Midnight Fireworks to Mark Columbia's Sesquicentennial

Columbia’s 150th anniversary will start, literally, with a blast when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve. A fireworks display will be ignited from the top of Cherry Street overlooking the city, emergency sirens will be sounded and church bells will ring to mark the beginning of the sesquicentennial year. Residents are encouraged to join in the celebration by making their own noise with car horns, bells and noisemakers.

A number of events are being planned throughout the year in celebration of Columbia's milestone year as a city.

District Reports $12.8M in New Development, Rising Values

Columbia's Admiral Parkway Redevelopment Area has used Tax Increment Financing (TIF) successfully to spur growth in the district, leading to more than $12,800,000 in new construction in the past eighteen months. That's the message members of the Joint Review Board--a multi-agency group that annually monitors operations of the district--heard at today's meeting.

Construction of Maverick Technologies' World Headquarters, a new branch for Reliance Bank, and the Hampton Inn account for the sizable increase in capital improvements in the district, which was cited in 1995 as "blighted" by the Columbia City Council. The value of the new CVS Pharmacy building currently under construction, was not included in this total.

Despite the national downturn in development, City staff and private real estate brokers are continuing to market available properties in the area. Several of the projects undertaken in recent years, following what many see as the successful turnaround of the district, have been funded without further participation in TIF. Property values in the area have risen much faster than overall inflation, as well.

TIF can allow financially strapped local governments to make the improvements like new roads or sewers, or provide incentives to attract new businesses or help existing businesses stay and expand, without tapping into general municipal revenues or raising taxes. Local taxing bodies make a joint investment in the redevelopment of an area with the intent that any short-term gains be reinvested and leveraged so that all the taxing bodies will receive larger financial gains in the future. The funds for this investment come from future tax revenues not otherwise expected to occur--revenues which are generated by increased public and private investment in identified, underperforming, areas.

Tax Increment Board Meets Monday

The Admiral Parkway Redevelopment Area Joint Review Board (JRB) will meet next Monday, December 29th. As provided by Illinois state statute, the JRB is made up of one representative from each taxing authority affected by a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district along with at least one member of the general public.

The JRB must meet annually to review the progress of the redevelopment plan for the TIF district. The City is also required to maintain a registry of individuals interested in the process and make them aware of the annual JRB meeting, the date for which is different each year pending release of fund accounting to the State of Illinois.

TIF calls for local taxing bodies to make a joint investment in the development or redevelopment of an area with the intent that any short term gains be reinvested and leveraged so that all the taxing bodies will receive larger financial gains in the future. The funds for this investment do not come from current revenues, but from future tax revenues not otherwise expected to occur. These new revenues are generated by increased public and private investment in identified, underperforming, areas.

The Admiral Parkway Redevelopment Area, Columbia's TIF district, has been in existence since 1995. Recent developments include construction of the world headquarters for Maverick Technologies, opening of a branch of Reliance Bank, opening of the new Hampton Inn (Columbia's first hotel) and ongoing construction of a new CVS Pharmacy location.

The meeting begins at 2:00 p.m. in the second-floor Auditorium at Columbia City Hall, 208 South Rapp Ave.

City Leaders Upbeat Locally, Gloomy Globally

A new survey conducted by the National League of Cities underscores the old adage that "all politics are local." As reported today in USA Today, "City leaders are gloomy about the direction the country is heading," but remain "optimistic about the direction their cities are heading."

The survey found that 63% of city officials say they are pessimistic about the future, compared with 62% in 1992 and 19% in 2001. Although 62% say that global economic conditions have worsened in the past year, 84% are optimistic about the direction their cities are heading. The survey also found that 64% of city officials say health care is the most important issue the next presidential administration will face.

The survey also revealed that one-third of respondents say finding a way to finance services is the biggest issue they face.

Sounds Like A Plan

The Columbia City Council last evening approved the Community & Economic Development Department's 2009 Strategic Plan with a unanimous vote--here are the goals and objectives from the plan:

1. Encourage new businesses to form and grow in Columbia - develop program(s) to encourage and support local entrepreneurs, and facilitate development of business incubator services
2. Retain businesses in the City of Columbia by supporting their long-term success - encourage Columbia’s citizens to support local businesses, provide direct services to current businesses, and support expansion of current businesses through loans and incentives, where appropriate
3. Recruit new businesses to the community - maintain and distribute timely information on Columbia’s demographics, business mix, and economic potential, market available sites and buildings for businesses looking to expand and/or locate, and work with regional partners to recruit new offices/headquarters and retailers
4. Promote more commercial activity on Main Street - create an effective organizational structure for revitalization, enhance consistency/historic character of streetscape/signage and buildings, increase net number of Main St. businesses by 10%, and increase private investment in Main St. properties
5. Develop and market local tourist facilities that will entice visitors and locals to learn more about Columbia’s history and heritage
6. Expand resources for parks & recreational uses to make Columbia “a great place to play”
7. Develop and implement a long-term strategic plan for municipal buildings
8. Support community activities, celebrate milestones and add to the local quality of life

To support these goals and objectives, the Strategy proposes the following activities:

• Develop an entrepreneur’s roundtable
• Support “Think Monroe County First!”
• Maintain/expand Revolving Loan Fund
• Establish regular business consulting through the Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
• Develop and implement a business retention program
• Develop City policy for awarding incentives
• Update community profile with Illinois DCEO
• Maintain listings via Location One Information Services
• Participate in Leadership Council Southwest Illinois recruitment effort
• Coordinate recruitment efforts with the Monroe County E.D. Council
• Pursue designation as a Main Street community
• Pursue designation as a Certified Local Government
• Develop a new sign graphics program for Main Street
• Explore use of Historic Tax Credits in building renovation
• Develop Miller-Fiege Home as a historical museum
• Develop Shoemaker School House as a visitor center and museum
• Explore development of Old Distillery rum cavern as a tourist destination
• Develop a comprehensive program of grants, planned giving and other mechanisms to fund long-term improvements
• Pursue designation as a “Tree City USA” and a “Play City USA”
• Develop and implement a leasing and improvement plan for the Oak Street Community Building
• Explore highest and best use of other City-owned properties
• Support community efforts to recognize Columbia’s sesquicentennial
• Sponsor, support or participate in other community events

Most of these activities are already under way, while some will require development of more detail to be implemented.

Businesses: Help Customers 'Think Monroe County First!'

