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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
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Pavilion restoration almost complete
by Ken Boesenberg |
The “Pavilion” on the Delaware County Fairgrounds has seen its share of usage since being constructed in the early 1900’s.
There have been Dairy Princesses and Pork Queens crowned and any number of other local honors handed out inside the four walls of the pavilion.
The Dairy Banquet, Pork Banquet, Cattleman’s Banquet, political rallies, weddings and dances, are just a few of the events that have been held for many years in the building.
During the Delaware County Fair it houses the 4-H Exhibits where hours and hours of work by area youth are put on public display.
The side walls used to flip up to catch whatever breeze there was outside during a huge event and allowed it to circulate through the building. The building was finally enclosed in 1989.
There were old tables to eat off and benches around the outside to have a seat on while you were waiting in line for some grilled pork chops, a steak or a burger.
Over the years numerous improvements have been made to the building which is still the most popular place to have a wedding reception in Manchester.
Currently the pavilion is undergoing an interior face lift thanks to a large number of fair board volunteers.
The entire wooden floor where millions of dance steps have been performed was sanded to the bare wood. |
KEN BOESENBERG / Press
The top photo is of the newly resurfaced floor in the pavilion. Nearly 3/8 of an inch of build-up was removed before the new finish could be put down. Above is one of many support poles that will also be stripped of their white and black paint before being refinished. |
It took eight people, rotating shifts with four huge sanders six straight days, to sand the entire floor.
“The residue that was taken off the floor filled one half of a huge dumpster,” stated Dick Clemens.
“The last time that we sanded the floor completely down was in 1989. At that time we took three 55-gallon barrels of residue off the floor and thought that was a lot,” said Clemen.
“The people that came up to help sand were just troopers and it couldn’t have been done without them,” commented Delaware County Fair Manager, Jeannie Domeyer.
In addition to redoing the floor, the walls have been patched and will be sprayed in spots with the new plaster during the next week.
The fascia will have a different look, as well, with the installation of a cork surface, which will be between the bottom trim board and the top crown molding. There will also be a fresh coat of paint added, with no decision made yet on the color.
In the plans, as well, is the straightening out of the old horseshoe bar that is against the west wall.
The plans are to connect it to the north wall and install two cash register stations and a sliding door cooler that will make it easier to serve canned beverages.
The old support poles that go around the outside will soon be stripped and refinished.
The first thing that you’ll notice when entering the pavilion will be the new stenciled concrete floor in the entry way. That part of the project should be done in the very near future.
“I am really proud of the way it looks, and will look when we are done,” stated Domeyer. |
Council awards street improvement bid
by Ken Boesenberg |
The Manchester City Council held their regular meeting, Monday, Feb. 12, in the council chambers.
The council in a 5-0 vote awarded the 2007 Street Improvements Project with Alternate 2, to Tschiggfrie Excavation Company of Dubuque in the amount of $960,819.62.
Tschiggfrie’s bid came in 11.1percent under the engineers estimate of $1,080,724.22 for the base bid plus Alternate 2.
Alternate 2 included using six inch concrete instead of three inch asphalt.
There were eight bidders on the project with the highest bid being $1,165,680.33; 7.3 percent higher than the engineers estimate.
The council discussed the engineering agreement between the city and Fox Engineering Associates, Inc. regarding limits of liability for design of modifying and upgrading the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
It was voted on and carried by the council to raise the engineering firms limit of liability as pertaining to design work from an amount equal to their fee ($709,800) to $1,000,000.
An application for financing this $7,500,000 project using Sewer Revolving Fund money is currently being reviewed by the necessary agencies in Des Moines. Some word as to the project being approved for funding should occur in early March.
The current treatment plant was constructed in 1952 with the last major upgrade being done in 1982.
Wastewater treatment plants usually have a useful life in the range of 20 years.
Needing to raise an extra $620,000 per year in sewer revenue to pay for the $7,500,000 wastewater improvement project the council reviewed eight possible sewer rate changes.
All eight scenarios generate nearly the same amount of money, it is just a matter of whether the increase is on the base rate, the per 1,000 gallon of usage rate or a combination of both.
No matter which one of the eight possibilities are used, citizens will notice a sizeable increase in their water and sewer bill when the new rates are instituted.
The monthly base charge for sewer is $5.25 plus $2.35 per 1,000 gallons of usage.
A customer currently using 3,000 gallons of water per month has a sewer charge of $12.30.
Depending on which new fee structure is implemented the new sewer charge would range from a low of $22.80 to a high of $35.80.
A customer currently using 6,000 gallons of water per month has a sewer charge of $19.35. Again, depending on which new fee structure is implemented the new sewer charge would range from a low of $42.85 to a high of $45.60.
