The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa • 11

Metro I NE Iowa B2 Waterloo school board charts new course for district OBITUARIES D4 DAILY RECORD B5 Section MetoNEIowa Courier Sunday January 8, 1995 Waterloo Cedar Falls, Iowa Nancy Raffensperger, Managing Editor News Patt Johnson, City Editor Pat Kinney, Business Editor Amy Davis, State Editor Brace yourself: Property taxes are going to rise Supervisors see no way around 'biting the to fund new county jail and mental health programs ished product before the budget certification deadline of March 15. Supervisor Brian Quirk agreed it may be impossible to avoid some tax increase, especially to staff the new jail. "This facility is what was voted on four years ago," he said. "If we don't privatize it, we're still going to have to run it. "There's still a lot of money to cut.

I think a lot of the agencies that have come in asking us for money understand that and know what we're facing." Sheriff Mike Kubik has submitted By TIM JAMISON Courier Staff Writer Staffing the new Black Hawk County Jail and caring for mentally disabled residents are the main factors that have the Board of Supervisors staring at a property tax increase in the upcoming year. "There's no question there's going to be a tax increase," said Supervisor Jack Roehr. "The question is how big that increase is going to be. "The county has been falling farther and farther behind, especially in funding the mental health," he added. "It's time to bite the bullet." Budget requests from departments and agencies for the fiscal year starting July 1 are nearly $9 million, or 38 percent, above the $23.7 million in property taxes collected by the county last year.

That figure does not include any wage increases that may be required through union contract negotiations, or raises to the county's non-bargaining employees or elected officials. The supervisors last week began the lengthy process of trimming the budget requests. A public hearing or two will be conducted on the fin a budget request that would see his tax asking grow from $4.7 million to $7.5 million next year. All of the increase is associated with operating costs at the new jail, which is expected to open in late spring or early summer. The supervisors are considering contracting with a private company to operate the jail at a reduced cost, but no decision has been made.

Care for the mentally ill, mentally retarded and developmentally disabled residents of the county is another area where a large tax increase is expected. Tax requests in that area are nearly $2 million above last year's asking. Roehr said part of the problem is that the county underfunded human services last year, and is anticipating an $800,000 deficit by the end of this current budget year. Building Maintenance Superintendent Dick Buchanan submitted the other departmental budget calling for a large tax increase. His budget would grow from $1 million to $3 million.

But Buchanan said he fully See BUDGET page B3 From the Bullpen The last word on what's hot, what's not in the new year January is that special month when the Print Media belches out thousands and thousands of lists, each purporting to represent the "best" this or the "worst" that from the previous year (1994, if you've been paying close attention). Then, after lots of intensive research and something chocolaty for dessert, we attempt to predict what you, the Reader, will be buying, wearing, driving or piercing in the 12 months ahead (in this case, 1995). (Editor's note: This concludes the math portion of today's column. Quietly turn over your paper and wait for further instructions.) Everywhere you look on the newsstand nowadays (even in those magazines with one-word titles ROAD 4 CLOSED i iff 1, Larry Ballard iisines to that are always taped shut and kept behind the counter) pundits are predicting who's hot and who's not, what's in and what's out. The Courier recently printed its own list, called "Best of 1 if IP iV 'IX "'r' illl'ii'J- liiiiiiiOIUl I 1 1 1 JjJ f- 'Xwfc JUL.

.1 gap in II Six years after Main Street Bridge was shut down, merchants find they're an island among themselves L. DAN NIERLING Courier Photo Editor 'Road says Earl Easley, above, with a sigh. "I tell you, I'll be glad when those signs are out of here." The owner of the Velvet Hammer, which does body work on cars, Is growing weary of waiting for the Main Street Bridge to reopen and provide better access to his Lincoln Street business. East Main Street concerns i Blue Line Nl oomxjaon) IP Wax Moving and JS Rotman Storage Inc. fuzn's I 2 Inc.

