New city ward boundaries show minimal changes

There was little change made to the city ward redistricting for Creston.

During Tuesday’s Creston City Council meeting, the council held a public hearing and approved the first reading of an ordinance to amend Creston city ward boundaries 1 through 5.

“It’s maybe four or five blocks,” said City Administrator Mike Taylor on the ward-boundary changes. “It’s really minimal.”

Every federal decennial census, the city council must review ward boundaries to make sure legal requirements are met.

Population can’t vary more than 10 percent between wards, and with the city’s growth in population, new boundary lines needed to be drawn.

“Our number actually is 7,834,” Taylor said of Creston’s population. “We divide that by 5 wards, so our optimum number is 1,567.”

Change

One change in ward boundaries was between Wards 1 and 5. The current western boundary for Ward 5 is North Walnut Street, but with the proposed boundary changes, it will be moved to North Pine Street and the Hurley Creek area.

To make up for a loss in population, Ward 1 will have a southern boundary of Mills Street.

The ward boundary changes won’t have any effect on city council member representation.

“The only effect it would have on the public would be they might have a different council person,” Taylor said. “That won’t be in this coming election.”

New precinct boundaries become effective January 15, 2012.

“The only difference is the county auditor might send somebody to a different polling place,” Taylor said. “But, there’s going to be so few, it probably isn’t going to affect very many people.”

If the public has additional questions about city ward redistricting, maps are currently posted in the city hall and council chamber.