YMCA AGREEMENT
There’s an amended agreement between the city of Le Mars and the YMCA. The Y manages the city’s outdoor pool, and the last update of the agreement took place in 2015. The new agreement increases the YMCA’s management fee from 3-thousand to 4-thousand dollars per season. This is a three-year term, followed by one year renewals. The YMCA is also required to submit invoices to the city one week prior to city council meetings.The city receives all revenues from the pool, and incurs all the costs of operating and maintaining the pool.
APARTMENT BUILDING PROJECT IN LE MARS
A 36-unit apartment building is proposed for the area around the Le Mars Municipal airport. The city council is helping the contractor, 1410 Holton Drive LLC, apply for the state Workforce Housing Tax Credit program to the Iowa Economic Development Authority. This allows for a property tax exemption, as an incentive to build the project. Over seven years, this exemption amounts to 284-thousand dollars. The capital investment in this project is 5.1 million dollars. Later in the meeting, councilman Clark Goodchild called for a review of the city’s tax incentive program, saying the five year exemption should be cut back to five years. He says the city has enough apartment complexes. City Economic Development Director Mark Gaul says the city has begun a housing study, to determine what types of housing are needed in Le Mars.
DISASTER PROCLAMATION ISSUES FOR WESTERN IOWA
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for five counties hit hard by Wednesday’s winter storm.
The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of this severe weather for Woodbury, Monona, Crawford, Harrison, and Shelby counties.
The proclamation also temporarily suspends regulatory provisions of the Iowa code that pertain to hours of service for disaster repair crews and drivers delivering goods and services while responding to disaster sites, and various requirements for the transportation of loads related to disaster repairs on highways within Iowa.
The proclamation is effective immediately and expires on April 3rd.
TAYLOR BACKS CEL PHONE BILL IN THE IOWA SENATE
The Iowa Senate has again passed a bill that would penalize motorists who handle a smart phone while driving. State Senator Jeff Taylor of Sioux Center says the bill is a priority of Governor Kim Reynolds.
Senator Taylor says the bill needs more work.
Taylor says the bill is aimed at younger drivers.
The bill has passed the senate in previous years and the vote on it Tuesday was 47-1. The bill now goes to the House, where it has stalled over the past several years.
Governor Kim Reynolds used part of her annual address to lawmakers in January to call on them to send the bill to her desk this year.
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People who suffer from terminal illness may be helped by a bill written by State Senator Jeff Taylor of Sioux Center and passed out of the Senate. It’s called the Right to Try bill.
Some of these treatments can be tailored to the patient.
While the bill was written by Senator Taylor, it was passed out of the Health and Human Services Committee, of which Taylor is not a member.
The bill was floor managed by State Senator Kevin Alons, who represents parts of Plymouth, Cherokee, Woodbury and Monona counties.
SECRETARY OF STATE LISTS 277 PEOPLE FOR POTENTIAL VOTER FRAUD PROBE
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says he’s confirmed through a federal database that 277 non-citizens were registered to vote in Iowa in 2024, and he’s forwarded those names to the Attorney General for potential prosecution. Information from Pate’s office says 35 non-citizens cast ballots that were counted in November’s General Election. Five other non-citizens attempted to cast a ballot, but election officials rejected those ballots. The other 237 people on Pate’s list for investigation were registered to vote, but didn’t cast a ballot.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING BILL PASSED BY IOWA HOUSE
The Iowa House has passed a bill supporters say could make it easier to prosecute human traffickers and another that would make human smuggling a state crime. Legislators cited a lawsuit recently filed by six Guatemalans who say they were recruited to work at an egg processing facility in Clarion, then threatened with a gun and with deportation for complaining about overtime work and their pay. Republican Representative Mark Thompson of Clarion says it happened in his county and it’s time to hammer those who exploit vulnerable people.
The House unanimously passed the bill which removes the requirement an ongoing relationship must be present for someone to be charged with human trafficking. The other bill, which passed on a 75 to 14 vote, would make it a state crime to hide or shelter someone who is violating federal immigration laws and take something of value — like money — to help them enter or stay in the U-S. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison guided a similar bill through the House last year, but senators did not consider it.
Representative Lindsay James, a Democrat from Dubuque, says there are concerns the bill is written too broadly and Iowans offering food or shelter to victims of human smuggling might be charged with a crime.
Despite those concerns, James voted for the bill.
