(LE MARS)–Iowa lawmakers this week passed a first deadline of the session to move legislation for possible approval this session.
State Representative Chuck Soderberg of Le Mars says it was a funnel week. Soderberg says he’s excited about getting the reorganization of the Iowa Department of Economic Development through a legislative committee.
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Soderberg says legislation to lessen the regulatory burden on Iowans also moved forward. He’d introduced a Grandparent Visitation bill that did not make it in House. But he says he’ll continue to work on the issue and is hopeful something could move forward on the Senate side of the Iowa Legislature.
(LE MARS)–Money to pay for a Le Mars Community School District building project will be deposited April sixth.
Piper Jaffray of Minneapolis was the successful bidder for the financing for Phase II Construction Project which includes expanded music, art and athletic facilities.
The district is borrowing about eight-million dollars. That’s about one-point-six million dollars less than the estimated amount of borrowing due to lower than expected construction bids. The true interest cost is 3.133 percent.
Bids from three firms were opened Monday afternoon to borrow the money through 2022. The difference between the Piper Jaffray’s first place bid and the second place bid from a Chicago firm for the borrowing gave Piper Jaffray the bid by 17-thousand dollars. The bidder was from a different division of Piper Jaffray than the business that arranged the bond sale to borrow money for the district.
School sales, service and use tax income will be used to repay the borrowed money. The bonds may be paid off before the end of the financing time–2022. They are callable in July of 2016.
A resolution to issue the bonds is expected to be on the agenda for the March 14th Board of Education meeting.
The Board of Education has awarded the bid for the general contractor to L and L Builders of Sioux City for six-point-two-million dollars. There were 10 bidders and L and L had the low bid. Lockers will be purchased from V.I.P.S. for 37-thousand 288 dollars. The bid for telescoping stand seating was awarded to Seating and Athletic Facilities for 147-thousand 567 dollars.
The administration did NOT recommend an additional 24-hundred dollars be spent for a sport court flooring which would substitute for wood flooring. The board accepted the administration’s recommendation.
School Board member Dan Smith of Merrill voted against awarding the bids for the work and the financing. Smith had also voted against authorizing an architect to proceed on the project earlier this year.
Construction could be completed by July of next year. Groundbreaking is anticipated in April.
(LE MARS) Plymouth County jurors will not need to report on Tuesday, March 8. Jurors are asked to call the clerk’s office after 3pm on Monday, March 14th to find out whether to report on Tuesday, March 15th.
YANKTON, S.D. (AP) Mount Marty College officials are continuing the search for a new president after a second person turned down the job.
Officials declined this week to say which of the two finalists was offered the position. The finalists were former state Education Secretary Tom Oster and Hastings College vice president Richard Lloyd.
The Yankton Press and Dakotan reports that late last year, St. Ambrose University vice president James Loftus turned down the Mount Marty position to take the president’s job at Cardinal Stritch University.
A search committee plans to meet on Tuesday to consider new applicants. The school now hopes to have a new president in place by July 1.
James Barry resigned last April as president of the private Catholic college that has more than 1,000 students.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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