THE LIONS ROAR REINCARNATED

Edited by Mark Ripplinger

Photos by Don Wood & Mark Ripplinger

September 22, 2008

Lions President Mark Miller

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (September 22nd)

Fellow Lions, please plan on attending the next two weeks for lunch.
Next week we will be presenting our disaster relief checks to Parkersburg, New Hartford and North Cedar School. We should have local media there and we have a great story to tell. Two weeks from now we have our Inter-Club with Waterloo and our Member Guest. Mark Farley will be our program speaker, so this is a good opportunity to bring a prospective member.

We Serve ……… Mark Miller

TODAY’S MEETING (September 22nd)

Fred Abraham, will speak to the club about Lion’s Field.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

September 29th … Presentation of Flood and Tornado Relief Checks

October 6th … Interclub & Prospective Member Day – Mark Farley, UNI Head Football Coach, will speak to the club.

October 13th … Kyle Patterson, Eagle Scout Candidate, will speak about the Emergency Bucket project for Price Lab School.

BIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES

None Rose & Stan Lorenz – Sept. 24th

ANNOUNCEMENTS

None

LAST MEETING (September 15th)

Steve Bernard, Cedar Falls Utilities, spoke to the club about how the June flooding impacted the Utilities and what steps are being taken to repair the damages and what will be done to try and prevent a similar occurrence in the future. In 2007, CFU constructed a flood wall that would protect their main building, warehouse, generating plants and electrical substations. The project was designed to protect to the 100-year flood level plus three feet. The protection included solid and bladder walls. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the flood exceeded the protection level by more than three feet. This resulted in six feet of water in the office building, 4 feet of water in the warehouse and power plant. Water, gas, electricity and communication remained available in all areas except where flooding occurred. Total damages to CFU structures and infrastructure have been estimated at $25 million. Steve shared some photos of the flood levels and damages to one of the offices. CFU maintained emergency response capability and customer service was available within 36 hours of the flood. This was accomplished by moving staff to a temporary office in the Cedar Falls Industrial Park. Because Street Station was impacted by flooding, CFU has been forced to purchase power on the grid, at substantially higher costs than could have been produced locally. CFU is currently in the process of rebuilding their offices, with an anticipated completion date in the first quarter of 2009. It was determined that rebuilding on Utility Parkway was the best option for customers. A new building would require a substantial investment that would lead to rate increases. The existing location is not only centrally located for customers, it allows quicker staff response times during an emergency. CFU is taking steps to assure that they are protected from a similar flood in the future. They are adding an additional 2 – 3 feet in height to their existing concrete protection walls, building additional concrete walls and will utilize portable bladders that will be capable of providing protection for nine feet of water versus the previous six feet.