(Audubon, Iowa) – The School Board in Audubon will meet in a regularly scheduled session tonight at 7, in the High School Boardroom. On their agenda, is the Second Reading of Polices in the 400, 500, 800 & 900 series, along with a Policy Review. The Board will act on approving Mid-Term Graduates (Pending completion of requirements), and on accepting the official canvass of votes from the September Special Election.

They are also expected to approve a letter of engagement with Ahlers-Cooney, with regard to the SAVE Bond Counsel and Disclosure Counsel, along with any new hires, resignations and/or letters of assignment.

Superintendent Eric Trager will provide the Audubon School Board with an update on the Building Project, Certified Enrollment numbers, and discuss school board elections, among other matters.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council is expected to act Wednesday, on passing a Resolution “Approving [the] Schedule of Adoption Fees for the Atlantic Animal Shelter. The State of Iowa is currently requiring animal shelters to not only vaccinate all animals in their care, but also to spay or neuter them. That means an increase in costs to the Atlantic Shelter, which are being passed on to prospective pet owners. Currently, the cat adoption fee is $10, with an additional $55-$130 for veterinary fees. For dogs, the current adoption fee is $25, with an additional $60-$265 for veterinary fees. Under the Resolution, the fees move to a flat rate of $100 for cats and $200 for dogs.

City Administrator John Lund says the City’s fees will still be low compared to other animal adoption agencies in the region, which typically range from $60-250 for cats, and $100-500 for dogs. Lund says a secondary component of the fee schedule, is that Animal Shelter will allowed discretion on the reduction of prices on a needs-based sale of pets, that may otherwise be euthanized. Euthanization costs the City money, Lund says, and negatively impacts the Animal Shelter during a review by State officials. “High euthanizing rates are frowned upon by the state,” he says. This discretion he adds, “Will allow us to save an animal, lower costs, keep the state happy and allow those with limited means to own a pet.” The City’s Personnel & Finance Committee reviewed the matter during their meeting last week, and have unanimously endorsed the proposals.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, will act on passing a Resolution approving the job description, FY 2022 compensation, and authorizing the posting for, the Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Position. Upon review, the Personnel & Finance Committee proposes compensation for the position be a salary of $41,600; 2,080 per year; $20/hour equivalent. The Council will receive an annual presentation by Library Director Michelle Andersen, and, act on approving the second reading of an Ordinance pertaining to volunteer firefighter appointments. A section of code requires the City to approve such appointments, but it has never actually been done. The Council passed the first reading of the amended Ordinance during their previous meeting, which strikes the section requiring City oversight, and leaves such matters to the Fire Chief, instead.

The Council is also expected to act on an Order re-appointing Keith Harlan to the Airport Commission. Their meeting begins 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20th, in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.

(Radio Iowa) – “Help Wanted” signs have hung in the windows of many Iowa businesses for months and the competition is strong to snap up entry-level workers. Randy Leasure, owner of a chain of Iowa house cleaning businesses, says the pandemic forced his company — and his industry — to make drastic changes and they’re just now starting to bounce back. “We’ve obviously struggled like every business in the country is right now for staffing,” Leasure says. “As far as the client side, we’ve got plenty of leads and we’re actually turning quite a few people away and keeping our schedule very full, so we’re looking to hire so that we can grow.”

Leasure owns MaidPro outlets in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, all three of which are looking for new workers. He says 95% of the work is in individual homes. “We lost clients or people paused on us and our employees weren’t looking to go into homes during the pandemic,” Leasure says, “so we just naturally whittled down over that time and we’ve been trying to rebound with employees since.”

No experience is necessary and Leasure says he’s seeking workers with a valid driver’s license and a reliable vehicle who can pass a criminal background check. The pay with bonuses is 14 to 15-dollars an hour, plus tips, and it’s all weekday work with no nights or weekends. MaidPro also offers incentives for employees who stay with the company longer than 90 days. “We have a great training program in place,” Leasure says. “It spends the first two weeks going through training. We don’t just put anybody out there right away.”

He says it’s predicted the cleaning industry will see 53% growth between 2020 and 2024 and MaidPro is planning to hire more than 2,000 employees nationwide in the next few months to help meet demand.

(Radio Iowa) – Congress passed a short-term appropriations bill to keep the government funded through December 3rd. That has briefly delayed the discussion on President Joe Biden’s Trillions of dollars of proposed spending. Iowa Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra says there needs to be a discussion about cutting the spending. “Frankly, I look at it and say we’ve got to figure out a way to start looking at our debt. We are talking 30 TRILLION dollars of debt. I look at it, raising debt and say what are we doing to get back to what Iowa does to having a balanced budget,” Feenstra says.

He says he wants that balanced budget discussion is key for him to support any debt ceiling increase. He says inflation is already creating what he calls a new tax on Americans. “It’s an extra tax for everyone. Right now everyone is paying from seven cents to 11 cents. On gas you are paying an extra 40 cents — that’s a tax to everyone. When you buy your goods at the hardware store, grocery store, that check that you have that money you are making just doesn’t go as far,” Feenstra says. “I think inflation now if five-point-eight percent — and it’s not transitory — it’s going to be here a long time.”

One element of the Democrat’s spending package that Feenstra says is a non-starter for him is having all personal bank deposits of 600 dollars or more reported to the I-R-S. “The reason they are going down that path is they believe that you can catch over 500 BILLION dollars of people doing stuff illegally,” Feenstra says. “To me, it is a complete overreach, it’s against my first amendment, government encroaching into what I am doing.I don’t see it in this bill anymore — we’ve made a lot of noise about this.”

Feenstra made his comments following a tour of the 185th Air National Guard Refueling Wing in Sioux City.