A Streetlight Grows in Time Check

Last week, I wrote about Ronnee O'Brien, who has moved back into her once-flooded, now restored home on the 1300 block of Fifth Street NW in Cedar Rapids.

She's very glad to be back, but concedes that her neighborhood is a pretty lonely place without neighbors. Only one other homeowner on her block has returned.

It's also very dark and and more than a little creepy at night. So she was hoping the city would put in a streetlight.  Seems reasonable. A poll, a light and some wire. How hard could it be?

Alliant Energy came and marked the spot where a light poll could be installed. But then the city told her she'd have to wait.

You see, there's a process. Folks in a neighborhood who want a light need to petition for one. But how do you mount a petition drive in a neighborhood with virtually no residents?

So I called up City Council member Chuck Wienecke, who represents Ronnee's Time Check neighborhood. A week or so later he called back to report that there's a city streetlight fund with some dollars available for just such a dilemma.

So, with any luck, there will be a streetlight in place by month's end. Good work, councilman.

"My neighbor's pretty excited," Ronnee said today.