Local businesses support the community through employment, sales and property taxes, community service contributions, donations, and more, so spending money close to home benefits consumers as well as business owners and managers. The "Think Monroe County First!' campaign, sponsored by the Monroe County Economic Development Council and supported by the City of Columbia, seeks to help local residents realize--and act upon--that fact. Every dollar that Monroe County consumers spend locally casts a vote in favor of the future of this local community.

Local merchants are conducting an information blitz through point-of-sale contact as well as visibility in local media. In addition, the campaign has its own website, a blog that can help direct consumers to businesses they haven't yet found, and even a LinkedIn group to help coordinate efforts. Columbia merchants and agencies already involved in the program currently include the following:

• Action Graphics
• Agnes Ross
• City of Columbia
• Columbia Market
• Commercial State Bank of Waterloo
• First National Bank of Waterloo
• Dr. Anil Gupta
• Harres Furniture & Appliance
• Harrisonville Telephone Company
• MarketPlace Foods
• Mokka Kaffeehaus
• Tiny's Restaurant
• The Training Room & Monroe Physical Fitness
• Wagner Photography

Business owners in Columbia that do not yet appear on this list can get involved by signing up on the campaign website--the more the merrier!

Shopping Centers Launch Campaign to Boost Bricks-and-Mortar

Shoppers who buy from stores rather than over the Internet are, in effect, putting money into their own pockets--that's the message the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) hopes to get out through a new campaign to encourage consumers to patronize brick-and-mortar retailers. It's a message that can only help to reinforce local efforts to encourage consumers to "Think Monroe County First!" and spend dollars locally.

The campaign, titled “Give Your Community a Lift … Shop Locally for Your Gifts!” aims to remind shoppers that local retailers provide local jobs and support community-based civic and charitable organizations. “Many consumers shop online and avoid paying sales tax, and while this may appear to consumers as a way of saving a few dollars, in the end it may cost them more if local tax revenue is eroded and municipalities are forced to cut back on services,” says Michael Kercheval, ICSC’s President & CEO.

ICSC is encouraging malls to display posters and window and door clings, available from ICSC, to support this campaign. A one-minute public service announcement promoting the campaign will air this month on CNBC, CNN, Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, The Weather Channel, Bloomberg and National First Business, as well as during ABC’s GMA Weekend, NBC’s Today Show Weekend and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

“Sales tax revenue is important to local communities, because it’s our life’s blood,” states Douglas H. Palmer, mayor of Trenton, New Jersey, in the television spot. “We need those kinds of moneys to provide the services, whether it’s police, fire, public works and all the other services that cities have to provide.”

Founded in 1957, ICSC is the global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its 75,000 members in the U.S., Canada and more than 80 other countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, lenders, retailers and other professionals as well as academics and public officials.

Small Business Seminars Coming to Monroe County

The national news continues to be full of talk about various types of “bailouts”--generally, for big business. But how do small businesses gather the resources they need to weather the current economic storm?

The Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is hosting a special seminar for current and prospective small business owners next month to answer this question. “Small Business Bailout?” is a free, one-hour presentation on resources available through the Illinois Entrepreneurship Network (IEN) and other government agencies, economic development organizations, chambers of commerce and similar groups. The seminar is set for Thursday, December 4th, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Monroe County Annex building in Waterloo (901 Illinois Ave.). There is no cost to attend, but preregistration is required to make sure enough materials are available for all attendees.

In addition, a “Small Business Basics” workshop will be held from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. in the same location. This two-hour course covers the basics of starting and operating a business in Illinois. To register for either seminar, or for more information, call the Illinois SBDC at (618) 650-2929 or (618) 482-8330.­­

SBDC is funded by the Small Business Administration (SBA), Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Services available through SBDC include free, confidential, one-on-one sessions with trained business consultants; marketing and business plan development; and cost analysis.

Business Owners Told: 'Stay the Course!'

Economic development staff from the City of Columbia took part this afternoon in a national webinar on "Thriving in a Slow Economy"; sponsored by the National Main Street Center, this online seminar endorsed some of our current strategies such as the "Think Monroe County First" campaign.

Todd Barman, Program Officer for the National Main Street Center, offered succinct advice to economic developers from across the nation about how to support their community's smaller firms. He also summarized some key actions that individual business owners can take to keep their companies headed in the right direction despite buffeting from the economic downturn.

First and foremost, Barman advised, business owners need to stay the course. Consumer confidence is the key to buying, and their confidence grows in businesses that are moving forward in a calm, consistent manner.

Barman also recommended the following actions:

1. Review inventory levels more closely--don't stay overstocked or seriously understocked;
2. Determine your company's financial "break even" point and be more careful about reaching it;
3. Analyze your customer base;
4. Maximize the power of referrals;
5. Watch what the "big boys" in your industry are doing;
6. Participate in a "think local" campaign;
7. Take positive action--maintain a positive attitude.

'Think Monroe County (and Columbia) First'

City of Columbia elected officials and economic development staff are assisting the Monroe County Economic Development Council (MCEDC) in launching the new "Think Monroe County First" marketing campaign this week. The Columbia City Council pledged support for the campaign Monday night by approving a resolutions--joining the Waterloo City Council, which acted that same evening.

The new program is designed to increase consumer awareness of county businesses and to provide support during today's tough economic times. "This is not a new concept," MCEDC member Jane Kolmer told a lunch gathering of the Columbia Chamber today at Bully's Smokehouse. "It's just a new approach."

"Forty percent of every dollar spent locally stays local," Kolmer observed. "Why would you want to spend that money across the river when we get nothing?" Kolmer continued to drum up support for the program this week in a presentation to the Waterloo Chamber.

MCEDC is hosting a free public presentation for local merchants tomorrow night at The Falls in Columbia. Business owners or managers still wishing to attend the gathering need to RSVP by calling the Monroe County Commissioners' office at (618) 939-8681 x. 214 or by e-mailing action@htc.net.
There is a two-person limit per business for the event.

The "Think Monroe County First" program launches with the public next Monday, November 24th.

Advice for the New Administration...and Others

Tim Kane, senior fellow in research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation, has some advice for President-Elect Barak Obama--and other leaders:

"The business environment has become too complicated—taxes, litigation, patents, all these systems are too complex. It's become a very difficult operating environment for someone who simply has a good idea. I think the sheer volume of paperwork required to incorporate, or hire your first worker, is a barrier to start up formation. Tax complexity is probably a bigger issue than tax rates. Our new President and new Congress should focus their attention on streamlining the processes."

