The National Weather Service is predicting another steamy week in the Belle Plaine area this week, with at least the chance of showers and thunderstorms each day through Sunday and temperatures remaining in the low to mid 80s or above. So this might be a good week to spend some time in the air conditioned confines of meeting rooms around the city to learn a little bit more about what your local leaders are doing to make this an even better place to live.
This afternoon (Monday) the Belle Plaine City Council will meet twice, first in a work session at 5 p.m. and then in the formal council session at 6 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public and will take place in the always cool and comfortable City Hall chambers.
Items on the work session agenda include discussion on possible purchase of property for development near the airport, plans for the downtown revitalization project and discussion on curb cuts in the area of the new storm sewer project on the north side of 11th Street near Ninth Avenue.
At first glance, the agenda for the formal council meeting appears to be a long one. But many of the items pertain to authorization of payments for various projects underway or completed in the city. There will be consideration of the third and final readings of ordinances governing wind energy systems in the city and division of the taxes collected in the urban renewal area.
The council will be asked to approve a recommendation from Police Chief Kris Hudson to promote Amy Baldus to full-time police officer status. There will be reports from the chief and from Jeanne Duffy, director of the Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation (BPCDC) and from City Administrator Bill Daily.
On Tuesday, the BPCDC’s promotions committee meets at 5:15 p.m. On Wednesday, the Belle Plaine Partners for Beautification will meet at 5 p.m. at the Community Center.
Another lengthy agenda awaits those who attend the Belle Plaine Board of Education meeting at Longfellow Elementary School at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Many of the items on the agenda deal with business normally considered this time of year – issuance of contracts, other personnel items including acceptance of the agreement with the Belle Plaine Education Association, acceptance of bids for bakery, milk and fuel products and several reports including district goals, review of test scores, preschool program and Microsoft settlement funds.
Let’s hope the rainy weather disappears in time for the weekly men’s slow pitch softball games, scheduled for 4-8 p.m. at Franklin Park. It’s a good chance to come out and watch some of the guys who played high school baseball on the same field in past years to see how much of the skills they developed years ago still survive.
