Vote will decide if Lake Delhi becomes a city

Voters are casting ballots today in a 23-hundred-acre area of northeast Iowa’s Delaware County. They’re deciding whether to incorporate into the town of Lake Delhi. If approved, it’ll become Iowa’s 949th city. Resident Pat Schmitz is spokesman for the Vote Yes for Lake Delhi Committee. Schmitz says it’s been a challenge for years to get local initiatives approved and through the process and they think having a mayor and a city council will help give them more clout and opportunities to accomplish various objectives. Schmitz says the community has been growing lately and many people are making the lake their year-round home. Many of those people are requesting better representation, which he says makes it clear, they need a new form of government and more pull as a city. Sue Behrens is spokeswoman for Concerned Citizens for an Informed Vote, the group that opposes incorporation. Behrens says “the economics aren’t there” and there’s no way that “making this lake into a city that we’re going to come out ahead dollar wise.” She says her group fears higher taxes and says there’s no good reason to incorporate. Before the election was announced, only 466 area residents were registered to vote. At last check, more than one-thousand are now registered, so today’s voter turnout is expected to be heavy.