(LE MARS)–A New Year means a new officer in Plymouth County government.
Judge Jeffrey Neary is slated to give the oath of office to Supervisor Jack Guenthner of Le Mars when the board of supervisors reorganizes for the New Year beginning at 9:30 this morning.
Guenthner succeeds Gordon Greene of Le Mars as the District 1 Supervisor. Greene did not seek re-election and quietly retired at the start of the December 21st supervisors meeting.
Numerous appointments of county residents to boards and commissions are expected.
Budget presentations from Emergency Management Director Gary Junge and Plains Area Mental Health Center Executive Director Patrick Schmitz are also on the agenda today.
Agenda Monday, January 3, 2011:
9:30 AMJudge Jeffrey A. Neary – Administer Oath of Office to Jack E. Guenthner, Board of Supervisor
Jim Henrich, 2010 Plymouth County Board Chairman – Adjourn the 2010 Board to
re-organize the Board of Supervisors for 2011 (Action)
Stacey Feldman, Plymouth County Auditor
1.Board of Supervisors appoint a Board Chairman for 2011 (Action)
2.Board of supervisors appoint a Vice Chairman for 2011 (Action)
New 2011 Board Chairman
1.Call meeting to order
2.Approve this agenda (Action)
3.Board of Supervisors to authorize claims & payroll, investment officers and schools of instruction resolutions (Action)
4.Board of Supervisors assign their committee memberships (Action)
5.Board of Supervisors appoint the official County Newspaper per Iowa Code 349.3 (4) (Action)
6.Board of Supervisors to fill vacancies for various County Boards – All Action items
A.Appoint Don Neunaber to the Veteran Affairs Commission for a 3 year term
B.Appoint Paul Schroeder to the Board of Health for a 3 year term
C.Appoint Chris Beeck to the Conservation Board for a 5 year term
D.Appoint James Binnebose, Bill Koopman, and Melvin Brown to the Zoning Commission for a 5 year term
E.Appoint members of Supervisors Dist. 3, 4, and 5 to the Local Option Sales Tax Advisory Board for 3 year terms
7.Approval of prior Board meeting minutes (Action)
8.Approval of claims and payroll (Signatures)
9.Committee Reports (Discussion)
10.Old Business
11.New Business
A.Open and review mail/correspondence (Discussion)
B.Open public forum (Informational)
10:30 AMGary Junge, Plymouth County Emergency Management Director – Present FY 11-12 Budget (Informational)
10:45 AMPatrick Schmitz, Plains Area Mental Health – Present FY 11-12 Budget (Informational)
11:00 AMTom Rohe, Plymouth County Engineer
(Action Items)
(Discussion Items)
Questions/Discussion of the Secondary Road Department
1.Discussion of Motor Grader Financing
(Informational Items)
Update on construction projects
Le Mars residents need to make garbage change
(LE MARS)–A New Year brings mandatory recycling for Le Mars residents. City administrator Scott Langel explains the change to every other week trash collection.
Listen here
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Magnets with the schedule are available at City Hall. There’s also a schedule on the city website www.lemarsiowa.com
Langel says benefits include cost savings.
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The savings is $43.50 per ton because the recycleables are sold.
State regulations required cities that didn’t meet recycling goals to offer new programs.
Listen here
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The third benefit Langel says is the environment because whatever is recycled is not landfilled.
(LE MARS)–Contract talks between the group representing teachers at Le Mars Community School and the Board of Education begin late this afternoon.
They’re bargaining a 2011-2012 contract agreement for the next school year.
The Education Association will make its initial proposal at five this afternoon at the Education Service Center at 940 Lincoln Street Southwest. The meeting is open to the public.
The negotiator for the Le Mars Education Association is Doug Martin. Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt negotiates with a committee of Board of Education members.
The Board’s response to the initial proposal is expected to be presented in two weeks.
Try the Y in the New Year
(LE MARS)–A Le Mars group may be able to help you keep a New Year’s Resolution.
The Le Mars Y-M-C-A is hosting an Open House Wednesday through next Tuesday to showcase the new things that have happened. The theme for the 2011 Open House is “New Y, New Year, New You.”
The new cardio room, weight equipment, a full-size gym, swimming, group fitness classes, membership specials and more are featured. Those who attend the Open House are encouraged to bring their sweats or swimsuits and try the Y.
The Open House is during normal business hours.
Emmetsburg honored by Biofuels Digest
(EMMETSBURG) Biofuels Digest is honoring Emmetsburg as the “Community of the Year.”
The recognition for the Palo Alto County city is for transforming the community’s economy through corn and cellulosic ethanol.
