The Atlantic City Council will receive a progress report during their meeting Wednesday evening at City Hall, on the 2011 Street Improvement Projects. The report, which will be presented by Snyder and Associates Engineer Dave Sturm, will be followed by action on adopting a resolution approving the Fiscal Year 2011 Street Financial Report. The State of Iowa requires the City to submit the report as a precondition for receiving Road Use Tax Funds.

In other business, the council will act on a resolution terminating a purchase agreement between the City, and Atlantic resident Ed Leistad, for property located at 706 Walnut Street. Leistad has agreed to pay the City $1,000 to terminate the agreement. If approved, the Council will have to decide on whether to reinitiate the bidding process. Mayor Dave Jones, who was one of the original bidders on property, has expressed a renewed interest in purchasing it, but Councilman Kern Miller has indicated he would like to relocate the skate park, currently at Sunnyside park, to the site. City Administrator Doug Harris is expected to recommend the Council set September 21^st, as the date for a public hearing on the disposition of the property.

The Atlantic City Council meeting begins at 5:30-p.m., Wednesday.

The Cass and Adair County Boards of Supervisors are set to meet Wednesday, in Atlantic, and Greenfield. The Supervisors in Cass County are expected to act on approving or rejecting an amendment to the current group insurance program that would allow payroll deductions for voluntary term life insurance. The board is scheduled to recess at 10-a.m. for a hearing on the proposed Cass County Redistricting Commission’s Supervisor redistricting and precincting plans.

During the Adair County Board of Supervisors meeting in Greenfield, the board will hear from: Greenfield Chamber Director Ginny Kuihfus, with regard to courtyard use; Nancy Robinson, with the 5^th Judicial District; Custodian Rich Wallace, with regard to reseeding of the north courtyard; and, Cass-Adair County Engineer Charles Marker, with regard to a petition for road rock.

Both meetings begin at 9-a.m.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Omaha Public Power District says it is already working to improve operations at its Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant. OPPD CEO Gary Gates says the utility is taking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s concerns seriously. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday that Fort Calhoun will receive more oversight as a result of the regulatory violations found in the past couple years. Both OPPD and the NRC said the concerns at Fort Calhoun don’t represent a threat to public safety. A team of OPPD officials starting looking for ways to improve Fort Calhoun’s operations earlier this year. The utility said some of those changes have already been made, but some measures have been delayed while the plant was shut down this summer because of flooding.

Troy Jerman

The Iowa Department of Transportation District 4 Office in Atlantic is pleased to announce the appointment of Troy Jerman to District 4 Engineer.  Troy replaces John Selmer who took a position in the Central office in Ames.

Troy grew up in Anthon, Iowa graduating from Anthon-Oto Community School.  He received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University.  He began his career with the Iowa Department of Transportation as a COOP student in the Sioux City RCE office in 1989 and then in the office of design in Ames.  Troy spent 3 years at the Cherokee RCE office from 1994-1997.  He then spent 6 years in the office of design in the consultant coordination section as the Field Exam Engineer from 1997-2003.  He then became a Senior Transportation Engineer in the office of Traffic and Safety and spent 7 years in that position from 2003-2010 until he was appointed the Assistant District Engineer and Interim District Engineer in District 5 which he has served for the past year.

Troy will officially begin on September 16^th.

Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green reports two people were arrested Saturday, on unrelated charges. 36-year old Julius Kieki, of Atlantic, was arrested for Driving While Revoked. And, 33-year old Nicholas Pelzer, of Atlantic, was arrested for 1^st offense OWI.

Both men were brought to the Cass County Jail and held.

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman has announced the courthouse in Atlantic will be closed for two and one-half hours Wednesday, so that county employees may attend the funeral of Chuck Kinen. Kinen, who was serving his fourth term as a member of the Board of Supervisors, died Saturday, from pancreatic cancer.

Sunderman says all County offices at the Cass County Courthouse will be closed from 11:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M., Wednesday.

One person was injured during a single-vehicle accident Monday afternoon southwest of Corning. The Adams County Sheriff’s office reports 72-year old Karen Melton, of Omaha, NE., was transported to Mercy Hospital by Adams County Rescue, after the 2006 Buick she was driving eastbound on Highway 34, swerved to the left and hit a railroad bridge railing.

The car bounced off the railing on the opposite side of the bridge and then back to the left and struck the rail again, before coming to rest against the north bridge railing. The accident happened at around 1:25-p.m., Monday.

Officials say the vehicles’ drivers side airbag deployed upon impact.

w/ Ric Hanson

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AMES, Iowa – Sept. 6, 2011 – The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is continuing to closely monitor the Missouri River flooding situation at the Iowa 175 bridge crossing near Decatur, Nebr., and is working behind the scenes so that it is prepared to begin repair work just as soon as conditions permit.

Preliminary inspection work has revealed a deepening of the river channel around the bridge pier by as much as 42 feet, and serious scour and loss of embankment near the bridge abutment on the Iowa side has occurred.

Emergency work to prevent further loss of the embankment and roadway itself was completed earlier. Since then, the stability of the embankment has deteriorated further, preventing additional work from being performed adjacent to the bridge at this time. 

The Missouri River level has been dropping as the releases from the Gavins Point Dam have decreased, but the land adjacent to the roadway remains inundated with flood waters, leaving the road extending out into the widened river channel like a long boat pier. See the latest images of this area.

The next step that must be taken to restore travel on the bridge is to fill the void that exists around the pier so that it is stable and safe enough to support traffic. This will require placement of a large volume of material in the river bottom. Attempting to place material in the river at this point would not be successful because the flood waters are too deep and fast, and would cause the material to simply wash down the river. This work will begin as soon as conditions allow.

Meanwhile, the Iowa DOT is working with the Burt County Bridge Commission and Nebraska Department of Roads to finalize reconstruction plans. A meeting is also being scheduled with several contractors that are experienced with dredging and hydraulic pumping work to evaluate various concepts for making the repairs. Site conditions make this a very unusual and challenging project; and working with the private sector will help determine the feasibility of the reconstruction concepts.

The Iowa DOT recognizes the inconvenience for travelers due to this closure and is doing everything possible to expedite the recovery work by having all emergency contracts in place to begin work when conditions permit. A team of individuals is dedicated to evaluating all options, including nontraditional approaches and innovative ideas, to get traffic moving again in western Iowa as quickly as possible.

For regular updates on the Iowa DOT’s flood recovery progress, visit: http://www.iowadot.gov/floods/index.html

A Harlan man suffered possible, unknown injuries Saturday afternoon, when the bicycle he was riding was hit by an SUV, south of Panama, in Shelby County. The Shelby County Sheriff’s office says 43-year old Craig Daniel Bieker, of Harlan, was transported by Panama Rescue to Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan, before being transferred by helicopter to a hospital in Omaha for further treatment.

Authorities say Bieker was traveling north on Highway 191, when a 1999 Chevy Suburban stopped as it was traveling west on County road F-32, but then failed to yield to the bicycle. The accident happened at around 4:15-p.m., Saturday.

The driver of the SUV was identified as 43-year old Daniel Lee Owens, of Woodbine. Owens was cited for Failure to Yield and Failure to provide proof of insurance. Owens’ vehicle sustained $1,000 damage during the collision, while the bicycle, was destroyed.