Tim Wichman, leasing manager for TWE, has been working with county officials since March 2008 and contacting the roughly 600 property owners for possible property rights. Wichman told Dan Ehl of The Kalona News that some leases have already been signed and that area farmers are receptive to leasing their property.

The wind generators planned for Washington County will rise 385 feet from the ground and will produce up to 500 megawatts of electricity, each capable of powering from 500 to 1,000 homes. If all 335 are built more than $1 million per year in new revenue would be garnered for property owners, and $3 to $4 million would be generated for local school districts in new property taxes.

The project will also generate jobs for the area. An estimated 150 construction workers would be needed to erect the generators, a process that takes two years. An additional 10 to 15 permanent employees would be required to perform maintenance on the wind farm. If all goes as planned, TWE plans to begin construction in three to five years.

The company also plans to eliminate positions in offices in California and New York, and it will move 10 jobs from those states to Des Moines to cut costs.  According to the company, the cuts are necessary in light of declining advertising revenue.

Data current as of Dec. 15, 2008, unless otherwise indicated

Flood Magnitude

31.12 feet — Crest (11.12 feet over previous record of 20 feet) covering more than 10 square miles (14 percent) of the city. More than 80,000 tons of debris have been collected and removed to landfills. There were, however, no flood-related deaths.

People

• 18,623 estimated people in flood-impacted area
• 120 families in flood areas receiving Section 8 housing assistance
• 1,360 estimated job losses as a result of the flood
• 45 registered day-care providers damaged, displacing 1,547 children
• 1,800 school children displaced

Property

• 7,198 affected parcels (5,390 residential)
• $2.4 billion estimated cost in damage to public infrastructure and future flood management options
• As many as 1,500 properties to be demolished — 71 were demolished before Jan. 1.
• Preliminary estimate is of a residential tax loss of $81.7 million by the city

Services

• City Hall, two jails, municipal court facilities, central fire station, central library facility and police headquarters were completely flooded and displaced
• Cedar Rapids Community School District central offices were flooded and displaced
• 45 registered day-care providers were damaged, displacing as many as 1,547 children
• 8 cultural assets (museums, theaters, cultural centers) were displaced and/or destroyed
• Ground transportation and municipal city transportation hub was completely displaced
• 3 of 4 city collector wells and 46 vertical wells were disabled
• More than 57,218 flood recovery-related volunteer hours donated
• 486 property tax exempt facilities (government, schools, churches, Red Cross, etc.) were displaced or damaged
• 136 other public service providers were impacted (utilities, railroads, etc.)

Needs

• $87.2 million in estimated lost property tax valuation
• 888 new replacement housing units ($36.9 million estimated funding gap)
• 1,049 total rehabilitated units needed ($36.7 million estimated funding gap)
• 1,001 citizens expressed interest in buy-out options ($133 million estimated funding gap)
• More than 700 businesses with estimated flood-recovery need for as much as $1.5 billion
• Flood mitigation/remedy funding gap $478.5 million
• $5 million for required U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental study
• $54 million for steam heat rehabilitation/rebuild
• $120 million for waste-to-energy, co-generation and long-term sustainability initiatives

Linn County

• Total flood-related damages for the county as a whole are estimated to be $5.7 billion.
• As of Dec. 22, 2008, $655 million had been received from federal, state, local and insurance sources, leaving a gap of more than $5 billion.

Flood map courtesy City of Cedar Rapids. Click for larger PDF version.

Few in the crowd of 70 people sat peacefully on the padded folding chairs in the basement of Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Cedar Rapids Monday afternoon, as two dozen state legislators, state officials and local elected officials listened to stories of last summer’s flood and its impact on the city. While the audience was polite, there was an undercurrent of tension with the shared realization that a major fiscal fight is brewing on the horizon.

Residents and officials understand that Iowa is working through a state budget crisis, but they also understand that rebuilding the lives shattered by devastating flooding must take priority. The difficulty of reconciling those two goals was not hard to miss.

Among those speaking were recovering or hoping-to-recover businessmen and -women, homeowners, agency representatives, people of faith and former residents.

Two Cedar Rapids women who lost nearly everything in the June floods nervously agreed to tell their stories to the audience in the hopes of getting state officials to act.

“I just hope that I shared the right things that will give them motivation to move forward faster and see the whole picture,” said SanDee Skelton, a woman who has taught dance through the Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department and was trapped, along with her most prized personal possessions, in her car when the levee broke. “I didn’t want to get up and complain about a lot of things, because I think they all get enough complaints. They need to hear some positive things as well because we are not motivated when we’re griped at all the time.”

