Winter Weather 3, 4

Winter weather can present a host of challenges for Cedar Falls residents. When snow piles high, it is important to keep your driveway, sidewalks, and mailbox clear. Snow and ice can also present a safety hazard for your gas meter.

Cedar Falls Utilities asks for your assistance in keeping your meter and the path to it clear.

Heavy or hard-packed snow and ice on your gas meter may prevent CFU staff from being able to access and accurately read and service your home’s meter. Keep the gas meter and regulator Meter readers need access each month cleared of snow buildup around and quick access in an emergency can the meter set up. be critical for your safety. Snow or ice can also block the regulator vent on a meter which will prevent gas from flowing to your home and furnace.

Please follow these guidelines to help us keep your family and our crews safe this winter:

• Never let your meter get completely Be sure the furnace fresh air and covered and do not shovel snow up exhaust vents are free from ice buildup that could plug the vent.against it. • Use a broom to gently sweep snow away and never kick or hit the gas meter or its piping to break away snow or ice. • Keep meters easy to reach. Meter readers need access each month and quick access in an emergency can be critical for your safety. • Be aware of the location of your furnace vent and intake. If you have white piping coming out of the side of your home, you must also remove accumulated ice and snow from your furnace vent and intake. If they are plugged, your furnace will not run. If you have any questions, call CFU Gas Services at 319-268-5340.

Grow Cedar Valley’s 2022 Legislative Policy Agenda

As we launch into the 2022 Legislative Session, Grow Cedar Valley encourages the Iowa Legislature to focus on talent attraction, recruitment and retention in order to ensure future economic growth and to take advantage of initiatives in other areas, particularly economic development and infrastructure. See the full agenda to learn more about each priority area. Full Agenda: https://www.growcedarvalley.com/news/blog/governmentaffairs/grow-cedar-valley-releases-2022-legislative-policy-agenda

2022 Priority—Health and Wellness

In 2021, thanks to the generosity of many, the Cedar Falls Community Foundation raised over $50,000 for the Children and Families Fund. Grants from this Fund were used to provide assistance to daycare programs throughout our community. In 2022, the CFCF fundraising priority will be to raise funds for the Health and Wellness Fund with the focus on providing support to enhance accessibility in our city parks. If you would like to donate to this fund, please visit our website at www.cf-communityfoundation.org.

Children and Families Fund—Grants Awarded

The Cedar Falls Community Foundation recently awarded grants from our Children and Families Fund to five local childcare providers totaling just over $10,000! The grant funds will be used for a variety of projects locally including new outdoor play equipment, desks, cots and mats, and materials for sensory play. Some of the funds were also used in the repair and clean up of a water main break and to enlarge a playground space. The Cedar Falls Community Foundation worked closely with Child Care Resource and Referral of Northeast Iowa for their expertise and guidance on how to make an impact on childcare in Cedar Falls. We plan to continue to offer these grants for the next two years. We are thankful for the gifts from our donors for making it possible for us to support children in our community!

Donor Spotlight—John and Maureen Henderson

The Cedar Falls Community Foundation would like to thank John and Maureen Henderson for their 2021 donation to our Children and Families Fund. Through their gift of $20,000, we were able to meet our first fundraising goal and increase our goal to $50,000, which we were also able to surpass! “John and I believe in giving back to our community and the best opportunity to influence the future of Cedar Falls is through our children’s early education and supporting those parents in need,” said Maureen. Once again, thank you so much John and Maureen, for supporting the children of Cedar Falls!

Eller Spring 2022 Study Abroad Scholarships Announced

The Cedar Falls Community Foundation recently awarded six University of Northern Iowa students scholarships from the Robert Eller Study Abroad Scholarship Fund. Spring 2022 scholarships have been awarded to Madeline Hinz, Olivia Arnold, Jace Bell, Katherine Greenwood, Sami Zimmerman, and Rachel Bell each in the amount of $6,000. These students will be studying in Spain, Costa Rica, and Greece. Robert Eller Study Abroad Scholarship Fund was established by Robert Eller, a UNI professor, to foster the educational, professional and personal growth of undergraduate students at UNI by providing funds for a semester or a year of study outside the United States to a student whose previous travel and study experiences abroad have been limited.

515 Main Street (Farmers State Bank bldg.—By appt.) PO Box 546, Cedar Falls, IA • 319-243-9170 cf-communityfoundation.org Email: director@cf-communityfoundation.org Facebook: CedarFallsCommunityFoundation

Cedar Heights Drive Reconstruction

The Cedar Heights Drive Reconstruction project is underway with crews currently working to finalize the new roundabout at the Cedar Heights Drive and East Greenhill Road intersection. As part of construction access, a temporary access road extending from Chadwick Road to Greenhill Road was constructed to provide access to residents and commercial businesses located in the Chadwick Road and Cedar Hill Road area.