Does this advice also apply to state and local governments?

Columbia 'Safe Routes': They Walked & Rolled!

Dozens of young Columbians turned out this week for the first annual "Walk & Roll to School Day" and helped make history!

The event was part of a growing international effort to encourage more students to walk or bicycle to school. More than fifty students participated at Immaculate Conception School, and another 25 or more walked or biked for the first time to Parkview Elementary School. Mayor Kevin Hutchinson turned out to encourage the participants, and the event was captured by local media.

Participation was relatively sparse at Columbia Middle School, largely due to significant barriers to safe biking and walking to that location. This school's impediments to safer routes--as well as barriers to walking or biking to the other schools in Columbia--are assessed in a new School Travel plan approved by city and school officials in September. Partners in the local Safe Routes To School program will now begin seeking funding to make recommended improvements.

(Photo courtesy louisphotos.com)

Lace Up Your Sneakers...

...oil your bicycle chain, wear a warm coat, and join the fun!

Parkview Elementary, Columbia Middle School and Immaculate Conception School are partnering with the City of Columbia, the Monroe County YMCA and other partners to celebrate the community’s first annual Walk & Roll To School Day this Wednesday, October 28th.

Students from each school will be walking or riding bicycles along with parents, teachers and community leaders. Mayor Kevin Hutchinson and members of the Columbia City Council will also participate in the event. The event will mark the community’s recognition of International Walk to School Day, an event that includes 5,000 schools from all 50 states as well as 40 countries around the world.

Walk to School events work to create safer routes for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment and building connections between families, schools and the broader community.

The event is being organized by the local Safe Routes To School Steering Committee, a broad-based group of partner organizations and community members that recently completed a comprehensive School Travel Plan.

Miller-Fiege Home Sold to City

The historic Miller-Fiege home--a landmark at 140 S. Main St.--was transferred yesterday into the City's ownership.

This home, built in 1852, was purchased with proceeds from the City's bond issue approved earlier this year. It contains numerous antiques from the period. Columbia's Heritage & Preservation Commission will now take on the task of organizing the building for eventual use as a museum and tourist attraction.

Community Supports Child Travel Safety

Next Wednesday morning, middle school and elementary students across Columbia will participate in a special event: Walk & Roll to School Day. This event will be sponsored by local participants in the Safe Routes To School initiative, a new community partnership between the City of Columbia, local schools, parents and students.

This is not Columbia's first effort to improve bicycle safety for its younger citizens, however. Local efforts have already launched two noteworthy efforts:

Safety Town is a child accident prevention program that introduces safety awareness and prevention procedures to children between the ages of 5 and 7. The program uses a simulated town layout, classroom facility and off campus field trip. Children learn safety procedures through their own involvement under the guidance of a police officer, fire fighters, paramedics, certified teachers and trained volunteers. Children practice and experience "real life" situations before confronted with situations on their own. In accordance with their age and maturity, children are trained to evaluate "safe from unsafe" and learn how to react safely when confronted with dangerous situations.

Joseph Cangas, M.D., a pediatrician at Illini Pediatrics in Columbia and an avid bicyclist, received the American Medical Association’s Young Physician Section Community Service Award in 2007 for his ongoing work as “the helmet doctor.” In May, 2005, he launched the Helmets First!program. Dr. Cangas gives presentations--and free bike helmets--to school and community groups on an average of once a week. He has organized bicycle rodeos in five Illinois communities, and the Waterloo, Columbia and Salem police departments are handing out rewards to kids wearing helmets. And, Dr. Cangas always is available to properly fit helmets at his office.

A Better Path to School

Parkview Elementary, Columbia Middle School and Immaculate Conception School have worked with the City of Columbia, the Monroe County YMCA and other partners to develop a School Travel Plan that identifies barriers to walking or bicycling to school.

Columbia has the vision to create a city-wide network of paths (not sidewalks) that will connect abandoned railroad right-of-way to Rueck Rd. (north-south), link Main St. to Bolm-Schuhkraft Park via Monroe St. (east-west), and tie Columbia Middle School to the old middle school site via a new ball field currently under construction. These paths will encourage bicycling and walking for all community residents and particularly for school-age children. Where these paths run along a public street, they will be separated by a strip of grass in order to provide a measure of traffic calming. These improvements are consistent with Columbia’s Bike & Greenway Plan, adopted in 2006.

City Hall = Ivory Castle?

Wendy Water's most recent post in her blog, All About Cities, ponders why city halls are so often "distinct, self-contained building[s] separated from most of the key residential, business and entertainment areas of the city."

"Perhaps city hall workers need to have a variety of locales from which they can work," she muses. "Sitting in an office overlooking a poor neighborhood filled with the homeless, mentally ill and/or drug addicted might help inspire more creativity in solving this issue. Reporting to work in a struggling business district similarly might allow city workers to better understand the needs of businesses in that area."

Are city workers isolated from the rest of their community? Is this less a problem in a smaller city like Columbia, or is it true everywhere?

Keep Playin' That Walk & Roll!

Next Wednesday morning, October 29th, middle school and elementary students across Columbia will lace up their sneakers and roll out their bikes for a special event: Walk & Roll to School Day. This event will be sponsored by local participants in the Safe Routes To School initiative, a new community partnership between the City of Columbia, local schools, parents and students.

Columbia's event is this community's first foray into an annual celebration observed in more than 42 countries to promote physical activity and taking safe routes to school. It's focus is encouraging more students to walk or ride to school, a trend that reflects increasing public interest in what has been come to be known as the "walkability" factor--more consumers are looking for places to live where they don't always have to drive and pump less gas to get to where they want to go.

Parkview Elementary, Columbia Middle School and Immaculate Conception School have agreed to encourage their students to bypass the family mini-van and roll or stroll to school next Wednesday in a combined effort to boost non-motorized attendance. Representatives from these schools and other community leaders recently adopted a School Travel Plan that identifies barriers to such travel--and suggests solutions.

More on the elements of the School Travel Plan in posts to follow this week...

More Signs May Not Mean More Visibility

With business signs, more is not necessarily better. Oversized signs and signage "clutter" can have a negative impact on how Main Street and its businesses are perceived.

"It also becomes very expensive and cost-prohibitive for...start-up business to have to pay $10,000 or $15,000 on a sign, just to get minimal recognition on the street," says Scott Day of Urban Development Services in an article in the latest edition of Downtown Promotion Reporter. Other common business signage problems are signs not properly positioned for the public to see them, and store windows that are jam-packed with signage.

