While times are tough, the city must not become such a miser that it chokes off its own future, Iola Mayor Bill Maness said Tuesday.
Maness spoke at Tuesday’s city commission meeting in response to a sweeping series of proposals presented by Vision Iola organizers.
Vision Iola was a six-month planning process looking at ways to create “a healthier, more vital community.”
On hand for the presentation were Carisa McMullen, Dale Stafford and Holly Powers of Landworks Studio, Olathe, and David Toland of Thrive Allen County.
Landworks and Thrive worked in league with the city from January through June to look at ways to improve Iola’s community identity through better signage; enhance the downtown business district; and make parks and trails more appealing in order to get Iolans outside.
Organizers met multiple times with the public to discuss the city’s strengths and weaknesses before developing concepts and finally proposing “action items.”
The key to Vision Iola’s success, McMullen said, was in the community’s involvement, noting hundreds of folks who attended meetings or filled in surveys, online or in person, to generate ideas and feedback.
“This is your plan,” she said.
With the planning process complete, Landworks will continue to work with the city for years into the future to seek grants and other funding sources.
Among the proposals:
COMMUNITY IDENTITY — Placing four entry monuments to greet motorists coming from each direction into the city and eight primary directional signs around town to get them to city parks, schools, Allen County Hospital and the downtown business district.
Looking further, organizers recommended the city look at purchasing banners for light poles along the Prairie Spirit Trail and provide added signage where necessary.
DOWNTOWN ENHANCEMENT — Vision Iola’s ultimate goal is to see a more pedestrian-friendly downtown, including crosswalks made shorter with bulb-outs or sidewalk extensions, storefront benches, trees that would serve as gathering points and sidewalk pavers that would create a durable, attractive walking surface.
Bulb-outs would not infringe upon the traffic corridor for motorists along U.S. 54, Toland said, although reconfiguring of parking may be needed.
The projects would cost money, McMullen said, which is why Landworks would continue to work with the city to prepare grant applications as they become available.
McMullen urged the city to conduct a meeting with downtown business owners to discuss potential enhancements, evaluate the possibility of building a restroom facility on the courthouse square and focus on improving boarded up and broken windows on upper levels of some downtown buildings.
PARKS AND TRAILS — The city could, with minimal cost, create a dog park at the southeast corner of State and Irwin streets, land vacated following the 2007 flood. In addition, the city should continue to look at acquiring property on South Washington Avenue near Elm Creek, which could be cleared to create a camping and fishing area.
Some amenities could be added to Meadowbrook Park along North Cottonwood Street, such as wind screens for the park’s pickleball and tennis courts.
Another pressing issue is to evaluate existing playgrounds for potential safety hazards, McMullen said.
Projects down the road include redeveloping East Iola and Walnut parks, which are rarely used; adding a spray deck to Meadowbrook and adding a walking trail on the levee in Riverside Park.
As for trails, Vision Iola organizers recommend continued development of the Prairie Spirit Trail, painting on-road bike lanes and establishing a “complete streets” policy, which stipulates that any new roads or bridges accommodate multiple modes of transportation, such as bicycles or foot traffic.
POWERS SPOKE briefly about a pair of grant opportunities from the Kansas Department of Transportation. One, a $400,000 transportation enhancement grant, could be used to extend the Prairie Spirit Trail from Cofachique Park to the north edge of Riverside Park. That grant requires a 20 percent match in city funds.
A Safe Route To Schools grant — another name for sidewalk improvement — would pay for 100 percent of the costs, McMullen said, making it appealing to the city.
City Administrator Judy Brigham pointed out that with the Vision Iola document in hand, the city’s potential to earn the grant funds is greatly enhanced.
TOLAND STRESSED the importance of keeping Vision Iola “a working document,” not just a plan to be set aside and ignored.
He also presented commissioners with proposals for new signs around town, with their cost breakdowns.
Monument signs would cost $12,600 or $15,300, depending on whether they are made of aluminum or high-density urethane.
Directional signs, depending on materials used, would cost $3,539 or $4,837 apiece, while identification signs — for example, at the entrance to Riverside Park — would be $7,700 or $8,200 apiece.
Placing four monument signs and eight directional signs would cost either $78,000 or $100,000, Toland said. Or having only two monument signs, plus signs at Riverside and Meadowbrook parks would cost either $72,000 or $90,000.
Commissioners were noncommittal about the proposals, particularly after learning that the city would not be eligible for any grant funding for immediate projects.
Commissioner Bill Shirley asked City Administrator Judy Brigham to devise a cost analysis.
MANESS wanted to assure the audience that the city’s hesitation is not a rejection of the plan.
He noted the city’s economic struggles, in light of the recent announcement that Haldex Brake will close its doors by the end of the year, but added that the city still must continue to look to the future.
By improving signage, parks and downtown, the city is creating a more inviting atmosphere for potential businesses.
“It’s important for us to show that we care enough to invest in ourselves in order to get others to invest in us as well,” Maness said.
