Interurban trail update
Mayor Tom Wieseler gave an update on the progress of the Interurban Trail project.
Wieseler, Dennis Jordan with Alliant Energy and Dennis Goemaat of Linn County Conservation recently completed a drive of the parts of the Interurban Trail from Mount Vernon to Cedar Rapids.
“We saw the good points and bad points of the trail as it stands today,” Wieseler said.
One of those points is there is work being completed to get a quit title for four smaller tracts of land owned by Iowa Power and Light that are along that trail.
The harder part of said trail is there are a few land- owners who may be opposed to ceding land for the recreational trail during their lifetimes. The City of Bertram is also opposed to the recreational bike trail. The crossing of Big Creek and getting under Hwy. 13 are also areas that need to be addressed.
“There are sections of roughly three to four miles that could be completed over time in each of these communities as a loop building to that point when the trail is finally completed,” Wieseler said.
Tuerler said as someone who rides recreational trails in areas like Marion, sometimes it’s as simple as having a spot to park the car, unload a bike and ride a trailhead into a community.
“If we could create an eight-mile little trek for people tying into the nature in our areas, that may be all we need,” Tuerler said. “There’s also interest in the Sechrist and Bass Farms areas of having a tie into a recreational trail as well.”
Tree taken down for safety
An older maple tree was taken down by Mount Vernon public works in recent weeks.
Public works director Eldon Downs said the nine-foot-wide maple tree was no longer balanced, and the branches it was losing in storms made it a public safety issue to remain standing.
Council member Paul Tuerler said it might be import- ant to remind people that we’re still dealing with some of the impacts of the 2020 derecho on trees in the community.
“Following the storm, we saw some of the immediate damage,” Tuerler said. “But some of these older trees were injured in that storm and finally showing that damage when they get to a stress point.”
Tuerler recommended citizens contact the city if they see an issue with a tree in the public right of way so the city can assess the situation and take the appropriate action in advance of other storms.
He also noted that if branches fall early after branch pick-up has happened, citizens can take them to the public works site on Bryant Road themselves if it’s between pick-up dates for the clean-up.
Generator for LBC bids rejected
The bid for a generator for the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center was rejected, as the only bid came in at $427,000, which was $247,000 higher than the engineer’s estimate on the cost.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch said the project will be rebid with some minor modifications that were brought up by contractors in the original bid request.
Council member Scott Rose said rejecting a bid that came in close to a quarter of a million dollars over estimate was a good reason to reject the bids.
Nosbisch said several contractors also did not bid on the project when it was publicized.