"Too many signs say too many things," Day says. "It becomes visual white noise. People don't want to take the time to sort through it all. A lot of main street retail corridors suffer from information overload."

City Finances May Follow the Private Sector

Local government economic struggles mirror those of the nation, according to a quick poll conducted by ICMA (the professional and educational organization for city administrators) in September. Decreasing revenue from property tax, sales tax, and new construction permits, coupled with sluggish sales of new and older homes, and rising fuel transportation costs all have contributed to economic anxiety for local governments.

The 339 city and county managers responding to the ICMA poll indicated that they are taking action to mitigate the effect of these declining revenues by freezing vacant positions (55%), reducing service hours (39%), sharing services with another local government (36%), and eliminating delivery of non-required services (34%). Many cities are exploring new ways--from permitting city employees to use golf carts on city streets to implementing four-day work weeks--to lower costs, as well.

Nearly 70% of local governments have increased or added user fees for services, and close to 40% are rescinding previously approved capital expenditures. Thirty-five percent of local governments have increased the rates of those taxes that have showed a decline in revenue--such as sales, property, and utility taxes. More local governments (59%) have raised property tax to offset revenue decreases elsewhere.

The weak housing market has so severely affected property tax revenues that unlike the 2001 economic downturn, those revenues cannot buffer the effects in declining income and sales tax receipts and will most likely have an impact on city budgets until 2010, the ICMA's experts project.

Thus far, the City of Columbia has not had to explore any of these options, but the continuing economic downturn is likely to hit home here eventually.

Meeting: New Sign Code Hangs in the Balance

Recent discussion in the City Council's Ordinance, Planning & Zoning Committee about grants for façade renovations has centered on the need to build a more consistent look, enhance buildings’ historic character, and still support business traffic on Main Street. The catalyst for this discussion has been the provision within the Main St. Façade Program that grants (up to $3000) can be used for signage--and the fact that the types of signage eligible for awards are not defined.

Tonight, the City Council is considering the following actions:

1. For now, withdraw grant eligibility for signage through the Main St. Façade Program except for where the signage is part of an awning;
2. Develop a new sign graphics ordinance strictly for Main St. with assistance from the Civic Progress Committee and the Heritage & Preservation Commission—in the meantime, strict adherence should be maintained to the existing sign ordinance regarding physical characteristics (e.g., height, width, mounting technique);
3. Where the new ordinance requires different types of signage at an additional cost, make the new expense eligible for grants through the Main St. Façade Program.

How would this work? The City could set aside $3000 from the current grant allocation to fund ten (10) grants of $300 each for signage.

Why City Planners Blog

"Blogs are emerging as important information sources in the contemporary discourse on cities and city planning," observes Michael Dudley, Research Associate and Librarian for the Institute of Urban Studies at the University of Winnipeg in a recent post on Planetizen.

Dudley cites several ways in which blogs can help professional planners develop better processes and products, including:

1. Allowing planners to contribute to community debate in a very timely way;
2. Initiating dialogue--postings are always subject to commentary and refutation;
3. Helping planners to keep track of, understand and--more importantly--mentally integrate perspectives from multiple sources to combine them with their own thoughts and observations.

As a form of communication with colleagues and the public, an attractive environment for citizen engagement, a way to track trends and issues, and as a resource for the planning educator--"the blog can become an important and exciting part of the planner’s professional toolkit."

It is becoming relatively common for cities to use blogs for general communication, venues that Oak Harbor planner Rob Voight describes as "a kind of voice mail on growth hormone." By developing project-specific blogs for the issues related to subdivision regulations (as in his site, http://www.cohsubdivisions.blogspot.com/), Voight has pioneered use of these online tools in ways that are innovative for municipalities.

Voight contends that blogging "is not only a tool but an entirely new platform for community engagement."

City Recognized for Outstanding Accident Prevention

The City of Columbia has received an Illinois Municipal League Risk Management Association (IMLRMA) Loss Prevention Safety Award to recognize an outstanding accident prevention record.

The Loss Prevention Safety Award recognizes exemplary commitment to safety on the part of both employees and management of the City of Columbia. “Our City administrator worked closely with his department heads to foster awareness of potential exposure,” observed Mayor Kevin Hutchinson, “and the results are reflected in this recognition.”

Since 1981, the IMLRMA has catered to the risk management needs of cities and villages across Illinois. The leading provider of comprehensive property/casualty coverage in the state, the IMLRMA currently serves 786 member municipalities.

Americans: Entrepreneurs the Answer to Economic Woes

Americans see entrepreneurship as the answer to the current financial crisis, a new survey from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation finds. Still, a majority hesitates to become entrepreneurs themselves because of worries about the economy.

Conducted last weekend, the phone survey found that more than 70 percent of voters believe the health of the economy depends on the success of entrepreneurs, while 80 percent want to see the government use its resources to actively encourage entrepreneurship. "Americans in big numbers are looking to entrepreneurs to rally the economy," observed Kauffman Foundation President and CEO Carl Schramm after reviewing the survey results.

Although Americans appear to be confident in entrepreneurs' abilities, they are reluctant to start their own companies, with 71 percent of survey respondents saying the economic crisis has made it more difficult to become an entrepreneur. Despite findings that 49 percent of respondents see opportunities for entrepreneurial undertakings in the current economy, only 26 percent would actually consider starting a business in the next five years.

The survey also found that 26 percent believe the impact of the financial crisis will be "very bad" or "devastating" for them, while 34 percent said it will be "pretty bad" for them personally. 64 percent think that Main Street will suffer the most severe consequences from the situation, with only 16 percent saying Wall Street will be hardest hit.

By a two-to-one margin, Americans are looking to business leaders rather than the government to lead the way out of the economic mess. "History has repeatedly demonstrated that new companies and entrepreneurship are the way to bolster a flagging economy," said Schramm. "The American people understand this."

Will the Economic Crisis Limit City Resources?

A front-page article in yesterday's edition of The New York Times reported that many local governments have been effectively shut out of the bond markets for the past two weeks, raising the cost of day-to-day operations, threatening longer-term projects and dampening a major source of jobs and stability.

