NOTEBOOK: Tollakson paddles Beaver Creek in effort to raise $300K for river project work
PERRY BEEMAN Aug 4, 2016 | 3:26 pm
1 min read time
251 wordsAll Latest News, Business Record Insider, Energy, The Insider NotebookHubbell Realty chief Rick Tollakson went on a kayak trip down Beaver Creek with fellow novice Paula Dierenfeld, mayor of Johnston. Besides polishing his limited kayaking skills, Tollakson wanted to talk to Dierenfeld about a proposed $300,000 feasibility study that could move the area closer to removing downtown dams and making other recreational improvements along Central Iowa waterways.
I called Tollakson to check on the progress of the water trails task force he’s been chairing for the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. He told me the task force has finished collecting public comments and now is doing a bit of a door-to-door campaign to let local governments know what their share of the $300,000 feasibility study cost could be, based on population, river miles or some combination. He plans to return this fall with the final report to directly ask for the cash.
“We have a pretty picture of what downtown Des Moines could look like (if the downtown dams were replaced by stair-step rapids), but that’s pretty much it,” Tollakson said. “What can we really build?”
Why don’t businesses like Hubbell Realty Co. help pay for the study? Because Tollakson wants to wait to approach his business friends until the studying is done and the task has turned to raising money for specific construction projects.
“We’re better off to wait to ask the businesses until we are talking about bricks and mortar. Businesses are good at ‘let’s get something done.’ Governments are good at the planning.”
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