News : Lions Club Program....Housing In Vinton

Melissa Schwan, VU Director, and Emily Upah, Director of Benton Development Group.

“You can’t stand still in a parade”, might be the best way to describe the program at the weekly meeting of Vinton Lions Club last Wednesday. Emily Upah, Benton Development Director, Melissa Schwan, Vinton Unlimited Director, and Marlyn Jorgenson who has been very involved as a volunteer in Benton Development, spoke on efforts to improve housing for Vinton.

A recent labor survey showed that 1,700 people live in Vinton but travel to work in other communities. The surprise was that 1,400 workers live in other communities but commute to Vinton for work. A key goal is to make Vinton more attractive so future employees and employers choose to both live and work in our community.

Jorgenson told the group, “The cost of providing services goes up, just like everything else, but if we have fewer people sharing the tax burden, or those paying our taxes are increasingly older and on fixed incomes, we will start falling behind on many fronts and the cost for those who remain will go up. We need to spread the cost over more families and housing is one key to accomplishing that.”

As the three presenters explained, the benefits to the community of improved housing would include growth in school enrollment, a higher tax base, and increased demand for goods and services which would grow sales tax revenue.

Emily Upah shared information gleaned from recent meetings with Debi Durham, Director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority when she spoke in Van Horne last month. “As Debi explained it,” said Emily, “if we have four things in place we will attract business. Those four things are commercial buildings, utility capacity, high speed connectivity for internet communication, and housing. We have commercial buildings and commercial land available and we have utility capacity. But right now Vinton lacks housing options and high speed internet, and the absence of those two factors is holding us back in our efforts to recruit and grow businesses.”

Jorgenson was clear about the many types of housing Vinton needs. “We need housing appropriate to the different stages of one’s life and appropriate to people of different economic means. We need a good housing “mix”, not just one type of housing. We should be focused on housing for those who have retired and are now on fixed incomes, young families, business owners and professionals, but also the people will be employed in those businesses”, said Marlyn. Using him and his wife Ann as an example, he said, “I think Ann and I would probably already be living in Vinton if we had housing that matched what we’re looking for at this point in our lives.”

Marlyn cited several factors when asked what was holding-up the effort to build housing in Vinton.

“A big challenge is creating a good partnership between the City and potential developers,” Marlyn told the group. In a meeting we recently had with Aaron Klosterman, an Iowa City area developer who grew up in Vinton, we learned that developers look for four elements when judging whether a project can be successful. Those elements include the interest rate available, TIF and other incentives, a graduated assumption of risk on the part of the developer, and a creative plan for attracting the interest of potential buyers. So to answer your question, Vinton is struggling at present to get those elements all moving forward together.”

Mike Riege, Virginia Gay Hospital CEO was also in attendance to share some of his experiences working to attract trained medical staff to Vinton. “Even ten years ago”, Mike said, “it was easy to go on a little tour of town and find some homes our potential staff members would be interested in. Today they look for lots to build on, or we’re looking outside Vinton. Of our 18 medical staff members, four live in Vinton, two live outside Vinton but within the zip code, and 12 live elsewhere.”

All three presenters made clear that their organizations and other concerned members of the community would be working with the City Council to move forward on a comprehensive program to address Vinton's housing needs.

In other club business, Brian Larkin asked club members to consider volunteering for the Special Olympics mini-golf event to be held at the Vinton Skate Center. Brian mentioned that it's the first year for mini-golf and they're looking forward to a great turnout. Other members of the community interested in volunteering or donating should contact Brian Larkin.

The club also recognized Jim Peterson for attending the meeting on his 88th birthday.

The next Lions's meeting will be Wednesday, July 29th, at noon at Pizza Ranch. If you would like to present to the Vinton Lion's please contact us at vintonlionsclub@gmail.com. Don't forget to "like" our Facebook page.