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General Information
Erickson Park A five-acre park, located along East Maple Street and North Park Street, is attractively landscaped with trees and shrubbery. The park contains two open shelter houses, an enclosed shelter house, playground area, picnic tables, grills, tot lot, concession stand (used during softball games), and Hennessy Ball Diamond. The open shelter houses are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The enclose shelter house must be rented in order to be used. The shelter house may be rented from May 1 to October 1. The cost for renting the shelter house is $20 per day. You may reserve the shelter house by calling City Hall at 515-388-4861 during normal working hours. Reservations may be made anytime after January 1 for the May 1-October 1 season. Pool Park A 2.3-acre park, located along West Maple Street and Norseman Drive, contains Roland's swimming pool and wading pool, horseshoe pit, two tennis courts, tot lot, picnic tables and, during the winter months (when mother nature cooperates), an ice skating rink. Jacobson Bear Creek Park A 3.7-acre nature park is the newest of the parks in Roland and is the only park designated as a "nature park." Located on Samson Street, the nature park contains a gazebo, a split rail fence along the east side, a developed trail with many varieties of native trees and shrubs labeled, and Bear Creek running along the western edge of the park. The gazebo is available on a first-come first-served basis, but if you want to ensure the use on a certain day, it may be reserved at a cost of $10 per day by calling City Hall at 515-388-4861 and making a reservation.
As of the census of 2000, there were 485 households, and 366 families residing in Roland. There were 509 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 99.02% White, 0.00% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.08% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 0.68% of the population. There were 485 households out of which 41.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.6% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.22. In the city the population was spread out with 32.4% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.3 males. The median income for a household in the
city was $47,461, and the median income for a family was $55,417. Males had
a median income of $34,118 versus $27,045 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $18,165. Roland is in the Roland-Story Community School District, which includes Roland and Story City. The middle school (grades 5-8) is in Roland; and the elementary (grades K-4) and high schools are in Story City. Sewer rates are determined by the amount of water consumed during the billing period. Sewer rates are as follows:
The City of Roland does have regulations pertaining to snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. The operators of ATVs and snowmobiles shall comply with the following restrictions as to where ATVs and snowmobiles may be operated within the city:
The operators of ATVs and snowmobiles shall comply with the following restrictions as the where ATVs and snowmobiles may not be operated within the city:
The owner and operator of an ATV or snowmobile is liable for any injury or damage caused by the negligent operation of the ATV or snowmobile.
Vehicles No person shall park, abandon or leave unattended any vehicle on any public street, alley or city-owned off-street parking area while the snow ban ordinance is in effect unless the snow has been removed or plowed from said street, alley or parking area. The snow ban ordinance will go into effect as soon as there is one and one-half inches (1 1/2") of snowfall on the ground. This shall not pertain to the following areas during the business hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.:
Vehicles in violation will be ticketed and/or subject to impound. All costs of the towing will be paid for by the owner of the impounded vehicle. Clearing of snow from property No person shall throw, push, place or cause to be thrown, pushed or placed any snow from private property, sidewalks or driveways onto the traveled portion of the street or alley so as to obstruct gutters or impede the passage of vehicles upon the street or alley or to create a hazardous condition therein. Removal of Snow and Ice from Sidewalks It it the responsibility of the abutting property owners to remove snow and ice accumulations promptly from sidewalks within 24 hours after cessation of snow fall or after ice forms. If the property owner fails to remove accumulations within the allotted time, the
city may do so and assess the costs against the property owner for collection in the same manner as a property tax.
Streets Roland has approximately 9.6 miles of streets, with 44
percent of the streets having curb and gutter. The majority of the streets are double sealcoated.
Swimming Pool The Roland Municipal Swimming Pool opened it doors to the public for the first time on June 12, 1968. The project was sparked by a donation of $10,000 from the estate of J. O. Twedt with the restriction that the money had to be used for a swimming pool. A $38,840 contract was let for construction of the pool itself. Together with the fencing, lights, bathhouse and landscaping it brought the total cost of the project to approximately $60,000. Through donations and fund raising of various sorts, the remaining funds needed to complete the Swimming Pool project were met and on June 12, 1968, the 82-1/2-foot x 42-foot swimming pool was opened to the public. During the past 32 years, minor improvements have been made, such as painting the pool, new pumps, replaced some of the piping under the deck and patching on the gutters. The swimming pool is now in need of some significant upgrades. On September 25, 2000, the City Council awarded Peterson Construction, Webster City, IA, the contract to renovate the swimming pool at a cost of $447,883.
There were some minor cosmetic and major equipment changes made to the filter house, and the bathhouse underwent some minor change to make them more handicap-accessible and to meet state code. The office also received a face lift with new doors, counter tops and a couple coats paint. The swimming pool opened for the 2001 season on June 9, 2001, (almost a full month ahead of the construction schedule) and had its grand opening ceremony on July 13-14, 2001, with free swimming, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a beefburger supper, and the raffle drawing for the deep freeze and side of beef. The City Council and Roland Pool Board would like to thank all those who helped with this project in any way (donations, in-kind services, etc).
Tax Abatements Roland has a five-year tax abatement program. The application form for the tax abatement is included with the construction permits forms and may be picked up at City Hall (202 E. Ash St.) during normal working hours. To be eligible for the tax abatement, the tax abatement application form must be submitted to the City Council for approval and meet one of the following criteria:
NOTE:The tax abatement is allowed on the first $75,000 of the cost of the improvement only. You will still be responsible for paying taxes on the assessed value of the land and the difference between the amount assessed and the $75,000 (if new construction) or the amount assessed before the improvements were made. Once the request is approved by the Roland City Council it is forwarded to the Story County Assessor's Office. The
assessor has the final determination on whether the tax abatement is approved or disapproved and for how much. 2005/2006 Tax Rates For the tax period of 7/01/04 - 6/30/05, taxes are payable 9/2005 and 3/2006 and are based on the January 1, 2004, valuations. Taxes are figured based on the "assessed" value of the property after the rollback has been applied. The rollback for the 2005/2006 tax period is 47.9642 percent of the total assessed value of the property. For example, if your property was assessed at $100,000, you would only pay taxes on $47,964 of the assessed value at the tax rate
shown below.
City Government Roland is governed by a mayor and five council members, who are elected at-large on a non-partisan basis. Elections are held the first Tuesday in November during odd-numbered years. The mayor's position is a two-year term. The five council seats are all four-year terms. The four-year terms are staggered, electing two seats one year and three seats the next year. City Council meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at City Hall (202 E. Ash Street). Please feel free to attend. Agendas for the meetings are posted at City Hall (202 E. Ash Street), the Roland Library (218 N Main Street), and the Roland Post Office (225 N Main Street) It will also be posted on the city's web page along with the minutes from the previous council meeting.
Water meters are generally read on the 25th and 26th of each month. Water bills are sent out by the first of each month and are due by the 20th of the month. Water is billed in 100 cubic feet (100 cu ft = 748 gallons). Water rates are as follows: Metered
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A ceremonial ground breaking on October 20, 2000, kicked off the beginning of the construction. During the next nine months the swimming pool underwent some major changes. The baby pool was removed, along with the east wall in the three-foot swimming area. The deck was removed along with the gutters and piping. The north and south walls, along with the deck were extended to give the swimming pool a zero depth entrance. New piping and stainless gutters were installed and the new deck was poured. Fun features added to the swimming pool were the geysers and the mushroom in the shallow end of the swimming pool.
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