The flood of 2008 is forcing the Cedar Rapids city council to move its meetings outside city limits. Starting today, council members will hold their meetings in the suburb of Hiawatha. Before the flood, the council met in the Veterans’ Memorial Building – which sits on an island in the Cedar River and was severely damaged.
After the flood, the council used an auditorium style room owned by a local business. Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, who was elected last November, says it’s time for a change. “Presentations to the council were all behind where the council sits, it’s awkward and so the council chambers over at Hiawatha will be better for presentations to the council,” Corbett said.
A construction manager has been selected for the Veterans’ Memorial Building and bidding will soon get underway, so the move to Hiawatha is only temporary.
Corbett says the council will likely hold its meetings in Hiawatha until the end of the year and then move back into the Veterans’ Memorial Building.