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
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)