Analysts said the dysfunction in the municipal bond markets "appeared to signal the end of an era of relatively cheap money for governments and, probably, the start of an era of tough choices for communities." When the market starts moving again, they observed, it will look a lot like the municipal bond market of 10 years ago, before the arrival of financial wizardry in the form of structured-finance products, which lowered borrowing costs but added big new risks. Instead, governments will probably be issuing bonds with fixed, higher rates of interest.

Meantime, cities will be doing lots of belt-tightening--forcing them to lower the level of service they provide, cut payrolls, or raise taxes and fees.

Meeting Tough Times With 'Economic Gardening'

Local businesses are beginning to feel the pinch as the national economic downturn worsens, and the City of Columbia will be emphasizing its economic development services to support them in coming months.

The help is being marketed under the rubric "economic gardening"--a local economic development strategy that focuses on supporting local entrepreneurs and small businesses instead of attempting to attract new businesses from outside the area.

One element of this strategy is creating a business database that will help decision-makers analyze the local economy, identify particular strengths and challenges, and measure progress. As part of this information gathering, intern Meagan Reeves is making door-to-door visits to business and property owners along Main St. to complete an inventory of this key district.

The City provides matching funds (up to $3000) to encourage Main Street property owners to enhance their buildings' "curb appeal" with improvements such as painting, awnings, shutters, plaques, window boxes, step/sidewalk work, landscaping, planters and benches. This program has become increasingly popular and visible as it has helped transform buildings owned by realtor Tammy Mitchell Hines and financial advisor Brian Estes.

And Columbia's Community & Economic Development Department isn't just working to help Main Street, either. The City has also dedicated resources to assist local business owners wherever they may be located within the city limits. Available services include direct business assistance, where staff can work individually with a business to assess its needs and provide the best programs to establish or expand that business, and the Revolving Loan Fund. Targeted to assist with retention, growth and diversification of local businesses, this fund offers lower interest rates than conventional loans; when repaid, money is put back into the fund and made available for loans to other businesses.

Finally, City economic development staff has been working with members of the Monroe County Economic Development Council on a new program called "Think Monroe County First"--when launched in November, this program will help encourage local residents to keep purchasing locally.

Wall Street Bailout May Sink Main Street

The proposed $700 billion bank bailout may save the U.S. financial system, but it also will dry up federal aid to state and local governments, a national journalist warned local government officials Monday.

Cokie Roberts, speaking to about 3,600 representatives from local governments at the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) conference in Richmond, warned that "the bad news is there will be no money for anything else." In Roberts' opinion, debt service on the proposed bailout package "will become the single biggest item in the federal budget."

Roberts has covered Congress, politics and public policy for nearly 20 years at ABC News. In addition to her responsibilities at ABC, Roberts serves as Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio, where she was the Congressional Correspondent for more than ten years. She has recieved numerous broadcasting awards, including three Emmys, and has been inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.

Signs of the Times on Main Street?

Downtown signage is once again a focus for discussion by the City Council--this time, in connection with the Main Street Facade Program.

Members of the Civic Progress Committee have recommended that signage be included as one of the eligible uses for matching grants. Aldermen, building upon an earlier discussion about bringing more consistency and greater historic appeal to Main Street, want to exclude signage until a new graphics code can be adopted.

City economic development staff has begun researching models how other communities address signage in their business districts. Barracks Row Main Street in Washington, D.C. requires Historic Preservation review of signage but also provides pro bono design assistance, information on signage grants and low interest loans; the district also provides design guidelines that include "dos and don'ts" illustrated with photographs of examples. Ripon Main Street in Wisconsin also provides an extensive list of examples of appropriate signage illustrated with photographs; along with design guidelines and other preservation resources, this information is part of a renovation assistance program.

The Algoma Main Street program goes one step further--it awards grants for signage that is "appropriate and effective for the respective business, while at the same time adding to the character of the downtown as a whole."

Municipal Power: Is the Answer Blowin' in the Wind?

Following the opening of a new five milliwatt four-turbine wind farm in April, Rock Port (Missouri) has become the first municipality in the nation to get all its electricity from wind power. The $90 million Loess Hills Wind Farm was built by St. Louis-based Wind Capital Group and the John Deere Corporation.

When fully operational, the four Suzlon 1.25 MW S-64 wind turbines will have the capacity to generate 16 million kilowatt hours a year. Rock Port, a town of 1,395 in northwest Missouri, has historically needed no more than 13 million KwH annually for its electrical users. Missouri Joint Municipal Utilities (MJMU) will buy the excess power from the farm and will supply Rock Port's power needs when the wind turbines are not generating at capacity.

Carnegie President Urges More Citizens to Volunteer

Warning against the loss of the sense of community in modern American life, Vartan Gregorian of the Carnegie Corporation of New York this past week has issued a call for citizens to work more closely together for broad societal benefits.

Gregorian, co-chair of last week's ServiceNation Summit, is urging Americans to "join their personal aspirations for the future with their hopes for the collective progress of the nation." In an essay soon to be published in Time magazine, Gregorian argues that Americans have carried "individualism" to a new level of idolatry.

"While instantaneous communication and online technologies seem to connect us," he writes, "they also allow us to report on the minutiae of our daily lives and contribute to a cult of the individual. But in elevating the individual to center stage, we are quickly losing the sense of the larger community that draws us out of ourselves and our isolated circles and into the wider society."

Recognizing the strength and number of our voluntary associations as the expression of the collective American nature goes back to Alexis de Tocqueville. Today, Gregorian calls for ways to provide new and more varied opportunities and incentives for people to volunteer their time. He also identifies a need to decrease duplication through cooperative efforts and collaborative projects that allow for more effective targeting of available resources while freeing up financial and human resources for equally critical needs.

Calling commitment to volunteer effort "one of the greatest antidotes we have to pessimism about our collective future," Gregorian writes that "there is nothing cynical or shallow about offering to lend a hand...[i]ndeed, doing so is the opposite of so many of the ills that too often these days characterize our society."

Shipping Jobs Overseas--A Declining Trend?

Opponents of "big box"retail cite the shipping of manufacturing jobs overseas as one reason to fight the growth of such enterprises. The recent issue of Fortune suggests that a decline in this trend may be in the works.

The magazine's September issue reports that the "cost of shipping outsourced goods from China to U.S. customers has doubled in just two years thanks to high oil prices, and labor costs in China are rising sharply." These factors are leading to "talk of a reverse migration of manufacturing from China to the U.S., [which] has been buzzing across union halls and factory floors, corporate boardrooms and Wall Street."

