In a rare public discussion among Bettendorf aldermen about downtown and riverfront redevelopment, the city council and staff this week conceded they have no consensus on where they're headed and agreed to work toward a unified vision for the area.

The city has accumulated four different concept plans over the past 10 years for downtown and riverfront redevelopment, including the most recent version developed by RDG Consultants as part of the city's new comprehensive plan. A master plan from 2009 included specific street-scaping standards for the Grant and State Street corridors and called for development of a park-like city block between State and Grant Streets and 20th and 21st Streets.

Even the name of the block is a work-in-progress with the proposed green space variously called City Square, Town Center and Waterfront Commons.

What's with all the political hot air about broadband service in Iowa?

Even before President Obama visited Cedar Falls to talk about lack of competition among providers of broadband service, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and state legislators were pointing to expanding broadband to rural areas as an important issue to tackle in this year's legislative session.

Never mind that no one agrees on what "broadband" means.

So in the interest of educating voters above age 25, here is today's "broadband" quiz:

1) What is "broadband?"

• a. A large rubber band of various colors worn on your wrist to show support for social justice.
• b. A group of musicians who play a broad variety of songs from classical to hip hop.
• c. Dial-up service, but without the "kkkkkkkkkkkkshhhhhhh" sound and that fun "You've got mail!" welcome.
• d. A political term used by non-technical people who don't really understand what they're talking about.

The two Iowa agriculture department employees primarily responsible for inspecting the troubled Cricket Hollow Zoo have been critical – in emails to superiors and on social media sites – of citizens filing animal welfare complaint against the facility near Manchester.

In emails obtained by bettendorf.com through a Freedom of Information request from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), one state inspector calls the citizens who reported concerns about animal care at the zoo as being part of "the complaint crowd," and suggests in a May 2013 email to his boss – the state's top veterinarian – that future complaints by the animal welfare activists will likely be unfounded.

The recently unveiled Bettendorf comprehensive plan painted a rosy future image of the city's riverfront highlighting possible locations for high-rise condominiums on city land adjacent to Leach Park.

However, just weeks later, the city council is considering a decidedly different development opportunity for the old lime pile property: a road salt storage dome.

Funds to build a "temporary" road salt storage dome are contained in the new city Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) under review by the city council.

University of Iowa Credit Union plans to build a branch location along 53rd Avenue, Bettendorf, just west of the new McDonald's restaurant.

The credit union received approval for rezoning the land from agriculture to C-5 (office/transitional) zoning from the city's planning and zoning commission last month and the company is expected to get city council approval at its Tuesday (12/16) meeting.

Bettendorf aldermen will begin discussing next year's capital spending plan later this month after closing the books on the past fiscal year with a mountain of debt – $132.2 million to be precise.

It is hard to know where the city will find sufficient funds to pay for a plate full of projects discussed in recent months: rebuilding sections of Middle Road; combining or renovating community recreational facilities; enhancements to the new Forest Grove Park; redevelopment projects in downtown and along the riverfront; extension of sewer and water lines north of I-80; and development of a I-80/Middle Road sports complex.

The $132-million debt is nearly 85 percent of the legal limit set by the state (as of June 30), and substantially above the 73 percent level city officials projected the debt margin would fall to in 2012. Not incidentally, that projection was made during the last mayoral election year when the debt – $111 million at the time – became the focus of political debate.

Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. today (12/2) reported a $1 million loss for its second quarter as much higher interest costs on its debt offset a 3 percent increase in net revenues for the period.

For the three months ended October 26, the Isle – owner of three gambling operations in Iowa including the Bettendorf Isle of Capri – reported a loss of 3 cents per share, compared with a gain of 20 cents per share for the same period a year ago.

The number of exceedances of National Ambient Air Quality Standards in Iowa totaled 81 through November 4, nine more than the total number recorded in 2013, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

The vast majority of the exceedances so far in 2014 involved high levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution, with 63 of the exceedances recorded at air monitors in Muscatine.

While the primary source of SO2 pollution in Muscatine – Grain Processing Corp. (GPC) – has begun work on plant upgrades aimed at sharply reducing SO2 emissions, the community continues to have the poorest air quality in the state.