Townhall gathering focuses on industry, Raspberry Festival
By Andy Hallman Daily Freeman-Journal WriterThe second of two townhall meetings to discuss solutions to the challenges facing Webster City was held Wednesday evening in the Middle School. The meeting was led by Doug Getter and was organized by Webster City HYPE.
Getter began the meeting by talking about the importance of Webster City's existing industry.
"Your existing industry if the heart and soul of your community," said Getter. "The data suggest that 80 percent of job growth occurs within existing industry. I know the new owners of Aquila are interested in investing locally."
Sherri Hotzler said that one thing that is holding Webster City back is that it lacks a railroad spur.
"We don't have a public spur that multiple industries can use," lamented Hotzler. "We have to get our bulk silo material trucked in from Des Moines. Electrolux and VanDiest have their own areas for unloading, but those aren't available to other industries, and that is what we need."
Ed Sadler said that he has talked to the railroad and it has specific criteria that have to be met before a spur can be opened."The railroad needs 100 cars a week," said Sadler.
Mike Noe said that railroads should not be thought of as an antiquated form of transporting goods.
"The day of the railroad is coming back because of the price of gas," said Noe. "No one can afford to truck. Railroads are now making a comeback in the west."
Noe also said that Webster City residents should be proud of their utilities.
"We're one of 120 municipal utilities in the state of Iowa. The City works with industry to keep electric rates down and our utilities kick in to keep the taxes down," remarked Noe.
Hotzler had a different assessment of the utilities. "My company just opened up a new facility in Nebraska because we're not competitive here, due to the electric rate and the lack of a work force," said Hotzler, who works for Vantec.
Another issue discussed was how to market the Raspberry Festival. Tyler Abens commented that it could draw a big crowd if marketed properly.
"We need to sell the Raspberry Festival and 7B Ranch to outsiders," said Abens. "I think people would drive a ways to see it."
Getter proposed that selling raspberries should be the focus of the Raspberry Festival.
"I grow two varieties of raspberries," said Getter. "There are so many kinds of raspberries that if we're going to have a raspberry fest, let's market raspberries. The folks at Iowa State have a great wine making program. You could custom-make a wine that you could sell locally."
Bob Erickson also had some ideas for the Raspberry Festival.
"Maybe we could combine Raspberry Festival with other unique things in town like antiques from Webster City," stated Erickson. "If we could bring a lot of things together, that'd be great. That's what we did with the 150th celebration. There are a number of talented area artists we could invite."
Sadler said that all the projects discussed need volunteers.
"We've heard a lot of good ideas, but the one thing that stops them all is a lack of volunteers," said Sadler. "The same people volunteer for Crazy Days and the Boone Bash and other activities, and they're worn out. The money for these projects is easier to come by than finding the people to do them. Right now, we don't have enough volunteers to double the size of the Raspberry Festival."
Contact Andy Hallman at reporter@freemanjournal.net
