The price garbage haulers and persons who dispose of large amounts of trash pay to the Cass County Landfill may be going up. Wendy Wittrock, Operations Manager of the Cass County Landfill, said at today’s (Wednesday’s) Board of Supervisor’s meeting, the Cass County Environmental Control Agency is noticing a shortfall in funds based on the tip fee. The landfill is funded 100-percent by tipping fees, instead of fees charged on a Per Capita basis. Those are funds paid through taxes that subsidize landfills and related programs. Wittrock says Cass County has not had a per capita fee charged since the early 1990’s. Wittrock says they gave those fees back to communities in the County, because the landfill wanted to be “self sufficient.” She says one of the options the Environmental Control Board is considering to meet their budget, is to increase the fee at the landfill.

The only other county in our area that does not charge a per capita fee, is Page County. The current tip fee in Cass County is $80 per ton. The ECB is proposing a $10 increase, or $90 per ton. Wittrock says their operating budget includes the recycling programs, hazardous waste disposal, debt repayment, 30-years post closure – for which money is set aside each year, and DNR fees every quarter. Those costs are reflected in their expenses. She says it’s been six-years since there’s been an increase in the tipping fees. Wittrock says there aren’t many actual Sub Title “D” landfills left in southwest Iowa, because many counties have chosen to ship their waste to transfer stations many miles, or counties away. The reason for the current, projected budget shortfall at the Cass County landfill, according to Wittrock, is because of a decrease in the amount of actual waste coming in, and new regulations put in place by the DNR, pertaining to landfill use and waste containment.

The Cass County E-C-B is reviewing their budget options and alternatives, and no decision has been made on increasing the tipping fee at this time. If the tipping fee is increased $10, private garbage collection agencies will pass the cost along to their customers. Those same agencies are also facing increased fuel costs, which will likely add to the rate customers pay for their weekly trash removal.

For more information on the Cass County Landfill, go to http://www.casscountylandfill.com/

w/ Ric Hanson

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One person was transported to the hospital following a two-vehicle collision Tuesday, in Harlan. According to Harlan Police, a vehicle driven by Kacie Esparza, of Kirkman, rear-ended a car driven by Stephen Mages, of Panama, as Mages was slowing to turn west onto 900th Street, from southbound Highway 59. Esparza was transported to Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan by Medivac Ambulance. She told authorities she had looked down for just a second prior to the accident. Officials cited her for driving with an expired license, following too closely, and failure to have insurance. Damage from the accident amounted to $9,000.

The Red Oak Police Department reports two people were arrested overnight. At around 3:45-a.m. today (Wednesday), 38-year old Tanya Michelle Danick, of Red Oak, was arrested on a charge of OWI/1st Offense. She also received a warning for faailure to display her vehicle’s registration tag. Danick was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

And, just before 11-p.m. Tuesday, Red Oak Police arrested 31-year old Joshua Edward Mastin, of Stanton, on a charge of Driving while Suspended. Mastin was subsequently released on a citation.

The Atlantic School Board Tuesday night approved the proposed pay rates for substitute teachers and substitute support staff, such as para-educators, for 2012-2013.  Superintendent Mike Amstein recommended no changes in the rate for 2012-2013, but said he will likely seek an increase for 2013-2014. He said substitute teachers and para-educators are hard to find, and the district should stay within reach of what other districts are doing, in order to draw those persons to the Atlantic School District.

Amstein says the district needs to stay competitive with other districts, which is why he recommended the increase in the 2013-2014 year. In other business, the Atlantic School Board Tuesday, voted to leave the Driver’s Education fees unchanged from last year, at $350.

The board also approved a cost sharing agreement with the City of Atlantic, to split the costs of resurfacing the tennis courts at Sunnyside Park, and Washington Elementary School. The courts at Sunnyside are priority, and will likely be taken care of this fall. The courts at Washington are still in good shape, according to school officials, and will not need to be resurfaced for at least a couple of years. The district’s portion of the costs (about $90,000) will come out of the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (“PPELl”), or Capital Projects Fund. The costs to the district will be spread out over two-years.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education Tuesday evening approved a proposed two-year Collective Bargaining Agreement with the district’s certified staff. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said total package increase was 4.5-percent, for the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school years.  The package also addresses an issue he says several board members have expressed concern over: that being the need to do something for the teachers who handle extra-curricular activities, such as coaching. The proposal negotiated with the Atlantic Education Association basically bumps the pay scale from a BA+3 to BA+4 for 2012-2013, and BA+6 for 2013-2014.  Amstein said that puts the district in a better position to attract and retain teachers to coach for the district and handle similar, extra-curricular activities.

Josh Rasmussen, High School Assistant Principal and Activities Director, told the Board the two-year contract and bump in pay scale means at least two teachers who had been “on-the-fence” as far as willingness to stay with the district and coach, will likely stay on, and not look for work elsewhere. Amstein said he knows from experience how difficult it is for teachers to want to be involved with all the extra activities their job requires of them, when the rate of pay is not a motivating factor. He says he believes the contract approved Tuesday night is fair,  “One the district will be able to afford,” and is a “Good, two-year contract.”

JoAnne Sandage, representing the Education Association said they were also pleased with the two-year contract, which is something the district has offered to the support staff, but never the certified staff, prior to the new agreement.

The Iowa State Patrol Tuesday, released information about an accident in Harrison County which sent one person to the hospital, Sunday morning. Authorities say 55-year old Deborah Young, of Omaha, was injured when the 2008 Honda CR-V she was driving left southbound Interstate 29 near Missouri Valley at around 10:20-a.m., entered a ditch and hit a tree, before spinning around and coming to rest against a grove of trees.  Young was trapped in her vehicle and had to be extricated by Missouri Valley Rescue. The woman was transported by LifeNet helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

She later told authorities she had become lost and tired, possibly due to a change in her medications. Young was cited for Failure to Maintain Control. Officials say the small SUV had $9,000 damage, and was considered a total loss.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press