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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
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McCurdy annexation approved, AllEnergy delayed
by Ken Boesenberg |
The Manchester City Council held their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Feb. 26.
There were a number of public hearings on the agenda; proposed annexation for Don and Kathy McCurdy; proposed annexation for AllEnergy Manchester, LLC; issuance of not to exceed $488,000 sewer revenue loan; and the proposed budget for fiscal year 2007-08.
Three of the five council members were in attendance, Tony Broghammer, Darrell Hanson and Jeff Ogden. Council members Ron Struble and Dan Stelken were not in attendance, Struble was out of state and Stelken due to an illness.
With just three of five members present, there was a quorum. However, it does make for some interesting circumstances on some resolutions and motions.
The first public hearing was concerning the application for voluntary annexation of land made by Donald L. and Kathy S. McCurdy. There were no public comments and the resolution assenting to the annexation of certain real estate to the city of Manchester was passed on a 3-0 vote.
The next public hearing was the proposed voluntary annexation of land by AllEnergy Manchester, LLC.
James Broghammer, CEO of AllEnergy, addressed those in attendance with a progress report on how the process was moving along. They (AllEnergy) have submitted an application for permits concerning nearly 40 emission points that the plant will have, from boilers to dryers.
Also they have received their independent feasibility study concerning the site from BBI International.
“The study was done to determine if there was enough corn in the area and what rating should be given to the physical site itself,” said James Broghammer. “BBI International determined that, yes, there was enough corn available with most of it to come in via truck, as well as a small percentage coming in via rail. As for the suitability of the site, they gave it an excellent rating, which goes a long way towards securing financing.”
Several questions were raised by persons attending the meeting regarding why the drainage was going to the east of the property and what impact that would have on the trout stream. The public was assured the water that would find its way to the trout stream would be cleaner that what is running into the stream naturally.
After all the discussion, the council was not able to take any action on the request for the voluntary annexation, as they were informed that AllEnergy had not yet closed on the property. They were expecting to close on Wednesday, Feb. 28.
The vote concerning the resolution assenting on the annexation will take place at the March 12 city council meeting.
There was some minor discussion regarding the $488,000, the resolution to take additional action with respect to a sewer revenue loan and disbursement agreement, that the council passed on a 3-0 vote.
The council also set April 9 as the date for a public hearing regarding the proposed sewer rate ordinance amendment.
The final public hearing of the meeting was one concerning the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2007-08. After some discussion, the motion was made to accept the proposed budget. Council members Tony Broghammer and Darrell Hanson voted in favor of the budget while council member Jeff Ogden voted no.
Councilman Hanson then asked to change his vote to no for the sake of being able to bring the proposed budget for fiscal year 2007-08 back up for discussion at the next council meeting. Had Hanson not changed his vote, the city would have been forced to operate on their 2006-07 budget, which would have caused several problems for the city. The city would have had to file for an extension with the state to be able to rehold another public hearing concerning the budget.
Approved budgets are due to be filed with the state no later than March 15.
As it stands, now the proposed budget will be brought back up in front of the council for reconsideration at its regularly scheduled meeting on March 12.
Since the city can file their budget with the state electronically there will be adequate time to do that following the March 12 meeting before the March 15 deadline.
The council also took action on the following regular agenda items:
*accepted the bid for the Turkey Timber Lift Station in the amount of $227,175.12 from Tschiggfrie Excavating of Dubuque. This bid was 25.3% under the preliminary contract estimate.
*approved the application for the Downtown Incentive Program as approved by the design committee regarding John Georgen (216 W. Marion St.) in the amount of $3,680 in the form of a commercial rehab grant.
*adopted the resolution approving the engineering agreement with Fox Engineering for the wastewater plant project.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the city council will be at 5 p.m. on March 12. |
McGee proceeds to aid poor
by Ken Boesenberg |
Since the death of Thomas P. O’Connell on Jan. 23, there has been much speculation about what was going to happen to the proceeds of the of the sale of the McGee property.
O’Connell had been given lifetime use of the property owned by Garrett McGee in Manchester, and, as well, a continuing lease to the McGee farm.
The property now will be sold with 160 acres of farm ground being split into two 80 acre parcels. Another 10 acres of timber will be sold separately.
These sales will take place at public auction on Saturday, March 17.
The farmstead and the town property are being handled by local real estate agencies.
