SOLID WASTE RATES
The Plymouth County Solid Waste Agency has informed the county Board of Supervisors that they have increased some of their tonnage fees at the county landfill. Effective July 1, the costs for dumping furniture and #1 materials have gone up $1.75 to $59.25. Fees for construction and Demolition, trees and yard waste have increased .50 cents to 30 dollars. The basic fee of 20 dollars remains the same. The Solid Waste Agency reports that the volume of waste is lower than the previous year. There was slightly over 10-thousand tons of material entered in the county landfill for all of 2021-22. In the first 5 months of 2022-23, there was 28-hundred tons entered in the landfill. That’s before the summer months, when volume is heavier.
TWO ROAD CLOSINGS
Two rural roads will be closed over the next three weeks in Plymouth County. The Road Department says both projects involve replacing old bridges with box culverts. One is on Impala Ave, between 240th and 260th Streets. That’s three miles north of Hinton, in Plymouth Township. The second is on 240th Street, between Roosevelt and Shamrock Ave. a mile north of C44 in Henry Township. Both projects should be completed, and the roads reopened, by September 1.
PROPOSED RULES ON GAS APPLIANCES
The U.S. Department of Energy is proposing new energy efficiency standards for residential water heaters, to take effect in 2029.
Republicans in the U.S. House are trying to push back against the new rules, as they did in June by passing a bill to stop new rules on natural gas appliances. This is Rep. Randy Feenstra.
Feenstra says the Biden Administration is making this part of his green agenda.
Feenstra admits the bill won’t pass in the Senate. The rules on water heaters would require new technology for water heaters, or the use of tankless water heaters, which advocates say would lower gas and water bills.
TIF REPORT TO SUPERVISORS
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors approved the annual Urban Renewal Report for the 2022-23 fiscal year. The Tax Increment Financing District which includes the Plymouth Energy ethanol plant at Merrill brought in 447-thousand dollars in revenue in the past year. Total expenditures were 200-thousand dollars. These included paving and bridge projects in and around Merrill, and rebate agreements with Plymouth Oil and Plymouth Energy. Outstanding debt is nearly 1.2 million dollars. The debt is from an internal loan incurred in 2013.
The Supervisors also heard an LED lighting proposal from ROI Energy, a lighting contractor. They proposed a lighting upgrade for 15 county buildings, including the courthouse and annex, the Law Enforcement Center, Disaster Services building, and Engineering buildings. The Board will take action on the proposal at their next meeting.
The Board also approved renewal of the 28E agreement which forms Sioux River Mental Health, and contracts for its personnel.
RISING GASOLINE PRICES
Gasoline prices rose almost 50-cents a gallon in Iowa in the past month, and they’re still climbing. Brian Ortner, spokesman for Triple-A-Iowa, says prices should start to level off very soon. Iowa’s current average price is three-78 a gallon, up from three-30 a month ago. Ortner says the extreme heat we had a month ago played a key role in the pump price spike. He notes some refineries in the South had to cut back on production as temperatures climbed to 110-degrees. Ortner says we should see relief as the summer travel season ends and demand for gas falls. Prices vary widely across the state, as Council Bluffs is averaging three-68 a gallon, while Dubuque is at three-88. Triple-A says the national average is three-82.
80% OF IOWA BUSINESSES STEADY TO GROWING
A survey of several hundred Iowa businesses finds an overwhelming majority of them are in good shape compared to a year ago, despite record inflation, the rising cost of living, and ongoing supply chain challenges. Jim Plagge, president and C-E-O of Bank Iowa, says this is the institution’s second annual statewide survey of businesses and he’s encouraged by the results.
Businesses in a wide range of industries continue to have trouble finding qualified workers to fill open jobs, but Plagge says the survey found 44-percent of Iowa business owners report seeing an improvement in the quality of applicants over the last year.
COVID-19 is still having ripple effects in Iowa’s economy, as 80-percent of responding businesses said the pandemic fundamentally altered their business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Plagge says the biggest lasting change is the work-from-home dynamic.
The survey found 83-percent of businesses do plan to adjust their practices based on change they’ve experienced in the last few years, while 56-percent said the work-from-home economy has helped their business.
Bank Iowa is one of the state’s top independent ag banks and is Iowa’s second-largest family-owned bank, with 26 locations in 23 communities.
IOWA TO INVESTIGATE TIK TOK
Top state officials have hired a Washington, D.C. law firm to investigate TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media giant. The state’s Executive Council has approved a contract with Cooper and Kirk, a law firm that worked on the state of Indiana’s lawsuits against TikTok. Indiana filed two lawsuits against TikTok in December, accusing the company of violating child safety and data security laws. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird recocommended that firm represent the State of Iowa in possible litigation against TikTok as well an investigation of the company. In late 2022, Governor Kim Reynolds issued an executive order that bans TikTok from all devices owned by state government. It also prohibits state agencies from having TikTok accounts.
GRASSLEY IN TUNE WITH YOUNG VOTERS
A study finds this is the oldest-ever U-S Senate, with a median age of 65 years, versus the average age of the U-S population at 39. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is 89 and is the second-oldest member of the chamber. A Minneapolis Star Tribune editorial on Monday refers to the U-S Senate as a “senior living community,” but Grassley says he feels he’s doing a good job of staying in touch with 20-somethings and teens, as well as everyday Iowans. Grassley touts his annual 99-county tour of Iowa, and he says some of those county meetings are with high schoolers. He says he holds meetings with district judges for high school kids, as a special seminar, and meets with thousands of people face-to-face every year, and thousands more by email, U-S mail and the phone.
