Doug Lindner

SOLON– There will be at least two candidates for the special city council election Tuesday, May 30.
Both Dale Snipes, appointed April 5 to fill a seat vacated by longtime council member Mark Krall, and Lauren Whitehead, who had also applied for the position, plan to appear on the ballot.
Anyone interested in becoming a candidate has until Friday, May 5, to submit the appropriate paperwork to the Johnson County Auditor’s Office. Ten signatures are required for the nomination petition.

SOLON– Solon High School’s 5th Street Jazz vocal ensemble participated in the Iowa Vocal Jazz Championships nine times and won the Class 3A title five times, but the group was not invited to participate in 2016.
It made this year’s competition special for Solon seniors.
“My sophomore year, I was in Blame It On Our Youth, and we got third at championships, so it was very hard last year, being in 5th Street and not qualifying,” Solon senior Elizabeth Hand said.

SOLON– Everyone’s favorite route between Solon and Cedar Rapids will be the subject of extensive construction this year.
Two more phases of an Ely Road (W6E) overhaul are planned for this season, including the conversion of its intersection with Highway 382 into a three-way roundabout.
Following the completion of the roundabout, the Johnson County Secondary Roads Department plans to proceed with the paving of three-quarters of a mile of Ely Road from the intersection north to 140th Street NE, adjacent to the Lakeview OHV park.

SOLON– That ended badly.
The site plan for a proposal to rehabilitate the former St. Mary Catholic Church auditorium went down in flames when discussions over parking requirements devolved at a Solon City Council meeting Jan. 11.
For nearly 45 minutes, city officials and Bill Wittig, representing Prairie Equity Group, LLC, went back and forth on the need for off-street parking to accommodate potential first- and second-floor commercial tenants of the building.

SOLON– Brad Friedhof hoped he’d have better news to deliver.
Friedhof, conservation program manager for the Johnson County Conservation Board, appeared before the Solon City Council March 1 to provide an update on the extension of the Hoover Trail from Ely to Solon.
“I wished I’d be here with a construction update,” Friedhof told council members, “but I’m not.”
The project, a 5.8-mile section of the Hoover Trail between Solon and Ely, was waylaid in 2016 by the permitting process, Friedhof said.