May 31, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:
Updated Community Protection/Community Relations page

• City Wide Garage Sale June 8th

May 28, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:
Updated Streets and Sidewalks  page

• Sunset Sidewalk Construction Update #4

May 28, 2013

 

All:

 

This is the 4th weekly update on the construction progress of the Sunset Street Wide Sidewalk project. Rainy weather last week limited the amount of work that could be done. Items accomplished included some additional grading work, paving the remaining section of sidewalk north of Highland Drive, and removing curb/pavement at the Highland and Koser intersections to prepare for construction of new curb ramps at these corners. As we noted below in a mid-week update from Wednesday (5/22), there were several issues where phone lines to some properties were cut. As of Thursday (5/23) morning, all services that we knew about had been restored. Please contact me if you or any of your neighbors have another issue like this.

 

Unfortunately, the forecast for this week has 50% or greater chances for rain every day this week. Often it takesat least another day after a good rain for the site to dry out enough to make it workable. Therefore, depending on the weather the following work items are scheduled for this week:

1. Continue with tree removals south of Highland Drive.

2. Storm sewer work- installing new drain intakes and connecting them to the existing storm sewer pipes along Sunset.

3. Utility Pole Relocation- This is work to be completed by Mid-American Energy. They have notified us a crew is starting on this work today. They are starting on the north end and working south.

4. Prepare and construct new curbs and curb ramps at Koser and Highland.

5. Backfill dirt alongside the new sections of sidewalk already completed.

6. Possibly start paving new sidewalk south of Highland Drive.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks for your time.

 

Josiah D. Bilskemper, P.E.

Shive-Hattery, Inc.

2834 Northgate Drive

Iowa City, IA 52245

(319) 354-3040

 

May 25, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

• FARMER'S MARKET Vendor Application Forms

May 23, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

• Johnson County Emergency Siren Guide

May 20, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:
Updated Streets and Sidewalks  page

• Sunset Sidewalk Construction Update #3
• May 20, 2013
• University Heights Residents:
  This is the 3rd update on the construction progress of the Sunset Street Wide Sidewalk project.  Work last week continued to concentrate on the north end with preparation for and actual paving of sections of the new sidewalk north of Highland Drive.  The work area also expanded south to the section between Highland Drive and Oakcrest, where existing sidewalk was removed, some trees were removed, and minimal grading work started.
  
  
  The contractors planned work for this week (May 20-24) includes more work in the section between Highland and Oakcrest.  There are several locations where storm sewer work will take place, as several new drainage intakes are being installed behind the sidewalk in this section, with connections to the existing storm sewer pipe along Sunset Street, and the replacement of storm sewer pipe near the Oakcrest intersection with larger diameter storm pipe that will provide greater carrying capacity.
  North of Highland Drive, where some of the sidewalk was paved last week, the curb ramp connections at the intersection corners still need to be completed, and we may see work to get these prepared for paving as well.
  
  
  We also expect to see Mid-American Energy on site this week beginning to install new utility poles, working from north to south.  Here is the description of that work from Project Update #1:
  "There are 6 overhead utility poles that will need to be relocated by Mid-American Energy.  They reported at the meeting that they plan to begin installing these new poles in the next 2-3 weeks.  Their process is to have all the new poles installed adjacent to the existing poles, then move all their lines over to the new poles. The next step is having the remaining utility companies (Mediacom, Qwest, and Windstream) then move their lines over to the new Mid-American poles.  Once complete, the old poles will be removed."
  
  
  There are still trees scheduled for removal on the south half of the project that have not yet been removed.  The contractor informs us that these additional tree removals will probably be completed next week after the Memorial Day holiday.
  
  
  Finally, with the rains last night, and more rain in the forecast for the beginning of this week, please keep in mind that we may have a couple of days of not much work on site if the conditions are too wet to accomplish these tasks.
  
  
  Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks for your time.
  
  
  Josiah D. Bilskemper, P.E.
  Shive-Hattery, Inc.
  2834 Northgate Drive
  Iowa City, IA 52245
  (319) 354-3040

May 19, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

Updated City Council Agenda and Minutes page

• May 14, 2013 Council Meeting Web Stream

May 16, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

Updated Proposed/Recent Ordinances before Council page

• Ordinance 185 Farmer's Markets ADOPTED 5/14/13
• Ordinance 184 Retaining Walls ADOPTED 5/14/13
• Ordinance 183 Olive Ct. Paving ADOPTED 5/14/13

Updated Streets and Sidewalks page

• Bike to Work Week Breakfast Recap

May 14, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

• City Council Meeting May 14th, 7:00 PM St. Andrew Church, 1300 Melrose Ave. 
• AGENDA and attachments
• Mayor's Report
• April 9, 2013 Minutes
• April 23, 2013 Minutes 

May 13, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

Updated Streets and Sidewalks  page

• Sunset Sidewalk Plans 

 

May 13, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

Updated Community Protection/Relations  page

• Bike to Work Week Breakfast 5/15/13

Updated Streets and Sidewalks  page

• Sunset Sidewalk Construction Update #2
• May 12, 2013
• All: 
   
  This is the 2nd update on the construction progress of the Sunset Street Wide Sidewalk project.  Most of the work last week focused on the area from Highland Drive north up to the bus stop just south of Melrose Avenue.  This work included the setting up of sidewalk closure signage, removal of trees and sidewalk, as well as some grading work.
  
  
  Based on what we have heard from the contractor, their plans for this coming week (May 13-17) include a continued focus on this stretch of the project.  Expect additional grading work to get these sections of new sidewalk ready for paving, which they hope to have completed sometime during the week.  We anticipate they wil first pave the portions of the sidewalk outside of the intersections, and then come back after to pave the new curb ramps at each corner.
  
