COMMUNITY NOTES: Renovations, seasonal reminders, and farewell

By Trudy O’Donnell, Charles City City Clerk

As the year winds down and I look back, it has been an extremely busy year at the city. And it looks to be an even busier year for 2025.

We recently awarded the bid for the City Hall/Police Department renovation project. The more important pieces of this project, in my opinion, are making City Hall more secure and also ADA compliant. Our employee’s safety is a high priority and this will be much improved with the completion of this project.

The front entrance doors are tough to navigate for anyone with a walker, pushing a stroller or in a wheel chair. There will also be a ramp installed going into the council chambers.

With this project, we will also be utilizing the underused space on the east side of city hall. While the “porch” is very aesthetically pleasing, that space could better be used for city offices.

City hall business office/engineering/mayor will be moving temporarily to 507 Clark St. to operate during this project. We will be closed Jan. 2 and 3 to move and set up operation at the new location.

The drive-up drop box for water bill payments located on the west side of city hall will remain in operation during and after the remodel. The Police Department/Code Enforcement/Parks and Rec will relocate to 623 Beck St. during the construction.

We all appreciated the help given by the Charles City Comet athletes and their coaches in providing the muscle to move some of the larger items out of the current City Hall location in preparation for the project.

This is no small task to get everything moved  into a temporary location, so we will truly appreciate your patience as we relocate. The project is expected to be completed in about 16 months.

Work has already begun on the Fiscal Year 2026 budget process. This endeavor continues to be a challenge, given all of the changes made by the state Legislature.

We will continue to work hard to develop a balanced budget and have scheduled several budget workshops to get the job done.

A vendor has been chosen for online permitting software which will allow building permits, dog licenses, mobile food vendor permits, tree trimmer permits and other permits to be submitted and paid for online. The work has started on setting up this system and it will hopefully be ready to launch early this next summer.

Winter time always brings some necessary public service announcements concerning snow.

Sidewalks need to be kept clear of snow and ice and this is the responsibility of the abutting property owner. Within 24 hours of the snow ceasing to fall, sidewalks should be cleared. If you do not perform this duty, the city may cause the snow to be removed and assess that cost to you.

If the snow gets to be really deep, it would be a good idea to keep any fire hydrants located on your property clear of snow. This will help save precious time in the event of a fire in your area, so it is an important task to do.

After a snowfall, please be sure to remove your car from the street prior to the Street Department moving snow. If you don’t and the plow has to go around your vehicle, you may be ticketed. Moving your car allows the Street Department to do a more thorough job of clearing the streets, so we truly appreciate your help with this.

I would like to note that this will be my last Community Notes article. I am retiring and my last day is scheduled for March 28, 2025.

I want to thank you all for the past 17-plus years of working together to make Charles City such a great place. There have been so many people who have helped me along the way and I wouldn’t have lasted this long without them.

I especially want to thank Jerry Joerger, DeLaine Freeseman and Mayor Dean Andrews, who were all on the council who hired me back in 2007. It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve the citizens of Charles City.

I couldn’t have done my job without my exceptional co-workers, mayor and City Council. We have made a great team and have done some amazing projects over the years.

My retirement plans include spending as much time as possible with my two grandsons and doing some traveling. I will continue to cheer Charles City on from the sidelines and take pride in all of the great things to come, knowing I had a small part in the progress that got them there.

Thank you all for allowing me to serve this great city. Stay classy, Charles City!