Glidden Vision Committee

The Glidden Vision Committee consists of:

The Core Group

Education Subcommittee

Amenities/Communication/Involvement Subcommittee

Daycare Board

Glidden Development Group

Endow Glidden Group

Year 2 (2020) Plan for the Glidden Vision Committee:

• Share the results and updates of Year 1 with the City Council, those involved/attended the vision and planning sessions, and the general public
• Provide committee support to the Glidden Endowment Fund; share the Gilore City project fund example
• Through the Development Corporation, build 4 housing units; assist in finding buyer for the grocery store to keep as a going business in Glidden, and identify and promote available buildings/properties in downtown Glidden
• Through the Activities Committee and a new 501(c)3 organization, develop a day care center for Glidden. Through the Activities Committee, identify next priority project(s) to pursue for the community and continue the discussion of adding an Activities Director to the City of Glidden staff in 2020.

• Through the Education Committee, facilitate volunteer opportunities at the school purse adult education classes.

Year 1 (end of 2018/2019) Recap:

• Recruit volunteers for the two subcommittees (Education and Amenities/Communication), organize and begin to identify priorities and actions.
• Learn more about the Activities Director position created in Coon Rapids and other communities as a potential model for Glidden.
• Convene the Glidden Development Group and being discussion about actions related to housing development (including an assisted living facility) and new businesses and jobs in the community; formulate next steps
• Identify number of units needing to be removed and the number of vacant lots available for building.
• Support the efforts to form the Endow Glidden fund.
• Meet quarterly with Kathy Every of KJE Solutions to review progress and update the plan.

Education Sub-Committee 2018-2019 Summary

• Formed in October 2018
• Committee established regular meeting time as 3^rd Thursday of the month at 4:30 pm.
• November & January- established goals, developed evaluation forms, including the school in plans and asking staff and administration to include the committee in any lesson or educational activity where the committee could help, compiled a list of businesses for reference.
• February & March- established lines of communication through the Glidden Graphic and the school website, started initiating a way to incorporate adult ed in Glidden, the committee filled the need for evaluators and interviewers for the 21^st Century Skills and Business classes, and began plans for School-wide service learning day to be held April 26^th.
• April & May- committee participated and provided community members for the Service Learning Day April 26, the first adult learning class was held at the First United Methodist Church for gardening, committee made initial plans for serving and gifts for the first day of school in August, the committee again supplies interviewers for the 21^st Century Skills class.
• June through August- committee supplied community members to help clean the maker space in July, members met to assemble the gift bags and solidify breakfast plans, members provided/served breakfast casseroles, cinnamon rolls and drinks to the whole staff on August 20, including all the table service, committee purpose was introduced to all new/old staff in hopes teachers will allow the committee make their jobs easier, and a bulletin boards were constructed.

Glidden Amenities Committee 2018-2019 Summary

The Amenities Committee is responsible for improving communication and developing desirable or useful facilities or features for Glidden.

• Obtained quality members that wanted to make Glidden a better place.
• Brainstormed ideas that would attract and retain people/families.
• Main idea discussed included a community building/rec center but was determined this is more of a want than a need at this time.
• Daycare Center was determined to be the biggest need for the area.
• A Daycare Board was established which include Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws are established and have been sent to the State of Iowa.
• The next step will be to obtain the land and form a 501(c)3 for funding.
• Research ways to improve communicating local events to the community.
• Looking at the future, the committee is discussing creating a new community organization for people to join that would be separate from local, church, school or Lodge groups, and continue the discussion of the community center/rec center along with the hiring of an Activities Director to oversee the pool, park and rec departments, and the new community center/rec center.

Glidden Development Group 2019 Update

The Glidden Development Group was charged by the Glidden Vision Core to address two priorities in Glidden’s strategic plan. Housing and business development.

Housing:

• October 2018 the group reviewed the Carroll County and Glidden Housing Needs Assessment.
• January 2019 the group met with Region XII Council of Governments to discuss options with led to Region XII offering to own 2 senior housing duplexes if the City would purchase and demolish two sites lose to downtown.
• The City Council agreed to the project.
• Financial partners include the City of Glidden, Peace Lutheran Church Foundation, and Region XII. Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative is assisting with low-interest loan funds for cash flow. United Bank of Iowa will hold a mortgage on the property and housing grant money is also involved.

Business Development:

• The focus has been primarily housing; however, the group is discussing steps to address the need for business development in Glidden.
• The group will focus on encouraging the best use and redevelopment of existing buildings along with business recruitment, attraction of additional jobs, and supporting existing local businesses in the coming year.

Please consider joining a Committee by visiting the Volunteer Opportunities page to review open committee positions and contact information.