Tagged: Keokuk

Keokuk’s new police chief says his first two months on the job have been pretty busy.

It appears Keokuk is ready to move ahead with a large-scale street reconstruction project.

Several years ago, the city borrowed about $3-million to rebuild Grand Avenue, from 4th Street to Rand Park.

The bids came in much higher than that, though, so the city had to repay the loan, with interest, and put the project on the shelf.

Talk of rebuilding Grand Avenue has resurfaced in recent weeks, culminating in last night’s Keokuk City Council workshop.

Keokuk will no longer need outside help to settle a new contract with some employees.

Mayor Tom Marion says that’s because the city and the general unit have reached a tentative agreement.

The employees in the general unit come from multiple departments, including streets and parks.  They have been working under their previous contract since July 1.

Marion says the tentative agreement allowed the two sides to cancel an arbitration hearing scheduled for this week.

Keokuk is looking for some help as it gets ready for "company."

The city will host the 26th annual Iowa Downtown Summit on August 21 and 22.  The event is expected to bring more than 350 individuals from across the state and the country to Keokuk.

They will hear presentations on a variety of topics: development, preservation, retail and social media.

Mayor Tom Marion says organizers want to put a "bright, shiny face" on the city for the event., so a special downtown clean-up event is scheduled for Saturday morning.