Doug Lindner

SOLON– Solon’s splash pad committee is still not close to its goal of raising approximately $400,000.
But it’s much closer than it was two years ago.
Melissa Tiedemann, chair of the splash pad committee, told council members at a Dec. 20 meeting about $80,000 has been collected for the project.
The committee had $5,000 in March of 2016.
Tiedemann joined the committee after receiving an initial mailer from Solon Activities Director Mike Reeve and has spent the last year as chair of the committee.

SOLON– Council members heard there are too many stop signs on Main Street.
Solon Public Works Director Scott Kleppe proposed making the intersection of West and Main streets a four-way stop, but the motion to approve it died for lack of a second at a Jan. 3 city council meeting.
A year ago, Kleppe said, the city created a four-way stop at the intersection of Main and Dubuque streets to help control traffic.

SOLON– A pedestrian mall and a bed and breakfast district could be part of the future for downtown Solon.
Both were presented conceptually Dec. 20 as Solon City Council members mulled the findings of a downtown visioning project recently completed by MSA Professional Services, the same consulting firm which assisted with the city’s comprehensive plan update in 2015.
Council members did not extensively discuss the results, but were expected to prepare comments prior to accepting the document at a future meeting.

SOLON– The City of Solon will extend its water supply to Gallery Acres West.
At a Dec. 20 meeting, city council members voted 4-1 to approve a resolution directing city staff to negotiate with the rural homeowners association under an outlined set of conditions.
According to the resolution, the supply shall be metered from the city limits, Gallery Acres West (GAW) residents will pay a one-time connection fee and will be charged twice the rate for usage, and GAW will be responsible for the cost of constructing the main.
Council member Lauren Whitehead cast the dissenting vote.

SOLON– How many water meters are there in the City of Solon?
Care to guess?
Public Works Director Scott Kleppe estimated somewhere around 1,200, but we’ll find out for sure pretty soon.
That’s because the city is looking to replace all of them next year in an attempt to further improve the efficiency of the municipal water system.
City council members discussed the pending project at an Oct. 4 meeting, and expect to follow up with action in the next month or two.