Got grants, but could use more grants

Chris Baldus  |  Managing Editor

Charles City Girl Scouts have been busy this summer clearing out the brush from Waverly Hill Park so the next phase of the off-leash dog park can be assembled. The girls procured a USDA grant to get this project off the ground.

Grants are not a new idea for our area. They sure are a good idea. We even have local grant-givers. The Omnitel Foundation, for example, just announced its grant awards for the second quarter of 2016. Recipients of the $250 to $1,000 awards are as large as the Cerro Gordo County Conservation Board clude or as small as the Riceville Lego League. That’s kids who build robots out of Legos to compete regionally and beyond. The list of recipients was on Friday’s “Family and community” page.

The next grants will be awarded in October. Grant applications can be found at www.omnitel.biz And of course there is the Floyd County Community Foundation. If you want to put in for one of their grants for your charitable organization, you have only until Sept. 30 for the ones being awarded in December. Go to www.cfneia.org to learn more and apply.

Then, there are the grants from outside sources. In Floyd County, we have people who are regularly on the lookout for grant opportunities and that have pulled in some good money over the years. Just looking Iowa’s Resource Enhancement and Protection program, $1,432,370 has flowed into 128 projects within Floyd County from 1989 to 2014.

Here’s how we compare with adjacent counties: — Cerro Gordo, $3,314,274 for 165 projects — Bremer, $2,812,857 for 141 projects — Butler, $2,097,866 for 136 projects — Howard, $1,296,874 for 118 projects — Mitchell, $1,295,857 for 117 projects — Franklin, $958,943 for 109 projects — Chickasaw County, $794,976 for 103 projects Some of the big local projects REAP grants have helped include Charles City with the Charley Western Recreational Trail in 2001 ($92,000), the county with Tosanak Recreation Area in 2014 ($269,275), and Fossil and Prairie Center in 1998 ($200,000).

The Floyd County Historical Society, National 19th Amendment Society, and the Marble Rock Historical Society have all received grants over the years.

Looking over the recipients of REAP grants for fiscal year 2015, I see money given for more trail projects, which we could use more of just considering how unsafe our rural roads are for bicyclists. Getting connected to a regional trail system would be a great boost to our quality of life.

Even local expansion and improvement of the Charley Western Trail is worth thinking about. One improvement would be to figure out a way to make crossing Highway 18 safer. Dream big to get big dreams.

Rockford, by the way, tried to get $50,000 for a Fossil and Prairie Trail extension and Rudd sought $30,375 for a campground improvement project. At least they asked. Maybe next time.

school district could seek money to make a new cross country running trail. As successful and beneficial as these teams have been, such a project would seem worthy of the attempt.

are historical resources grants. Seems to me the former Charles City Middle School building could use a historical preservation grant or two or 327. Maybe start with the too-expensive boiler system that launched our local controversy in the first place.

Grant applications are accepted once a year on May 15.

The Charles City Arts Center way back in 1991 received $10,000 for Carnegie building climate stabilization. The Historical Society got $18,000 to help with roof replacement in 1994.

Awards of these sizes would just be a drop in the bucket for the middle school’s needs, but it’s a start.

very much like to see is one to build a field house at the Charles City High School. Local lawmakers, can you work on that for us?

facilities, it would help rural districts like Charles City a lot if Gov. Terry Branstad and his legislators would extend the 1-cent sales tax for school infrastructure beyond 2029, but look elsewhere for water quality project funds. Keeping up school buildings is not going to be any less expensive after 2029, it makes no sense to shrink a dedicated revenue stream and putting schools in more of a pinch than they are now. And besides, we voters approved that tax for schools, nothing else.

Shifting gears

Lego League, Charles City has it’s own Lego League program at the middle school. It’s traveled to Waterloo and Cedar Falls to compete. How neat would it be to host competitions here for area squads? I say, let’s throw down the Lego gauntlet and dare Riceville and whoever else for at least some informal rumbles.

New Hampton are close to enacting an ordinance to allow golf carts on its streets, similar to what Waverly does.

Here in Charles City, golf carts are simply not allowed on the streets. State law allows for operation of carts on city streets “upon approval of their governing body.”

So, discussions began in June and the New Hampton City Council has received a petition from 50 people in favor of such an ordinance. A minority of council members oppose it because of safety concerns.

Golf cart drivers would need to have regular driver’s licenses and get a $20 permit. The carts could only be out and about from sunrise to sunset. Some streets, such as Main Street, would be off limits.

Something to keep in mind about this is just how fragile carts are compared to the cars that share the roads. A sad example came out of Alta Vista last year when Marvel Erion, 84, died after his golf cart was hit by a van on 110th Street. Erion was pulling out of his driveway when he was struck. He died from his injuries two days later.

Press Editor Chris Baldus can be reached at cbaldus@charlescitypress.com or 641-228-3211 Ext. 19.