Posted by Liz Nichols on Feb 26, 2019
Ryan Heiar, City Manager of North Liberty, was the speaker on February 26.  He filled members in on what's going on in North Liberty.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
 
Jennifer Skarda, Juliann Skarda and Miija Ruipnik-- Guests of Dick Huber
Tom Cook-- IC Noon
Ryan Heiar-- IC Noon, Speaker
Seth Talbot-- Guest of Phil Peterson
 
Announcement
 
Our hearts go out to Randy Willman and his family at the loss of his son.
 
Randy noted that Rotarians in the News includes Dick Huber, Deb and John Ockenfels, who were seen in a news clip about the new logo and name change for the Crisis Center to CommUnity.  Phil Peterson showed the new logo on t-shirts for CommUnity.
 
The Mini Golf Tournament fundraiser is April 1 from 5:15 to 6:30 at Colonial Lanes.
 
The next Trivia Night is Friday, April 5.  It will benefit the Antelope Lending Library.
 
Those interested in being considered for the Johnson County Community Foundation grants evaluation process this year should contact Casey Cook.
 
There were many Happy Buck moments.  Here's a sampling:  Ann Langenfeld's mother, who is 89 in March, finally got shoveled out of her residence in Storm Lake.  Thomas Knapp had an adventure getting to and from Litchfield, MN for his new job as a traveling pharmacy tech because of blizzard conditions.  Deb Galbraith is back from a beautiful 6 weeks in San Diego.  Pam Ehly is happy because her son-in-law became a US citizen last weekend.  Deb Ockenfels is happy that she was able to donate many pillows to DVIP thanks to sales and coupons at Kohls.  Elaine Shalla announced that her daughter, who is with the park ranger service at the Grand Canyon, is going to be interviewed by NPR soon. She will let us know when the broadcast is scheduled.
 
Speaker
 
Ryan Heiar, City Manager, North Liberty highlighted a slew of projects that have been completed, or will be in process this year, in North Liberty.
 
North Liberty is young (30% are 18 or younger); and it is growing (18288 in 2016 and likely over 20,000 by 2020.)
 
Road projects:  NL has completed two round-about projects and has two more planned for 2019. The I-380 interchange at Forevergreen is making progress and is almost all being paid for by the DOT.  The roadway is now paved to Kansas Ave and will be paved to four lanes this spring to Jones Blvd.  The access to Geico has been improved with a project that has been half funded by DOT through a grant. 
 
Last summer Phase 3 of the 965 improvements were nearly completed.  This spring work will begin on a Main St. improvement between Cherry and Dubuque St.
 
Several new public amenities are in the works.  A new 16000 sq ft police station is being built on land that is being designated for public infrastructure. Space is being saved to eventually build a new city hall in that location.  Centennial Park received a number of new features including a play structure and a rock climbing area.  The swimming pool was upgraded with some play features.
 
The City utility expansion should be completed by 2020 for water/sewer.  The plant expansion will serve up to 28,000 and will be easily expandable by adding pumps.  The new water plant has been constructed to serve up to 30,000 and is able to pump up to 3 million gallons per day.
 
There is a lot of private investment going in to North Liberty.  Heiar highlighted several new housing subdivisions just ready to start building with about 316 new residential lots ready to come online, and a new multi-use development that should be ready for occupancy this summer.  He also highlighted the relatively new development from Geico.  They have an option on land next to their current campus to possibly build another similar building in the future.  On Penn St Diventures is planning to build a new facility for their scuba and swimming facility.