Fortune profiles Wisconsin-based Regal Ware Inc., a 500-employee maker of high-end cookware which discovered that manufacturing abroad has another drawback--"it isn't nearly as efficient as they had hoped." As part of a recent review of its manufacturing processes, Regal Ware managers decided they could solve inventory woes and serve customers better by abandoning a large portion of their ten-year expansion into China." After Regal Ware moved its production back to the U.S., CEO Jeffrey Reigle claims that the company experienced a more flexible supply chain and heightened efficiency.

Though Fortune opines that "plenty of manufacturers will continue looking for ever cheaper places to produce," Regal Ware's experience "suggests that companies need to think beyond simply chasing the lowest cost supplier."

Pouring Money Into a Hole in the Ground

Yesterday, members of the Columbia Rotary Club and guests toured the Rock City complex under development beneath the limestone bluffs in Valmeyer. Facility developer Joe Koppeis, the owner of Columbia's Market Place supermarket and Admiral Parkway Inc., conducted the tour. Attendees agreed that this is one project where the phrase "pouring money into a hole in the ground" is accurately descriptive rather than pejorative.

Koppeis' project is huge, one of the largest enterprises ever undertaken on this side of the Mississippi, yet it has progressed largely out of mind because it is out of sight. Rock City's cave network--carved out of the bluffs using a former Monroe County lime quarry as the starting point--has the potential to expand to nearly 6 million square feet. The complex already houses the Mid America Refrigerated Warehouse, a 200,000 square-foot underground frozen food warehouse and office. The space in this portion of the complex is cooled in separate chambered rooms to range from 35 degrees above to 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Mid America stores and ships products for Schwan’s, Nestle, Ralston, Prairie Farms, Kraft, the US Department of Agriculture, and Wal-Mart--just to name a few.

The latest and most visible addition to the complex is the $52-million project relocating the National Archives from their existing South St. Louis facility. The federal agency has leased almost 400,000 square feet for records storage, adjunct office space, furnishings and equipment. This space, when completed, will enclose thousands of metal shelves containing hundreds of thousands of boxes holding paper records--a file collection reminiscent of the closing scene in the X-Files movie.

River Down, Sales Tax Now May Be Going Up

The Monroe County Flood Prevention District, a three-person committee appointed by the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, approved a recommendation Tuesday night to impose a 1/4 cent sales tax in order to pay for area levee upgrades. The proposed tax hike now goes before the Board, which can authorize the increase without public referendum, for approval.

Earlier this year, the Illinois General Assembly passed SB836 and SB2052, authorizing the formation of flood protection districts by the three counties in the Metro East. These new districts have been expected to seek to raise revenues needed to fund levee repair work--taxes that will start being collected in the spring of 2009--allowing them to pay for levee repairs now and be reimbursed by sales taxes later.

The new districts are part of a regional effort involving Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties as well as 25 cities and villages to restore certification for the five levees between Wood River and Columbia that protect the Metro East’s flood plain. This flood plain is home to more than 150,000 people and 50,000 jobs. The regional effort is needed because the infrastructure of roads, transportation, and jobs in the American Bottoms is a shared resource and because the five levees represent an interdependent system that is hydrologically connected.

Developer Appeals Columbia Crossing Decision

As expected, developer G.J. Grewe last Thursday filed an appeal challenging dismissal of his suit against the City of Columbia over the stalled Columbia Crossing project.


Grewe's appeal will be heard in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which has jurisdiction over such cases. To overturn the earlier decision, Grewe must show the trial court made a legal error that affected the decision in the case. The court of appeals makes its decision based on the record of the case established by the trial court; it does not receive additional evidence or hear witnesses.

The City of Columbia has already spent $200,000 defending against Grewe's lawsuit and has another $350,000 budgeted for this current fiscal year.

Sinda Declines Administrator Post

Former Collinsville City Manager Hank Sinda won't serve as Columbia’s interim city administrator after all. A narrow majority of the City Council failed to approve the terms of his contract last Monday night.

Sinda, 66, of St. Charles, MO, was appointed earlier this month by Mayor Kevin Hutchinson to temporarily fill the position vacated by Anthony Traxler, who resigned effective August 6th. Sinda was to serve on a part-time basis until the fiscal year ends next April; Traxler’s salary is included in the budget until that date.

Illinois Treasurer Supports Economic Gardening

Economic development in the next generation will require "less time hunting" and "more time nurturing entrepreneurs," a nationally-recognized expert told a Southern Illinois group assembled this morning by State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Jack Schultz, founder and leader of the Boomtown Institute, shared insights he has gained helping small towns in 44 states compete for their piece of the economic pie against larger communities.

Economic Development staff from Columbia joined representatives from Waterloo, Red Bud, and Valmeyer in attending the all-day workshop at Rend Lake Resort where various programs for financing businesses and supporting local community development efforts were explained in detail by the members of the Treasurer's staff responsible for administering them. Among the programs detailed at the workshop were the following:

• Community Planning & Development Assistance
• Economic Opportunity Programs
• Small Business Development Centers
• Tax Credits
• Tax Incentives
• Tax Increment Financing

Schultz urged attendees to recognize that if entrepreneurism "has not been a town’s focus, then it’s time for a paradigm shift." He contends that the Millenial generation will be "the greatest group of entrepreneurs in American history." Towns that recognize the strength of the entrepreneur and learn to encourage him or her, he claims, will find themselves on a positive growth curve.

City's First Hotel Now Open

The Hampton Inn - Columbia--the city's first hotel--opened August 12th. In the trade, this is called the "soft opening" preceding the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, dignitaries and all, on Tuesday, August 26th.

Illinois tourism continues to be a significant tool for economic development statewide. The Travel Industry Association of America reports that state and local tax revenues grew by 5.5 percent last year, generating over $2 billion from travel spending--the highest level ever. The Illinois Bureau of Tourism estimates that Monroe County captured $10.8 million of this revenue in 2007, up 9.9 percent from the previous year.

Aldermen Seek More Consistency in Facade Improvements

Monday evening, Columbia's City Council asked the Civic Progress Committee to re-examine their proposed new guidelines for the Main Street Facade Program to better incorporate historic preservation.

The program provides matching funds--dollar-for-dollar up to $3,000 as funds are available--to encourage Main Street property owners to enhance their buildings' "curb appeal" with improvements such as painting, awnings, shutters, plaques, window boxes, step/sidewalk work, landscaping, planters and benches. Committee members had recently streamlined the guidelines and application, as well as reflecting recent changes in state regulations that impact such programs, and were offering the updated document for approval.