i I Jits I Ftoair fCc-opof lit) fT-Acklin "3I "A Velvet Machine Hammer Tool 6 I tSF li 1 1 '-fljlpp 1 i. under By JENNIFER JACOBS Courier Staff Writer CEDAR FALLS Earl Easley moved his auto body shop from a low-profile location on Big Woods Road to the northeast bank of the Cedar River just a stone's throw from downtown to boost customer traffic. All he gained was about 900 square feet of floor space. The Main Street Bridge that once provided traffic access across the Cedar River was torn down in 1988 under the threat of structural failure. When Easley opened the Velvet Hammer at 134 Lincoln St.

2 12 years ago, he understood the bridge would be rebuilt in about 12 months. It wasn't. The bridge is still closed and sorely missed by some businesses after more than six years. City officials say it's now evident the $2.2 million Main Street Bridge, traversed by 3,600 cars daily in 1986, won't be completed until around summer 1996. "In the meantime, we're starving for our dinners," said Easley, who estimates the Velvet Hammer has lost between $50,000 and $100,000 Line, which could not move trucks over the bridge even when it was open because it was embargoed against heavy vehicles, are "hard to measure," Mahncke said.

Although Blue Line isn't a retail outfit, mere visibility to passing motorists is effective advertising. Clay Equipment Corp. is considering leaving its longtime location at 101 Lincoln St. The decision doesn't have as much to do with the lack of the Main Street Bridge as'with the rebuilding project. Land acquisition for reconstruction includes a piece of property where Clay's loading dock now sits.

Clay's property is also a flood plain. In October, the farm equipment manufacturer received a $1.6 million federal grant to finance a relocation to the Cedar Falls Industrial Park. The company is still negotiating details with the city and the Iowa Department of Transportation. At the Co-op of Hudson, 212 Lincoln farmers who did grain business there are continuing to make the drive despite the detour, said manager Randy Renner. However, the Co-op's retail side selling bird seed, pet food and garden supplies has been hurt.

"Our loyal customers still come. They'll drive a little further to get a quality product at a cheaper price," Renner said. "But I think there are people who have moved here since the bridge closed that don't even know we're over here." In 1988, the bridge closing was said to be permanent. But in 1990, the city of Cedar Falls announced that the DOT would fund 80 percent of a rebuilding project. Officials saw that a dangerous bottleneck would form if cars using the new Highway 218 interchange were allowed to mix with slow-moving vehicles pulling onto Highway 57 from busy Roosevelt Street.

DOT officials decided to sever Roosevelt Street from Highway 57. But in order to dead-end that street, which is now the main access to the neighborhood, the Main Street Bridge had to be rebuilt. According to Jim Krieg, Cedar Falls Developmental Services Department director, the bridge design is done, but the right-of-way land has yet to be acquired. After that, the city will advertise for bids for construction, scheduled to begin See BRIDGE I page B3 COURIER graphic the Cedar Valley," in which you, still the Reader, were invited to tell us about your favorite bar, restaurant, theater or completely unnecessary stop light on U.S. Highway 218.

(FYI: Voted "Best Place to Dance" was the bath oom line at the UNl-Dome at half-time of i playoff game.) We "Best of the Cedar Valley" as a great way to recognize the things that make life livable in your little corner of the universe, other than being able to get Showtime without paying for it. Some categories defied consensus. Others, such as "Favorite Elected Official," triggered serious discussion here in the newsroom, where it's no secret that political viewpoints can run the gamut from extremely liberal to very extremely liberal. Actually, almost everyone else in the Print Media (we're still awaiting word from the Cursive Media, which tends to be slower) came out with their hotnot lists last week. But I had laundry.

Besides, Yours Truly prefers to wait until all the competing publications have had their say. (Note to aspiring journalists: This technique is known as "market monitoring," and can usually be performed during the rinse cycle.) So now that all the pretenders Esquire, Time, People, Newsweek, et al. have shown us their lists, it's my turn. I know what some of you are saying: "Hey, I've never heard of "et.al." Is that one of them magazines they keep behind the counter?" It's for people like you that these lists exist. (It's also the best part about being a Sunday columnist with little or no direct supervision.

