Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett today (Tuesday) announced that USDA is investing $1.2 billion to help rebuild and improve rural water infrastructure for 936,000 rural Americans living in 46 states. Included among the projects are those in Adair, Anita, Creston, Lewis and Pisgah.

Ten of the projects are assisting more than 52,000 rural Iowa residents across the state. These 10 projects are receiving a total of $59,178,000 in loan and grant funding from USDA Rural Development. USDA is providing financing for 234 water and environmental infrastructure projects through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program. The funding can be used for drinking water, stormwater drainage and waste disposal systems for rural communities with 10,000 or fewer residents.

Eligible communities and water districts can apply online on the interactive RD Apply tool, or they can apply through one of USDA Rural Development’s state or field offices.

In southwest Iowa:

• The City of Adair is receiving a $2,000,000 loan and a $1,320,000 grant to help replace its water treatment plant with a reverse osmosis system. The project will serve 781 residents and will meet all environmental regulations pertaining to the water system.
• The City of Anita is receiving a $2,920,000 loan and a $335,000 grant to rehabilitate the city’s wastewater treatment system.  The treatment plant is not in compliance with federal standards. A submerged attached growth reactor treatment system and an ultraviolet disinfection treatment system will be constructed. Three-phase power will be extended to the lagoon system, and the lift station will be upgraded.
• The Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (Creston) is receiving a $22,220,000 loan to help develop a water treatment plant. This project will allow the association to transition to owning its own water source and treatment facility. This will result in improved water service for approximately 33,500 rural customers in the association’s 12-county service area in southern Iowa.
• The City of Lewis is receiving a $720,000 loan and $628,000 grant to update its water treatment plant, install new water meters and replace approximately 3,500 feet of water mains. This project will help the city update its aging, deteriorating water infrastructure and allowing the city, population 433, to better provide safe and potable water to its business and residential users. Additional funding for the project includes a $20,000 USDA Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH) grant.
• The City of Pisgah (Harrison County) is receiving a $583,000 loan to help update its wastewater system. A cured-in-place pipe liner will be installed, and the community’s lift station and control panel will be rehabilitated. These improvements will help reduce out-of-season discharges from the controlled discharge lagoon by reducing inflow and infiltration. Additional funding for the project includes a $26,000 USDA pre-development grant and a $9,450 applicant contribution.

(Radio Iowa) — Legislative leaders say they’re hoping to come up with a way to finance expansion of mental health treatment for children in Iowa. There’s no consensus, however, on whether the state might assume responsibility for financing the entire mental health system — much of which is financed with county taxes today. Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen of Des Moines says the focus “most definitely” should be on implementing recommendations from a task force that examined treatment options for children. “I cannot even begin to tell you…the number of teachers and parents who come to me and talk about the anxiety our children are experiencing all across our state,” Petersen says. “I think a lot of it has to do with social media, gun violence. We have a lot of poverty in our state.”

House Republican Leader Chris Hagenow says mental health care is one of the “big issues” the state and nation are wrestling with. “As we learn more in how to do more and face more challenges, I think we all should all be eager to try and take whatever that next step is to deliver these services to kids,” Hagenow says, “wherever we can.”  Senate President Charles Schneider, a Republican from West Des Moines, says address inadequacies in the mental health system is an “on-going process.” “My wife used to be a behavioral interventionist at Stillwell Junior High and she would tell me stories all the time about things that she would see going on in the classroom and some of them were really, really sad and heartbreaking,” Schneider says. “We need to make sure we’re getting out across the state to address and intervene whenever mental health issues first start to appear so we can address them early on.”

Representative John Forbes, a Democrat from Urbandale, says Iowa’s counties will spend about 114-million dollars this year to provide mental health services to Iowans who cannot afford to pay for the care they need. “So I want to make sure we, as a legislature, can find a dedicated stream of money to be able to provide adequate services to people here in the state,” Forbes says. Forbes says too often mental health problems go untreated and individuals wind up in prison, which he says is more costly than prescribing meds and providing proper counseling. The legislators made their comments Monday during a forum sponsored by the Des Moines Partnership, a coalition of 24 central Iowa chambers of commerce.

(Radio Iowa) — One teen is dead and another is in critical condition after a shooting and crash in a stolen car. Des Moines police received a report that a car that was left running by the owner had been stolen just after eight o’clock last night. About 30 minutes later police got a call about a shooting in a neighborhood that involved a car matching the description of the one that was taken. An officer spotted the car and it took off and then crashed into a Postal Service delivery van and then into some trees and fencing.

Police say a passenger in the car 16-year-old Emilio Esteban Garcia, of Des Moines, died at the hospital, while the 17-year-old driver remains in critical condition. Police recovered a gun from the car as they continue piecing together what happened.

BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — The mayor of an eastern Iowa city would get a $10,000 raise under a proposal being discussed by the city council. The Quad-City Times reports that it would be the first pay raise for the top elected official in Bettendorf in more than 35 years. The proposal discussed by the council Monday would hike the mayor’s annual salary to $25,000 from $15,000 starting in January 2020 — after the next municipal election.

Mayor Bob Gallagher told the council he spends roughly 12 to 15 hours a week doing the job and says he “didn’t run for this position for pay.” He says the job is more about “passion for the city and trying to help.”
The council took no action but is expected to revisit the matter later this month.

(Radio Iowa) — Trade troubles with China have caused financial strain on many industries in the U-S, including agriculture, but Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is praising a new gesture by that nation involving Fentanyl. Chinese officials vow to tighten controls on the production and export of that highly-potent drug, which Grassley says is a move that’s long overdue. “China is the biggest source of Fentanyl coming to our country,” Grassley says, “and it is the leading reason we have an opiate problem in the United States.”

Grassley is chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the Caucus on International Narcotics Control. He says Fentanyl-laced heroin has fueled the deadly opioid epidemic in recent years and is linked to the majority of opioid overdose deaths in America. “We don’t recognize it so much in Iowa although it is a problem in Iowa,” Grassley says, “but it’s a gigantic problem in New England, in Ohio, in West Virginia, 70,000 deaths.” In October, Grassley says his panel heard from government officials and experts from across the U-S who emphasized the need for China to act on Fentanyl. Grassley says former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who is the U-S Ambassador to China, has been working toward this for some time. Grassley says, “It’s a real victory for Governor Branstad because six months ago, he came to my office to talk about his #1 goal is to get China to do what they’ve now said they’re going to do.”

A news release from Grassley’s office says in 2017, a full 60-percent of U-S opioid deaths involved Fentanyl, which is an increase from 14-percent in 2010. The release also says Fentanyl is involved in more deaths than prescription opioids or heroin.