Quarterly Newsletter 9th Edition - February 2016

On Tuesday, March 1st, Warren County residents voted to pass the 1% Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) which will take effect on July 1st, 2016.

Different communities throughout Warren county decided how they would to apply the proceeds of the local option sales tax, based on their immediate needs, should it pass in their city.

Carlisle expects roughly $190,000 per year in additional funds. Those funds would be split equally between street and sidewalk improvements and Public Safety (Police & Fire Rescue & EMS).

Other communities in the county will also benefit from the 1%

sales tax. Each community was able to vote on their use of the funds should the vote pass. Potential expenditures throughout Warren County include wastewater treatment plants, public works projects, street repairs, property tax relief and other lawful purposes.

There are 20,000 vehicles passing through Carlisle every day. The new sales tax will help the city raise revenue from passersby so Carlisle citizens won’t shoulder the full burden of these

(Continued on page 4)

In this issue:

1. Local Option Sales tax 1. Chamber of Commerce Awards 2. Community Development Plan 3. Library Grand Re-opening 3. Carlisle Wins Visioning Grant

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Local Option Sales Tax Passes in Warren County

by Shannon Godwin

The Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce recognized 2015 honorees at the Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner.

Citizens of the Year: Michael and Deitre McCormick Employee of the Year: Bret Thies, James Oil, Inc. Business of the year: Carlisle Veterinary Clinic, Inc. Friend of Education: Tom Thiel, Fiss’ Thank you to all the chamber mem-bers who make a positive difference in our community!

Upcoming Events:

Carlisle Community Clean Up: April 23rd

Mayor’s Bike Ride - Summerset Trailhead May 21st, 8:00am

Chamber of Commerce Awards

by Barbara Rasko

cityhall@carlisleiowa.org

www.carlisleiowa.org

195 N. First St.

Carlisle, IA 50047

515-989-3224

Carlisle City Hall

Community Design Program Presents Findings to City of Carlisle

by Shannon Godwin

On February 8th, the Community Design Program

(CDP) of the Iowa Architectural Foundation pre-

sented their findings and recommendations to the

City of Carlisle. The presentation represented hours of work from an intensive weekend of fact

finding, community meetings and design work by a

ten-person professional team at the IAF.

“After several months of

organizing, we brought a

team of professionals or a “charrette” into Carlisle,

stated Edd Soenke, Archi-

tect and Team Lead.

Soenke explains, “The

term “charrette” comes

from the 19th century

when architecture profes-sors would ride in a char-

rette (little cart) and take

notes and drawings in or-

der to collect data and in-

formation from students

and the town’s people during a rebuilding period a in France. The term is recognized by architectural

professionals and planning consultants worldwide.”

Mr. Soenke continues, “Our program is unique be-

cause we meet with mul-

tiple groups throughout

the community to get

their input on what they would like to see on a go

-forward basis. Each

charrette is tailored to fit

the community's needs.

Design teams are gener-

ally made up of a variety of professionals, includ-

ing architects, students,

interns, community and

regional planners, land-

scape architects and graphic designers. Many

times, if we can identify an architect or architectural student in the community, we try to get them in-

volved. In Van Meter we had two students/interns

from the community who were a big help and pro-

vided inside information that is not available in the

public meetings.”

Starting at Iowa State University as the

Iowa Community Design Assistance Team

(ICDAT), the concept was moved to the Iowa Ar-

chitectural Foundation in 2001 and renamed the

Community Design Program. Since then, over a dozen communities around Iowa have benefited

from their expertise and guidance.

CDP charrettes assist communities in translating

community vision into

actual diagrams, sketch-

es and renderings in or-der to build community

support and to assist with

fundraising. Design

teams do NOT provide

building schematics or

project cost estimates.

This work is left to the subsequently-hired de-

sign professionals.

“In Carlisle we had a

team of 10 professional

volunteers”, Mr. Soenke adds. “We had meetings

on four previous occasions and the design process started in the afternoon of January 28th. After

meeting with additional community members in

three or four different venues throughout the city,

we started the plan-

ning and collaborating

on Friday the 29th.

“In the past we have taken our notes and,

over the course of a

few months, would put

together the plans and

elevations but today

we find it much more beneficial to all work

together until we de-

velop the final plan. It

is much more instruc-

tive to do the design within the community and let

the community be a part of the process. It is im-portant for them to see it unfold in front of them.

“We start by creating a SWOC analysis (strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities & challenges) wherein

every community is different, and this will help us

Newsletter - Page 2

(Continued on Page 4)

Back in January, Carlisle received a grant for a

Community Visioning Process through Trees

Forever. The process seeks to look at ways to

connect the bypass development area with the older,

developed part of Carlisle. The 2016 Iowa’s Living

Roadways Community Visioning process in Carlisle

is underway!

Iowa State University sent survey packets to ran-

domly selected residents in Carlisle the week of

January 11. Those who received a packet, were

asked to take 25 minutes to complete the question-

naire and mail it back using the enclosed postage-

paid envelope.

On March 5, Carlisle residents participated in a focus

group workshop as part of the Iowa’s Living Road-

ways Community Visioning Program. The focus

groups are part of an input gathering process under-

way to identify transportation needs and opportuni-

ties for enhancements in Carlisle.

