Steve Karsjen for Polk City Mayor

This just crossed my computer from the Des Moines Register related to the new Polk City Junction Trail.
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From the Des Moines Register Editorial Board:

Opinion: A rose to Polk City and Polk County, for work on a new bike trail connection

Construction is underway on the Polk City Junction Trail, which will connect the popular Neal Smith and High Trestle trails, a product of planning and persistence stretching back almost a decade.

Credit Polk City, which launched a study of the feasibility of this trail link back in 2015, and Polk County Conservation, which began working with the city in 2018, for bringing this project to fruition. The cost will total about $1.5 million.

The Neal Smith Trail stretches 26 miles from Des Moines to Big Creek State Park. The High Trestle Trail runs about 25 miles from Ankeny to Woodward, across the High Trestle bridge, one of the world's largest trail bridges, which boasts distinctive artwork and stunning views of the Des Moines River Valley.

Cyclists ride across the High Trestle Trail bridge during the annual Pigtails ride on Saturday, May 22, 2021, in Madrid.
Since the 1980s, visionary city, county and state leaders have built bike trails across Iowa, many on discontinued rail lines. The trails have offered recreational opportunities for local residents and lured bicycle enthusiasts who eat and shop at towns along the way.

Now, a new crop of visionaries has seen that the next step in Iowa's evolution as a bicycling destination is to connect more of our trails. These connections act as a multiplier effect, offering more routes, attracting more riders and mushrooming the economic impact.

Sharing my Mayor's message for the October newsletter.

Letter from the Mayor:
I’m writing my October Mayor’s letter while in a celebratory mood! At our last City Council meeting, council members approved an agreement with the Polk County Conservation Board, which allows for the completion of the 3-mile Polk City Junction Trail. When fully in place, our new bike trail will connect the High Trestle Trail to the Neal Smith Trail through our great town square. The Polk City Junction Trail has been a project nine years in the making, beginning in 2015 with a feasibility study. I became involved in 2018, and then had the honor to lead the 2019/2020 Community Visioning program, which identified trail connectivity as the program’s top priority. I strongly believe this trail will bring great value for our citizen bikers, our biking visitors, and our local business economy. We owe our thanks to many individuals and organizations for the trail project’s success, including our City Council for prioritizing the project and the Polk County Conservation Board for collaborating on the project. A special thank you to the 27 members of the Community Visioning program and to the landowners who sold their land for the trail project. Finally, thank you to our citizens who also helped make this project happen because we couldn’t have done this without your involvement. Now that we’ve finalized funding, future construction of the project can begin both in and outside of city limits. The first section of the trail off N. 3rd St. has already been laid, and bid letting for two additional sections of the trail will begin this fall. At some point, we’ll make an official announcement with the Polk County Conservation Board on the trail, and we’ll keep you posted on progress on that. The trail route map can be found on the city’s website at www.polkcityia.gov under city news.

One of the key players in the process to complete the Polk City Junction Trail is City Manager Chelsea Huisman. I first met Chelsea to discuss the trail in October 2019, and it was immediately clear to me that she was “all-in” on the trail. Now five years later, Chelsea has procured $2.2 million of the total cost of the project through numerous grants, which is actually a good segway into congratulating Chelsea for being named the 2024 City Manager of the Year by the Iowa City/County Management Association. It is a well-deserved award, and we’re fortunate to have Chelsea working on behalf of our great city.

You’ve probably heard about the November 5 vote on the $10 million bond issue on the proposed Polk City Municipal Park. Several local groups are leading the informational campaign on the project. The city also has prepared an educational mailer that will be going out in October. It should help answer many important questions about this project.

October marks a fun month for Polk City as we get set to celebrate our annual Fall Fest on Saturday, October 12, on the Town Square. There will be activities for kids and adults alike so please come and enjoy the fun from 2-6 p.m.
Enjoy fall!

Polk City, IA | 200 S. 4th StreetPO Box 426Polk City, IA 50226Ph: 515-984-6233 Fax [email protected]: Monday – Friday 8:00 – 5:00

I thought I'd share that we're at less than 50% for response rate for our Polk City Special Census. If you haven't already, please take a few minutes to fill out the electronic information. You should have already received information in the mail about how to do this. You have until Sept. 9 to do this electronically. After that, the Census folks will be relying on the door-to-door knocking campaign. It's critically important for Polk City as we go forward to have an accurate population figure. The more accurate our population figure, the more road-use dollars we receive, for one.

Here's the link to the city's website with even more information:
https://www.polkcityia.gov/home/news/august-newsletter-0

Feel free to call City Hall if you have any specific questions. And please pass this along to your Polk City friends.

Hello Polk City friends. Through my seat on the Go Polk City Board of Directors, I have agreed to help with the effort to get volunteers for the 4 Seasons Festival, which will be held July 19-20. We're making it easy to share you willingness to volunteer by asking you to fill out the attached form, click Submit at the bottom and send it on to our planners. You can also fill in your areas of expertise, which can help guide us as we place people for the volunteer opportunities. Once we have a list of those interested, we will combine what we have and begin filling in the volunteer slots. I'm happy to be working with Chrissy Bristle, a great leader and organizer of last year's 4 Seasons Festival, and Staci Allen, Go Polk City, on this effort.

