Urban Growth

City council approves refinancing bond (03/02/10)
A high bond rating has allowed the city of Spencer to entertain eight different refinancing bond offers from 15 different underwriters.

Attendees request full REAP funding (10/08/09)
Residents from the nine-county area gathered in Spencer this week to voice their individual thoughts on how Iowa's REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) program might be made better. The 49 people who gathered at Tuesday night's assembly in the Clay County Regional Events Center unanimously expressed a desire for the program to receive full funding, allowing it to more fully enhance and protect Iowa's natural and cultural resources...

Census: City down 3 percent since 2000 (07/03/09)
Spencer was passed by another suburb and is the state's 33rd largest city, according to new estimates released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. North Liberty was behind both Oskaloosa and Spencer in the same estimates a year ago. The Iowa City suburb has doubled in size since 2000 and has a population of 11,561...

Urban renewal approved for old school, Green Center (06/02/09)
The city of Spencer has two new urban renewal areas as a result of council action Monday night. City Council members voted to establish urban renewal areas for the Green Industrial Center and for the former Spencer Middle School building on East Fourth Street. ...

Spencer's industrial development breaks ground (05/28/09)
"Welcome to the celebration," said Kathy Evert, president of the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation, greeting those gathered for Wednesday's ground breaking at the site of Spencer's new industrial park. The project marks the city's first green development...

Board commits $1.5 million for capital projects (04/07/09)
Spencer school board members committed $1.5 million in physical plant and equipment levy (PPEL), city and state sales tax revenues for 31 capital projects over fiscal year 2009, which ends June 30, and fiscal year 2010 Monday night. As Superintendent Greg Ebeling noted Spencer is one of a few districts in the state to have city sales tax revenues to draw funding from, he also indicated the district took out an approximately $2.4 million loan against this specific source of funding to pay for the Energy Service Group facility improvements it has undertaken districtwide over the last few years. ...

Census: Area's population down 5.6 percent (03/28/09)
Dickinson County remains on track to demonstrate growth when the official census data is collected in 2010. Other counties may see substantial population losses if the most recent census estimates hold true. Numbers in the Iowa Great Lakes region grew by 2.1 percent between April 1, 2000, and July 1, 2008. The census estimated, in its annual report on population growth, that the county now has 16,775 residents, up 351 from a total of 16,424 at the start of decade...

Over $100,000 to be distributed by Foundation (02/27/09)
Over $100,000 in grants to be presented to area organizations by the Clay Community Foundation. At 8 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Spencer City Council Chambers the Clay Community Foundation will be presenting 19 Clay County organizations with over $100,000 in grants to support special projects, activities, and program expansion...

City budget on council's agenda (02/13/09)
The Spencer City Council will address the 2009/10 city budget at Monday's 6:30 p.m. session, with the intention of setting a public hearing for March 2. "You have to balance the need for basic core services with quality of life issues that set Spencer apart from other communities...There are several challenges facing the city. ...

Bhutan woman tells of transition from monarchy to democracy (12/17/08)
She may miss the mountains and her national dress of Bhutan, but Tashi Ongmo, a 20-year-old visitor at the Dr. Rick and Barb Wilkerson home in rural Spencer, is still a relatively happy person. But Ongmo should be happy. Like the approximately 700,000 other residents of Bhutan, she believes in the pursuit of Gross National Happiness, the country's overarching political philosophy which seeks to balance material progress with spiritual well-being...

Expect changes at Spencer Family Aquatic Center in 2009 (12/11/08)
In the Spencer Park Board members' review of two Spencer Park and Recreation Department proposed budgets -- the 2009-10 operation budget and the 2010-14 capital improvement plan (CIP) -- Spencer Park and Recreation Director Delray Bredehoeft outlined two very different plans this week. While the operation budget's 3 percent growth model is what other city departments have been assigned, the CIP has been deemed "a pretty aggressive" five-year plan...

Growth projects highlight city council action (12/02/08)
A Sunshine Center expansion and the potential addition of an industrial park highlighted Monday night's Spencer City Council meeting. The council is working with the Northwest Iowa Planning and Development Commission and approved a resolution to apply for a $350,000 Community Block and Development Grant on behalf of Sunshine Services...

City of Spirit Lake announces new development (11/28/08)
The Spirit Lake City Council will consider rezoning an area in the southwest corner of the city to allow a significant new development to occur. Developers Marty and Alex Benskin, Benskin Developers Inc, based in Des Moines, and its Iowa Great Lakes Development Division CEO, Glen N. Maddox Jr., will coordinate the development team for the creation of the Iowa Great Lakes Lifestyle Center...

Council to consider "Historic Restoration" classification tonight (09/02/08)
A 5:30 p.m. Personnel and Finance Committee meeting, followed by a Committee of the Whole session at 6:15 p.m., and regular council meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. will make for a long evening for Spencer's governing body. The council will review the final filing of a proposed ordinance that will provide for a new section to the city code pertaining to substandard buildings; providing for an "Historic Restoration" classification...

'Safe Routes to School' study underway (08/22/08)
Public reaction to recommendations to occur Sept. 17-18

Council approves breed-less animal ordinance (08/19/08)
After lengthy discussions at two previous city council sessions, followed by a meeting with Dr. Tom Beall of Homestead Small Animal Practice, Monday night the Spencer City Council passed the final filing of an amended amendment dealing with unrestrained vicious animals in public...

City of Spencer safe routes to school program (08/14/08)
The City Council of Spencer is committed to enabling and encouraging children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school. They aspire to make walking and bicycling to school safe and more appealing, and to facilitate the planning and development and implementation of projects that will improve safety, and reduce traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution in the vicinity of schools...

Meetings 5-17-08 (05/19/08)
The Spencer City Council will hold a Committee of the Whole session at 5:15 p.m., Monday, May 19 in the conference room at City Hall. On the agenda: City Manager evaluation. --- The Iowa Lakes Community College Board of Trustees will meet at 8 a.m., Tuesday, May 20 in the conference room of the Administration Building on the Estherville campus. The board is scheduled to accept a retirement, and designate board authority to signs checks and contracts...

Council authorizes property purchase (04/29/08)
Members of the Spencer City Council on Monday night authorized the sale of a city lot as part of an economic development package. The vote came during a special meeting of the council. General Machine Works owner Eugene Wood would like land to construct a 110- by 85-foot expansion at a site near West Second Street. The company manufactures electric clutches and hydraulic valves for industrial and farming equipment...

Development project on council agenda (04/26/08)
By Russ Mitchell Daily Reporter Staff Members of the Spencer City Council gather for a special meeting at 5:15 p.m. Monday to consider a property sale for the expansion of General Machine Works. Prospective buyer Eugene Wood would like land to construct a 110- by 85-foot expansion at its West Second Street location. General Machine Works manufactures electric clutches and hydraulic values for industrial and farming equipment...

Council green lights sewer study (04/22/08)
A Storm/Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study was given the go ahead during Monday night's Spencer City Council meeting. The study will serve as the first step in an extensive process designed to help the city comply with an EPA mandate handed down approximately eight months ago, requiring the city to eliminate its combined storm and sanitary sewer systems...

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