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City seeking applicants for building board

Greer

The city of Marshalltown is seeking three people to immediately join the Dangerous Building Board of Appeals.

Mayor Joel Greer said the city board is in charge of appeals regarding dangerous or dilapidated buildings in town. Members will decide whether or not to uphold the condemning of houses and commercial properties.

Greer said the board has not met in seven years, but with the amount of damaged property in town after the July 2018 tornado, it is time to bring the board back. It will essentially be a new board for the city of Marshalltown.

“They will be meeting more than they did before,” he said but added that he does not know when the board will decide to meet or how often.

There are no specific written requirements that people need to fulfill in order to join, but Greer would like to see people with backgrounds that would be helpful in the decisions board members will make.

“I would love to see engineers, architects, people in real estate and construction,” the mayor said.

The city is specifically looking for some females to join the board. The Iowa legislature created a law that went into effect in 2012 that required city and county boards to be gender balanced.Greer said unfortunately the city has had trouble reaching that balance.

“We almost always lack females,” he said.

Not only is Greer hoping to achieve the gender balance but also establish a more age-neutral board.

“I want people with gray hair beside the younger generation who are ready to roll up their sleeves,” he said. “Historically the older generation has served on city boards.”

The reason there are three openings on the board is that some of the former members were also serving on other city boards. Greer said people should be limited to one board.

The role of the mayor in city boards is to review applications from potential candidates and make appointments, which are then approved by the Marshalltown City Council.

Greer said he has already received four applications for the Dangerous Building Board of Appeals and members will be appointed at the Oct. 28 city council meeting. He requested people submit their applications as soon as possible, which can be found on the city website.

The application will provide a list of boards people can apply to be members of, such as:

• Bike Path Committee

• Board of Adjustment

• Civil Service Commission

• Claims Appeal Board

• Electrical Appeals Board

• Electricians Examining Board

• Housing Appeals Board

• Human Rights Commission

• Investment Advisory Board

• Library Board

• Marshalltown Softball Association

• Municipal Art Gallery and Fisher Center

• Parks Advisory Committee

• Public Housing Advisory Governing Board

• Plan Zoning Commission

• Trees Forever and Branching Out Committee

• Uniform Building Board of Appeals

• International Fire Code Board of Appeals

• Water Board

• Landfill Commission.

To apply, go online to marshalltown-ia.gov.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.

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