I'm also attaching the link to the Go Pol City site, where you can read up on all of the things being planned for the Festival this year.

One final thing, because my Facebook Friends network is not nearly as deep as yours, I would make a friendly request that you send this form to your Friends and family. If you know of groups who might like to volunteer, please send it on to them also. As you know, "Many hands make light work."

Thanks.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfjNRPtEv_oX1A_OvTj_lmykqbU3Br6MjodkiH52ohoR0I1QA/viewform

https://4seasonsfest.com/

Four Seasons Festival Make your business or cause memorable by joining in on the fun at the parade! The town is lining the streets to see what you have to offer! 

Pleased to have had the opportunity to attend the Business after Hours event at Grinnell State Bank last week.

I'd like to thank all those who supported me for the next mayor of Polk City. It will be an honor to serve this great city and it's citizens.

Voted just a bit ago. No lines. Walk right in.

I am pleased to report we have our first tangible Community Visioning success story with the completion of the landscaping around these two Entrance to Polk City signs and park sign at Leonard Park. We are grateful to City Manager Chelsea Huisman, who we worked with, to fund these landscaping projects. We hope to see more signs landscaped in 2022. Congratulations to the entire 25+ member Steering Committee for your dedication to Community Visioning and to the members of our four subcommittees.

Looking forward to election day on Nov. 2. Polls are open at the Polk City Community Center (West Entrance behind City Hall and Fire Department) from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

I was pleased to be a participant in Polk City's 2021 Citizen's Academy which wrapped up on Oct. 14. I would encourage anyone to consider participating in the Academy the next time it's offered. It was a great way to learn the roles and responsibilities of our City leadership.

Message from Steve Karsjen

I’d like to announce my candidacy for Mayor of Polk City. I would be excited to serve and work alongside our citizens, businesses, City Council, and other leaders and groups for the betterment of our community.
My wife, DeArliss, and I have been proud residents of Polk City for almost five years. As we’ve gotten to know people around town, we’ve learned we are like many couples who have moved here to be close to our children and grandchildren. Our city’s family-friendly atmosphere is one of the things that excites us about living here, but beyond that, we’re also pleased to be living in a safe, vibrant and growing city that provides the many amenities we’ve come to appreciate and enjoy, from unique businesses on the Square and elsewhere to beautiful bike trails and parks to our great Saylorville and Big Creek lakes.

Since moving to Polk City, I’ve enjoyed becoming involved in a number of projects and leadership positions in service to the community. Currently, I serve as a Parks Commission board member. As of late, our Commission has been involved with planning for the proposed Regional Park Complex as well as city parks development, and I look forward to continuing that work. Almost since moving to town, I’ve been involved in efforts to bring a High Trestle Trail bike “connector” to Polk City, and I enjoy working with city and county leaders and others on this project. I believe the Connector has great potential to not only provide an additional recreational experience for cyclists, walkers, and others but would also create a welcoming gateway for new visitors to experience Polk City and help support our local economy. A couple of years ago, I was pleased to introduce a visioning exercise called “Community Visioning” to Polk City, and in just a short period of time, we have gone from a large steering committee of over 25 great community residents envisioning many potential projects, to four smaller subcommittees that are zeroing in on ways to bring specific Community Visioning projects to fruition. In addition to the major projects in which I’ve been actively participating, I serve as Polk City’s representative to the Des Moines Trails and Greenways committee and have been a member of the planning group for the annual Polk City’s Big Creek Bike Ride. I’m also a member of the Chamber of Commerce through my individual membership, and through the Chamber have enjoyed learning more about our great city.

Going forward as your Mayor, I would support several key initiatives. I’m a firm believer in the importance of sidewalks and trails connectivity and other safety features that help contribute to our city’s safe, family-friendly environment, and I would support further advancements in these areas. Commercial development brings economic vibrancy to our community, which not only helps fund our city budget, but also helps satisfy our citizens’ desire to shop locally. I believe we should make every effort to bring unique stores and restaurants to our downtown Square and other commercial areas. A strong advocate of planning, I support the city’s Capital Improvements plan and comprehensive planning as well as further study of several key projects, including the Facilities Needs Assessment, the Town Square Parking Study, and the Regional Park Facility. In addition, we have many potential infrastructure needs facing our city, such as water storage capacity, and I support further study and funding of these needs. Finally, I would continue to support the work of the Community Visioning and High Trestle Trail connector planning groups.

A few new ideas I would advance would potentially include studying how best to capitalize on our many great recreational opportunities in and around Polk City in order to promote our city as central Iowa’s recreation destination. Also, I support further discussion of Polk City’s potential to become a Main Street community in order to help revitalize and capitalize on our historic downtown, and in that same vein, I would support efforts to make Polk City a Walk Friendly Community. On a much lighter note, I would support designing a Polk City flag for all of us to fly at our homes and businesses to show pride in our great city!

Our 62.2 percent growth over the past 10 years is a strong indicator of all that Polk City has to look forward to and plan for in the years ahead, and I would welcome working on both our city’s opportunities and challenges as your Mayor. I hope to meet as many of you as possible over the next several weeks so I can learn what you’re passionate about, and I would look forward to your vote on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021.