Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Change may be in store for an Iowa regulation that requires builders/developers in cities, including Davenport and Bettendorf, to restore the topsoil theyscrape off during grading.

Since late 2012, the return of 4 inches of topsoil in areas where there was at least 4 inches of topsoil in the first place has been required on tracts of an acre or more in certain Iowa cities.

This was a big change from the decades-oldpractice of skimming off topsoil and selling it or using it elsewhere, leaving landowners with lots composed largely of clay.

A key goal of the regulation wasto reduce stormwater runoff and flooding in new developments because topsoil, by its composition, acts as a sponge for water, whereas clayis nearly impervious to water, allowing it to wash down the street, carrying pollutants, said Joe Griffin, the stormwater coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, or DNR.

When the 4-inch requirement went into effect, the Iowa Home Builders Association estimated the cost of compliance would be about $300 or $400 per lot. But after implementation, membersdiscovered the actual cost is more than 10 times that, the association has said.

Developers claimed economic hardship and approached Gov. Terry Branstad. A stakeholdergroupwas formed toconsider alternatives.

The seven-memberstakeholder group that was selectedby the DNR directorin consultation with the governor's office met this spring andwillmakerecommendations Tuesday at a meeting of the state's Environmental Protection Commission.

No action will be taken at the meeting, butfuture action could include the repeal or amendment of the regulation, Griffin said.

Grimes, Clarke citetopsoil benefits

The DNR has invited written comments and posted them on its website. Of approximately 195posted by Friday, about half support the regulation and about half oppose it.

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Topsoil restoration could wash away

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) -

?Here is a list of road projects around the Heartland scheduled for Saturday, July 12.

Butler County, MO

Roadwork continues on Route 67 from CR 323 to Route 160/158 signed as Route C. Traffic on the existing Route 67 north and south of Harviell will not have an outlet to the new pavement during this time. East and westbound traffic will be restricted. Existing lanes of Route 67 from CR 323 to Route 160/158 will be signed as Route C. The north end of Route C (existing Route 67) will remain closed for about two months as work is completed at the intersection of Route 67, Route C, and CR 323.

Route 51 in Butler County will be closed as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform pipe replacement. The road is located between Route 53 and Route N. Weather permitting, work will performed Monday, July 14 and Tuesday, July 15 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.

On June 23, Middle Street from Broadway to Themis and the intersection of Themis-Middle will be closed as the Broadway storm water relief sewer work continues through this area. Depending on weather and other factors, this work could take approximately three weeks.

Route AA in Cape County will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews perform pavement repairs. This section of road is located from Route B to end of state maintenance. Weather permitting, work will on Monday, July 7 through and Friday, July 11 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Concrete street repairs are set to start on July 14 on Hopper Road near Clippard School in Cape Giradeau. The city says this will be the first of many repairs occurring this year. Work on Hopper is expected to last up to two weeks, weather permitting. Visit this link for more.

Carter County, MO

Roadwork continues on Route 21 from Ripley to Carter County from US 60 to US 160 until Nov. 1.

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Heartland road projects for 7/12

PATERSON Mayor Jose Joey Torres will collect the same $119,000 salary that his predecessor Jeffery Jones received, according to acting city business administrator Nellie Pou.

Paterson City Hall

Pou disclosed Torres salary in announcing that the state had signed off on the new mayors Cabinet appointees and their pay. For the most part, the administrators salaries match what members of Jones staff made.

Were trying to achieve parity here, Pou said.

For Torres, his mayors salary represents a significant pay cut. As business administrator in Jackson Township in Ocean County he had been making more than $125,000. In addition to that, Torres has been getting $36,000 per year as part-time administrator of the Bunker Hill Special Improvement District in Paterson.

Torres said recently that he would give up the Bunker Hill position. The groups board is in the process of looking for his replacement, Torres said.

Meanwhile, after waiting a week for state approval, Torres Cabinet is now in place. The city had decided not to disclose the administrators salaries until after the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs signed off on them.

Heres the breakdown provided by Pou:

Cabinet members who Torres chooses to appoint as permanent members of his administration must get the consent of the City Council.

Council Finance Chairman Kenneth Morris said he would prefer that the city establish salary ranges under a system that he said would allow the mayor to bring in more qualified people and provide incentives the directors for doing a good job.

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Paterson mayors salary set at $119,000

BAGHDAD, July 11 (UPI) --Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki confirmed Friday he has replaced Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, with a member of his own Shiite bloc, Hussain Shahristani.

Maliki's decision to replace Zebari further escalates tensions between the Iraqi central government and the the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq's north.

On Wednesday, the prime minister alleged in a televised address that Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, was "becoming a base for the operations of the Islamic State and Baathists and al-Qaida and the terrorists."

Infuriated, the Kurds announced on Thursday the Kurdish bloc in Iraq's central government would boycott Cabinet meetings.