Aldermen Candace Hejna and Jim Agne asked for more--they requested that the final guidelines also address design standards that will assure historic preservation of buildings along Main Street and bring greater consistency to the built environment. While the facade program has been growing in popularity with Main Street property owners, some community members have questioned whether the point of the grants is just to promote any improvement or, rather, to enhance the consistent character of the historic central district.

Mayor Kevin Hutchinson referred their request on to the Ordinances, Planning & Zoning (OPZ) Committee for review next Monday evening.

Wal-Mart About to Debut 'Small Box' Stores

According to a report just released by the International Conference of Shopping Centers, Wal-Mart will roll out a convenience store concept called Marketside with a ten-store launch in Arizona this fall. The 15,000-square-foot units (about one-tenth the size of regular Wal-Mart stores) will compete with Tesco’s newly launched Fresh & Easy concept. Wal-Mart projects that Marketside will blossom with approximately $10 billion in annual sales from up to 1,500 stores nationwide. Since this store size is smaller than Harres Furniture (23,000 SF) here in Columbia, this new move by the retail giant may have a sizable impact upon a pending local ordinance seeking to restrict “big box” development.

Wal-Mart is most likely responding to the growing backlash against "big box" retailing by aggressively moving to outflank its critics. Not that the controversy is hurting sales--Wal-Mart saw profits rise 17 percent in its fiscal second quarter, which ended July 31st. Net sales rose 10 percent to $101.6 billion, from $92 billion a year ago, and its same-store sales in the U.S. grew 4.5 percent (excluding fuel sales) year on year. These glowing numbers encouraged the company to raise its full-year earnings forecast, but at the same time, it cautioned that sales would be slower in the third quarter—somewhere between 1 and 2 percent—as the money from the tax rebates that helped drive sales in the second quarter gets used up.

Cameras May Help Nab School Arsonist

Someone poured gasoline on the side of the Columbia High School building around 11:00 p.m. Sunday evening; fortunately, damage was limited to the steel entry door and some blackened brick.

The Columbia Police Department is investigating, and officers have several leads from the surveillance images provided by cameras posted in the area. Wednesday's scheduled start for school will not be postponed.

Though controversial in some quarters, Columbia's surveillance cameras continue to prevent crime. Posting of cameras several months ago in chronically-victimized traffic circles, for example, reduced vandalism to nil.

Should Columbia Embrace 'Opportunity Urbanism'?

Joel Kotkin, the influential author and Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University, has articulated a new vision of how urban economies should evolve that challenges the likes of Richard Florida. Kotkin calls his new notion "Opportunity Urbanism", a concept that stresses a region's ability to create jobs, offer affordable housing, and present entrepreneurial openings to a growing and highly diverse population as the surest signs of urban vibrancy. His emphais on a city's ability to provide opportunity for a broad spectrum of citizens rather than on the area's ability to attract the wealthiest individuals or the people with the highest skills is a strategy that may make more sense for the Midwest--and for Columbia in particular.

Kotkin argues that seeking ways to keep the doors of opportunity and homeownership open to the working and middle classes is better economics and more in keeping with American values than what he percives to be the preoccupation of "superstar" cities to boost their attractiveness to elites. He argues that "one of the primary historic roles of cities has been to nurture and grow a middle class--to be an engine of upward social mobility."

New Community Partnership: Safe Routes To School

Today was the kickoff for a new partnership between the City of Columbia and local schools. Illinois Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a partnership approach to improving conditions for students who walk or bike to school.

The program has three main goals:

1. To enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school;
2. To make bicycling and walking to school safer and more appealing, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle; and
3. To facilitate projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution.

The broad team of community stakeholders organized this morning will work to develop a School Travel Plan by the end of September. Projects and activities will be identified in this plan to benefit primary and middle school students (grades K-8) in both public and private schools in Columbia.

Following development of the School Travel Plan, Illinois Safe Routes to School can fund infrastructure improvements to the physical environment, as well as non-infrastructure projects.

Historic Trolley Tour: See What Your Grandparents Saw

This Saturday is the date scheduled for the annual historic trolley tour of historic landmarks in Columbia, part of the Columbia Daze festivities:

Saturday, August 16th

9:00, 10:00, and 11:00 p.m., 1:00 and 2:00 p.m.

Board in parking lot at Columbia City Hall – 200 S. block of Main St.

$8.00 per person

Sponsored by the Columbia Heritage & Preservation Commission - “Keeping Columbia’s History Alive”

This tour is a great way to learn Columbia's history through a guided tour of landmark historic buildings. Each tour is conducted on a historic replica trolley with members of the Monroe Actors Stage Company in period costume serving as guides.

Another Way to View the Flood Maps

FEMA and IDNR held a series of open houses about two weeks ago to display preliminary versions of updated flood insurance rate maps. Local officials, property owners and resident from Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties had the opportunity to comment and/or correct the maps and learn about flood insurance options and requirements. A very limited number of local business and property owners took advantage of these opportunities.

Fortunately, an alternative means for accessing this information remains available online at www.illinoisfloodmaps.org. Here is how to access that information:

1. Click on the county (Monroe, probably) that is of interest;
2. Scroll down to the "index panels" and click there;
3. Find the bold alpha-numeric code in the maps blocks;
4. Return to the list of panel numbers and click on the corresponding last three-four digits.

There is information on how to interpret the maps on FEMA's website with a description of the new Monroe County Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) as well as a tutorial on their Map Service Center page.

Thanks to Patrick McKeehan at the Leadership Council Southwest Illinois for these directions.

Sinda Hired as Interim Administrator

Following the resignation of Anthony Traxler weeks ago, the Columbia City Council in executive session last week approved hiring Henry "Hank" Sinda as interim city administrator. The 66-year-old former Collinsville city manager, a resident of St. Charles, MO, will fill the position on a part-time basis until April.

Sinda has a long record of public service working for cities across the Midwest; he currently is the principal in Sinda & Associates, Inc. He has taught public administration classes at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and has worked to promote professional city management in the Metro East. The Illinois City/County Management Association recognized Sinda in 2005 for his instrumental role in forming the Southwest Illinois City Management Association (SWICMA), an organization formed to provide information sharing and networking opportunities on municipal issues, to improve City services and strengthen professional management.

