The Cascade City Council is moving forward with increasing the cost of a building permit tenfold. I objected and asked Mr. Kelchen for an apology because he insisted I should support this because it would stop the flooding have been complaining about. Not true because companies like his own have covered their property with cement, roofs and other hard surfaces.  Which is what I told him, but got no apology.  Green space where your mouth is, Man!

            The commercial provisions may curtail it in the future, but it will cost ordinary citizens 10 times what a building permit currently costs.  What really irks me is paying $90 to bring a guy out from ECIA in Dubuque to inspect. Costly and delay-causing. However, someone told me the guys with the skills to do these inspections don’t want the responsibility.  I won’t believe it till the job is posted and nobody takes it. That should happen first.

            Council is ready to spend $2,000 of city money to buy event barrier fencing for Rockin’ on the River, Hometown Days, etc. Fred Heim, supports it. Someone has complained to me about private groups using city facilities/funding for stuff. Perhaps the groups should buy it.

            I objected to the city giving $600,000 to the new brewery owner, saying all levels of government have become a transfer points for citizen’s tax money, citing the billions going to U.S. chip manufacturers. Ms. Oliphant objected strenuously and said, “We are NOT discussing that here.”

            Leaving me unsure whether she is too dim to see that money going to businesses is a source of the inequity across the U.S., or too corrupt to think it is a problem.