(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisors held their regular weekly meeting Tuesday, May 17th, in the Harlan City Hall Council Chambers.  During the session a Public Hearing was held for the 2022 Budget Amendment. Having received no written or spoken comments from the public, the Board approved the amendment, as proposed.  There will be no increase in taxes. The budget was amended to include revenue from bond proceeds, as well as ARPA proceeds and expenditures and Secondary Roads Department spending.

Auditor Mark Maxwell, in his meeting minutes, said Lonnie Maguire, Director of Community Services, was on hand to tell the Board about the transition of her department from Shelby County Employees to Pottawattamie County Employees. Local property tax funding has been eliminated and the State of Iowa will now reimburse Pottawattamie County for the Southwest Iowa Mental Health costs. Services have not changed and the employees will keep the same offices in Shelby County, with rent being paid to Shelby County for the occupation. A lease was presented and approved by the Supervisors, minor wording changes were proposed by County Attorney Marcus Gross. The Supervisors then approved the changes and permit the Chairperson to sign the document once the changes are made.

A department report was given by Carolyn Blum , Shelby County Treasurer, Blum explained the many activities and changes that have been taking place in her office. And, the Supervisors unanimously approved a yearly Weed Destruction Resolution, which states ‘Each owner and each person in possession or control of any lands in Shelby County, shall cut, burn or otherwise destroy all noxious weeds thereon, as defined in the chapter, at such time in each year and in such manner as shall prevent such weeds from blooming or coming to maturity, and shall keep said lands free from such growth as shall render the streets or highways adjoining said lands unsafe for public travel. Noxious weeds shall be cut or otherwise destroyed as published in the official newspapers of Shelby County.” And, “If owners or persons in possession or control of any lands in Shelby County fail to comply with the foregoing orders, the weed commissioner shall cause this to be done and the expenses of said work including cost of serving notice and other costs, if any, to be assessed against real estate.

American Recovery Act funding was considered during the Shelby County Supervisor’s meeting. Grant applications discussed at the last Supervisors meeting were then presented to be acted upon by the Shelby County Board of Supervisors. The following grants and amounts were presented for consideration.

Defiance water tower-Regional backup for water supply–$43,000

Shelby County Trails-Engineering—————————-$50,000

Shelby County Conservation-Playground Equipment——$20,000

Kountry Kids Care-Child care expansion——————–$100,000

Harlan Airport-Service improvements————————$20,000

Shelby County Golf Water Conservation———————$27,500

Petersen Family Wellness-Upgrades————————–$52,500

Shelby County Fair-Tourism Improvements—————–$20,000

Environmental Health Well Plugging————————-$15,397

Mark Maxwell says “This will exhaust all funds available from Shelby County through the ARPA program.”  The dollars will be spent in accordance with ARPA spending guidelines.

(Ankeny, Iowa) – An investigation being conducted into the death of a 4-year-old girl from Ankeny, shows the girl somehow got a-hold of a handgun and accidentally shot herself in the face. The girl was pronounced deceased at a local hospital. According to court documents, the incident happened when Savannah Holmes‘ father – who has currently not been charged – went to answer the door. The incident happened in a home on Northeast 5th Street near Delaware Avenue in Ankeny, at around 11:26-a.m., Monday. A caller to 9-1-1 said the father was performing CPR on the child, until police and Ankeny Medics arrived.

According to Police, the father of Savannah said she and her brother were in highchairs when two men came to the residence and were pounding at the door. The father grabbed the gun and set it down near a couch, saying he feared conflict with the men, and went to the door to speak to them. He said that while he was at the door, Savannah and her brother had gotten out of their highchairs. He said he saw his son climbing up the stairs and went inside to get him. According to the search warrant, the father said he believed Savannah grabbed his gun and shot herself in the entryway.

One of the men told police that he heard the gunshot while talking to the child’s father, according to the search warrant. Police noted in the document that “it is reasonable to believe a crime occurred resulting in the death of a person.”

