City Council Asks About Unfinished Construction Projects
(Le Mars) — During Tuesday’s city council meeting, members of the city council
asked City Administrator Scott Langel the status of three construction projects
that have been continued beyond their initial projected completion date. City
councilmen Rex Knapp was curious as to why the railroad crossing project located
at 12th Street southwest and Business Highway 75 had stalled. It was reported the
crossing was to be closed for a duration of a few days in order to complete the
installation of cross-arms. However, the rail crossing still does not have the
cross-arms installed at the busy intersection.
Langel says the city is correcting the problem. He says since regulations prevent
the rail crossing arm from being moved, the city, instead will relocate the
traffic light closer to the highway by only a few inches.
Another concern brought forth by council members is the on-going water main
installation construction project along Business Highway 75. Langel says the
well-traveled business street will need to remain interrupted for a while longer
as work crews connect 17 different service lines.
Langel expects some of the work will be finishing up within the near future.
The city administrator says the original plans called for the installation of the
water main to continue north beyond the Highway 75 and Highway 3 intersection.
Langel was asked if that portion of the project can be completed yet this year
before cold weather sets in?
In other city council action, the council approved a request on a vote of 4 to 1
to apply for a Mainstreet Challenge grant for $25,000 which will be used to help
renovate the Claussen building for upper level housing. The council also approved
on a 4 to 1 vote to award Hulstein Excavating Incorporated of Edgerton, Minnesota
the bid of $276,000 to install the underground infrastructure system including
sewer, water, and storm sewer for the Crescent Ridge Development Area.
Sheriff Reviews Law Enforcement Center Update With County Supervisors
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo spoke before the county
board of supervisors on Tuesday morning. Van Otterloo gave an update regarding
the law enforcement center. Topics of discussion ranged from the expected revenue
the county may receive for housing and transporting U-S Marshal’s inmates to
painting the exterior of the law enforcement center to newly installed two-way
radios installed in the Sheriff’s Office squad cars. Van Otterloo also informed
the supervisors of a pending audit that will be performed on the jail facilities.
As for the U-S Marshal Service, Van Otterloo mentioned to the supervisors that
revenue may increase, but if the county wants to perform all the tasks the U-S
Marshal is asking, it may mean the need to hire additional personnel.
The Plymouth County Sheriff says it would mean additional revenue for the county,
but it may also come with some additional costs.
Surgery Center Dedicated
(Le Mars) — Members of the Floyd Valley Healthcare surgical staff formally
dedicated the new surgical center by holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony last
evening. With scalpel in hand, and surrounded by his colleagues, Dr. Mark Stelzer
cut the ribbon. The new surgical center as part of the new northside addition has
been receiving patients for nearly the past two weeks. Floyd Valley Healthcare
also unveiled a mural in their courtyard. The mural depicts various scenes of
recreation from fly fishing, to riding a bicycle, looking through a miroscope, to
flying a kite.
Senate Judicial Committee Holds Hearing On Agricultural Mergers
(Washington) — The U-S Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Republican Iowa Senator
Chuck Grassley held a congressional hearing in Washington yesterday to look at the
mergers and acquisitions of the seed and agricultural crop protection companies.
With recent announced mergers such as the Dow and DuPont consolidation, and others
like Syngenta and Chem-China, and most recently the proposed merger of Monsanto
and Bayer, the Senate Judiciary Committee wanted to see if the consolidations
would mean a violation of the U-S anti-trust laws. Senator Grassley says he fears
the mergers within the agriculture industry will hurt farmers.
Grassley recaps yesterday’s testimony from the nine different witnesses, saying
some were in favor while others opposed the merger actions.
Grassley says he wonders if the possible mergers will hurt employment
opportunities in states like Iowa that depend heavily on the agricultural
corporations.
One of the witnesses to the Senate Judicial Hearing was Chris Novak, the Chief
Executive Director with the National Corn Growers Association. He says the corn
growers and the soybean growers recently funded a study examining the effects upon
farmers and all of agriculture from the mergers. Novak says he shared those
findings with the Senate judicial committee.
Senator Grassley says anti-trust laws may apply. However, he said the purpose of
the hearing was to bring out the facts in a public forum and have transparency and
accountability with the proposed mergers.
Veterans To Get New Clinic
(Sioux City) — The Department of Veterans Affairs clinic that serves veterans in northwest Iowa, northeast Nebraska, and southeast South Dakota will be moving from Sioux City into a new South Dakota building after it’s built. Darwin Goodspeed is the director of the Sioux Falls (South Dakota) VA Health Care System, and he said Tuesday at a town hall meeting in Sioux City that he hopes to have a new Dakota Dunes clinic open within a year. The new, 25,000-square-foot clinic is designed to serve 7,000 veterans a month, compared with the 7,000-square-foot Sioux City clinic that was designed to serve 1,500 veterans but now helps 4,000. The clinic serves veterans in Woodbury, Plymouth, and Cherokee counties in Iowa; Dakota and Dixon counties in Nebraska; and Clay and Union counties in South Dakota.
