(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Legislature has approved up to eight MILLION dollars for the new Thrive Iowa program Governor Kim Reynolds proposed, to link people in need with faith-based and private sector groups that can help. It’s modeled after a similar program in Florida. In January, Reynolds said community support is just as important as government programs in helping Iowans get back and their feet and become self-sufficient.

“The good news is that many of these resources already exist across our state, from faith communities, to non-profits, and so many other wonderful organizations. They are doing life-changing work every single day,” Reynolds said. “Government’s role is not to replace these grassroots efforts, but to amplify and facilitate them.”

Republican Senator Mark Costello of Imogene says he’s not sure if the Iowa Department of Human Services will hire a company to run the Thrive Iowa program, although he says some of the eight MILLION dollars is for staff and developing an online system for requests and referrals. “It’s really the human element and using the navigators to assist Iowans that are in need. And it’s a closed loop referral system under HHS,” Costello says. “It’ll be statewide and connect the community provider to nonprofits.”

Senator Sarah Trone Garriott, a Democrat from Waukee, says the United Way already operates the 2-1-1 referral service for two MILLION dollars. “It doesn’t make sense to me to start a brand new program when the one we have right now, right here is already doing this work, especially when it’s going to cost up to $8 million for them to do the same thing,” Trone Garriott said. “That sounds like a really bad deal for Iowans.”

Trone Garriott says the extra eight MILLION dollars would have been better used feedy needy Iowa children this summer.

(Harlan, Iowa)- The Shelby County Board of Supervisors met in a special session at 9:00-a.m. Tuesday, April 23, 2024,  and held a Public Hearing for the 2025 Shelby County Budget. Having received no comments, verbal or written, the hearing was closed and the Board opened a Special Session, whereby they passed a Resolution (as show below), to adopt the Budget as proposed, along with the Shelby County Compensation Board’s recommendations.

RESOLUTION NO.  2024-19: ENTRY RECORD OF THE HEARING AND DETERMINATION OF THE COUNTY BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025

BE IT REMEMBERED, on the 23rd day of April 2024, A.D., at the hour of 9:00 A.M. of said day, the Board of Supervisors of Shelby County, Iowa, met for the hearing upon the county budget as filed with the Board.  There was present a quorum as required by law.

WHEREAS, the Board investigated and found that the notice of time and place of hearing had, according to law, and as directed by the Board, been published in the official county newspapers published in Shelby County and that affidavits of publication, therefore, are on file with the County Auditor.

THEREFORE, on said day, the budget was taken up and considered.  Present were interested parties and various department heads.  There were no other written or oral comments.  After discussion, the Chairman declared the hearing closed and the County Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 adopted, along with the Shelby County Compensation Board recommendations.

The above and foregoing resolution was adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Shelby County, Iowa, the vote thereon being as follows:    AYES: Kenkel,  Parkhurst. NAYES:  None  Abstain: Schaben

The meeting then adjourned.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Nishna Valley YMCA Executive Director Dan Haynes, today (Tuesday), issued a statement with regard another anonymous donation in support of operations at the Sunnyside Pool, in Atlantic. The donation will help to pay for five additional people to take the Lifeguarding Class, who plan to work at the YMCA, as well as a sign-on bonus to those who act quickly! The LifeGuard Classes begin next week.

(Radio Iowa) – Ground was broken this morning on Mason City’s Destination Iowa bike park project. City Administrator Aaron Burnett says a grassroots effort from a local organization turned into a state-funded project with help from a $4.5-million Destination Iowa grant.

Burnett says the bike park is specifically designed for off-road and mountain biking with features for all ages. The closest example of a facility like this is in Arkansas.

“A bike park is really a place where you can work on your skills, everything from a little kid just getting on a bike for the first year of their life and riding it around and going over some small bumps, all the way up to expert jumplines where you have a little more danger, but you are also getting air and experiencing that, working on your jumps, going over features,” Burnett says.

The Prairie Rock Trails Bike Park will be located on the southern edge of Lime Creek Nature Center and will link the 450-acre conservation area to Mason City’s new High Line Trail, the Riverwalk near Southbridge Mall and 20 miles of existing trails. Burnett says the bike park is the main feature of the city’s Destination Iowa grant, which includes the build-out of a trail system in the area.

“We’re building many miles of single-track trails here. We’ve got the bike park that we’re celebrating today with the groundbreaking, but we’ve already completed the High Line Trail,” he says. “The Riverwalk has been bid, and that will start construction this year.”

Alaina Santizo, of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, says Mason City’s application was part of a very competitive process in choosing award recipients for Destination Iowa grants.

“The county, city and these groups that really coalesced around one plan brought forward, but also the uniqueness of all,” Santizo says. “This is the first of its kind in our state and even in the Midwest, so it’s really exciting. During those COVID years, we really saw people just really craving those outdoor recreational opportunities and that’s just remained. The COVID days are past us now, but people still love doing some of that outdoor recreation.”

Photo by Bob Fisher, KRIB

Santizo praises the local efforts of Mason City and Clear Lake in recently receiving Destination Iowa grants for projects. This project fits into the program’s outdoor recreation awards, while the Clear Lake Surf District project received funding from the “placemaking” portion of the program.

She says, “The projects that both of those communities brought forward were extremely competitive, and so they scored well in our process, and we were pleased to be partners on both of those projects.”

The bike park is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2025.