Laurie Barrick lived across from the A&W Drive-In on Ellis Boulevard prior to the June floods. She hopes that her story will provide local legislators “ammunition” when they return to Des Moines next week.

“If we don’t share our stories, how will [our representatives] know what has really happened to us? Even if they drive around and see the damage, that still isn’t the personal stories,” Barrick said. “Living in this is much different than seeing a photograph or watching it on television.”

State Rep. Tyler Olson, a two-term Democrat representing  the southeastern portion of Cedar Rapids, described the stories he heard  as some of “most moving” he’s had opportunity to hear.

“I think that today was particularly helpful because we had a lot of representatives- and senators-elect that maybe have not heard the direct stories before,” he said. “There were also a lot of legislators from outside of the area who came. The comments I heard in the car [during the tour of flood damage] were very positive from people who are seeing this damage for the first time.

“Even though the damage has been around for seven months and is burned into all of our heads locally, it’s not that way for the legislators in other parts of the state.”

Democratic Iowa Sen. Rob Hogg of Linn County and and Democratic Rep. Tom Schueller of Jackson County, chairmen of the Rebuild Iowa Committee for their respective legislative chambers, attended the meeting. Hogg organized the Cedar Rapids forum and has called for the state to aggressively respond to disaster recovery throughout the state. Both he and Olson have cautioned that inaction will only make the problems throughout the state worsen.

“Disaster recovery should be a part of economic recovery,” Hogg said.

Most of those speaking at the forum avoided complaining and followed the mantra of catching more bears with honey, but many were frustrated by what they perceived as current insurmountable gaps between what they need and the available state funding.

Representatives of local agencies presented papers that documented the flood’s impact. Small-business man Gary Ficken described how his business with 21 employees has been displaced into the basement of his home, and how the business went from $140,000 in debt to more than $900,000 in debt overnight.

“Will we be able to continue to operate with such a debt? I don’t know. I know that each night I go to bed and pray that we will,” he said.

Hosea Canalles and his wife, Maria, described the state of the eight rental properties they own and manage in Cedar Rapids. Because the properties were rentals, the couple does not qualify for many of the available state recovery funds.  The six properties damaged in the floods continue to sit without occupants.

“We cannot be forgotten by government,” Canalles said.

While the no-interest, forgivable loans from the Jumpstart Iowa Recovery Program have been invaluable, only businesses who have received either a disaster loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration or have borrowed money from a certified lending institution for disaster assistance qualify. Some homeowners who previously qualified for Jumpstart monies have discovered that because of city “construction zone” limitations, they can no longer accept the funding. Local residents feel the program, while making an impact in the recovery effort, does not go far enough.

“Jumpstart is not available for renters,” commented Cedar Rapids businessman Bill Aossey. “It’s a disadvantage to renters and prevents them the opportunity of permanent home ownership.

“These are complexities — all of these things being discussed. And what we’re given is all a bureaucratic system that is not changing to help people.”

Mary Davis, another landlord, was overcome with emotion as she described how she has been unable to gather the needed funds necessary to make repairs on her rental units. Also, when the units are repaired, she said potential renters are concerned about moving into the flood zone.

Doug Elliot, executive director of East Central Iowa Council of Governments, explained that the Jumpstart program has already disbursed all state monies and is having difficulty working through the bureaucracy that surrounds available federal monies.

Linn County Mental Health Director Craig Wood and Czech and Slovak Museum President Gail Naughton appealed directly to the legislators in attendance.

“We know that we are to expect an upsurge in mental health care six months after a disaster such as this and again at the six-year mark,” Wood said. “Currently our department falls under the governor’s across-the-board budget cuts. Given what we are facing, I hope we can be given a waiver.”

Naughton asked that priority be given to future flood prevention, explaining that many larger museums are now refusing to make loans to facilities in the flood area. She also reminded legislators of the educational role museums and cultural centers have in the community.

“[These forums] drive home the message to legislators that there are still a lot of families and business people hurting,” Olson said. “Even though we have FEMA and SBA and Jumpstart and Jumpstart Express, there is still a gap that we need to fill. It’s something that local legislators would have liked to have gotten moving on months ago, but we are now at a point where we will start the new session in a week. We will work through the Rebuild Iowa Committee and other committees to get the job done.”

