The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors, Monday, approved a request by Parks and Rec Director Seth Staashelm, to apply for a Water Quality Initiative/Urban Conservation Project grant. Staashelm said he was informed of the grant availability by City Administrator John Lund, and it would be a 50-percent match in order to obtain the full grant amount.

A preliminary design/layout for the Urban Conservation Project grant

One of the projects he’s considering if the grant application is approved, is public gardens planning for the Nishna Park near the Atlantic High School, in cooperation with ISU Extension. The project would require installing two Bio-swales and native plants to help absorb water that ponds in the area and improve storm water run-off along with water quality. Natural Bio-retention filters and rain gardens would be included as part of the project.

The cost estimate for the entire project, ranges from 30-to 35-thousand dollars, minus any plantings that occur and any action taken by the School District to do their part, if they approve. With in-kind labor and other financial juggling, the City’s matching share of the cost could be lowered to 10-to 15-thousand dollars.

City Administrator John Lund said to Staashelm it would be possible to transfer $10,000 out of the Storm Water Fund into the Local Option Sales Tax Fund (LOST) for the project. Therefore if it comes to more than $30,000, some funds would be derived from the LOST account.

Parks & Rec Chairperson Stuart Dusenberry accepts a $500 check from Royal Neighbors member/Parks Board Secretary Jolene Smith for use at the Schildberg Shelter project. (Left to right: Seth Staashelm; Dusenberry; Smith; Board Mbrs. Charlene Beane and Erin McFadden.

In other other business, the Parks and Rec Department accepted a $500 check from Atlantic Royal Neighbors. Jolene Smith, Parks and Rec Board and Royal Neighbors member, explained where the funds are coming from. Last summer, she said, they held a “Difference Maker” out at Sunnyside Park, where they served hot dogs and chips while “Movies in the Park” was underway. Different Royal Neighbor Chapters get to vote on the projects, which are then put into a drawing. The Atlantic Royal Neighbors won a $500 donation check payable to the Schildberg Recreation Area. They would like it to go for picnic tables in the shelter at the Schildberg Rec Area that’s being built this summer.

And, finally, Seth Staashelm said the ice rink opened last week and will remain open while the temperatures allow. Sunnyside Park is open for all winter activities, even Disc Golf, but the roads into and out of the park are closed for the season. The Parks Board will meet next on February 12th and March 12th.

Iowa is seeing rising rates of hepatitis C among people who inject drugs, so state health officials got federal approval to launch a program to distribute clean syringes to drug users, but there’s a problem. Syringe exchange programs are illegal in Iowa. Randy Mayer, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Health, says they’re preparing to make the case for syringe exchanges to state lawmakers.

Mayer says, “The most important one was to get this determination of need approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which we’ve just recently done.” State lawmakers considered a bill that would legalize syringe exchange programs last year, but it didn’t pass. The same state report that shows increasing rates of hepatitis C also shows Iowa is at risk for an H-I-V outbreak among drug users. Mayer says the state hasn’t yet seen H-I-V diagnoses rise among people who use drugs, but the department is watching closely for that.

“What we have is an avenue for that to occur,” Mayer says. “So, it really just takes the right person to get into that population with untreated HIV infection and that could allow that to happen. So having a syringe services program is one way to try to avoid that.”

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne illness that can cause liver failure. Mayer says the number of diagnosed hepatitis C cases in Iowa has increased more than 200-percent in the past 16 years. Iowa now has about 2,200 people per year getting a diagnosis of hepatitis C. It’s third on the state list of reportable infectious diseases. Mayer warns tens of thousands of Iowans who have hepatitis C are likely not diagnosed.

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)

A Creighton University economist is suggesting Iowa legislators should tread carefully as they craft a tax cut package. Republican lawmakers like Senate G-O-P Leader Bill Dix point to state tax cuts of the 1990s as proof cutting taxes will spark the economy and lead to state tax revenue growth. Creighton’s Ernie Goss says that’s true “in some cases,” but he’s not predicting that for Iowa now.

“When we cut the rates, generally speaking, the collections from the taxes are reduced. That’s what happened in Kansas. There was not the supply-side bump and in this case when you’re at full employment, it’s hard to get that supply-side bump. Where are you going to get the workers? Why can China grow at three times the rate of the US? Well, they have more fuel for the fire – labor that can come into the market. We don’t have it.”

Kansas Republicans enacted a plan in 2012 that dramatically cut taxes. “I think you need to do it in a more thoughtful manner, if you’re going to cut and they did cut,” Goss says. “But also you have to understand that some of the spending’s also going to be cut.” Goss says despite deep cuts in education and other areas over the past few years, the state budget deficit in Kansas is now 900 million dollars.

Republicans in Iowa says one difference now is the extra taxes the state should collect due to FEDERAL tax law changes. Goss cautions against counting on that “windfall” — as he predicts it won’t be as large as predicted. Goss made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Public Television.

(Radio Iowa)