A year ago, I set up shop in perhaps the most optimistic place in town – the offices of the Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation (BPCDC). In tough economic times, this was the place where the glass is always viewed as “half-full.” I have to keep that in mind when I tell you that this is my last day as editor of Belle Plaine Now.com.
They say you need to take chances to make anything good happen. About 15 months ago, a couple members of the BPCDC board approached me with an idea of creating an avenue for local news. The thought was that there’s enough happening in Belle Plaine that we really needed a news source devoted exclusively to what’s happening in our city. The first thought of printing a weekly newspaper was quickly discarded due to the ever-rising costs of newsprint and other associated printing costs. Besides, although I had more than 30 years of experience in the weekly newspaper game, I know that more and more people are growing impatient to receive their news. We live in a 24-hour news cycle, especially with national news, so why should local news take a back seat?
The BPCDC Board quickly embraced the concept, although I suspect some of the more conservative business people had their doubts. The site was launched with considerable fanfare and with one employee – me. I had little doubt I could find at least one story to post each weekday. Selling advertising in this economy was another matter.
But the initial response from local business people was wonderful. Most of the ads you see on our site represent business people who have been with us since the beginning.
Besides the financial support of those first advertisers, we received considerable moral support from folks who began to log onto our site in more and more numbers. I heard from people who lived far from Belle Plaine who still had an interest in what was happening in their home town. They began to rely on this site to keep them informed with local city and school news, local sports, obituaries, etc.
Unfortunately, while the news continued to flow, the ad prospects began to dwindle. Numerous attempts to add local advertisers fell short as we became more and more aware that the tough economy we are all facing individually is reflected in local business. Numerous attempts to convince regional and national advertisers to come on board did not bring results.
So after just over a year on line, the board made the tough decision to pare back expenses and eliminate the editor’s position, throwing yours truly into the growing ranks of the unemployed.
Quite often when an employee is separated from his work, there are hard feelings. Nothing could be further from the truth in this case. I was never really good at business, but the financial reality of the situation was impossible not to see. In order for the BPCDC to continue with its vital mission of bringing business to our city and the administer the wonderful Main Street Iowa program, some tough choices had to be made.
Online delivery of local news will increase over the coming months and years. At some point, advertisers who have relied on print ads will realize this. In fact, one the first ads I sold was to a local business whose owner said he knew the internet the coming thing.
So I still believe in online local news. I also believe in Belle Plaine. If my next career takes me back home to the Davenport area, I might be the only guy in Scott County walking around wearing a Belle Plaine Plainsman t-shirt. But if anybody asks me where Belle Plaine is, I will be glad to tell them. It’s a place full of great people who are excited about the future of their town.
Several months ago, as many of us began meeting to map out the future of this town, we were in a constant battle with a small group of people called “Cave people.” I recently heard a definition for cave people, “citizens against virtually everything.” As the months have passed and more local folks have seen the progress being made, the number of cave people in our town seems to be falling.
People are excited about the new aquatics center opening next month, about the new additions to our school buildings that will mean an enhanced learning environment for all of our children. Every day, people stop by this office to look at the designs for the streetscape project. Local officials hope to begin construction before the end of this construction season. Once completed, our downtown will be totally transformed and should be a place many people will want to come to shop and meet their friends.
I leave this position today with no bitterness, some sadness and a lot of appreciation to the people of the BPCDC board that had the courage and the foresight to give this venture a try. They hope to continue this site with the help of volunteers, so if you have some time and some interest, be sure to stop by and volunteer to keep this site going.

Robert H. Bernsten, 92, died Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at Northbrook Manor Care Center in Cedar Rapids following an illness. Funeral services will be Saturday, April 17 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Belle Plaine by Deacon Joe Behounek. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery with Military Rites. Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Friday, April 16 at the Hrabak Funeral Home with a Vigil Service at 6:30.

The Belle Plaine Rotary Club will host its annual Spaghetti Dinner on Thursday, April 22, from 5-7 p.m. at the American Legion Hall. The cost is $7 for adults, $3 for kids between the ages of 6-12 and five and under eat free.

