New to Cherokee?
We welcome you to our community!
We hope this information will be valuable to you.
Law Enforcement Center
225-6728 or 911(emergency)
Ambulance
911
City Hall
225-5749
(office hours 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. M-F)
Library
225-3498
Community Center 225-2715
Bacon Aquatic Center
225-1130
GARBAGE COLLECTION:
The City contracts with a local garbage hauler (Sanitary
Services, 225-2313) to pick up garbage.
Regular garbage, not to exceed 132 gallons per week will be pickup up on
either Mondays or
Tuesdays, depending on your location. Excess
garbage over the limit will be picked up if
there is a sticker attached to each item/bag. Stickers are available at City Hall for $1.00 each.
Appliances, hazardous waste, landscape waste, batteries, tires, and large
amounts of construction materials will not be picked up.
Garbage rate is $9.20 per month. Landfill
is an additional
charge of $6.00 per month to each household. These two charges are billed
on your city water bill.
RECYCLING:
Recyclables will be picked up on either Thursdays or
Fridays, depending on your location.
Recyclables must be placed in open containers (so that the garbage crew
can determine
whether or not the items are recyclables), or special blue plastic recycling
bags, which are
available at no cost from City Hall. There
is no limit on the amount of recyclables that can
be set out for pickup. Recyclable
items include aluminum and tin food cans, glass bottles
and jars, #1 and #2 plastics, paper and newspaper, corrugated cardboard,
telephone books,
magazines and catalogs. Recyclables
can be intermixed in one container.
YARD WASTE:
Yard waste is normally picked up three times in the spring
and three times in the fall, by
Sanitary Services. Yard waste pickup dates are published in the newspaper, put
on the
water bills, and posted on the City web page. Branches must be bundled in lengths of no
greater than 4’. Yard waste will not be picked up if placed in plastic
bags! You can use boxes,
paper sacks or garbage cans, and yard waste is to be placed in the same place
where you put
your garbage, if Sanitary Services is doing the pickup.
The Cherokee County Landfill (225-3749) will accept yard
waste for disposal at no charge, any
time of the year.
The City schedules yard waste pick up days during the
summer. If the City is doing the
pickup,
yard waste must be placed at the curb, and placed in boxes or paper sacks
(branches bundled.)
Garbage cans will not be emptied, as the City uses a dump truck to do the
collection. Summer
yard waste pick up days will be printed in the newspaper, on the water bills, or
you can check
the website.
OPEN BURNING:
Burning of landscape waste is prohibited.
WATER AND SEWER:
Please notify City Hall for new water service or a change
in service. Water and sewer, along
with
garbage, landfill and storm sewer charges are billed monthly.
Meters are read monthly. Normally
bills for the west side of town are mailed out on the 15th of each
month, and due the 5th of the
following month. Bills for the east
side of town are mailed out the last day of each month, and
due the 20th of the following month.
There is a past due fee of 5% charged if payment is not
received by the due date. Either a
cash deposit of $100.00, or a letter of good credit from a
previous utility is required of all new utility customers.
After 18 months of no delinquent
payments, the deposit will be applied to the water account.
If the customer moves, the deposit
is applied to the final water bill, and any remaining credit balance will be
refunded to the customer.
The minimum monthly water charge (includes no water) is $5.00 per month, with
consumption billed at $2.00 per 100 cubic feet.
Also included on your bill is a system maintenance fee of $4.00, which
is scheduled to be collected for five years, until 6/30/2012.
This fee is being charged to pay for maintenance and painting of the
water towers.
Automatic withdrawal from your checking account is
available; to find out more about this service,
please stop at City Hall.
Minimum monthly sewer charge is $6.37 per month.
Sewer charge is $3.47 per 100 cubic feet of
water used.
A $3.00 stormwater utility charge is also billed to every
metered customer within city limits.
Lawn meters are available to meter water used for outside
consumption. A lawn meter will be
so placed as to meter outdoor water use, which does not reach the sanitary sewer
system,
therefore no sewer charges will be billed on this meter.
Contact City Hall for more information.
OTHER UTILITIES:
Electricity is provided by Mid American Energy. Their number is 1-888-427-5632.
Gas service is provided by Alliant Energy. Their number is 1-800-255-4268.
Telephone service can be obtained through Qwest (1-800-244-1111) or
Iowa Telecom (877-786-4692).
Internet service can be obtained through Iowa Telecom, Evertek (1-800-242-0154),
Qwest (1-800-996-2516), C-M-L Telephone (712-443-8222) or Northwest Internet
Service (1-800-249-5251).
Cable television is provided by Mediacom (1-800-332-0245).
COUNCIL MEETINGS:
The Cherokee City Council meets the 2nd and 4th
Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m. at
City Hall. You are welcome to attend the meetings. If you wish to have something placed
on the agenda for discussion, please call City Hall no later than the Thursday
preceding the
Tuesday council meeting.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION:
Snow Emergency: No
person except physicians or other persons on emergency calls shall
park a vehicle on any street or alley between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 7:00
a.m. whenever
there is two inches or more of snow on the streets.
From October 1 to April 1, there shall be
no parking on the Emergency Snow Removal Routes from 2:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.
This area
mostly encompasses the downtown area, for a complete description contact City
Hall.
Snow Removal: City
ordinance requires the clearing of snow and ice from sidewalks abutting
your property within 24 hours after cessation of a snowfall.
Grass, Weeds and other vegetation:
You are required by City ordinance to keep grass
mowed and maintained to a height not to exceed 6” in a developed residential
area.
Pets: The
City of Cherokee does not license pets, however it is unlawful for any owner to
allow an animal to run at large within city limits.
Building Permits: Permits
are required for building or remodeling when you alter the size
or dimensions of any existing building (including decks and fences.)
Permits must be
obtained for any new construction. Contact
City Hall to apply for a permit. Make
sure to
call Iowa One Call for any utility locates if you are doing any digging.
This is a free service.
Contact them at 1-800-292-8989.
Tax Abatement: All
qualified real estate assessed as residential property is eligible to
receive a partial exemption from taxation on the first $75,000 of actual value
added by
the improvements. The exemption is
for a period of five years, on a decreasing scale.
I
n order to be eligible for tax abatement, the increase in actual value of the
property must
be at least 10%. All commercial and
industrial real estate is also eligible for an exemption
from taxation on the value added by improvements.
Contact City Hall for more information.