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OUT OF CONTROL !
From November 1 2010 KALONA IOWA CITY COUNCIL MEETING

[L to R : Ken Herington,Claudine Miller-Zahradnek,Steve Lafaurie,Mark Robe,
Ryan Schlabaugh,Karen Christner,and Mayor Jerry Kauffman,]
Out of Order ? The Mayor is OUT OF CONTROL !

UPDATE: An ARMED GUARD was posted at the next Council meeting, November 15 2010.
At that time, Mayor Kauffman and the Council embraced a previously-unobserved set of
rules/restrictions on 'PUBLIC PARTICIPATION at KALONA CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS'
This is in KALONA, IOWA -- 'Quilt Capital of the Galaxy' Perhaps the Mayor and Council
are accustomed to a more passive citizenry. Oh well . . . Here's the Video excerpt from that
November 15 2010 Council meeting. The essence of the RULES is expressed in an exchange
between Councilman Ken Herington and Mayor Kauffman in the last 15 seconds of the video.
HERINGTON: "So my question is, does that mean that if something comes up in a Council meeting,
the Public really doesn't have an opportunity to speak?" KAUFFMAN: "Correct. That's correct." Does banty rooster ring a bell ?

CLUELESS ON TIF
From November 15 2010 KALONA IOWA CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Ryan Schlabaugh,Karen Christner,Mayor Jerry Kauffman]
Council is Clueless on Tax Increment Financing

In the past, members of the Kalona Iowa City Council, including Ken Herington and Steve Lafaurie,
have approved Tax Increment Financing (TIF) subsidies that could total HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF DOLLARS to developers of greenfield RESIDENTIAL properties. The 3 TIF 10-year agreements
mentioned in this video are for $500,000 with WRY Development (William R Young) and $220,000
and $450,000 with Larron LLC (Larry Pickard and Myron Graber). Additionally, each year the City
Council must authorize the TIF Fund Transfer, if any. Similarly, before becoming mayor, Jerry
Kauffman served on the City Council where TIF agreements and fund transfers were approved. Nevertheless, this video demonstrates the Council's lack of understanding of TIF.

Kreekside (Developer: William R Young), Harvest Hill (Developers: Larry Pickard and Myron Graber)
and KEY Estates (Developer: Keith E Yoder) are three residential developments involved in significant
and increasingly costly storm water drainage problems. ALL of them were greenfield developments and
ALL were subsidized with tax dollars flowing from TIF agreements approved by the Kalona City Council.

Before ANY of those three developments existed, a 1991 Study of Kalona's Storm Drainage System
determined that the West Drainage Ditch north of Highway 22 did not have sufficient capacity to carry a
10-year storm event. ALL three of those TIF-subsidized developments are north of Highway 22. ALL dump
their storm water into the West Drainage Ditch. The Kalona public has only begun to pay the price of the
City's drainage problems while tax money from those developments goes into the pockets of the developers.
In Kalona Iowa, TIF is the GIFT that keeps on TAKING.

Reported in the July 24 2008 Kalona News: ". . . councilman Herington said
he has had a lot of people express opposition to the flood insurance idea."
Benefits of Participating in National Flood Insurance Program
June 15 2010 TV Coverage of Flash Flooding, Evacuation in KALONA
From October 18 2010 KALONA CITY COUNCIL MEETING

[L to R : Ken Herington,Claudine Miller-Zahradnek,David Bentley,Steve Lafaurie,
Mark Robe,Ryan Schlabaugh,Karen Christner,Jerry Kauffman,]
Mayor Jerry Kauffman Questions City's Role in Development

Residents of the KEY Estates subdivision have been experiencing significant erosion of
their properties as a result of increased flow in the Western Drainage Ditch. Councilman
(and recently-hired Washington County Zoning Administrator) Steve Lafaurie was asked why,
if there was already a KNOWN problem with erosion in the area of the Western Ditch, an
UPSTREAM development (Kreekside) was approved. He deferred to Mayor Kauffman. In this
excerpt the Kalona City Mayor, Jerry Kauffman, actually questions whether the City has a
duty to protect *the people* (presumably, the people of Kalona) when a developer wants to
develop in a KNOWN flood-prone area; likewise, when a later developer wants to develop
UPSTREAM from that KNOWN flood-prone area. What IS the purpose of Planning and Zoning in the City of Kalona ??

FEMA Floodplain Map of F Place/KEY Estates area
From August 16 2010 KALONA CITY COUNCIL MEETING

[L to R : Ken Herington,David Bentley,Mark Robe,
Steve Lafaurie,Karen Christner,Jerry Kauffman]
Erosion of F Place/KEY Estates Continues Without Action

1991 Study of Kalona Storm Drainage System
Figure 1. Topography Figure 2. Detention Ponds

It has been nearly a year since Leroy Nida addressed the Council on the problem of
erosion in the F Place/KEY Estates area due to increased flow in the WESTERN DITCH
in recent years, since the upstream development of Kreekside Subdivision. It was noted
that the 1991 study of the storm drainage system by the City Engineer was located. Was that study considered when TIF-subsidized Kreekside was approved ?

From July 6 2010 KALONA CITY COUNCIL MEETING

[L to R : David Bentley,Steve Lafaurie,Mark Robe,Claudine Miller-Zahradnek,
Ken Herington,Ryan Schlabaugh,Jerry Kauffman,Karen Christner]
Ditch in *Mayor's Backyard* Gets City Attention

During the review of city bills, Councilor Herington notes a bill for $702 from Slabach
Construction for removal of trees and asks about it. The removal of trees was from
the drainage ditch/creek between 10th and 11th Streets, north of H Avenue -- behind
Kalona News publisher Ron Slechta's house on 10th and behind Mayor Jerry Kauffman's
house on 11th. That drainage ditch/creek is in the CENTER one of the THREE(3)
floodplains, mapped by FEMA, in Kalona. I hope the WESTERN DITCH (in Kalona's WEST
floodplain), which caused extensive flooding and the disruption of MANY Kalona
citizens on June 15 2010, receives appropriate and proportionate attention from
City officials, Mayor Kauffman and the Kalona News. [ UPDATE: On August 2nd, the
Council approved another bill, $700 from Bob's Tree Service, for work in the same area.]

FEMA Floodplain Map of City of Kalona
From June 21 2010 KALONA CITY COUNCIL MEETING

[L to R : Steve Lafaurie,Claudine Miller-Zahradnek,Mark Robe,Ken Herington,
Ryan Schlabaugh,Karen Christner,Jerry Kauffman]
Public Forum: Flood Insurance and Flooding in Kalona

Development map from the Kalona Comprehensive Plan
Feb 8 2010 TV Segment on Iowa Flooding and Flood Insurance
From September 21 2009 KALONA CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Claudine Miller-Zahradnek,Steve Lafaurie,Ken Herington,David Kempf,
David Bentley,Doug Morgan,Karen Christner,Jerry Kauffman
Public Forum: Erosion of F Place/KEY Estates

AUTUMN 2009 FLOODING IN DOWNTOWN KALONA

(From the November 5 2009 Kalona News)
From April 6 2009 KALONA CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Ken Herington,Claudine Miller-Zahradnek,Steve Lafaurie,
David Bentley,Karen Christner,Jerry Kauffman
Council Inaction on National Flood Insurance Program

So who has the ears of the Kalona City Council? LOCAL DEVELOPERS who fear intelligent floodplain management ? Maybe it's LOCAL BANKS. Hills Bank
was fined nearly $44,000 in 2004 for violations of the Flood Disaster
Protection Act. At a max of $385 per violation, that's a lot of homes.

Kalona Iowa Recreation Building Project Bidding