Hawarden Beautification Week Proclaimation

Hawarden Clean-up Week
April 22-26

Hawarden City-Wide Cleanup

As part of the City’s ongoing customer service efforts, we will be doing another spring clean up this year. This year’s city wide cleanup days have been set for April 22 through April 26. Please have all items set out to the curb by Monday, April 22 by 7:30 am, following the rules below. There is no charge for this service.

Rules concerning city-wide cleanup days

1. No garbage items that could be picked up in the weekly garbage or any commercial waste items!!
2. All Items must be separated and placed at the curb or alley by 7:30 am on April 22. (trees, metal and junk) Regular garbage should be placed in a separate pile.
3. City crews will pick up each street only once.
4. Limit 1 truckload per home (Excessive amounts will not be picked up)
5. No building rubble will be picked up at construction sites.
6. No appliances containing freon will be picked up.
7. No tires will be picked up unless paid for in advance $2 regular tires, $5 for semi-truck tires, $15 for farm tractor tires. (Call 551-2565)
8. No grass or leaves
9. No paint, thinners, oils, chemicals or other hazardous material.
10. All trees must be 8 feet in length or less, no commercially cut trees.

If you miss curbside pick-up, you may take your items to a 30 yard large dumpster containers at the City Offices from April 25 - 29th. No keys to the landfill will be given out. [ed: email]

Summer Recreation Events Update

Upcoming Recreation Events

Youth Summer Recreation - Registration for boys and girls baseball and softball for 2nd through 6th grade is coming up. Also registration for girls and boys 5th through 8th grade golf and tennis. Forms will be handed out at the West Sioux Schools in April or can be picked up and dropped off at the Hawarden City offices.

Registration deadline is May 10, 2002.

Youth T- Ball

Youth T-Ball

Grades: Kindergarten & First Grade
When: Monday nights / June 3rd - July 1st
Time: 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Where: High School Fields

Parents are encouraged to come and help out. This is an organized program conducted by the Summer Recreation Director - Brad Klarenbeek.

NO charge or pre-registration required.

Coed Adult Softball

Slow-pitch will begin Tuesday, May 21st. Games will be on Tuesday nights beginning at 6:00 p.m. The season will end with a league tournament. For more information and to register contact Jami.
Registration deadline is May 1st

Swimming Lessons

The Hawarden swimming pool will be offering swimming lessons for Levels I - VII and Lifeguard training. Registration forms will be handed out at the West Sioux Schools. Class sessions: June 10-June 28 are Levels V-VII and July 8-July 26 are Levels I-IV. Lessons will be FREE of charge again this year due to a generation donation from Healthy Community Initiative. Registration deadline is Monday, May 20th.

Pool Hours

Pool Rates

Kids Bicycle Rodeo

Electrical Load Management Information

WE NEED YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT

The City of Hawarden in an effort to reduce electric purchasing costs and help to hold down electric rates is trying to restart our Electric Load Management Program. This is the same system that has been deployed for years and that exists in over 350 homes that have previously volunteered to help reduce costs. We now need to check out those existing systems to get our system going again and add homes to realize additional savings.

1. What incentives are available? As part of restarting the Load Management Program the City will now offer incentives for participating homes and will reduce the rotation time of the appliances. For participating homes we will offer a discount of $2.50 per month for an electric hot water heater on the system and an additional $5.00 per month for a central air unit on the system for the months of June, July, August, and September. The incentives are a little reward for those who are helping us control costs. The incentives are planned to take effect in June and will show up on your July bill. We will also be reducing the rotation time per hour to 10 minutes or less. Previously this was set at 15 minutes or longer.
2. What does the system involve/costs? The system involves running wires and installing a box in your home that will control your air conditioner or hot water heater through a breaker. A computerized system will monitor the City's electric load and take load management actions as the City's total electric usage begins to peak. A signal will then be sent over the electric lines that will trip the breaker and will shut off those appliances for 10 minutes per hour during peak periods. After the ten minutes the system will turn your appliances back on and rotate to the next group of homes in the City. The City will install (and remove the system if requested) at no cost to the business or homeowner.
3. What is load management? Load management is a system that attempts to level out the City's electric demand during peak electric usage. Put plainly, it is a system that shuts off an air conditioner or electric hot water heater for ten minutes out of an hour, so that everybody's air conditioner or electric hot water heater are not on at the same time. The cycling off of these appliances are seamless to the homeowner, but the cost savings can be significant to the City in helping hold down rates.
4. How do I sign up? For all homes and businesses (including those already on the program) simply fill out the form in your utility bill [ed: or download it here] send it in with your next bill or drop it by the City offices to get signed up. [ed: you can also email the city here for more info.] During the next several months we will begin contacting you for an appointment to check out the existing equipment or get on the system for the first time.

