Doug Lindner

SOLON– The Solon City Council significantly reduced the price of hosting outdoor service for Main Street restaurants.
In response to feedback from two downtown eateries, council members voted, at an Aug. 17 meeting, to slash the cost of renting public sidewalk and street space and eliminated a per-day fee. The city also extended the outdoor service season from May 1 to Nov. 1.
The ordinance and its accompanying policy have been in place since June, but none of the qualifying Main Street establishments have taken advantage.

SOLON– After a spring flood in 2013, Randall Park sat idle and unused for most of the year as the city worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to determine the park’s fate.
Record water levels engulfed the park again Aug. 11-12, but this time the city isn’t waiting to take action.
At a regular council meeting Aug. 17, council members voted to utilize a park fund to rehabilitate the park as soon as possible.

SOLON– Although it’s been rarely used in the last 20 years, there are still a lot of memories for Solon residents in the former St. Mary Catholic Church.
But the need for cemetery space and concerns about the continuing dilapidation of the building have prompted a church committee to recommend its demolition, which led to an informational meeting held July 26 in the church’s parish hall.
Close to 100 people attended the meeting to listen to Father Tim Sheedy and architectural consultant Alan Wieskamp describe the condition of the church building and discuss potential next steps.

DES MOINES– Well, why not?
Solon absolutely thumped the No. 1 seed in the opening round of the 3A baseball tournament Tuesday, advancing to a semifinal against Harlan (28-5) Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Principal Park in Des Moines.
The Spartans shelled Dubuque Wahlert, 12-2, in a game shortened to six innings by the mercy rule.
Solon jumped out to a first-inning lead right off the bat, but salted the game away with four-run spurts in the fifth and sixth innings. The Spartans loaded the bases with no outs in each of those innings.

SOLON– Within a month, the intersection of Highway 1 and Main Street will likely be fully signalized.
According to City Engineer Dave Schechinger, construction of the traffic signals was expected to begin after Beef Days and be completed some time in August.
Schechinger reported on the status of the project at a July 6 meeting of the Solon City Council, noting a pre-construction meeting had been held with contractor Advanced Electric Service.
Advanced submitted the lowest of six bids for the project– $98,430– and was awarded the project at a March 2 meeting.