Belle Plaine Community Development is springing into action on our goals and projects! Check out what we have been up to in the last month:
Spring is on the way, along with the new season of downtown’s Bio Cells needing their annual makeover! Last year, BPCDC on behalf of the City, created the Belle Plaine Bio Cell Committee. Its mission is to REVITALIZE our downtown bio cells as they were designed to absorb and filter surface water from rain and snow.
2024 was a successful year with the Bio Cells. We accomplished uniformity for the most part and did replant any cells. Remington Seeds employees volunteered to help execute our first phase, and now it is time to complete the remaining cells planting and maintenance.
The Bio Cell Committee would like individuals or businesses to consider adopting one or more cells along 12th Street (Main Street)!
Adoption guidelines for those considering adopting a cell:
- Maintain the plants and keep cell tidy by removing trash and debris.
- Take time bi-weekly to check for weeds, Brian Baumgartner or Emma Peebles will send out reminder texts.
- Work with the Bio Cells Committee and BPCDC in meeting expectations and execution of plans and offer recommendations for your cell to the committee.
- Do not alter the cell without first contacting a committee member.
We hope that you consider helping our city by adopting a Bio Cells for 2025. Adopters will be recognized with a sign in your cell! We as a committee are extremely excited about they future of downtown Belle Plaine. If you are interested in adopting a cell please contact the BPCDC Director, Emma, at director@bpcdc.net or 319-434-6481
You may start to notice new signs in storefronts about accepting Belle Plaine Bucks! We are refreshing the BP Bucks program, and are excited to help keep our commerce here in town. You can find the list of participating businesses on growbelleplaine.com. BP Bucks are purchased at City Hall, spent at participating businesses, and then businesses take the spent BP Bucks to MidWestOne Bank to have a check written to them for the amount of the BP Buck. They are a great idea for gifts, giveaways, raffles, or rewards!
Planning for July 3rd and 4th Celebrations has begun! We, along with the Belle Plaine Lions Club, are so excited to make this year’s festivities even better than before! Please keep your calendars marked for July 3rd’s Car Show and July 4th’s Parade, Park Activities, and Firework Show! We are currently making a list of interested vendors to participate in the July 4th Vendor Fair. Please email Emma at director@bpcdc.net if you’d like to have a booth at the fair.
We wish to thank Judy Schlesselman for her service on our board of directors the last three years. As she steps off the board, she will continue to volunteer with BPCDC events and coordinate the downtown flags and hanging baskets project.