please call City Hall (626-5700) by April 26 to make arrangements.

Regular household trash, paint and toxic materials will not be accepted. A permanent drop-off site for paint and other hazardous materials has been created at the Iowa City landfill. Items may be dropped off by appointment each day.

Due to construction at the North Liberty Community Center, the south entrance has been out of commission since October. What was originally expected to be a short inconvenience has, much like this winter, stretched on well past its welcome as moving the Community Center’s main entrance 10 feet to the east took significantly longer than expected.

But on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 26, 2013, the new, improved front entrance was unveiled and opened again for the public to use.

Construction in and around the south entrance is ongoing, however, so patrons are urged to be cautious when entering the Community Center from the south. Patrons will not be required to wear hard hats to use the south entrance. When flooring is installed in the entry way, it will be closed for what is expected to be a day or two.

The library’s expansion continues on schedule for expected completion this fall.

The recreation department’s summer programming brochure is now available online. Registration for many programs begins April 1.

The City of North Liberty will host a Good Neighbor meeting on March 28 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. This meeting will be held at City Hall located at 3 Quail Creek Circle in North Liberty. The City may soon consider a rezoning and plat (the subdivision of land into lots) for property in your area, and to invite you to an open house-style meeting being held to explain the proposal. The property is on Cameron Way, south of Penn Street. The rezoning and plat being considered would allow the development of two-family buildings that would access Cameron Way and a new street extending from Cameron Way toward the south

A PDF version of these memos, including location maps are available here.

This good neighbor meeting is being held to explain the potential rezoning and subdivision being considered by the owner and to gather any comments. No Planning Commission or City Council action has been taken, but is anticipated within the next several months. Note that this meeting is intended to notify the public early in the process and to help the developer understand neighborhood concerns. Other formal public meetings will be held by the Planning Commission and City Council if the development applications proceed.

Please feel free to drop into the good neighbor meetings any time within the period shown above. There will not be a formal meeting or presentation; instead, city staff and the developer will be available for informal open-house discussions with maps and information regarding the proposal.

For more information, please contact Dean Wheatley, City Planner at dwheatley {at} ci.north-liberty.ia(.)us. Copies of the above PDF are being sent to property owners within 200 feet of the proposed developments.

North Liberty officials and project engineers will be available during an open house to help residents understand the impact of upcoming road construction. The open house is scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27, at the North Liberty Community Center, 520 W. Cherry St. Residents can come and go at any time.

Projects scheduled for the 2013 construction season include the second phase of improvements to Highway 965 from Penn Street to the north, the extension of Pheasant Lane, reconstruction of Jones Boulevard from St. Andrews Drive to Forevergreen Road, and a first phase of improvements to a new community park.

As part of the open house, project leaders are seeking input and comment on the vision for the city’s newest park, a 40-acre space along St. Andrews Drive on the west side of the city. While a first phase of improvements in scheduled for this spring, further improvements are still in the planning phase.