(Radio Iowa) – A senate committee has voted to spend a million dollars to replace security cameras and enhance security in the Iowa Capitol Complex. Senator Janet Petersen of Des Moines says she’s grateful.  “As many of you know, we have had a number of threats on this building,” Petersen says.A 23-year-old man was charged with vandalism in early 2020 after breaking into the Capitol on a Sunday morning. Surveillance camera footage showed he made it all he way onto the floor of the Iowa Senate.

Petersen says the added security for the Capitol as well as the state office buildings that surround it is warranted. “Those that work in state government on the complex deserve to know that they should be safe,” Petersen says.

Iowa is among the 30 state capitol buildings with metal detectors at the doors where visitors enter. The screening devices and security guards have been deployed at the state Capitol for more than 20 years. Last year, a security fence was installed around Terrace Hill, the governor’s mansion in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) – The family of a Cedar Rapids man who has been missing since his submerged city truck was found in the Cedar River is hoping his remains can be found. Erik Spaw was last seen on May 6th driving between work sites, and his truck was pulled from the river on May 7th. His mother Karen and other family told K-C-R-G T-V they believe complications from Erik’s Type 1 Diabetes contributed to his crash.  “He was trying to change it some way so he’d get better control of his eyesight and things. And so he was kind of doing things differently you know, and kind of trying to get it adjusted better,” she says. Family members remember Spaw as a daredevil who had loved to jet ski, snowmobile, and race cars. His brother Johnny Spaw said numbness caused by his diabetes led to the end of his brother’s racing. The family has put up flyers asking for help in finding Erik’s body. Karen Spaw says the family grieves, but they also feel they are in limbo.

“We’re just kind of still in shock, but we’re really hoping that they find him because it’s so hard to not know, you know, for sure that he’s deceased and we’re just waiting,” she says. Brother Johnny Spaw has the same feeling. ”Just wish we could find him so we could get this over with. It’s not going to bring him back, but you need the old closure word everybody talks about. I don’t know. It’ll help, but it’s not going to help,” Spaw says. Erik Spaw was 54-years old and worked for the Cedar Rapids Water Division.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, received an update on one project to develop new housing, and acted on passing an engineering agreement for another. Marty Boose, with Boose Building Construction, LLC, of Atlantic, provided an update on his Redwood Subdivision project.

Redwood Subdivision project, lot descriptions (Courtesy Marty Boose)

Boose has been a carpenter for 47 years and moved to Atlantic in 1980. He started his own business in 1988 and has weathered the housing market ebbs and flows. His first custom home in town was built in 1991 and there have been 30 built since then. He says he’s been buying in-field lots, including for the Redwood Subdivision.

He already has two lots for new homes sold, with construction set to begin on one later this year, and the other in 2023. Prospective home buyers must sign a purchase agreement for the lot, to ensure quality houses are built around the cul-de-sac to protect both buyers and the City. Among the provisions: The purchaser of one of the lots must build within five-years from the date of purchase of the property, or it will revert back to the developer (Boose), who will assess a restocking charge; No pre-built or trailer homes will be allowed on any of the lots; Living space must be 1,000 square feet, and the home must be connected to public utilities (no septic tanks). The house cannot have metal siding or a metal ribbed roof.

Some of the nine lots, he says, will have enough room for walk-out basements and larger homes than those featured on his Ash Street project. Councilperson Elaine Otte and other members of the Council thanked Boose for his presentation.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, approved a Snyder and Associates Supplemental Engineering Agreement for additional services associated with the Prairie Hills Development Project, the land for which will be purchased from Jim Comes, for $830,000. The agreement covers many facets, including: Platting Services (Boundary and topographic survey, preliminary and final plats); Design services; Bid services; construction services and other necessary items plus the administration of those services. The total cost of the Engineering Agreement is $262,750. Councilman Pat McCurdy…

The Snyder representative to the Council, Dave Sturm, said services described for the large project will take “A long time,” to undertake, even with the help of “A lot of people.” Separately, the Council passed a Resolution setting the date for a public hearing on the sale of City-owned property at 611 Linn Street, as June 1st. Henningsen & Baragary, LLC, have proposed building a 3,000-sq.ft home on the lot. City policy says the lot can be sold for $1-dollar, provided a home worth a minimum of $100k is built on it.