Riverside prepares for Boom Night

By Paul Bowker
Posted 9/21/21

Boom Night is coming to the streets of Riverside next Wednesday.

The parade route for Highland High School’s Homecoming celebration, following a similar path as the TrekFest parade did this …

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Riverside prepares for Boom Night

Posted

Boom Night is coming to the streets of Riverside next Wednesday.

The parade route for Highland High School’s Homecoming celebration, following a similar path as the TrekFest parade did this past June, was approved by the Riverside City Council at its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday.

The Boom Night parade will begin on Highway 22 in Riverside’s business district and then head down Railroad Street to Hall Park. The parade is set to begin at 6 p.m. September 29 and will be followed by several activities at Hall Park.

As parade routes were discussed, council person Andy Rodgers suggested one option would be to start the parade near Railroad Park, south of Highway 22, and go to Hall Park without disturbing traffic on Highway 22. However, the proposal for the parade beginning on Highway 22 in front of downtown businesses won out.

Traffic flow may be interrupted for 15 or 20 minutes, parade organizers said. Mayor Allen Schneider said the city would coordinate the scheduling with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Highland’s Homecoming Week will include the Huskies home football game on Friday night, October 1, against Wapello at 7 p.m. at Highland High School.

Among those featured in the parade will be Highland’s Homecoming Court: Grace Batcheller and Connor Grinstead, Jalynn Brown and Carson Netser, Mackinze Hora and Eli Slaymaker, and Carsen Mellinger and Tristen Wendling.

The council approved a resolution detailing amended job descriptions for the city clerk/treasurer, building inspector and public works maintenance worker.

A resolution proposing the final approval of the city administrator’s job description will be on the agenda for the city council’s next meeting on October 4. At issue is a residency requirement calling for the city administrator to live within 10 miles of Riverside. It produced a lengthy discussion at the city council’s meeting on August 2 with council members not arriving at a common point of agreement. Current city administrator Christine Yancey has an apartment in the Riverside area, but also has a weekend home in Mechanicsville, a small city located southeast of Cedar Rapids.

The residency requirements for other city employees are 20 miles, not 10 miles.

“I think this is such overkill,” council member Edgar McGuire said at the August 2 meeting.

Schneider preferred the subject be tabled until the next meeting, after council members were able to consider all sides of the discussion.

“We need to be prepared to have a professional discussion about it,” Schneider said.

The council also unanimously passed a resolution approving a financial agreement with Speer Financial of Chicago. The agreement covers budgeting and financial planning. Arrangements involving capital improvement projects will be determined by the city council.

The council also:

• Set 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, October 31, as the official trick-or-treating time for kids on Halloween.

• Heard an update on the Railroad Park project by Axiom Consultants of Iowa City. Plans call for 46 parking spaces around the park, along with upgraded playground equipment and materials. Another update will be given at the next city council meeting with final design approval expected to occur in October or November.

• Heard an update from Trekfest organizers. The June 2021 festival attracted more than 5,000 over one weekend, and included a parade, appearances by Star Trek III and Star Trek IV actress Robin Curtis, and Star Trek makeup artist John Paladin, a Bill Riley Talent Show and several sports tournaments.