Mr. McGee stated in his will that the money should be used to aid the poor of Delaware county and also that those funds be used for the purpose of perpetuating the ongoing memory of his father, Austin E. McGee and his mother, Emma L. McGee.
Currently members of the board of trustees for the Greater Delaware County Community Foundation are in the process of making decisions to enforce the wishes of the will of Garrett McGee.
The Greater Delaware County Community Foundation was created for the purpose of, without getting into too much detail, receiving and maintaining funds exclusively for educational, scientific and charitable purposes and to benefit charitable organizations and causes primarily in and for the benefit of the Delaware County Community and promote charitable giving by or for members of the Delaware County Community.
Currently there are more than 40 committees that are a part of the Greater Delaware County Community Foundation.
They range from scholarship funds at Edgewood-Colesburg and West Delaware, to Operation Santa Claus, the Edgewood Library, Delaware County United Way, the softball and baseball complexes, the West Delaware Auditorium, the Rec Center and the Manchester Swim Team.
The GDCCF has been instrumental in many good deeds through the years and continues to be a very important vehicle for people to insure that money they leave goes for the purpose for which it was intended.
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3 local Special Olympic athletes go to state
by Latisha Sand |
The West Delaware Special Olympic athletes recently competed in the area five basketball skills competition in Cedar Falls and three students advanced to the state games. The competition also includes a team competition, 3-on-3 half court competition, and development speed dribble.
Sarah Nussle, Karla Lee and Annie Hach received a first place ribbon and will compete in the state games in Iowa City on March 9 and 10. The three, and other members of the West Delaware Special Olympic basketball team, competed in passing, dribbling and shooting.
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PHOTO SUBMITTED
Karla Lee competes in the passing portion of the competition. |
Developmental athletes and wheelchair athletes competed in the development speed dribble.
The Iowa Special Olympics has been serving the state for almost 40 years with the first competition having only 100 athletes. Today more than 13,000 athletes compete in 22 sports. According to the Iowa Special Olympics website, the Olympics “is a statewide non-profit organization that provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”
The West Delaware Special Olympics is coached by Joan Salow and Jean Resor. According to Salow, the Special Olympics motto is “Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” Contact the coaches at the West Delaware High School for additional information or visit www.soiowa.org |
Board supports repeal of sex offender law, requests revision
by Alison Nesteby |
The repeal of Iowa’s 2000 ft. sex offender law was supported by the Delaware County Board of Supervisors on Monday, Feb. 26.
Delaware County Sheriff John LeClere addressed the Board asking for their approval in supporting the repeal of the law that states sex offenders cannot live within 2000 ft. of any schools, day cares, etc.
“A sex offender may not be able to live next to a school, but they can sit there all day; they just can’t sleep there,” stated LeClere.
LeClere made it clear that the current law was not working, stating, “Sex offenders are moving around, registering at one address and living at another.”
One little known fact about the law, which makes it void in some cases, is a sex offender can go to jail and serve his/her time, and when they get out, live in the same place they did before they went to jail, whether or not that address is within 2000 ft. of a restricted area. The law doesn’t apply to them since they were living there before they were imprisoned.
“We’re not being soft on these people, we just want to change the law to something that will work,” said LeClere.
The original resolution brought to the Board was just urging them to support the repeal of the 2000 ft. law. The Board would only approve if it was clearly stated that a revision was mandatory.
“I feel the resolution should say something about what else they’re going to do; they just repeal the old law,” stated Board member Bill Skinner.
The issue will continue to be addressed by government officials and the Press will publish updates as we receive them.
Two underground construction permits were approved for Iowa Telecom. One is a temporary pole and aerial crossing on Vine Rd. in Bremen Township. The other, a buried copper cable to service 1115 280th Ave in rural Colesburg.
Linda Burr was hired as the Program Coordinator for Delaware County Community Life effective March 15. Her salary will be $30,800 with a 3.75 percent increase on July 1.
The payment of county claims was approved, including election workers who ran the polls for the NICC bond issue. Delaware County did not have a good turnout of voters for the issue, and in the end costing the county $6-8 per vote. Delaware County Auditor Carla Becker reported about 808 votes for the issue, not including absentee ballots. These expenses will be reimbursed by Dubuque County.
Other considerations approved were:
- Preliminary Financial Statements for FY 2005/2006
- Darla Rave, custodian at the Delaware County Courthouse, to take two and a half days unpaid leave of absence
- Letter of Support for Veteran Affairs Grant Application
- Bank Authority for Auditor to Sign |
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