The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, approved the adoption on the second reading, of an ordinance calling for an increase in the rate property owners pay for a Storm Water Equivalent Service Unit (or, ESU). If adopted on the 3^rd and final reading during the next meeting, the ESU, which has not changed in over 10-years, will increase 35-cents per month, to $2.85. The proposed rate increase would generate $25,000 in additional revenues, which will be used to cover the net increase in debt service cost of $15,000 for repairs to the Bull Creek Underground drainage system. City Administrator Doug Harris has said also, that an additional $10,000 is needed per year, to continue to fund annual repairs to the City’s storm water management system, which has been average about $20,000.

The only objection heard during Wednesday evening’s meeting, came in the form of  correspondence from Atlantic resident Charles Griffin. In his letter, read by Councilman Steve Livengood, Griffin, claims the “fee” is actually a tax, which is paid only by property owners, is not legal, because the citizens of Atlantic were not allowed to vote on it. Griffin urged the Council to repeal the ordinance altogether.

Snyder and Associates Engineer Pat Hall, was one of the creators of the storm water fee system which was approved by the Council, back in 2003. He refuted Griffin’s assertion about the fee being a tax. Hall said the whole intention of storm water utility is addressed in Chapter 384 of the Code of Iowa.  Hall says it addresses City responsibilities for utilities, and services provided to the citizens of the community. Therefore he says, there is a basis for the fee, which is not a tax.

Hall said by setting up a utility, the City provides itself with a certain amount of flexibility, when it comes to payments for capital improvements, such as the Bull Creek storm sewer improvement project. The ESU is based on the amount of square footage on a parcel of property. Those who have more square footage would always pay more than those who have less land. For instance, the Cass County Memorial Hospital and Wal-Mart have large storm water utility bills.

Griffin asserted in his letter the people who are paying the fee are receiving little or no benefit from it, a statement Councilman Livengood refuted. He said it helps to control flooding within the City by maintaining the storm sewers. Councilman Shaun Shouse agreed, and said the fee is a “valid way to fund the reasonable transfer of storm water off of all the properties in town and down to the point where they can release it to the river.”  He said if they didn’t take care of the matter by means of a fee, then the City would have to increase property taxes. As it is, the increased burden of handling the cost is placed upon those properties that send the most storm water down the sewage and drainage system.

The 3^rd and final reading of the ordinance will take place during the next Council meeting, along with a final public hearing on the matter.

Republican Joni Ernst lists three primary qualifications as the basis for her bid for the U.S. Senate. “I am a mother, I am a soldier and I’m a conservative and you’re going to hear that again and again,” Ernst says. “…Those are the core things that really define me and who I am.”

IA Sen. Joni Ernst (R), from Red Oak.

Ernst, who is the commander of an Iowa National Guard unit, formally kicked off her U.S. Senate campaign Wednesday morning in her hometown of Red Oak. She joins five Republicans who have either formally launched a campaign for the Senate or are in the “exploratory” phase of a campaign.

Ernst says she’s confident she can win at least 35 percent support in next June’s G-O-P primary and avoid a state convention fight her competitors for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination. “We share a lot of similar views, but at the same time I am an average Iowan that has had the opportunity to do exceptional things and really focus on those grassroots efforts and making sure through those grassroots efforts people know me as a mother, the soldier and a conservative,” Ernst says, “and that’s going to resonate with Iowa voters.”

Ernst is stressing her status as the mother of three daughters rather than as the lone female candidate in the Republican ranks. “I think it will be very beneficial in the fact that I can relate very well to those average Iowans that are mothers. I think that is an important aspect because not only as a mother are we connected with our children, but we want the best for our children,” Ernst says. “…Making sure that we have opportunity, whether it’s economic or otherwise, opportunity for our generation, but our children’s generation. We want to protect that.”

Iowa has never elected a woman to the U.S. Senate, to the U.S. House or as governor. Ernst says being a woman candidate in Iowa “very well could be” a detriment. “I can’t make that determination today,” Ernst says. “However when I look at my own candidacy, it’s about making sure that people understand that I am a viable, competant candidate, regardless of my gender.” Ernst is 42 years old and is a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard. She served as Montgomery County’s Auditor for six years before being elected to the state Senate in January of 2011.

The others who have formally announced their candidacies for the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate nomination are Des Moines lawyer Matt Whitaker; David Young, who was Senator Chuck Grassley’s chief of staff; and Sam Clovis, a Morningside College professor who signed off as a radio talk show host in Sioux City to run.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican Senate candidate David Young says his Christian faith is so strong that, if elected, he would try to introduce New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer to Jesus Christ. But a spokeswoman for the Iowa Republican and former aide to Senator Charles Grassley says Young’s intent would not be to convert Mr. Schumer, who is Jewish, but to promote understanding with a Senate colleague.

GRANGER, Iowa (AP) — A central Iowa woman has been accused of stealing items from a man’s house and setting several fires. The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office says Marcia Schaffer of Granger, was arrested Monday in connection with a June 2nd home invasion and arson.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Iowa City say a 54-year-old man has died in the Iowa River. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says police and other emergency workers responded yesterday morning to a report of a man falling into the river under the Highway 6 bridge. A short time later, they recovered the body of Perry Graham.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Cuban baseball player Misael Siverio tells a Spanish-language newspaper he has defected to the United States. Siverio was part of the Cuban national team that traveled to Iowa for an exhibition game this week against a collegiate all-star team from the U.S. But the pitcher tells El Nuevo Herald in Miami he made the decision to leave his country “for my future and my family.”

EARLY, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa man convicted of killing his mother and kidnapping another woman wants a retrial. The Sioux City Journal reports a public defender for 21-year-old Kirk Levin, of Early, filed a motion for a new trial in Sac County District Court on Tuesday. A jury found Levin guilty in June of first-degree murder in the January death of Marilynn Schmitt and third-degree kidnapping in the abduction of a woman he met online.

Levin’s trial was moved to Webster County because of heavy publicity. His attorney says a second change of venue request should have been granted. The attorney also says Levin’s statements to police after his arrest should have been inadmissible evidence at trial.

Levin is scheduled to be sentenced on July 26.