The Iowa Power Fund and ethanol maker POET contributed to the financial investment in biomass-based ethanol.
This fall, area farmers harvested 56-thousand tons of biomass. By the plant’s startup in 2012, farmers will be delivering about 300-thousand tons to process into ethanol.
Emmetsburg city administrator John Bird issued a statement saying the honor would not have been possible if POET had not chosen Emmetsburg as a home for Project LIBERTY .
The Biofuels Digest also recognized Iowa State University as “Institutional Research Facility of the Year.”
Rescuers search for Iowa teen found safe at home
GOWRIE, Iowa (AP) Rescuers searched overnight in frigid temperatures for a barefoot teen who was later found safe at home.
Kevin Kruse in the Webster County sheriff’s office told KCCI-TV that about 170 rescuers aided by search dogs searched cornfields and ditches near the teen’s rural Gowrie home.
The 14-year-old was reported missing about 11 p.m. Saturday after he left home in his pajamas following an argument with a family member. Kruse says an officer was posted at the home but the teen snuck back inside unnoticed. He was found hiding under a pile of coats and blankets about 8 a.m. Sunday.
Kruse says the teen was cold but didn’t suffer any lasting injuries from exposure to the below-zero wind chills.
Sheriff releases names of Iowa fire victims
ARLINGTON, Iowa (AP) Authorities have released the names of three people killed in a fire that consumed their northeast Iowa trailer home.
The Fayette County Sheriff Marty Fisher identified the victims of Saturday morning’s fire as 73-year-old Gerald Rodenberg, 6-year-old Henry Rodenberg and 5-year-old Ian Rodenberg. All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
The sheriff says three other people were hurt. He identified them as 32-year-old Ian Patrick Rodenberg, 30-year-old Julia Rodenberg and 9-year-old Christopher Rodenberg. Their conditions and details of their injuries were not released. At least two were taken to an Oelwein hospital.
The fire was reported about 4 a.m. Saturday. The sheriff’s office said the home was engulfed in flames when firefighters from four departments arrived. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
All six victims lived there.
Man found dead on baseball field at Iowa college
DECORAH, Iowa (AP) A man found dead on the Luther College campus in northeastern Iowa has been identified as a student from Ghana.
College spokesman Jerry Johnson identified him as 24-year-old Nana Kwasi (Nha-nha kwah-zee) Baffour-Awuah, who’s better known at the Decorah school as Nabby. He was majoring in information systems and business management.
Decorah police say his body was found about 8 a.m. Saturday in the snow on the college’s baseball field.
Details of his death have not been released. An autopsy has been ordered.
Johnson says Baffour-Awuah was a popular student who earned good grades. A campus prayer vigil will be held Monday in his honor.
Boyfriend of dead Iowa woman arrested in Chicago
CLINTON, Iowa (AP) Police say the boyfriend of a Clinton woman killed in her apartment has been arrested.
WQAD-TV reports that 32-year-old Jason “Jay” Tate was picked up Christmas Eve in Chicago and was transferred back to Clinton County last week. He’s due in court Friday on a charge of being a felon in possession of a weapon.
Police say Tate was found with Kelsey Sue Stahl’s car. The 24-year-old’s body was found Dec. 21 in her apartment by officers who went there to check on her well-being. An autopsy ruled her death a homicide.
Tate has not been charged in Stahl’s death.
No number was listed for Tate.
Former Iowa fire chief appeals demotion to captain
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) The former Waterloo fire chief has filed an appeal with the city’s Civil Service Commission to regain his position.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Mayor Bruce Clark demoted Doug Carter to captain on Dec. 3. But Carter says there was no reason for the demotion and, under state law, the commission should have voted on the job change. He’s expected to take his case before the commission on Tuesday.
The city’s attorney Chris Wendlend says the title of fire chief does not fall under the commission’s purview. He’s asked that the appeal be thrown out.
The mayor has proposed eliminating the positions of police and fire chief in favor of creating a director of safety services. The city council was expected to vote Jan. 10.
New rules for gun permits go into effect in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) New rules for gun permits have gone into effect in Iowa.
The law limits the discretion local sheriffs previously had in denying the weapon permits without explanation. Now, sheriffs can only deny applications for specific reasons, such as a prior criminal record or drug and alcohol addiction, and must provide a written explanation.
The law also allows permit holders to drink some alcohol while in possession of a gun. Any drinking while carrying a concealed weapon had been banned, but the law allows permit holders to drink until their blood alcohol level hits .08, the level of intoxication under Iowa law.
Sean McClanahan, president of the Iowa Firearms Coalition, told the Cedar Rapid Gazette that the changes are good. He says “a properly holstered firearm is not a threat.”
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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