The city of Cedar Rapids is trying to move on - it just needs a little help from the public. The city council's Development Committee will meet Oct. 16 to discuss new plans for the area known as First and First West. The eight-acre site has been described as a prime location for a "destination development," as it sits near the Cedar River on nearly three and a half blocks on both sides of First Avenue at First Street. Last year, the city council put out requests for a developer for the site, after two failed attempts to put a casino there. In November 2018, a steering committee selected Flaherty & Collins from two responses. But the city says while the firm "demonstrated experience in developing quality, high-end market rate housing in urban contexts," the plan for the site is destination and entertainment first, housing second. Following Wednesday's meeting, the city will hold an open house on Nov. 12 for public input on what type of development and public gathering spaces they'd like to see at First and First West.

A warning from city leaders in Cedar Rapids: do not use the new electric bikes and scooters on the sidewalks downtown. On Monday, the city sent out a reminder saying doing so could cause major safety concerns including pedestrian crashes. "People come in and out of stores and (with) high volume of pedestrians, you don't want any collisions," Bill Micheel told CBS2/FOX 28 News. Mr. Micheel is the city's assistant director of community development. He said there wasn't any specific incident that prompted the warning, but still wanted to remind people who are new to e-scooters. "There's always a learning curve with any new thing," he said, while also noting people should be using the bike lanes while riding them. In August, the city expanded its e-bike program to include scooters. Since then, more than 10,000 riders have used the 30 scooters.