  
  While this work is underway, they also plan to start moving south from Highland Drive with tree and sidewalk removal, stripping of topsoil, and general grading to prepare for the new sidewalk alignment.
  
  
  Once the contractor completes their coordination with Iowa City Transit with regard to the bus stop near Melrose Avenue, they plan to go ahead and complete that north portion of the project (southwest corner of Melrose and Sunset intersection).  We expect this area should be available to them in the next week or two.
  
  
  Just as a reminder from the first update last week, the south section of the project (Benton to Oakcrest) has a specific requirement to remain open until the end of the school year.  The currently scheduled last day of classes is Monday, June 3rd.  Therefore, no significant work is expected to occur in this segment until June 4^th at the earliest.
  
  
  Please let me know if you have any questions this week, thanks for your time.
  
  
  Josiah D. Bilskemper, P.E.
  Shive-Hattery, Inc.
  2834 Northgate Drive
  Iowa City, IA 52245
  (319) 354-3040

May 12, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

Updated City Council Agendas and Minutes page

• May 14, 2013 Council Meeting Agenda

May 10, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

Updated Proposed/Recent Ordinances before Council page

• Proposed Ordinance 185 regarding Farmer's Markets

Bike to Work Week Breakfast: May 15th, City Office 1004 Melrose

May 7, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

Updated Streets and Sidewalks page

• Sunset Sidewalk Project Update #1 from City Engineer, Josiah Bilskemper:

May 7th, 2013

All:

I am sending out an update on the city's Sunset Street Wide Sidewalk project. The project was bid through the Iowa DOT in March, and as a result of those bids, the construction contract was awarded to Vieth Construction from Cedar Falls, Iowa at the  April city council meeting. Iowa DOT and the FHWA conducted a final review of the construction contract and notified the City in late April that they were approved to proceed with construction. The first meeting with the contractor (the "pre-construction" meeting) took place today, and so we now have some initial schedule information to pass along to you.

The contractor indicated that they will be beginning this week by having all of the existing utility lines located through the Iowa One-Call process, which may include some digging at select locations to verify accurate depths of these utility lines. I anticipate that there will be lots of lines painted on the ground and colored marker flags as well. The contractor also plans to mobilize some equipment (i.e. skid loaders) and materials to the site for future work. The contractor said they may be ready to start working on the planned tree removals towards the end of this week.

Depending on their progress in locating existing utilities, removing trees, and installing required sidewalk closure signs, the following week may include removal and stockpiling of existing topsoil (i.e. moving dirt around), removal of some sections of existing sidewalk, and perhaps some storm sewer work. We will have a better handle at the end of this week what type of work will occur the following week (May 13-17).

The south section of the project (Benton to Oakcrest) has a specific requirement to remain open until the end of the school year. The currently scheduled last day of classes is Monday, June 3rd. Therefore, no significant work is expected to occur in this segment until June 4th at the earliest. The stretch of sidewalk from Oakcrest Avenue to Koser Avenue is where we expect to see the bulk of the work starting. There are 6 overhead utility poles that will need to be relocated by Mid-American Energy. They reported at the meeting that they plan to begin installing these new poles in the next 2-3 weeks. Their process is to have all the new poles installed adjacent to the existing poles, then move all their lines over to the new poles. The next step is having the remaining utility companies, (Mediacom, Qwest, and Windstream) then move their lines over to the new Mid-American poles. Once complete, the old poles will be removed.

This is the information we have based on our initial meeting from today. As mentioned above, we will have a better idea at the end of the week of what type of work is expected to occur next week.

Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks for your time.

Josiah D. Bilskemper, P.E.
Shive-Hattery, Inc.
2834 Northgate Drive
Iowa City, IA 52245
(319) 330-2492

May 3, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

Spring Clean Up Day THANK YOU from Larry Wilson

May 2, 2013

Good morning folks,

Even though we did not keep a count of those who dropped off trash and recycling items, we had greater participation than last year. For a change, the weather was beautiful and I am sure that helped participation.

The report of this year’s Spring Cleanup Day is very good. Steve Smith, Johnson County Refuse, reported that we collected 2.25 tons (4500 pounds) of waste which filled two rolloff dumpsters. I don’t have the tonnage from last year, but last year we filled 1⅓ rolloff dumpsters. If the weights per container were similar, by ratio and proportion, that would translate to something like 1.5 tons (3000 pounds) last year compared to the 2.25 tons (4500 pounds) this year, or a 50% (1500 pounds) increase this year. In addition, many still useable items collected at a “swap table” were taken home by neighbors to continue their use.

Thanks to Steve Smith, Johnson County Refuse, and his drivers for being so helpful and cooperative. As usual, they provided excellent support. The cleanup day could not have been such a success without the help of volunteers Brennan McGrath, Mike Haverkamp and Rosanne Hopson. Thanks also to Chief Ron Fort reserving the collection location on Marietta Avenue. I know that I speak in behalf of Community Relations Chair, Rosanne Hopson, the UH City Council and UH residents in thanking our volunteers for making the cleanup day a terrific success.

It makes me proud to be a UH neighbor.

Larry T. Wilson, chair

Spring Cleanup

 

May 2. 2013

Updates to University Heights website:

• Updated City Council Agenda and Minutes page
• Audio Recording April 9, 2013 Council Meeting
• Audio Recording April 23, 2013 Special  Meeting with Johnson County Supervisors

May 1, 2013

Updates to University Heights website:
University Heights will sponsor a summer Farmer's Market the first Tuesday of the month from June through October. The market will be held from 5-7 PM at the St. Andrew Church parking lot.

Interested vendors please contact Mayor Louise From, 319-354-1433
Table fees: $5/market or $20/season
RESERVE YOUR SPACE NOW!