ELECTRIC RATES ARE GOING UP

ELECTRIC RATES ARE GOING UP

At our April 15th meeting the City Council passed a 3% increase in electric rates. We have had to do this to offset the large increases in the purchase of our electricity. These costs have increased by $108,000 from 1999 to 2001 and are expected to increase an additional $15,000 or more this year. In 2000, a 3% increase was passed, which generated approximately $38,000. This increase is estimated to generate approximately $42,000. The remaining cost increases we hope to reduce or eliminate through the load management program described above.

As you may know, we purchase our primary power from a water power plant (dam) on the Missouri River that is controlled by the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). We purchase our secondary power from a coal power plant in Wyoming as part of a 120-city co-op called Missouri River Energy Services (MRES). The WAPA or hydro/water power is the cheaper of the two power sources. The cost of the power we purchase from the two groups is blended together to produce a single rate. We are limited in the amount of WAPA power we can purchase and therefore after a certain level we must purchase all our remaining power from the coal plant. Over the years, our WAPA allocation has been reduced, our electric load has increased, and we have not been doing load management. These three factors have required us to purchase more of the supplemental power. Although we will now be restarting our load management program, our electric load will likely continue to increase and further reductions in our WAPA power allocations are expected in the future, such as the Missouri River Restoration Project. However, as always, we will continue to seek ways to reduce costs and save money to minimize such increases in the future.

Level Payment Option for Utility Payments

UTILITY LEVEL PAYMENT SIGN-UPS NOW BEING TAKEN

1. WHAT DOES LEVEL PAYMENT DO? The level payment plan offers customers a set dollar amount to pay every month. The amount reflects an average consumption over a 12-month period. The actual amount consumed will appear on the monthly bill along with any credit accumulated or any charges not covered by the level payment billing. It is very important to pay the level payment amount every month in order to maintain a balanced account. There will be months where a credit balance will be carried and these are the months that will prepare the account for months with increased consumption.
2. HOW IS MY LEVEL PAYMENT AMOUNT FIGURED? The level payment amount is calculated by adding the billed consumption for the history range (12 month period) and dividing by the number of billings (12). The average consumption is taken to the appropriate rate table and the charge is calculated. The City of Hawarden adds an additional 10 percent to account for fluctuations in temperature and weather throughout the year.
3. HOW AND WHEN DOES MY ACCOUNT GET ADJUSTED? If at any time, the level payment amount does not cover the actual charges, the account will be reviewed and a new level payment amount will be refigured to reflect the change in household consumption. If the level payment amount is on target, the account will be reviewed in April and a new level payment amount will be refigured. At that time, the account will be credited for the amount overpaid or receive a bill for the amount underpaid. If the level payment amount does not cover the actual consumption, the customer is still responsible for the difference. If you choose to remain on the level payment plan and have a credit balance, the credit amount may be figured into your new level payment with your approval or receive a refund for the amount.
4. HOW DO I GET SIGNED UP? If you are interested in the level payment plan or have additional questions, call (712) 551- 2565 and request a level payment amount be prepared for your account. A letter will be sent to you including the level payment amount. Your account must be brought to a zero balance before you are eligible to start the level payment billing. If your account is paid in full and you agree to the dollar amount, you simply sign and return the document to the city offices. You may also want to utilize our automatic payment program to have your level payment automatically taken out each month.

Recycling Information

THINK, BEFORE YOU THROW IT AWAY
PLEASE RECYCLE !!!!

When you go to throw away something in your home ask yourself, can this be recycled? Although you don't see something once it's thrown away, what you throw away affects our environment, and our solid waste rates. The Northwest Iowa Sanitary Landfill was fined $60,000 last year for not meeting the state mandated recycling goal of 25%. The city is a member of this landfill. Our recycling level is only 4 %- 7%. Eventually individual cities not meeting that goal will likely get pay fines directly and our rates will go up significantly if we as community don't increase recycling.

Food for thought: Did you know that your monthly solid waste rate includes $.65 to allow you recycle? You are paying for recycling why not use it, and help us hold costs down in the future?

$3.00 off container coupons (and recycling stickers) are still available at the City Offices for the local purchase of 32 gallon recycling containers.

Stay tuned for a recycling awards program.

If you have any questions about what should be recycled, please contact the Hawarden City Offices at 551-2565. [ed: you can find more information from Northwest Solid Waste Agency here.]

Council asking for input regarding delapidated buildings

Tired of Eyesores in your Neighborhood or City??

Don’t tell the judge, tell the Mayor and City Council

Currently, the Mayor and City Council are working on finalizing a property maintenance system to clean up dilapidated building and other items. To get the best system in place, we need to hear from you. What are the problems? How should we handle them? Do you have a specific concern? At the May 6th City Council Meeting from 6:15 pm to 7:00 pm, the Mayor and City Council want to hear your concerns on this issue as we work on a new system to handle these problems.[ed: City of Hawarden email]

Hi-Tech Digital Cable TV

More Sports, More Movies, More Music and More Choices coming to a home near you July 1st, 2002.