RAGBRAI ROUTE
Part of Plymouth County will be congested with thousands of cyclists Sunday morning, the first day of the 50th anniversary of RAGBRAI. Plymouth County Emergency Management Director Rebecca Socknat says this year’s route will clip into the southeastern corner of the county.
An even larger number of people are riding this year, and all will flood through Kingsley. This will affect some basic services in the area.
Plymouth County Emergency Management is urging people to have backup plans should they be in the Kingsley area Sunday.
Weather is not expected to be severe on Sunday, but Socknat urges people to sign up for an emergency text alert system.
Socknat says keep in mind that if you’re in the Kingsley area Sunday morning, traffic will be snarled by the RAGBRAI riders.
Riders will be urged to push on past Kingsley after the noon hour, so that they can arrive at the first night’s stop – Storm Lake – before dark.
PLYWOOD TRAIL CHANGE ORDER
The Le Mars city council this week approved a change order in the Plywood Trail Phase 1B Project. The Iowa Department of Transportation, the project engineer and the contractor, have been working on reducing costs on the project. The low bid for the project, 2.3 million dollars, came in over the project estimate. The council approved modifications in construction of a retaining wall that would same some 375-thousand dollars in construction costs. The revised project cost is now 1.93 million dollars.
K9 TRIALS
Next month, the Le Mars Police Department and the Plymouth County Sheriffs Office will host the USPCA Region 21 K9 Handler trials. Police Chief Kevin Vande Vegte informed the city council this week that 60 to 80 teams of officers and K9s will take part in the trials. This includes competition in Obedience, Agility, Item Searches and Apprehension. Vande Vegte says the public is invited to observe the event, but they are asked to stay behind all barriers and keep noise to a minimum. The public can observe obedience presentations at the Le Mars Community Schools practice football field, August 7, between 7 and 10 a.m., and box searches at the Rejoice Church field from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. On August 8, apprehension trials will take place from 8 a.m. to noon at the Le Mars Community Schools practice football field.
DNR PARKS REPAIRS
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources received an increase in this year’s budget from two million dollars to five million for infrastructure repairs at state parks. D-N-R director, Kayla Lyon, was asked at a recent Natural Resources Commission meeting how the money will be spent.
Lyon says they talk with lawmakers about their needs during the budget process.
She was asked how much of an impact the additional dollars will have on the infrastructure needs and what will remain afterward. Lyon told the commission they can get some more information for them on infrastructure needs. She says it is okay for commissioners to talk with legislators about what they think is needed in the budget.
BIOFUELS TESTING LABORATORY
Iowa Central Community College broke ground this week on what will become its new Biofuels Testing Laboratory on the west side of Fort Dodge. Iowa Central President Jesse Ulrich says it will be a welcome addition to the campus and it’ll be the only independent biofuels testing lab in the country. The lab has its roots in the mid-2000s when it tested biofuel versus regular fuel for a local trucking company. Ulrich says it’s continued to expand, from essentially a closet into the Biohealth Science Building, and now, it’ll have a facility all its own. The land for the lab was donated by Casey’s which had once operated a convenience store on the site. The lab should be ready for move-in within a year.
NEW BOOK ON IOWA WATERWAYS
A new book by an Iowa author implores people to preserve the waterways that sustain our crops — and our lives — by tackling tough issues from climate change to nitrate pollution. Professor Neil Hamilton, who recently retired after 36 years directing the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University, uses the river as a narrator in his book, “The River Knows.” He says the book is designed as a wake-up call to make people stop and think about our waterways and how we can best protect them. It’s the sequel to Hamilton’s 2022 book, “The Land Remains,” where Iowa’s fertile, underappreciated soil told its own story. The book is available at many Iowa bookstores and through the publisher, Ice Cube Press.
STORM LAKE WATER RESTRICTIONS
The City of Storm Lake is implementing mandatory water conservation measures through August 1st. City Manager Keri Navratil says two of Storm Lake’s water wells are currently out of commission. On June 1st, Storm Lake officials asked residents to minimize water usage voluntarily.
Powerwashing buildings or concrete is now prohibited in Storm Lake. Watering lawns between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. is also prohibited and the owners of outdoor pools have to get a city permit for filling their pool. Those caught violating the water use restrictions could face a fine of 75 dollars. Storm Lake will have an additional need for water Sunday, when the city is hosting an overnight stop on RAGBRAI — the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Navratil says the mandatory period could be lifted shortly before the two-week period expires depending on well repairs and demand.
IOWA GOVERNMENT REALIGNMENT
Governor Kim Reynolds says more than 26 hundred state employees have transitioned to a different state agency after her state government reorganization plan took effect July 1st. The number of state agencies has been cut from 37 down to 16. Over 500 open positions in state government have been eliminated. Reynolds says the workforce may shrink more as state employees resign or retire.
Reynolds hired a consulting firm to examine how other states operated, examine agencies within the executive branch of Iowa’s state government and come up with a realignment plan to present to the legislature. The governor says that was critical because her small staff didn’t have the capacity to do an enterprise wide assessment.