Belle Plaine’s bid to receive a Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant for its downtown revitalization project suffered a setback Wednesday, when the CAT board refused to refer the project for negotiations.
Meeting at the century old renovated Saints Center for Culture and the Arts in Stuart, the board reviewed eight applications for funding from across the state and referred two projects to the negotiations stage, the next step to grant approval.
City Administrator Bill Daily led a local contingent of Belle Plaine representatives at the meeting which also included Mayor Jim Daily, Councilman Marv DeRycke, Belle Plaine Community Development Executive Director Jeanne Duffy, community member Geraldine Norgaard and Jeff Orvis, editor of Belle Plaine Now.com.
This was the second time Belle Plaine representatives have appeared before the board requesting funding and the second time the city has submitted a grant for the project. The city had requested $513,000 toward the just over $2 million project. The CAT grant would be used for artistic enhancements for the project, which is also to include complete renovation of downtown streets and sidewalks and considerable renovation of the facades of many downtown buildings.
“It’s the piece of the puzzle that would bring people to town,” he said later.
Bill Daily briefly reminded the board what the city was hoping to do with a CAT grant, which would include public art, signs, etc.
Tammy Robinson, chair of the CAT committee, said she has struggled with the Belle Plaine project. She once again suggested that the city should demand more financial participation in the project from Main Street businesses. Daily replied that the businesses would incur considerable expense in upgrading their storefronts, as well as connecting on to new water lines that will be installed. Some businesses with canopies over the fronts of their storefronts will have the expense of shoring up their fronts after the canopies are removed. He added that demanding more financial participation was not realistic in the current economy.
Only 13 cities in the state currently have downtown tax assessments and none of them have populations similar to Belle Plaine, Daily said.
He also said the store owners have already responded favorably to the project. The community has shown its support for other projects in recent past, he said, pointing to the $600,000 raised toward the construction of the new aquatics center.
No other member of the board spoke during the Belle Plaine presentation. Robinson advised local leaders to continue working on the project and report back. In the meantime, the Belle Plaine project will be scored by CAT staff and then it will be determined if the proposal is still in the running for funding. Daily later said that the streetscape project is still on hold pending a final decision from the CAT board. But he added that it is hoped the project can get underway yet this year.
Seven other applications were reviewed during Wednesday’s meeting. Two of them, Buffalo Center’s request for just over $111,000 for a Heritage Town Center and Orange City’s request for just over $1 million for an events center were referred for negotiations. Historically, the board has granted up to 25 percent of a total project cost. In the negotiations stage, community representatives meet with CAT staff to determine a final grant figure that is then referred to the Vision Iowa Board for final approval.
Other projects reviewed included a Memorial Hall and Trail Head Welcome Center in Elma, recreation fields in West Union, downtown revitalization project in West Union, a downtown project in Kalona and the Hubbard Public Library.
The Belle Plaine project already has substantial funding from a variety of sources, including $2 million from the city, a Brownfield grant of $250,000, the first Community Development Block Grant for downtown revitalization in the amount of $500,000 and a $100,000 storm water management grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, using I-Jobs funds.

Belle Plaine’s boys’ golf squad continues to roll up the victories early in the season. Their latest victim was English Valleys. The Plainsmen claimed a 159-216 win Wednesday at the Belle Plaine Country Club.
Mitch Jacobi and Logan Baburek tied for medalist honors with scores of 38. Scott Thenhaus was right behind with a 39. Other Plainsman scores included Blake St. John, 44; Nick Bachelder, 45 and Austin Brown, 46.
For the girls, Emma Northrop had a 51.
“What a great day for golf!” Coach Brad Allen said. “The Plainsmen really put a couple of good scores together today and showed our team potential. 4-0 is just that start we needed to build up some confidence. We now focus to Friday with what should prove to be a great matchup with HLV and BGM.”

Three relay wins and first place finishes by two individuals helped propel the Belle Plaine boys to a third place finish Tuesday at the Ruth Ahrens Invitational track meet at Marengo.
HLV and BGM tied for the team title with 108 points each. The Plainsmen finished with 92.5, followed by Lisbon, 81; Sigourney, 72; Iowa Valley, 45.5; North Mahaska, 34 and English Valleys, 16.
The Plainsmen won the shuttle hurdle, 4 x 200 and 4 x 100 relays. They were fourth in the 4 x 800, third in the 1,600 meter medley and third in the 4 x 400 meter relays.
In individual events, Brian Crow was first in the 100 meter dash and Keegan DeMeulenaere won the 110 meter hurdles. Brent Wheeler was second and Reed Peterson was third in the discus. Mitchell Schmuecker tied for fifth place in the high jump. Kyle Janss was fifth in the long jump. Brian Carlson was fourth and Chase Bryant finished fifth in the 3,200 meter run. Schmuecker was sixth in the 400 meter hurdles. Carlson took fifth in the 800 meter run.
In an earlier meet, the Plainsmen finished eighth in the 14-team Pirate Relays at Hudson. The host team took the title with 153 points. Vinton-Shellsburg was second with 92.5, followed by Union, 86.75; AGWSR, 73.75; NU High, 66; North Butler, 47.75; BGM, 38; Belle Plaine, 30; Gladbrook-Reinbeck, 24; Denver, 22; Aplington-Parkersburg, 21; Don Bosco, 20, East Marshall, 18 and Iowa Valley, 10.75.