One Kurdish regional government official said that Maliki's decision to remove Zebari from his position in the central government suggests the end of inclusive governing.

"With this step, the prime minister doesn't leave any room for power sharing," said Kurdistan Regional Government Foreign Affairs Minister Faleh Mustapha. "Had our ministers resigned from the government or if we had withdrawn entirely from the government, it would be different, but we are still participating in the political process."

At dawn on Friday, Kurdish Peshmerga forces seized control of two key oil facilities in the north previously run by the Iraqi government.

As Iraq battles Sunni insurgents, it continues to grapple with government formation. Iraq's parliament has not yet been able to agree on candidates to fill the senior positions of parliamentary speaker (typically a Sunni), president (typically a Kurd), and prime minister (typically a Shia).

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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Iraq's Maliki ousts Kurdish foreign minister Zebari, installs Shiite replacement

Having kids home for the summer or as frequent guests may cause homeowners to look at that empty or poorly designed bonus room a little differently right now.

Scattered toys, unorganized books, movies and games, and a mishmash of seating and shelving could drive you to a new plan for the extra space that may have sold you on the home. The spot might be overwhelming because of its sheer size, odd angles due to the roof pitch and placement of windows.

However, bonus rooms can be the ultimate playroom, craft room, theater or game room for kids, grandkids or young family members who visit often. Here are five dos and donts for turning a blank bonus room into a space for playing, crafting, gaming and movie watching.

1. Do plan out the space.

A flat-screen TV, pool table or old furniture may be destined for the bonus room, but its important to plan out the design before placing those items into the room. Having a plan can maximize the abundant space a bonus room can offer.

First, consider how you want the room to function. A lot of times home buyers desire a bonus room to have an additional living area for their kids, said Ginny Bryant, director of sales for Lennar Atlanta. But you have to decide: Will it be an all-out playroom, or a media room, or a craft room, or an office, or a blending of them? Since bonus rooms are often above a family or living room, or in the basement, they can be spacious enough to handle multiple functions if the laid out appropriately.

Even with a wall-mounted TV, homeowners should determine what media items need to be hidden and what other items such as games, puzzles and toys need to be stored and accessible to kids. Also consider whether you need tables or desks for crafts, computer use and homework projects when the kids go back to school. Those answers could determine the size of a bookcase or shelving system.

Sometimes a bookcase can take up the main wall of the room, serving as the focal point, said Angi Sago, design center director for Traton Homes. For example, when MOSAIC Group [Architects and Remodelers] turned a second-floor bonus room above the kitchen into entertainment space for the north Atlanta homeowners children, a built-in bookcase fit into one part of the room as the ceiling sloped on each side.

Also plan additional amenities. Installing a small bar sink can be helpful after kids have painted and done other crafts or eaten a snack, said Judy Mozen, president of Roswell-based Handcrafted Homes and president-elect of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

2. Dont design solely for today.

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Turn a blank bonus room into a hot spot for kids

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Siding Company San Antonio | 210-740-0407
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Efforts to save Bettendorf's old Forest Grove School are rolling forward with the installation of roof sheathingand the receipt ofa $50,000 project grant from the state of Iowa for additional work.

"That grant was a big shot in the arm for us," said Sharon Andresen, an organizer who began the effort to save the dilapidated one-room school onForest Grove Road in 2012.

Of the project grant, the group will receive $33,000 from the State Historical Society of Iowa via the Historic Resource Development Program, and members will have to raise the remaining $13,000 on their own, either in cash or through in-kind contributions, Andresen said.

The money will pay for gutters, siding repair and replacement, the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system and rebuilding the bell tower. The tower probably will be built over the winter in a shop. The deadline for this work is autumn 2016.

Andresen and others in the group are elated to have the roof sheathing go on because ever since the start of their efforts, that's the question everyone asked.

The sheathing was donated by Pro-Build andthe scaffolding by All-American Scaffold, both of Davenport. The plywood is being pounded into the intact raftersby volunteers working under the direction of a hired supervisor. The east side is nearly finished, with work beginning soon on the west.

Another summer goal is to order the cedar shingles, a cost of $4,100. The group is urgently seeking volunteers with experience at working on cedar roofs to help with this.

Also,bricks are onsite for the construction of a chimney sometime before winter. The chimney will not function, but is necessary to return the building to its 1920s appearance.

Also on the schedule for this summer: installation of eight replica windows and a front door that are being constructed by Carver Custom Millworks of Milan. The basic bid was $8,500, but the group decided to take on a $2,600 "up charge" to get historic, wavy glass in the windows, Andresen said.

The last of the money to pay for the windowsis being raised by Birdies for Charity, thecommunity fundraising program of the John Deere Classic golf tournament, and school supporters hope to raise the $2,600 during a car wash in August, Andresen said.

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Forest Grove School gets new roof

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