The intersection of Cedar Heights Drive and Greenhill Road will be primary focus in early 2022 to finalize the last of the required paving and landscaping. As crews work to finalize near Greenhill Road, work will shift to the existing Viking Road Roundabout where a new truck apron and landscaping will be added. From there, crews will work towards the northeast from the Viking Road Roundabout through the curve of Cedar Heights Drive to Prairie Street and up to Huntington Road. Huntington Road will feature a single lane roundabout with upgrades to the sanitary sewer and storm sewer network throughout the corridor. Crews will continue north and complete the final connection between Phase I and Phase II work.

Phase I: Greenhill Road Intersection to Cedar Hill Road: July 2021–May 2022 Phase II: Cedar Hill Road to Viking Road: May 2022–November 2022

Commercial driveways affected by the project will be incorporated with each stage, and alternative access points will be provided. Residential access will be maintained along with signed business accesses throughout the remainder of construction. Posted detour has been established by use of Viking Road, Prairie Parkway, and University Avenue. During construction, additional information and updates for the project will be provided on the city’s website. For ongoing active projects, sign up for e-mail notifications at www.cedarfalls.com/NotifyMe.

Lake Street Trail Project

The Lake Street Trail Project will begin in the Summer of 2022 and consists of constructing a new 10-foot trail along Lake Street from Central Avenue to Big Woods Road. This new trail section will tie into the existing Big Woods Trail system around the Big Woods Lake Recreational Area. The Lake Street Trail Project is funded by General Obligation Bonds and Federal/State funding. The Lake Street Trail Project is just the next step in the City of Cedar Falls ongoing effort to provide connectivity for all pedestrian traffic throughout the entire city. The Lake Street Trail will tie into the Big Woods Recreation Trail on one end and be expanded on in the West with future projects and as roads are reconstructed. These expansions of pedestrian connectivity can come in many forms that can be seen throughout the City, such as sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes, shared lane markings, or extensions of the trail itself. The Lake Street Trail Project will be great addition to the City of Cedar Falls Trail Network that extends throughout the entire city. This project will be completed by December 2022 and open for use. The City strives to provide a pedestrian network that accommodates all forms of transportation.

Cedar Heights Neighborhood Reconstruction

The North Cedar Heights subdivision is a small community of houses located atop the Cedar River’s bluffs next to the Hartman Bluff State Preserve, north of Grand Boulevard. This community was annexed into the City after much of the infrastructure had been established and the incredibly narrow roadways that twist and turn throughout the area show it. While cozy in curb appeal, the ability for the roadway to serve this neighborhood is limited. With increased challenge of snow removal, trash pickup, sanitary sewer service, stormwater control, and even passing oncoming vehicles, the City has proposed a 5-year program to reconstruct these roadways. Two streets are slated for 2022: West Ridgewood Drive (from Greenwood Avenue to Cherry Lane) and Timber Drive (from Grand Boulevard to Greenwood Avenue). The figure below shows the current 5-year program, planned for completion in the 2026 calendar year. Working from the lowest points at the stormwater culverts and from the back of the neighborhood to the front, this plan should limit construction activity on the newly constructed roadways. Working with the neighborhood’s individual citizens, the City plans to reconstruct the existing roadways with a full depth asphalt mix, utilizing concrete curb and gutter wherever feasible. Once this program is completed, this neighborhood should not only maintain its current charm, but better serve its users long into the future.

Greenhill Road and South Main Street Intersection Improvement Project

Beginning in the spring of 2022, the improvements at the intersection of South Main Street and Greenhill Road will begin. The entire project is slated to be completed from start-to-finish during the 2022 calendar year, with utility relocations already underway. The planned work in this area consists of the removal of the existing traffic signal and pavement, followed by the placement of new watermain, storm sewer, and roundabout. Similar to the other roundabouts within the City, this roundabout will include matching stone street name signs, pedestal lighting, and landscaping. One key difference with this project is the combined sidewalk/retaining wall covered with a limestone face on the northeast corner. The existing wooden fencing along the northeast and southwest corners will be updated to a black and brown vinyl fence. Throughout the construction season, the project will be completed in three primary stages. The first stage will focus on the northeast corner of the roundabout, the second stage will focus on the northwest corner, and the third stage will focus on the entire southern half of the roundabout, including the intersection at South Main Street and Balboa Avenue. During the first two stages, northbound traffic will be maintained on South Main Street with southbound traffic detouring on Highway 27/58. Greenhill Drive traffic will be maintained as through traffic reduced to single lanes in either direction. When the southern half starts, traffic will have to detour around to Coneflower Parkway just to the east.

