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The Lone Tree
EPORTER
75¢
www.lonetreereporter.com
ageous water bills
many Lone Tree
dents feeling damp
Bryon S. Houlgrave
so we all knew that our
bills would be on the rise
the approval of the Water
Improvement Project,
by Lone Tree City Council
this year. We all knew we'd
a fluxuation in our bills upon
installation of the new water
too.
But last month's water bills-
gotten many Lone Tree rest-
thinking 'this is ridiculous!'
The new meters, manufactured
.blersey Meter, Inc. out of
Illinois, were installed
SUmmer, replacing an anti-
meter system that often
the water consumption
household.
Ir some households the water
took a dip. In others, though,
Was a story all together differ-
When Janice Schafer received
bill last month she had
fetch her glasses. Even then,
believe her eyes.
"According to (the new bill), I
55 thousand gallons of
Schafer said.
Schafer, who is the director at
t Side Village, said that all the
probably would-
Use that much water, let alone
)Wn house.
who lives by herself,
that her normal water con-
is between 2,500 and
gallons of water per billing
"I don't think I'd be able to use
OUsand gallons of water if I
Gerald Burr feels the same
way. His bill was one of a dozen
or so that saw a considerable hike.
Burr says that he'd possibly
understand if he had watered his
lawn on a daily basis, but his grass
died just like his neighbor's.
In fact, the last time Burr saw
that kind of bill was a few years
ago, after he had laid sod across
his entire yard.
While Burr, among many oth-
ers, can't understand why the new
bills are so high, some members
of City Council believe the accu-
racy of the new meters attributes
to the rise.
And a leaky faucet o'r stool can
consume more gallons of water
than you would believe.
At last week's special meeting
of the Lone Tree city council,
Councilman Les Schaapveld said
that most people don't realize
"that you use a heck of a lot of
water just watering your lawns
and flowers.
"We have had an extra-dry
summer, and you get 5-6 gallons
of water per minute out of a gar-
den hose when you water your
flowers. If you do it two to three
times a week, for ten minutes.
you're going to run up to 15-20
thousand gallons of water,"
Schaapveld said.
Councilman Hayes retorted
that he was gone for most of the
summer, and yet his bill shot up
more than two-fold.
Hayes, along with Gerald
Burr, believes that many of the
former meters were read wrong
• Please see page 2
... Set... Wrestle
Cory and Caleb Feldman are just a couple of Little Lions
Will be participating at the wrestling tournament in Cedar
this Saturday. The tournament is the first of the new sea-
for the Little Lions Wrestling club, and Monday night was
first practie, atrON S. HOULGRAVE
Kno wing your candidates I
Joanne P. Havel
by Bryon S. Houlgrave
Mayor Havel knows that there
have been some controversial topics
in her term. but she also knows that
much has been accomplished in the
last two years too.
A dwindling senior dining pro-
gram was about to lose its Johnson
County Seats bus in 2002. Joanne was
upset to see the program was dwin-
dling, and so she stepped in to pro-
mote the Lone Tree and Nichols pro-
grams. By incorporating a number of
promotional activities, Joanne, with
the help of the Lone Tree City
Council, was able to rescue the pro-
gram. Now, instead of closing the
program for good, Havel is looking
into expanding the open room in the
Senior Center, vacated by the Little
Engine Preschool, and opening up
opportunities for elderly programs,
such as quilting or card club.
Havel knows this is a tough time
for Lone Tree, economically and oth-
erwise, but she sees a future ahead.
Mayor Havel is under this week's
spotlight.
initially?
JPH: Shortly after I was out (of
work), no one had ran for mayor, and
several citizens had encouraged me to
run for mayor.
BSH: Had you ever envisioned
yourself as the mayor of a town
before that?
JPH: Absolutely not. I did not leave
work to take on a new role. I had
planned on taking some time off to be
a stay at home morn and do outdoor
work, mowing and things like that. I
had no intentions of taking on the
mayor role. After some thought, it was
very sad to see that no one had
stepped forward to run as mayor, and
I felt that at that time the citizens were
unhappy or did not care enough
about our town to run. I chose that
the town was important to me that it
was my time to step up to the plate.
