(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic, Wednesday evening, heard an update from Mayor Grace Garrett, with regard to a visit late last month from a design team from Iowa State University, and a tour they took of the City, along with some City officials, in advance of a project selected by the Mayor. Garrett said she was one of six mayors from across the State chosen in April, and invited to join the “Mayor’s design workshop.”Other mayors include those from Council Bluffs, Marshalltown, Ottumwa, Cedar Falls and Fort Madison.

The workshop will be held July 30-31, 2024, in Ames. The goals of the program are to assist mayors in addressing complex design and planning challengers. They offer design,m financing strategies and implementation ideas.

Councilperson Elaine Otte said the City could choose one of two projects that would make the best improvements to the City. One was Bull Creek, the other was some sort of a safety building at the Schildberg Recreation Area. Councilman Jim Behrens said if the Bull Creek project is chosen, the ISU team will work with the Army Corps of Engineers, to overcome any issues the Corps has with the problematic area, including erosion and storm water run-off.

The Mayor chose to offer a comprehensive plan for Bull Creek.  She will make a presentation to the ISU Design Team on the project, and over the next 18 months, ISU plans to have a follow-up workshops involving the resource team. Studio courses will be developed for students around the project, to include support for preferences to address specific needs for the City of Atlantic, as they pertain to Bull Creek.

There is no charge to the City for input from the ISU Design Team.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic, Wednesday evening, passed an Order temporarily restricting parking on Palm Street, from 7th to 11th, and 10th Street, 150-feet west of the intersection with Palm. The restrictions are with regard to the Cass County Fair, and will be in effect from 6-a.m. July 27th, to 6-a.m. July 28th.

They also approved Temporary Road Closures and No Parking restrictions on select streets during the requested dates and times for the 2024 RAGBRAI ® event that takes place July 22nd & 23rd. The City expects at least 25,000 people coming to town on their bicycles, as well as support vehicles, event vendors and more. On a related note, Atlantic Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bailey Smith reported all those who were looking to find temporary housing for the large bicycling event, have found a place to stay. “We placed everybody,” she said.  A map of the route into and out of town can be found at https://atlanticragbrai.com/maps/

Bailey reports they have 211 volunteers to help make the event as smooth as possible for locals and those coming into town, but they could still use another 20-to 50 or so more, people to help. That includes traffic control, trash clean-up during and after the event. Volunteers will receive a free, orange shirt identifying them as being associated with the event..

Atlantic City Hall building

In other business, the Atlantic City Council received a report from the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission, which met Tuesday evening. City Administrator John Lund said the Commission had received some concerns with regard to the impact of storm-water run-off to the Camblin Hills housing and childcare development project, and the surrounding properties. City Engineer Dave Sturm addressed those concerns. Sturm said “There’s no doubt this development will increase the run-off from this parcel, however about 75-percent of this site [has] a ridgeline that runs from Lot 1 to Lot 48…that drains into the existing detention basin that comes off of Loma Circle.” That basin, he said, was designed and installed about 25-to 30-years ago to control the run-off to Bull Creek, and to have the capacity for the development of the land to be developed.

Sturm said “When this project is complete, we will clean-out that basin,” to remove some of the silt that’s been deposited over the years , but it is still adequate to handle the increased run-off from the development project. And, the Childcare Center will have its own detention basin. Another detention basin will be added on the southwest side of the housing development. Following the P&Z and Engineer Sturms reports, the Atlantic City Council approved the preliminary plat for the Camblin Hills Project, and the 1st Reading of an ordinance changing the Zoning Classification from R-2 (Low Density-Single Family) residential to R-4 (Multi-family) residential, and amending the Zoning Map to reflect the change.

(Radio Iowa) – Five Iowa breweries brought home awards from the 2024 U-S Open Beer Championships in Oxford,Ohio. Noreen Otto is the executive director of the Iowa Brewers Guild. “Iowa craft breweries broght home 13 medals at that national competition. It’s a really diverse competition with thousands and thousands of entries. So we’re really excited to see the Iowa brewing recognized for the quality craft that that’s coming out of the state,” she says.

There were more than nine-thousand beers representing over 170 different styles. Otto says the Iowa brewies won in several categories. “From Sioux City and Council Bluffs over to Decorah and then in the Des Moines area, it was really exciting to see you know some big names but also some emerging exciting breweries doing incredible things,” she says.

The following Iowa craft breweries received medal recognition:
Toppling Goliath Brewing, Decorah; Full Fledged Brewing Company, Council Bluffs;
Marto Brewing Company, Sioux City; Exile Brewing Company, Des Moines; Barn Town Brewing, Des Moines.

(Harlan, Iowa) – In an update to our previous post, Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Londo says that at around 1:45-p.m. Tuesday, July 9^th, 2024, an employee called Emergency Management personnel stating that the elevator at the Farm Service Cooperative in Harlan, had broken and there were two employees stuck at the top of the grain elevator.

Shelby County 911 was notified and they dispatched Shelby County Sheriffs Office, Shelby County Ambulance, Emergency Management, and Harlan Fire to the scene. A high angle rope rescue was conducted, and the employees were able to climb down the ladder on the side of the grain elevator without incident.

All agencies left the scene around 3:00PM.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa Hunger Coalition analysis has found there are 21 more sites for Iowa kids who qualify for free or reduced priced meals at school to pick up free meals this summer. Governor Reynolds used 900-thousand dollars in federal pandemic relief money for grants that opened 61 summer meal sites, but 40 of those have replaced locations that had closed. Iowa Hunger Coalition chair Luke Elzinga says if Reynolds had accepted 29 million dollars in federal funds for the “Summer E-B-T” program, 245-thousand Iowa children would have been guaranteed better meals at home.