Also approved by the council was the sale of Lots 909 and 910 (also known as 508 Lincoln Street) to Delaware County.
The council also set Feb. 26, at 5 p.m. as the time and date for the public hearing on the proposed city budget for 2007-08.
The council also approved:
* the use of $3,000 of Park Improvement Funds for engineering services related to the grant application for the construction of a trail and pedestrian bridge at Schram Park.
* Owens Inspection Services, LLC as project observers for the Well 7 Water Tower Painting Project.
* an agreement with Northeast Iowa Telephone Service, Inc. for housing and monitoring business alarm systems at the Manchester Police Department for an annual fee of 15 percent of all fees collected from users of the security alarm system.
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Supervisors approve agreement with Penn Center
by Alison Nesteby |
The Delaware County Board of Supervisors approved their annual agreement with the Penn Center in Delhi during their regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 12.
The 26-part agreement delegates power for the operation of the Center, as well as setting guidelines for funding. The Penn Center shall continue the care and supervision they provide for residents of Delaware County who are deemed mentally ill, mentally retarded and/or indigent. The Penn Center is a licensed residential care facility (RCF).
Deb Westvold, ISAC, presented information to the Board concerning County Case Management Services, which will be taken over by the county on July 1. It has been ran by DHS since 2002. Case managers will meet with each program, which hails in 66 of Iowa’s 99 counties, three times per year to ensure all persons involved with the service are being cared for in the proper way. County Case Management Services is a Medicaid funded program that works with people who suffer from mental retardation, developmental illnesses, etc., to aid them in becoming as independent as possible.
Angel and Jason Kelchen addressed the Board asking for approval of a future driveway location.
The Kelchens plan to build a house on Parcel H, an 11-acre parcel in the SW1/4 of the SW1/4 of Section 12 in South Fork Township. The Supervisors visited the site prior to the meeting, and came to the conclusion that it was not a safe location, considering the speed of vehicles that would be passing the driveway. The county has marked two other locations for the driveway that would provide access to the Kelchens future home while meeting visibility regulations.
“We like to make it an interactive process, which is why we went and checked the location out,” stated Mark Nahra, Delaware County Engineer.
An eight-month liquor license, effective March 1, was approved for Backbone Golf and County Club.
A resolution was approved with the Eastern Iowa Rural Services Systems Commission, which includes Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Jackson and Jones counties. The County approved an amount not exceeding $200,000 to be issued to fund projects such as the Andover Project.
The destruction of records from certain previous elections were approved to be destroyed.
Others approvals by the Board include:
-Iowa Telecom to move a buried copper cable on Goose Hill Rd. and 320th Street in Bremen Township;
-Change the compensation of Veterans Affairs Commissioners to follow Iowa Code: $25 pay for each month that the Commissioner attends a meeting;
-Payment of County claims;
-Transfer of funds from the Rural Service Fund to the Secondary Road Fund in the amount of $8,141.38;
-Table consideration of the Electronic Transaction Clearinghouse until more information can be obtained;
-County Treasurer’s Monthly Report in the amount of $3,467,902.38 as of January 31
The next meeting of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors will be at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Feb 22, due to the closing of the courthouse for President’s Day on Feb 19
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WD Art Show to be held
by Ken Boesenberg |
The West Delaware Art Show is the brain child of West Delaware art teacher, Jolene Pitzenberger-Timp and Lila Deutmeyer, owner of Lila’s Frame Studio.
The two ladies have a common interest, framing and matting pictures. During a recent conversation they came up with the idea of having an art show to showcase the talents of students at West Delaware.
Art students usually do not get a chance to show off their works, other than at a few competitions related to school.
This year, for example, there are only a couple of times when one could view this year’s art projects.
The first time would be on Tuesday, April 17 when approximately 16 students and 20 art pieces will be represented at the annual WaMaC Conference Art Contest in Maquoketa.
The next time would be Monday, April 30 when West Delaware holds its annual Art/Technology Show. That show runs for just two hours in the multi-purpose room at the high school.
The West Delaware Art Show will provide an opportunity for the students to formally display their work to the public.
The show will start on Monday, Feb. 19 and run through Monday, March 5 at Lila’s Framing Studio.
On display will be some 50 two-dimensional drawings and paintings by students from ninth to 12th grade. |
KEN BOESENBERG / Press
Jolene Pitzenberger-Timp (left) and Lila Deutmeyer (right) display just a few of the approximately 50 art pieces that will be on display at the West Delaware Art Show over the next two weeks. |
Viewers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite piece with the winning project being framed by Lila’s Framing Studio.
As part of the show, art teachers Jolene Pitzenberger-Timp and Ben Patterson will be donating an original piece of art work to be raffled off at the end of the show. Proceeds of the raffle will go towards the purchase of a color printer for the art department. |
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