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Understanding the severance issue

I have been asked many times in the past couple weeks why the people south of town want to sever from the city. The council person that indicated to the T-R that she doesn’t have city sewer and several people on the south side of Lincolnway doesn’t have city sewer, seems to have misled the citizens. She, as well as the people on Lincolnway, have city sewer available, they just have chosen to continue to use their septic systems instead of using the city-provided sewer system in front of their properties.

The properties requesting to sever are paying city taxes and DO NOT HAVE THE FOLLOWING:

• City Water

• City Sewer

• City Gas

• City Street Lights

• City Street to their Driveway

• Fire Hydrant in the distance specified by city code

How can the council members justify their NO vote on the severance request with no plans to provide any of the items listed above?

How can the city council justify spending taxpayer funds to hire a law firm from Cedar Rapids to fight the severance request?

I keep seeing a city street sign in the T-R articles saying “College View Lane.” This is not a city street. It is a privately owned lane in the county. It is the only way to get to one of the properties requesting to sever.

You drive up the private lane past seven homes in the county to the drive way of the home that is in the city.

The next driveway south of “College View,” you turn east and drive up that lane, the seven houses on the north are in the county and the houses on the south are in the county and the house at the top of the lane is in the city.

The third person asking to sever, their house on the south side of the lane, is in the county but the back 25 feet of their yard is in the city.

I hope with this information the citizens of Marshalltown will be able to understand what is actually going on. Drive by, look where the city limit sign is on Highway 14, where the fire hydrant is, and see what you think about how your council and city administrators handle things.

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