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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
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Comments needed to protect three rivers |
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Three rivers in Delaware County won’t be subject to new anti-pollution rules if the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission approves exemptions and lowered protections for them. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has recently included them on a list of 279 bodies of water to receive reduced protection or no protection under the Federal Clean Water Act. That means they might not be safe for children to play in and, in some, the fish might not be safe to eat.
The streams include: the Maquoketa River from Joy Springs through Backbone State Park to two miles north of Manchester; North Fork of the Maquoketa River south of Dyersville to the city of Maquoketa and Buffalo Creek from north of Winthrop to Anamosa.
If the streams protections are reduced or eliminated, sewage treatment plants and other facilities will be allowed to continue releasing wastewater into them with harmful levels of bacteria and other pollutants. If people have used these rivers at any time since 1975 for swimming or other activities where they could get water in their eyes, ears or mouth, full water protections must be put in place and sewer agencies required to disinfect the wastewater they discharge to meet safe levels for human contact and, if people use the rivers for fishing, other pollutants need to be reduced as well.
Comments should therefore include details of how, when and where the stream is used. They should also include similar information about any other uses such as wading, boating, tubing, ‘kid’s play,’ or fishing, since these also expose people to bacteria and viruses.
Sewage that has not been disinfected may contain viruses, parasites and other pathogens that can make people sick with ear infections, typhoid fever, hepatitis, gastroenteritis, dysentery and other illnesses. Pathogens such as fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria are indicators of poor water quality and possible contamination with human or animal waste.
Waters with elevated levels of fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria are considered unsafe to swim in or for children and adolescents to play in.
Additional information and a river uses comment form can be found at www.iowa.sierraclub.org.
Comments should be sent to Adam Schniders at the Iowa DNR, Wallace State Office Building, 502 East 9th Street, Des Moines, IA 50319. Comments may also be faxed to 515-281-8895 or emailed to adam.schnieders@dnr.iowa.gov. Comments must be postmarked by Tuesday, Dec. 11 or emailed and faxed by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11. |
Council hears TIF report update
by Ken Boesenberg |
The Manchester City Council held it’s regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 26 in the City Council Chambers.
The council heard from representatives of Speer Financial regarding the city’s TIF Report Update.
It was stressed at the meeting by the representatives of Speer Financial that the City of Manchester has a very aggressive repayment schedule set up for handling the repayment of debt. It was also noted by Larry Burger of Speer Financial that the city is in very good shape as far as its debt load and the repayment of that debt load.
For the purpose of General Obligation Debt Capacity the city’s property evaluation at 100 percent for fiscal year 2006-07 is reportedly $222,239,862.
The statutory General Obligation debt limit is 5 percent of the 100 percent evaluation which gives the city a borrowing capacity of $11,345,037. At the beginning of 2006 the city had $3,105,000 General Obligation Bonds outstanding and another $1,015,488.83 in TIF Revenue Bonds outstanding (principal only).
Deducting payments that would be made during the year the city had a remaining General Obligation debt capacity (not obligated) of $6,932,839.
There is a mandated reserve placed on the city that must be kept free for emergency use of 20 percent of the statutory General Obligation debt limit of $11,345,037 or $2,269,007. This leaves the city with the ability to issue $4,663,832 in General Obligation bonds if needed.
The council again heard from Lorraine Boffeli regarding what was being done regarding the October flood in the way of retention or detention ponds.
She wanted to know if the city was willing to tell the school that they could not begin the Phase II construction until the detention pond issue had been resolved.
City Manager, Tim Vick explained that the city and the school board were in contact with each other and that a meeting addressing the problem was being discussed.
Through much of the rhetoric during exchanges at the meeting it was continually brought up that solving the problem is much more difficult, if not impossible, than it seems.
There is agreement from most everyone that something needs to be done. However, there are a number of questions that will have to be answered. Where will such a structure or structures be built? Who is going to build them? And where is the money going to come from to pay for such structures. Who covers the cost of the hydration study to determine what is needed and where?
