Local mayors optimistic heading into 2019

2018 was a year of progress in Grundy County’s largest communities: Dike broke ground on a new fire station, Conrad finished its own facility, Grundy Center made big strides on a downtown revitalization project in partnership with Main Street Iowa and finally sold off the former Baptist Church, and Reinbeck moved forward with improvements in housing and on city parks and trails. As the county rings in the new year, the mayors of Conrad, Dike and Grundy Center spoke to The Grundy Register about their plans and goals for 2019 (Wellsburg Mayor Pat Kennedy did not immediately respond to a request for comment). 
 
Conrad
Four-term Mayor Jeff Martin enters his eighth year at the helm of Grundy County’s southernmost city in 2019, and developing housing on North Main Street will be a top priority during the upcoming year. 
 
Dike
Voters in Dike overwhelmingly approved a bond for the new fire station project in March, and construction crews have been hard at work breaking ground and laying the foundations over the last several months. For Mayor Mike Soppe, who’s entering his 10th year, completion of the project is now priority number one. 
 
Grundy Center
To sum it all up in one word, Grundy Center Mayor Al Kiewiet says 2018 was all about “growth.” The city saw the process finalized for the Downtown Revitalization Facade project, made significant progress on an Upper Story Housing project, completed improvements at the sports complex, saw the expansion of the Co-op in town and the Co-op just north of town, and saw the downtown business district flourish, with a number of new businesses opening up shop.
 
Reinbeck
Reinbeck Mayor Tim Johnson resigned as of December 31, and an election or appointment should be announced soon. Reinbeck City Clerk Julie Wilkerson said that the city has undertaken many different community betterment projects taking place over the course of the last year - including a housing rehab program, and improvements at the parks, pools, trails and other amenities.
 
Read the full interviews in this week's Grundy Register. Subscribe by calling (319) 824-6958 or clicking here.