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Home My Public Portal About2023 01-January From the City of RIVERDALE, Iowa www.riverdaleia.org | 110 Manor Drive | (563) 355-2511 | deputyclerk@riverdaleia.org | January 2023 Friendly Reminder Please help our fire department, snow removal crews, mail carriers, and package delivery folks by: * Parking off-street * Keeping trash/recycle bins in your driveway * Clearing snow from fire hydrants * Clearing snow from in front of your mailbox Thank you! 2 New Years - City Hall closed 3 Special Council Meeting 5:30p 9 RFD training 6:30p Fire Station 10 Budget Workshop 5:30p 10 Council Meeting 7p 16 Martin Luther King Day - City Hall closed 23 RFD training 6:30p Fire Station 24 Budget Workshop 5:30p 24 Council Meeting 7p 30 RFD training 6:30p Fire Station All events are at City Hall unless otherwise noted. After much anticipation, online payments have arrived in the City of Riverdale! Simply visit the City's website at www.riverdaleia.org and select the "$ Make a Payment" button at the top of the screen to set up a user profile, link to your utility account, and pay a bill online. A user guide on setting up a profile can be found on the City's website at Documents, Forms & Permits. Coming soon: Permit and room rental online payments! Mayor's Survey Budget season is starting again! Last fiscal year, our biggest expenditures (non-staff) were: 1) $106k repairing sanitary sewers 6) $21k upgrades to Davenport wastewater facility (our 0.9% share) 2) $75k final debt service levy payment 7) $20k city hall insurance policy 3) $49k repairing sanitary sewers 8) $18k auto insurance for fire trucks 4) $25k new stoplight control system at Bellingham 9) $16k January snow plowing bill 5) $22k repairing sanitary sewers 10) $15k landscaping services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mayor's Question: What projects do you believe the City should prioritize in the FY24 budget? Detach this portion and return to City Hall or email mayor@riverdaleia.org. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fenno Cemetery's Connection to Riverdale Google Images Remember the recent watermain break on Belmont Road near the Fenno Cemetery? The question arose, "What's the connection between the Fenno Cemetery in Bettendorf and Fenno Road and Drive in Riverdale?" After a little online and library sleuthing, here's what we found: Located near the base of Belmont Road, at 5520 Belmont, lies the final resting place of an estimated 125 early settlers to Pleasant Valley Township, which originally included an unincorporated Riverdale. Fenno Cemetery, over 170 years old, is the only cemetery within Bettendorf's city limits. Legend has it that the cemetery was hurriedly arranged due to a storm or tornado that took place near the site in the 1840's or 50's, which took the lives of several local people. However, no direct evidence has been found to verify this claim. George Fenno migrated to Pleasant Valley Township from Canada in 1838 and bought a large tract of land in Pleasant Valley Township in the early 1840's when homesteading in the area began. The Fenno family donated the land on which the Fenno Cemetery is located to Pleasant Valley Township some years later to be used as a cemetery. Fast forward to the mid-1900's, when Riverdale incorporated and Bettendorf annexed land in Pleasant Valley Township, which is what split the land that the Fenno family once owned into Fenno Cemetery in Bettendorf and the area including Fenno Drive and Road in Riverdale. Now that the mystery's solved, here's a little more history on the cemetery: In the 1900's, Fenno Cemetery fell into disrepair, until in 1969, when Cadette Girl Scouts Debbie Bowers, Nancy Perry, and Julia Wegmann, led by advisor Mrs. Ralph L. Orvis, undertook a project to rehabilitate the neglected cemetery. The Scouts anticipated their work would take one summer; however, they worked on the project continuously from 1969 to 1974 - nearly six years! The girls uncovered many headstones buried under inches of sod and dirt, cleaned, and maintained them, until Pleasant Valley Township agreed to maintain the property in 1974. Regrettably, Fenno Cemetery fell into disrepair once again, and in 1996, members of Bettendorf High School's Key Club undertook the task of repairing headstones and cleaning up the cemetery. Fenno Cemetery today remains relatively unchanged. Sadly, there are many broken tombstones, some lying in a pile at the north end of the parcel. It's believed that burial records were lost long ago; however, perhaps an internet super-sleuth will uncover records of all who call Fenno Cemetery their final resting place. Fenno Cemetery Today Check out the resources used to write this story: • https://roadsidethoughts.com/ia/cemeteries/fenno-cemetery-xx-scott-profile.htm • https://beacon.schneidercorp.com • Images of America: Bettendorf, Iowa's Exciting City by David R Collins, Bj Elsner, Rich J Johnson, and Mary Louise Speer • https://www.scottcountyiowa.net/library/cemetery/documents/fenno/FEN01.pdf • https://qctimes.com/news/trials-of-time/article_7fbc612b-a8a1-5380-9e08-43e16a84d0de.html • Bettendorf, Iowa: The First Century - 1903-2003 by Kristin Schipper with Mary Louise Speer • An Early Settler in Iowa by BR Leaman • Bettendorf History by Arthur J Voelliger • History of Pleasant Valley Township, Scott County, Iowa, by Dorothy B Lage https://beacon.schneidercorp.com Map of Pleasant Valley Township in 1905.