A number of needs and opportunities emerged as

common themes from the workshop. “Sixty-seven

residents participated in the Saturday workshop and

the committee feels the record turnout shows

tremendous interest” says, Barbara Rasko, Carlisle

Chamber of Commerce Director and ILR Community

Visioning committee contact.

Topics discussed included safety of pedestrians at

intersections along Highway 5, desire for more trails

to make connections to all parts of town and the

nearby Des Moines metro area, and sidewalk repair.

In locations where there are existing trails ideas

included adding benches, bike racks, lighting, trees

and other native plants.

The next step in the process was a bioregional as-

sessment meeting on Wednesday, March 23rd, from

4pm to 5:30pm at City Hall. During this meeting, the

Carlisle Visioning Committee reviewed the infor-

mation they had gathered and identified priorities for

the transportation enhancement plan for Carlisle.

Residents are encouraged to attend and

(Continued on page 4) Newsletter - Page 3

Carlisle Wins Visioning Grant By Patty Reisinger & Andy Lent

The Carlisle Library was showing off a brand new

look with their Grand RE-opening held on Saturday

March 12th, 2016. The way patrons consume me-

dia and other information has changed significantly

since this building was opened in 1980 and the

facility was starting to show its age.

"We've had a busy few months around here," stat-

ed Stacy Goodhue, Library Director. "There were

teams of professionals and over 30 volunteers

working many hours to get the facility to where it is

today. We started the process over a year ago,

getting ideas, bids and budget approval. The city

was very supportive added $60,000 to this budget

for our remodel."

"We are very excited about the improvements."

Goodhue adds, "Patrons are changing the way

they consume media in all forms. As a public insti-

tution, we have to respond to those changes and

create an environment that meets the needs of our

community.

"We started by creating an open common area with

Library Celebrates Grade Re-opening by Shannon Godwin

(Continued on page 4)

share their ideas.

To learn more about participating in the visioning

process, please call Barbara Rasko at 515-210-3571

or Patty Reisinger, Trees Forever field coordinator, at

319-350-4185.

The Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning

Program is sponsored by the Iowa Department of

Transportation in partnership with Iowa

State University Extension Landscape

Architecture and Trees Forever.

(Visioning Grant - Continued from page 3)

expenses through property taxes.

“One of the biggest projects in Carlisle’s future is fixing the Highway 5 and Scotch Ridge Road inter-section”, stated Andy Lent, City Administrator. “Our community is divided into two sections by Highway 5. We need an intersection that allows easy cross-ing for both cars, pedestrians and children walking to school.”

The amount of traffic on Highway 5 continues to in-crease with an estimated 20,000 cars passing through Carlisle daily. Not only does that amount of traffic cause wear and tear on the infrastructure this high volume of traffic through town also keeps Car-lisle’s Public Safety professionals busy, an added expense liked-sized communities don’t face.

Local businesses, with the assistance of the Carlisle Chamber of Commerce, are working with the Iowa Department of Revenue to work out the details.

(Local Option Sales tax - Continued from page 1)

Newsletter - Page 4

lounge chairs and work tables. Off to the side, we

added a separate study/reading area just for teens

with booths and tables. We also moved our com-

puter area and added individual workstations for

patrons wishing to use their own computers.

"Many of the shelves in the common area have

wheels and can be moved. That allows us to easily

convert this space into flex space where we can

combine tables and have meetings or other activi-

ties for our patrons.

"We then moved all the video and audio media into

the corner. It's kind of an odd space, but it works

great as our media center.

"We arranged our new book shelves in way so as

they no longer block the lighting from above, which

makes a huge difference. Those simple changes

along with new paint and carpeting really brighten

the whole building. We now have a place that is

inviting for patrons who need a comfortable place to

read, study or collaborate.

Goodhue concludes, "I would like to extend a huge

thank you to everyone that helped make our library

a great destination. We are so grateful for all the

assistance we received for this project and the 30

plus volunteers that painted, put furniture together,

moved shelving, cleaned out offices and much

more! The local companies that helped us were

Jones Library Sales, Bishop Electric, Roberts Heat-

ing, Cooling and Plumbing and the Carlisle True

Value. What a great place to come to work every

day!"

(Library - Continued from page 3)

better understand what we have to work with and

where we need to go.

“The biggest challenge of bedroom communities, of

which Carlisle could be considered, is that so many

activities happen in the neighboring city and not

enough is happening in town. We want to address

those issues so we can get people to stay in town and

stay local.

“Carlisle is unique because they already have a com-

pleted Walk-a-bility audit. The opinions from the audit

saved us time and were easily tied into our compre-

hensive recommendations for short term and long

term community design goals

Soenke concludes, “Short term recommendations are

usually less expensive items and include improve-ments such as coordinated paint colors, minor façade

improvements, improved signage and amenities.

Long term recommendations include streetscaping in

the business district, trail expansions, a park complex

and a business development area. It was a great ex-

perience and we were honored to play a part in Car-lisle’s future.”

For more details on the CDP plan for Carlisle please

visit our website – search CDP Plan.

(Community Development Plan - Continued from page 2)