BSH: What is your opinion of Lone
Tree?
JPH: 1 think Lone Tree is a great
town. I wouM not raise my kids any-
where else. I think the school commu-
nity has been fantastic. I've thorough-
There's ways that maybe I could have
done things differently, but in general
I think our council, as a whale, are
moving in the right direction. There
are times that we do not get along, but
I think that's healthy. If we all shared
opinions (on issues), i think that's
when you become stagnant. So con-
troversy can be good, as long as
progress still moves forward, l'm
BSH" Who is Joanne Havel and ly enjoy living here. l think our town ................
why are you running for re-dec- has lots to offer. • ,. ? ovn'cerffd'itT;o
tton. , BSH: Ho have you found youel for people to disagree and we all are
JPH: I originally had thought aoout to evolve over your two years when after the same goal Is long as we
it comes to the people and their
concerns? If you were to give your-
self a grade, what would it be?
JPH: l'm not sure. There's always
room for improvement. There's
always hindsight in things you would
do differently I do think that all in all
that, as mayor, I do not have a vote.
keep it in focus 1 think that that's
okay.
BSH: How do you feel about the
views of Mr. Coppinger and Ms.
Allison?
JPH: 1 think it's what the citizens are
looking for. ff they would like the
• Please see page 3
not seeking re-election, due to the
time and commitment it does take,
and the family time that it does
encompass. 1 had thought about not
rerunning, and 1 have so many citi-
zens that have asked me to rerun, that
l felt it was my duty to do so.
BSH: Why did you decide to run
ShelleyAllison
by Bryon S. Houigrave
When it comes down to govern-
ment experience, Shelley Allison
admits she doesn't have much. But
she knows she's qualified to occupy
the Mayor seat. She has something
many politicians don't: People
experience.
As the manager of Mocco One-
Trip, she deals with people every-
day.
She's dealt with problems big
and small and she says that when it
comes to Lone Tree, she knows she
can make a difference.
Shelley has resided in Lone
Tree for 9 years. Her husband, Joe,
is employed by the University of
Iowa, and their son, Erik, 10, is in
4th grade at Lone Tree Elementary.
Shelley Allison is on the spot
BSH: Who is Shelley Allison, and
why do you feel you are qualified
to run for Lone Tree office?
SA: I'm a local business person.
I'm on the Chamber of Commerce.
I've been in management for 19
€ears, so I've got management
experience. I think I can make a dif-
ference.
BSH: What is your background?
Where did you live before Lone
Tree?
SA: From Cedar Rapids to
Coralville and then we ended up
here due to somebody broke into
our house and burned our house
down. We wanted to move to a
smaller, safer community.
BSH: Why do you want to be
mayor?
SA: The way I was raised was; if
you see that you can make a differ-
ence you try to make a difference.
There's some things that I think I
could make a little bit of difference
at. They're making great progress,
but I think we need more things
brought into town, We need some-
one to step up and do it.
BSH: What is your opinion of
Lone Tree?
SA: I love Lone Tree. It's quiet. It's
a community where everybody
cares for each other. It's a real good
place to raise a child, and we have
an excellent school system.
BSH: What is your impression of
what the current mayor has done
during her term?
SA: She's dealt with a lot of various
issues tfmt have been thrown her
way. She's had a lot on her plate,
and she's done pretty good with
some of the issues. But I still think a
little more work can be done; a lit-
tle more initiative can be taken.
BSH: Can you single any one
issue out and think how you could
have done it differently?
SA: I think the public should be
lines of communication,
BSH: How well do you handle
pressure? Are you a pressure per,
son?
SA: I thrive• under pressure. ! enjoy
challenges. Challenges are good;
they keep you energetic and keep
your mind focused: They keep you
going and make you want to learn
more.
BSH: How does yoor family feel
about your decision to run for
office?
SA: For the most part they're really
supportive. Now that they know that
more aware. Instead of of publish- I'm really behind my decision to
ing signs in the paper, we could put run, thef re behind me 100 percent.
T
signs on local businesses. Then we 'here s a lot: of moral support,
could come together and work that's really good,
together. There needs to be better : t Pleaseseepage 3