Byline: Tim Jamison
Mar. 26--WATERLOO -- The Cedar Valley Coalition will be carrying some familiar requests on its annual lobbying trip to Washington, D.C., this week. But the group of government, education and business leaders from Black Hawk County hopes being both consistent and persistent will pay dividends with federal grant funds and policies to help move the area forward. The coalition's top two priorities -- reconstructing U.S. Highway 63 from the downtown to Logan Plaza in Waterloo and development of the Cedar Valley TechWorks in vacated buildings at the John Deere Westfield Avenue site -- also were the key projects when the group headed to Washington last year to meet with Iowa's congressional delegation and various federal agencies. 'Indeed a lot of the things are the same year in and year out, but through our experience of doing this 10 years in a row, we've realized that's the way things get done,' said Steve Firman, coalition administrator. 'We've tried to be somewhat consistent in what we're asking for so someday we can get it.' About 18 members will be part of the trip, which includes meetings Monday and Tuesday. One of the coalition's purposes is to inform federal leaders about the area's needs and show that businesses, government and schools are working together to accomplish those goals. 'The coalition over the last three years has really focused on trying to provide the members of the Iowa delegation with the communitywide priorities for the Cedar Valley,' Firman said. 'In the past, we took a laundry list, and sometimes we didn't even know what (each other) were asking for.' While local leaders have credited the coalition's efforts in helping with land grants and progress on community needs over the years, the top priorities this year are repeats. Waterloo has been seeking to reconstruct Highway 63 from U.S. Highway 218 to Donald Street, a $30 million project to improve traffic flows, encourage economic development in the corridor and mitigate the harm the original highway development caused for surrounding residential neighborhoods. Some $11.5 million in federal funds have been earmarked for the project following previous coalition visits, but another $13 million is required to complete the funding stream. Deere & Co. has already donated buildings at the Westfield Avenue site to TechWorks Inc., a nonprofit arm of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance economic development group, which hopes to turn them into a center for industrialization and trade for ag-based lubricants, fuels and other products capable of replacing their current petroleum-based counterparts. The coalition is seeking another $5.3 million in federal funds this year to keep the project moving forward. 'Our priorities have remained the same for the last couple of years,' said Waterloo Mayor Tim Hurley. 'Some of the things we've achieved in the past have dropped off ... but I think the main thrust of this year's business is just to keep the momentum going. 'The (congressional delegation) get the big picture from us that all of these things are tied together. We get some face time with them. It's one thing to see these (projects) in black and white and another thing to hear about them directly. 'I expect we'll get some funding for some and catch their interest on others,' Hurley added. There are several new projects on the coalition's wish list of priorities this year, including $3.1 million to extend Greenhill Road in Cedar Falls from Hudson Road west and north to University Avenue and then to West 27th Street; $2 million for Cedar Falls Utilities' 'biomass energy program' to find ways to replace coal with other materials at its power plant; and $1.5 million to study a Highway 218 bypass around the northeast side of the metro area. Other projects in the coalition's quiver include: -- $13.1 million for safety improvements along Highway 218 from Cedar Falls north to Bremer County, which is the top Black Hawk County government priority. Plans would add an overpass interchange at the dangerous and congested intersection of the highway and county road C57, while closing the grade crossings at several other county roads intersecting with the highway. -- $6 million for the city of Waterloo to relocate and rebuild a sanitary sewer line currently running under the flood dike along the east side of the Cedar River from Sixth Street to beyond the 18th Street bridge. -- $4 million to renovate Riverfront Stadium and another $2 million to build a Riverfront Youth Sports Complex in Exchange Park in Waterloo. -- $3 million to help complete a riverwalk loop around the Cedar River in downtown Waterloo and another $1.6 million for adjacent riverwall reconstruction.
-- $2.5 million for continued development of the University of Northern Iowa's National Ag-Based Lubricants research program. -- $2 million for a proposed Wellness & Health Center at Hawkeye Community College. -- $2 million for a children's book illustration gallery and related programs at the Hearst Center in Cedar Falls. -- $1.9 million to redevelop State Street in downtown Cedar Falls. -- $1.5 million spread out over five years for housing rehabilitation and downpayment assistance in the neighborhoods around the former Rath Packing Co. in Waterloo. -- $1.2 million for sewer extensions in the Cedar Falls Industrial and Technology Park. -- $1 million each for the UNI bio-binders program and UNI's small business development program.
-- $1 million for the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum and Research Center addition and the Grout Museum and another $300,000 for exhibits at the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in downtown Waterloo. -- $750,000 for UNI's GEO-Tree program and another $550,000 to launch a student-owned business incubator program at UNI. -- $500,000 to clean up the former Chamberlain Manufacturing Corp. site in Waterloo. The coalition also will lobby about federal policy issues too, such as the reauthorization of the farm bill, funding for the Community Development Block Grant, education policy, immigration policy, promotion of biomass energy generation and health-care programs.
Coalition participants come from the cities of Waterloo and Cedar Falls and are affiliated with Black Hawk County government, Waterloo and Cedar Falls public schools, Area 267 Education Agency, University of Northern Iowa, Hawkeye Community College, Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments, Greater Cedar Valley Alliance, Greater Cedar Valley Chambers of Commerce-Waterloo and Cedar Falls, Main Street Waterloo, Main Street Cedar Falls, Waterloo Convention & Visitors Bureau, Metropolitan Transit Authority, Cedar Falls Utilities and the Cedar Valley Cultural Alliance. Contact Tim Jamison at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa
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