“Summer EBT is the first new, permanent federal childhood nutrition program we’ve had in two decades,” Elzinga says. “…This is such an impactful program to address childhood food insecurity during the summer in a really effective, efficient way.” The program provides an extra 120 dollars in June, July and August for each child in a low income household. Reynolds turned down the 29 million dollars for the program in December, citing the administrative cost of nine-dollars per eligible child — and Reynolds said the program also failed to address the obesity epidemic among children. Elzinga says pilot programs tested the Summer E-B-T concept for a decade before all states were allowed to participate.

“We know from the data that Summer EBT leads to increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dairy,” Elzinga says. “It does not increase consumption of sugar sweetened beverages.” The Iowa Hunger Coalition has started a petition drive to encourage Reynolds to sign Iowa kids up for the Summer E-B-T program next year. Elzinga says Iowa food pantries have been seeing an increase in usage during summer months. On July 2nd, the 14 food pantries Elzinga oversees for the Des Moines Area Religious Council set a single day usage record, assisting well over 21-hundred individuals.

The council has operated a food pantry network in the Des Moines metro for 50 years.

(Radio Iowa) – The murder trial of the man accused of killing Algona police officer Kevin Cram continues today (Wednesday) in Dickinson County. D-C-I investigator Evan Thompson interviewed Kyle Lou Ricke in Minnesota, after he was arrested in the shooting. Assistant Attorney General Ryan Baldridge asked Thompson what Ricke said about the shooting.

Baldridge asked Thompson about trying to get Ricke to tell him where the gun used in the shooting was.

Ricke is charged with first-degree murder in the killing of officer Cram. The trial continues this afternoon.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – State regulators have taken action against three men they say share responsibility for illegal fires that torched 10 large chicken confinement buildings last year near Villisca. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports one of the men, Tyson Means of Villisca, has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine, according to a recent Iowa Department of Natural Resources order. Two others, Shawn Gohlinghorst and Darrel Schipansky, were issued violation notices, but no orders regarding them have been publicly released.

State law generally prohibits the deliberate burning of buildings and requires their debris be taken to a landfill, but there are exceptions for agricultural buildings. In this case, Villisca had annexed the property, and burning the buildings had additional requirements, such as gaining approval from the local fire chief. That didn’t happen, according to the DNR. The building fires were ignited simultaneously about 3 p.m. on June 29, and they burned for hours. Each building was 50 feet wide and 728 feet long. Iowa DNR Senior environmental Specialist Kristi Burg said “There’s no way you would have had enough fire departments and water nearby if it got out of control.” The Villisca fire chief became aware of the fires about seven hours after they began and decided “it was too big to be put out,” the DNR order said.

Fires burned 10 former chicken confinement buildings near Villisca in June 2023. (Photo by Brian Hamman/courtesy of Iowa DNR)

Several rural homes are located nearby, along with a site for storing and distributing liquid fertilizer. The property lies about a mile west of residences and businesses in town. Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hamman said the smoke and glow from the fire was visible for miles, and residents in four different counties made emergency calls to report it. Hamman said the men burned the buildings after recent rainfall, and that the fires did not stray. “From my point of view, there was nothing dangerous,” he said.

Schipansky owned the property, and Gohlinghorst and Means later bought it on contract. They razed the site with the intention of growing crops on the land. The men had also neglected to inspect the site for asbestos. The DNR tested samples of the debris and found no asbestos, but “a thorough asbestos sampling could not have been conducted since the buildings had been completely burned,” the department’s order said.

Gohlinghorst and Means rid the property of the remaining building debris in September and October 2023 and disposed of it at a landfill, the order said.

Debris from the confinement buildings were later taken to a landfill. (Photo by Brian Hamman/courtesy of Iowa DNR)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources surveyed the burn site the day after the fires were ignited. (Photo by Brian Hamman/courtesy of Iowa DNR)

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Adair County, today (Wednesday), held discussion with regard to the County Compensation Board. In the past, Compensation Boards were in charge of reviewing and comparing elected officials’ salaries and recommending a compensation schedule. Adair County Auditor Mandy Berg reported the Compensation Board had dissolved as of July 1^st, due to State Legislation. Berg said that leaves the Supervisors with two options.

She said if the Supervisors reinstate the Compensation Board, ISAC (Iowa State Association of Counties) recommends a drawing of lots with regard to terms of the Supervisors who are represented on the Compensation Board.

Following discussion, the Supervisors unanimously voted to reinstate the Compensation Board. In other business, the Supervisors in Adair County acknowledged receipt of the FY23 MATURA Audit.They also approved the re-appointment of Lee Ashmore to the Veterans Affairs Commission. His term was set to expire. They also discussed a proposed County Tax Abatement for rural homeowners who lost their homes in the tornado that struck Adair County on May 21st. Supervisor Jodi Hoadley…

Fourteen rural homes were lost in the storm. Hoadley said the rural residents just want to be treated fairly, when compared city residents. Supervisor John Twombly said he feels new houses in the rural area should be taxed accordingly.

Twombly motioned not to allow the Abatement. It was approved by a vote of 3-to 2, with Hoadley and Baier opposed, and Twombly, Walker and Wedemeyer in favor.

And, Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman provided the Board with his weekly Secondary Roads report. Prior to the report, the Adair County Supervisors approved of Board Chair Jerry Walker signing of plans for the G-61 Culvert Repair Project, and they passed a resolution authorizing Kauffman and his assistant, Sawyer Hansen, to be represent the County with regard to Federal/State (disaster recovery) assistance.

In his report on maintenance and activities, Nick Kauffman said Henningsen Construction is expected to be in the County sometime around August 19^th, to conduct work on the Henry Wallace Road.