Wednesday, several close aides to Vilsack told [KCCI] the rumors are not true. One said that Vilsack is in Washington, D.C., interviewing candidates for future staff positions.

The New York Daily News first reported the story Monday, saying Vilsack could be tapped to replace New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson after he withdrew his name from consideration for commerce secretary.

“I’ve been in the legislature for 20 years, and I’ve never seen a bigger challenge,” Gronstal said of the state’s budget situation. “We will be saying no to just about everything this session.”

Last month the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference projected a bigger downturn in the money the state is taking in than previously thought. In response, Gov. Chet Culver announced a number of cost cutting measures, including a 1.5 percent across-the-board cut the the state’s budget.

House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, said the 2009 budget is currently balanced thanks to Culver’s actions.

“We think the governor took the appropriate steps to address budget concerns,” Murphy said. “So we will be focused on 2010, which is going to be much more challenging.”

The state’s net income for the 2010 fiscal year is expected to be $132.6 million less than projected in October.

Murphy said legislative leaders are hopeful that the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama will alleviate some of the issues the state is facing. He said Obama’s plan to put people back to work repairing the nation’s infrastructure, as well as federal assistance to states to shoulder some of the expenses assiciated with Medicaid, will make the decisions legislators will make a little easier.

But first and foremost will be recovery efforts from this summer’s flooding and tornados.

“We have to address the needs of those individuals and communities affected by the flooding,” Murphy said.

Gronstal said the plan is to finish the session in 100 days instead of 110, a move he said could save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We intend this to be a quick session,” he said.

Because of the abreviated session, and because of the need to focus on the budget and recovery efforts, Gronstal said most other issues will be pushed aside.

A well-placed source says one option under consideration in filling the now vacant commerce secretary’s slot is to tap ex-Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack for the job. Vilsack already has been named to serve as Barack Obama’s agriculture secretary, and easily could move into the commerce position.

The story doesn’t elaborate any further, and the liklihood of moving a former agriculture state governor away from the Ag department seems remote (I don’t recall any talk of Vilsack as Commerce Secretary before), but not completely out of the question. The theory goes that the Democrats have a deeper bench on the agriculture side. Not so much on commerce. So while it would be hard to find another person qualified to serve in commerce, there are plenty of Dems lined up to run the USDA.

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin said Tuesday that Vilsack’s confirmation hearing has already been set for next week.

The Iowa Progress Project, a politically conservative non-profit based in Des Moines, commissioned Duffy to draw a cartoon critical of Gov. Chet Culver’s ties to labor unions, specifically the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. The group believes non-union state employees will be asked to sacrifice more than their union counterparts during the upcoming budget discussions.

Iowa Progress Project (IPP) was formerly known as Iowa Future Fund and shares an organization history with American Future Fund, a conservative non-profit based in Des Moines that operates on the national level. Since changing names, IPP has run several radio ads critical of Culver and Democrats in the legislture.

Elk Run Energy Associates, an affiliate of LS Power, announced Tuesday that it will forgo further development on the proposed 750-megawatt Elk Run Energy Station. The project, one of two new plants proposed for Iowa, lost financial partner Dynegy Inc. on Jan. 2.

The Waterloo plant was one of two controversial coal plant projects in Iowa.  The second, in Marshalltown, received permission from the Iowa Utilities Board to move forward last April.

Kenneth Hern, chief executive of Nova Biosource Fuels, Inc., said a review of the plant’s fire protection systems and procedures has been conducted. The fire, which broke out early on the morning of Sept. 30 and was contained within the plant’s primary recovery column, occurred when the plant had been idled for maintenance. While no employees were injured, a fire fighter received minor steam burns while extinguishing the blaze.

“The repairs to the damaged equipment are now completed at a cost of less than $100,000,” Hern said. “We are optimistic that the refinery will be functioning and ready to re-establish operations during early 2009. We want to extend our appreciation to our engineering and construction staff, who efficiently and effectively repaired the damaged equipment, returning the refinery to a production-ready status.”

The fire was believed to have been started by a build up of methanol vapors in the column during a ventiliation process, a portion of the maintenance activities. The plant in Clinton is slated to resume production as a 10 million gallon per year facility.

Nova, a Houston-based company, entered into an asset purchase agreement in August 2007 to acquire the Clinton facility, which was designed and built by Nova for Clinton County Bio Energy LLC. The plant was the first commercial scale biodiesel refinery to utilize Nova’s proprietary processing technology. Former New York Gov. George Pataki and several other state and national politicians have toured the plant.