Local Government

The Iowa Department of Transportation recently opened a new section of the Clear Creek Trail under interstates 80 and 380, connecting cyclists to recreation areas in Coralville and Tiffin.

The city of Cedar Rapids has opened the newly relocated and reconfigured skatepark after building a detention basin as part of the permanent flood control system. The facility is now entirely made of concrete and features 28 obstacles -- a variety of quarterpipes, wedges, ledges and more.

Also, Linn County’s Joan McCalmant recognized for service to county government

The Parkridge situation highlights the challenges of living in a neighborhood where some functions — such as maintaining structures or treating wells — have been outsourced to homeowner associations, often led by volunteer boards with little experience and high turnover.

Local developers were awarded city financial incentives this week to build a $4 million Brown NationaLease facility in southwest Cedar Rapids that will create 10 jobs. The company leases a space in North Liberty.

Communities in the Cedar Rapids metro are partnering in a new initiative to attract people from out of state to live and work in the region, setting aside past feuds over jobs in an effort to address the worker shortage.

Cedar Rapids city officials have begun a community outreach campaign, with the help of a consulting agency, to determine what community members want to see in a new police chief.

Several housing projects in the Corridor will get a boost from workforce housing tax credits recently awarded by the state — adding 458 residential units online in the area, with Cedar Rapids projects driving the influx of housing.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and Jail is at a “critical moment,” Sheriff Brad Kunkel said. A recent structural property condition assessment conducted by Axiom Consultants found the facility “has a number of significant deficiencies,” with some requiring immediate attention.

No structural integrity issue has been identified with a downtown Cedar Rapids building where bricks fell onto the sidewalk from the facade of a four-story building this weekend, Building Services Director Kevin Ciabatti said Monday.

Also, electric vehicle charging fee in Iowa City gets second approval

Of Iowa’s 940 cities, about 200 have city managers or administrators. In many cases, these managers are the highest-paid, or among the highest-paid, city employees. But what do they do and how do they run a city? Here’s a look at a day in the life of several Iowa city managers and how they balance everything from disaster response to patching potholes.