West Viking Industrial Park Expansion

The City of Cedar Falls will be establishing construction contracts this winter to start construction for the expansion of the West Viking Industrial Park in 2022. Once a contractor is hired, crews will work during the first half of the construction season to mass grade the site located south of Viking Road and East of Union Road. Then in midsummer, crews will start to place the first phase of new underground utilities and pavement for the first extension of the industrial park. In this first phase, construction will be focused around the extension of Venture Way, Technology Place, and a new north/ south road called Innovation Drive. This will complete the first loop into the new industrial park providing new industrial building lots along Venture Way and Innovation Drive. Work will include new storm sewer, sanitary sewer, watermain, regional stormwater detention ponds, a multi-use trail system, and other underground utilities. During construction, additional information and updates for the project will be provided on the city’s website. For ongoing active projects, sign up for e-mail notifications at www.cedarfalls.com/NotifyMe.

be working on extending the plaza to the edge of Olive Street with tie-ins and amenities for the College Hill Corridor. This proposed work is schedule for 2022 work and construction will be done around low flow conditions on the University Branch of Dry Run Creek. During construction, additional information and updates for the project will be provided on the city’s website. For ongoing active projects, sign up for e-mail notifications at www.cedarfalls.com/NotifyMe.

Olive Street Box Culvert

The City of Cedar Falls is planning to remove and replace the existing two-span slab bridge at Olive Street with a twin box culvert. The existing bridge will be replaced with a box culvert extending from the existing College Street Culvert to the east side of Olive Street. The project will include downstream channel improvements, sidewalk improvements for walkability to the College Hill corridor, and placement of a new road above the culvert. The project will also include improvements to the water main, storm sewer and sanitary sewer along Olive Street adjacent to the proposed culvert. A few of the improvements that the City is evaluating will include rumble strips within the box culvert to assist with fish passage, pool and riffle structures to provide habitat for aquatic communities, and pollinator plantings along the downstream channel for increased channel stability and pollinator habitat. Pettersen Plaza will be the focus for construction crews after the new culvert is placed. Crews will

On November 1, 2021, the Cedar Falls City Council adopted new zoning for Downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods (the area within the boundary on the map). The new Downtown Character District Code is an important tool that will help implement the Imagine Downtown Vision Plan adopted in 2019 after extensive input from the community. One of the primary goals of the Vision Plan was to establish new zoning regulations that would allow opportunities for new housing and businesses in response to the community needs of today, but in a manner that respects the existing character and history of Downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods. While most are familiar with the Downtown commercial district and historic Main Street, many may be unaware that the surrounding neighborhoods were previously zoned for higher intensity multi-family and commercial development. In addition, the old zoning did not have standards that would ensure that new development would fit into the character of the neighborhood. In other words, there was a mismatch between the community’s vision and the reality of what could occur under the old zoning. The new Downtown Character District Code is intended to fix that. It allows a variety of housing types in the neighborhoods surrounding the Downtown business district, but has detailed standards and requirements to make sure new development is sized and designed to blend in. For the Downtown business district, the code will continue to encourage mixed-use development (commercial and residential), but has added standards reflecting the community’s vision. As with anything new, there are lots of questions and sometimes misperceptions. Here are a few frequently asked questions about the new zoning:

With the new zoning, will I be required to make changes to my existing property?

No, the new zoning rules only apply when something new is proposed. It is intended to guide new development and does not force anyone to make changes to their current houses or commercial buildings. If, however, you want to explore ideas for redeveloping your property, the new code may open up some new possibilities. Contact the Cedar Falls Planning Division for more information.

I heard rumors that the new zoning would allow commercial development in the residential neighborhoods. Is that true?

No, the areas with a “Neighborhood” designation on the new zoning map (Downtown Character District Regulating Plan) do not allow commercial buildings. However, any existing commercial uses or buildings are “grandfathered in” and may continue as before. New commercial and mixed-use buildings are encouraged in the Downtown core. These areas are designated as “Storefront,” “Urban General,” and “Urban General 2” on the Regulating Plan.

Will I be required to share my existing parking lot?

No, existing properties do not have to share their parking. However, there is a requirement for new mixed-use buildings that contain upper floor commercial or residential uses to make a certain number of parking spaces available to the public during at least a portion of the day. For example, a new building that has upper floor office space might decide to satisfy their shared parking requirement after 5:00 p.m., when most office employees have gone home. This parking would then be available to the public during the evening when restaurant and entertainment businesses are at their busiest. On the other hand, a new building with upper floor residential may decide to share some of their parking during the day, when many residents are away at work, which would add to the supply of available parking for patrons of the downtown retail shops and restaurants during that time. If you would like more information about the new Downtown Character District Code, contact Karen Howard, Planning & Community Services Manager, at Karen.howard@cedarfalls.com or 319-268-5169. You can view the new code and regulating plan (new zoning map) at www.cedarfalls.com/1614/Imagine-Downtown.