Those are just a few of the major questions that need to be answered and none of them have easy answers.
It has been difficult for those that suffered damage to their properties along the dry run to understand why something wasn’t done earlier, and why something can’t be done now.
On the other side, it is much easier to say why hasn’t something been done than actually coming up with a solution.
At this point it is evident that the citizens affected by the flood aren’t going to let the issue go away until something, whatever that is, be done to help prevent the same thing from happening in the future.
In other business the council approved the renewal applications for On-Premise Beer Permits for Julie A. Bolsinger dba Onie’s Wooden Nickel and Fleuriet Manchester Ranch Inc. dba Fleuriet Manchester Pizza Ranch. Also approved were the Beer, Wine and Liquor Permits for American Legion Post #45, Delaware County Fair Society dba Delaware County Dance Pavilion and Delaware County Community Center.
The council approved two motions, R-191-2007 and R-192-2007, having to do with Iowa Department of Transportation Agreements for two Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy Program (RISE).
Resolution 191-2007 had to do with the All Energy Ethanol Plant and the construction of both eastbound and westbound left-turn lanes and eastbound right-turn lane at the entrance to the proposed plant. The pavement width will vary from 22 feet to 56 feet constructed with 8-inch thick Portland Cement Concrete over a 12-inch Granular Subbase.
Resolution 192-2007 covers the following project. Grade and pave an extension of North 13th Street from the end of the existing pavement north approximately 650 feet to West Howard Street, West Howard Street from North 13th Street east approximately 1,145 feet to North 11th Street and North 11th Street from West Howard Street south approximately 385 feet. All three streets will be 34 feet wide, back of curb to back of curb. North 13th Street will be constructed with 8-inch thick Portland Cement Concrete and West Howard Street and North 11th Street will be constructed with 7-inch thick Portland Concrete Cement.
The two RISE grants totaled $688,976.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Manchester City Council will be Monday, December 10th in the City Council Chambers.
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Supervisors hear annual weed report
by Latisha Sand |
County Engineer Mark Nahra gave the Delaware County Board of Supervisors his annual weed commissioner’s report on Monday, Nov. 26.
Two new weeds were seen in Delaware County for the first time – teasel and Japanese knotweed. Teasel is a tall, single stock weed and Japanese knotweed can grow to be about six and a half feet tall and is easily transported to fields. The knotweed was found in two areas of the county this year, near Rocky Ridge Road and Highway 38 in Delaware.
“The state doesn’t acknowledge the Japanese knotweed as being a problem, yet,” said Nahra.
According to the USDA website, teasel and Japanese knotweed can crowd out native species. Teasel was introduced from Europe in the 1700s and Japanese knotweed was introduced from Asia in the 1800s.
The overall complaints from private landowners were down from last year and the county only had one complaint about thistle’s coming back on land in Adams Township. But, according to Nahra, the problem was better this year than last year.
Nahra thinks the county can do a better job of driving roadways to spot weeds and several measures, like purchasing a new sprayer, could help control them. The county also used 87.5 gallons of 2,4D. |
Japanese knotweed
Teasel |
The board approved hiring Dennis Duggan at $21.53 per hour, effective immediately, as the Secondary Road Maintenance Foreman. Duggan has worked for the county for over 20 years.
The board also approved giving Susan Morris, a part-time employee in the Delaware County Recorder’s office, a 3 percent raise because her 90 days probation period is complete.
The 221st Street Bridge is completed and the east and then west roadway leading up the bridge will be completed soon. Goosehill Road is open to traffic and the county will be taking over snow removal on that road this winter. The construction will resume in the spring.
The board also approved:
• reimbursing the Pizza Place $195 for a Liquor License Fee. The business was sold in August of this year.
• setting Monday, Dec. 17 at 4:30 p.m. as the date and time to open bids for four Delaware County Sheriff vehicles
• a Hopkinton resident to be considered for the Disabled Veterans Homestead Tax Credit. The resident will be credited the amount of her property value.
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