Essentially, I have carte blanche (literally: "Nya Nya Na Nya to proclaim what I think is "in" or "hot" or "hip" or, as today's teen-agers like to say, "my preference." Thus, I present the Absolutely Official Bullpen Guide to Making Sure You'll Be Cooler Than Your Friends in 1995. Out: Random Acts of Kindness In: Occasional Hissy Fits Out: Personalized license plates In: Rolling down the window to yell "I-am-a-cutie!" to passing motorists for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Out: Sideburns below the ear In: Sideburns behind the ear Out: Wrinkle-free slacks In: Dropping'by Mom's house on Ironing Night Out: Southwestern cuisine In: Dropping by Mom's house on Lasagna Night Out: Books by Robert Waller In: Stories by Courier City Hall reporter Tim Jamison about how his entire family spent the holidays experimenting with an innovative method for removing unwanted ear wax. (Ask him about it.) Out: Satellite dishes In: Window peeping in affluent neighborhoods Out: Mutual funds and treasury bonds In: Taking the Packers and 10 points today against Dallas Out: Generation In: Preparation Dr. J.

and Hy-Vee. Larry Ballard is a Courier staff writer. For other companies, "it's just a' hell of an inconvenience," said Dennis Acklin, owner of Acklin Machine Tool, 145 Lincoln St. "If we want to go downtown to the bank or the post office or something, it's always one mile out of our way each way," said Bob Mah-ncke, owner of Blue Line Moving Storage 215 E. Main St.

"You learn to live with it because you don't have any choice." The detrimental effects on Blue annually because people don't realize there are businesses open on the isolated street. "And I mean, it's something we can't ignore." Another business virtually isolated by the blockaded river crossing is Max Rotman a junk dealership at 211 N. Main St. "It knocked the hell out of my business," said Pritchard Higby, the 78-year-old owner. "It immobilized my business from both ends.

I've lost $300,000." Denver doing just fine without stream of highway traffic I f' J-' 1 7--- By NICK HEALY Courier Staff Writer DENVER The windows at Siech's Denver Drug rarely shake anymore, but as long as the cash register keeps ringing, nobody minds. The completion of the Highway 63 bypass around this community has reduced the flow of traffic through town and curtailed some of its annoying by-products. "It was awful," said pharmacist Sarah Dunleavy, recalling the days when the main path between Waterloo and Rochester, cut through downtown. "The big trucks would go by, and we would sit in here and listen to the liquor bottles rattle." Gone are the trucks (an estimated 600 per day), the noise and the hassles. Also gone is some of the business that came with the traffic.

But many folks at restaurants and shops along State Street, the old highway, say the bypass helps more than it hurts. "It hasn't really bothered us that much," Dunleavy said. "There's been no change in prescriptions, but we have noticed a differ ence on liquor sales. Before when there was so much traffic, people would stop and pick up something, some pop or liquor." Jim Carroll, store manager at Bender's Super Valu, has noticed a simple difference since the highway was rerouted to the west of town. "You can walk across the street without getting killed," he said wryly.

"Overall, I think it's going to be good for the town." The reduction of traffic will-only cost the grocery store a small portion maybe 2 percent of its business, Carroll said. "I don't think it's going to affect us much at all. We got a little bit off the highway, but nothing like the gas stations." The conventional wisdom in town is that the service stations are getting socked by the traffic drop-off. "At first it was like doomsday down there," said Wilma Steege, a longtime Denver resident and part-time employee at Timeless Treasures. "Gradually they're coming back.

You know we're really the only town See DENVER I page B3 DAN NIERLING Courier Photo Editor Wilma Steege does not expect the new Highway 63 bypass to adversely affect specialty shops such as her employer, Timeless Treasures. "People who look for antiques know what they're looking for, and they know where the shops are," she said..