Schools’ new check-in procedure ‘going fine’

Kym Streff didn't sign her name on a sheet of paper like she had done countless times before.

The Kennedy Elementary School volunteer instead handed over her state-issued ID to be scanned.

Monday marked the launch of Raptor Visitor Management System across the Dubuque Community School District as an added safety measure. Visitors are required to have their IDs scanned by the system when checking in to a district school or the administration building.

"I think it's going fine," said Linda Schadl, a clerical paraprofessional at Kennedy. "It's not really hard."

On Monday, Schadl and fellow clerical paraprofessional Amy Nevins ran visitors' IDs through the Raptor system that automatically checked visitors' names and birth dates against the National Sex Offender Registry. Visitors also were checked into Kennedy's visitor log and received a time-stamped photo ID so they were easily identified.

Proposed ban on home gun businesses fails

In the end, it wasn't a bullet that felled a proposed ban on future home-based firearms businesses.

Rather, the issue died for lack of Dubuque City Council support.

On Monday, council members again brought up the city Zoning Advisory Commission's recommendation, which had been dormant since being tabled in September. The commission, acting on a citizens' request, suggested the council prohibit future issuance of conditional use permits that would allow the sale of guns from residential homes.

Council Member Joyce Connors failed to get her peers behind her motion to move forward with a second reading of an ordinance amendment that would make the ban official. Her motion failed, with Connors the only vote for the ban, and the proposal, as originally presented, was formally defeated.

The proposal was a fix for a problem that didn't really exist, according to Council member Ric Jones.

"I understand the angst of the neighbors," Jones said, "but this doesn't appear by any evidence available anywhere to be a real problem, so why are we trying to solve it?"

School District to eliminate spring break?

Two draft school calendars have been melded into one that eliminates spring break and relocates first semester's end for Dubuque students.

The new proposed calendar based on at least 1,080 hours of instruction instead of 180 school days will be recommended for approval at Monday's Dubuque Community School Board meeting. There will be a chance for the public to share thoughts on the draft calendar during the meeting.

Superintendent Stan Rheingans said changes were made after the district received nearly 1,100 comments on the two draft calendars.

"People were somewhat split on their input," he said.

Changes in the updated proposed 2014-15 school calendar include students starting school one hour late every Friday so district staff can participate in staff development and the elimination of Wednesday early dismissals. Also, the first semester for high school students would end before winter break, the first day of school would be Tuesday, Aug. 19, and Monday, Dec. 22, would be used as a snow makeup day instead of a scheduled no-school day.

City's bond rating could be downgraded

Dubuque's general obligation bond rating is in jeopardy, according to city officials.

Rating agency Moody's has identified Dubuque as one of 124 cities nationwide that will be reviewed for a possible rating downgrade. Other Iowa cities with bond ratings in Moody's' cross hairs include Ames, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines, according to Dubuque officials.

Dubuque has boasted an Aa1 GO bond rating, the second-highest possible, since 2010. A rating slide likely would drop the city to Aa2, which could lead to higher insurance rates on more than $40 million in planned debt issuance over the next fiscal year.

A new rating methodology employed by Moody's prompted the most recent reviews, according to Ken TeKippe, city finance director.

"When they do their ratings, they're going to increase the percentage, the weighting, (given to) pensions to 20 percent from 10 percent," TeKippe said, noting that most city employees are covered under the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System. "The pension plan is not fully funded."

18 firms, city at odds on franchise fee rebates

Eighteen Dubuque companies have filed suit against the city of Dubuque, claiming the city is wrongfully withholding franchise fee reimbursements.

However, the Dubuque City Council on Monday approved an amendment to its franchise fee ordinance to declare any outstanding reimbursements before last July to be void.

In the suit, the plaintiffs - including Woodward Communications Inc., parent company of TH Media - claim they have paid franchise fees on their gas and electric utility bills imposed by their utility providers. The utilities charge these fees as a result of the city's franchise fee on each utility company's gross revenue. That utility fee was originally set at 2 percent in 2003 but was increased to 3 percent in June 2010.

The suit states, under city ordinance, companies exempt from state sales tax are exempt from paying into franchise fees, and if the utility company is unable to determine exemption amounts, the city manager may provide a rebate for those fees. The suit claims these 18 companies are all exempt from state sales tax, and therefore have been eligible for the rebates since the franchise fees were put in place.

Commercial land values see sizable increases

Numerous owners of commercial and industrial buildings in the city of Dubuque and Dubuque County are learning of sizable changes to the value of their properties.

Vanguard Appraisals Inc., a contractor specializing in mass appraisals, spent nearly three years determining new values for all commercial and industrial properties in the county. The results were mailed to property owners throughout the county late last week.

In some instances, the results show major changes in value.

Owners of commercial and industrial properties in Dubuque County saw an overall increase of 6.05 percent. The spike is due almost entirely to soaring land values, which rose 39 percent. Buildings' values in the county saw less than a 1 percent increase.

Commercial and industrial properties in the city of Dubuque, meanwhile, saw a more modest overall increase of 2.6 percent. City Assessor Rick Engelken said this is due to an 11.5 percent increase in land values and a 1.13 percent increase for buildings.

These 2014 values will be used in the calculations for property taxes that will come due in the fall of 2015 and spring of 2016.

Yes, It really was that cold in January

Last month, Dubuque endured its coldest January since 1979, with not much warmth on the horizon.

The average of each day's high and low temperatures in January was a frigid 9.3 degrees. January 1979 was the last time the year's first month was colder, with a 4.4-degree average.

The national outlook calls for a good chance of below-normal temperatures in the tri-state area through at least Feb. 17.