Cities Turn to Nonprofit Incubators to Grow Local Business

Although cities have long offered tax incentives to encourage companies to stay or relocate, an increasing number of them are turning to homegrown nonprofit incubators that nurture new businesses from the ground up as a way to prop up their struggling economies, the New York Times reports.

One of the pioneers of the model is Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which was created by Dick Thornburgh, then the state's governor, in 1983. Since then, a number of similar business incubators, including the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and Pittsburgh-based Innovation Works, have sprung up around the country with varying degrees of government and private support. Such groups are often the biggest source of early stage financing for technology companies in their regions and tend to be found where there is a steady supply of innovation coming out of nearby research universities.

One such nonprofit is five-year-old Jumpstart, Inc., which provides seed money to entrepreneurs with promising businesses in the Cleveland area. Like a venture capital firm, Jumpstart identifies companies to invest in and advises them on their next steps. But in a departure from the traditional venture capital model, Jumpstart relies on charitable donations, many of them from the private sector, for its financing and does not return a share of profits to those who provide the investment dollars. Instead, returns come in the form of satisfaction derived from boosting the region's economic standing and future.

Early estimates of the impact of Jumpstart's work are promising. According to a study by researchers at Cleveland State University, Jumpstart's investments have generated ripple effects throughout Northeastern Ohio, including the production of $56.3 million in goods and services and the creation of nearly three hundred and fifty new jobs. While the numbers are relatively small, Jumpstart executives believe that those ripple effects will spread exponentially.

Robert Litan, director of research for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, is among those who see great value in Jumpstart's approach. "The traditional model for helping relatively depressed areas of the country is smokestack chasing, where a city provides incentives to attract companies or to keep them from leaving," said Litan. "But the problem with that approach is that it is very expensive and it is a zero sum game from the point of the country as a whole, because if I attract a company to my city, then I win, but the city where the company used to be from loses."

Article courtesy the Foundation Center

Judge Dismisses Developer's Suit Against City

A federal judge today tossed out a Missouri developer’s lawsuit against the City of Columbia stemming from a dispute involving the proposed Columbia Crossing project near the Jefferson Barracks Bridge.

G.J. Grewe Inc. was seeking millions from Columbia, alleging that it had failed to live up to a three-year-old development contract, but U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert dismissed the suit, writing "there is no express or implied authority" allowing the City to enter into the agreement in the first place.

The ruling represents a victory for the City--in effect, granting the motion for summary judgment that Columbia requested. While Grewe may very well appeal this decision, necessitating additional costs to defend the lawsuit, the ruling presents an opportunity for Columbia to begin moving on beyond a situation which has shadowed local economics for many months.

"I am hopeful that this will be a turning-point and that the Council can come together to proactively work toward the betterment of our City," Mayor Kevin Hutchinson stated upon hearing the decision. "I have been very vocal and consistent in expressing my belief that Columbia needs a healthy balance of residential and commercial development to sustain our current service levels," he reflected.

"I am eager to work with the rest of our Council and with our community to develop innovative new ways that we can sustain City services by increasing our currently flat and/or declining revenues without unduly burdening our residents."

A Pox on the 'Big Box'?

Much of the discussion at last night's City Council meeting was focused on the impact of "big box" retailers on local development patterns and the economy of Columbia and Monroe County.

Two citizens addressing the Council supported imposition of a ban on "big box" stores; both cited the book Big-Box Swindle by Stacey Mitchell, chair of the American Independent Business Alliance. In her book, Mitchell argues that the growth of mega-retailers--from big boxes like Wal-Mart and Home Depot to chains like Starbucks and Old Navy--leads to the decline of locally-based independent businesses, and she further argues that current government policy unfairly supports expansion of the "big box" enterprises. Mitchell contends that communities composed of many small, locally-owned businesses are healthier and more prosperous than those dominated by a few large chains--precisely the argument advanced by economic development professionals for economic gardening (more about that in a future post).

Responding to this citizen input, the City Council determined to look at both sides of this issue. The City will engage planning consultant Jim Pona, who drafted Columbia's 20/20 Master Plan, to examine the pros and cons of establishing a moratorium on "big box" stores and report back to the Plan Commission, which will recommend future policy.

Levee Low-down Next Week

As noted in a previous post, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released new maps for Southwestern Illinois that show the American Bottoms, from the Mississippi River east to Bluff Rd., as no longer protected. Next Tuesday evening, the public will be able to see those maps for the first time:

Tuesday, July 29th
5:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Monroe County Annex (901 Illinois Ave.) in Waterloo

Representatives from FEMA and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will be on hand to answer questions and accept comments regarding the flood mapping project. Those attending this open house will have the opportunity to:

• Locate their property on the newly produced Monroe County digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM);
• View the new Flood Insurance Study Report (FIS);
• Review map panels & FIS for accuracy & submit comments;
• Learn about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Understanding the new maps and checking their accuracy are among the most important things that property owners can do to protect their interests--plan to participate!

Celebrate Summer at Columbia Daze

Columbia’s traditional summer festival--billed under the playful name of “Columbia Daze”--will be held this year on August 15th & 16th at Turner Hall (211 E. Cherry St.). The event kicks off at 4:00 p.m. Friday and continues all day Saturday with carnival rides, games, and food vendors. Live music by the band Freefall will be offered from 8:00 p.m. until midnight on Friday, and the event wraps up Saturday evening with a performance by Aftershock, also from 8:00 p.m. until midnight.

And more--there's actually a host of activities around town on Saturday, including:

• Historical trolley tours provided by the Columbia Heritage and Preservation Commission using actors from Monroe Actors Stage Company; the tours--which view historic homes throughout the city from the climate-controlled comfort of a replica historic trolley, cost $8.00 and leave from City Hall every hour on the hour;
• The Columbia Daze Parade will begin at Bolm-Schuhkraft Park at 5:00 p.m.; the parade is open to local businesses, clubs, and groups (a donation of $10.00 per vehicle is required), and organizers have already booked several bands including the Bud Light Brigade and representatives from Columbia and Gibault high schools--to participate, please contact Paul Koury at (618) 281-7133;
• Food--the Columbia Fire Department will be frying fish, the Pork Producers will have butterfly chops & pork burgers, plus there will be bratwurst, hot dogs, pizza, chicken on a stick, funnel cakes, cold beer and soda; proceeds will benefit the local groups that provide each booth.

For more information on Columbia Daze activities, call Turner Hall at (618) 281-5393.