As expected, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has filed to exclude a letter from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) from consideration by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in the lawsuit brought by the Iowa League of Cities over sewage "bypass" rules.

". . . the league waited for nearly a year – until after the case was fully briefed and argued – to solicit letters from the states of Kansas and Iowa about the impacts that EPA's letters are supposedly having in those states," the EPA said in its motion filed Wednesday (1/9) to oppose supplementing the court record more than a month after the three-judge panel heard oral arguments in the case.

The Pleasant Valley School District grew by 270 students this fall, surpassing the Bettendorf Community School District in certified enrollment for the first time, according to figures released today (1/3) by the Iowa Department of Education.

Thanks to 622 open-enrolled students in Bettendorf (compared with 273 in Pleasant Valley schools), Bettendorf still has a larger "served enrollment" of 4,441 students compared with 4,169 students in Pleasant Valley schools.

Bettendorf city staff is recommending to the city council a five-year capital improvement plan which would slow the rate of debt financing and result in a debt margin of 29 percent by fiscal 2017-18. The current city debt margin is down to 20 percent, and state law limits municipal debt margins to 15 percent.

The capital improvement plan for the coming 2013-14 fiscal year calls for issuing $10 million in general obligation bonds mostly for street improvements, $700,000 in bonds for the first year of a projected 6-year $4.2 million for development of the new Forest Grove Park, $700,000 for updating of the Family Museum exhibit hall, $4 million for sewer system upgrades and $2 million for stormwater management projects.

Not content to watch from the sidelines, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has jumped into the legal fray between the Iowa League of Cities and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over so-called sewage "bypass" regulations.

Oral arguments were heard November 13 in the case before the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, and both sides are awaiting a ruling by the three-judge panel. The league contends the EPA is imposing sewage bypass treatment rules – not specified in EPA regulations – on Iowa cities.

The Bettendorf Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended denial of a rezoning request to permit the construction of an auto service center on the southeast corner of 53rd Avenue and 18th Street.

The rezoning from C-2 (community shopping) to C-3 (general business) was voted down by the group after hearing from nearby residents concerned about noise from such a facility and fear that the rezoning may lead to more intense use of other properties which abut residential housing.

The highly visible – but long vacant – lot on the southeast corner of 53rd Avenue and 18th Street, Bettendorf, is being eyed for a retail commercial strip along with an automotive service center.

To allow the use of the site for a car repair center, a rezoning from C-2 (community shopping district) to C-3 (general business district) has been requested by Julia LLC. The corporation is owned by Dan Elias, who operates QC Auto Service with locations in Davenport, Moline and Bettendorf (State Street).

> Sewer/water system extensions for I-80/Middle Road development would get funding start

> Forest Grove Road, Tanglefoot and Hopewell would get widening/paving

More than $18 million in new streets, recreation trails, sewer system upgrades, water main extensions, park improvements and stormwater control projects are included in the proposed 2013-14 community improvement plan (CIP) under review by the Bettendorf City Council.

A new University of Iowa study has found that expansion of gambling venues in the state has not led to higher rates of "problematic gambling behavior," and the percentage of people who don't gamble has risen 11 percent to 83 percent compared with the research findings in 1995.

The study published last month in "Annals of Clinical Psychiatry" is good news for communities and families concerned about expansion of gambling venues in creating more pathological gambling among residents. And, it also may be a sobering finding for casino operators and state and local governments hoping for an ever expanding pool of gamblers and gambling tax revenues in the casino markets.

Bettendorf's hotel/motel sales tax revenue fell to a 15-year low in fiscal 2012, and gambling tax revenue paid the city is off 29 percent from its peak in 2004.

The falling hotel/motel sales tax and gambling revenue echo a similar decline in Isle of Capri casino admissions over the past 11 years, and the peaking of casino revenues in 2004.

For fiscal year 2012 ended June 30, city hotel/motel sales tax totaled $738,000, down nearly $70,000 from the hotel/motel sales tax in 1998, and are off 16 percent from 2008.

Three public hearings will be held this week on plans to establish passenger rail service between Chicago and Omaha, but you don't have to go the meetings in Chicago, Des Moines or Omaha to view the presentations and provide feedback.

The Iowa Department of Transportation has set up a project web site, chicagotoomaha.com, with the same public meeting information online, along with an online survey form for you to provide comments to planners on the regional rail service.