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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday,
October 25, 2007 |
Revision of Firearms Ordinance Slight
by Ben Parker |
The Anamosa City Council approved the first reading of the ordinance amending section 41.08, which covers the discharging of firearms in city limits at the October 22 meeting. The ordinance was revised to include the following: The Mayor, City Administrator and Police Chief may give special permission to any veterans organization to conduct three-volley or 21-gun salutes at publicly owned locations in the city on any holiday or ceremony where veterans of the nation are so honored with appropriate safeguards and implements.
The ordinance revision includes schools, parks, the LCC and library as well as any other city, county or state owned property. It does not include funeral homes and churches, which was the portion of the ordinance originally in question. The ordinance was also revised to allow starter pistols at sporting events.
There will be a second, and possible third reading.
Dr. Mark Davis came to the council meeting to request the council lower his sewer bill for an apartment in a complex he owns and is trying to sell. Nobody has been in the apartment for the billing period, and he found no signs of forced entry. What he did find was the toilet running. He surmises that it must have been running all month, resulting in a bill close to $1000.
In the past when the council did reduce a water bill, the instances were for leaks into the building with none of the water going into the sewer. The solution was to waive the sewer portion of the bill.
In this case, the water was being pumped right into the sewer and not into the building and was
being treated.
A couple solutions were proposed, but nothing decided upon. The council acted to table any action on this until further research could be done. It will give them time to see what other cities have done in this instance and give Dr. Davis time to find out if insurance will cover the bill. He will not be penalized in any way during the wait.
Robert Butler addressed counicl because he wants part of West Cedar Street as his own property.
The house on 102 W. Cedar isn’t fully on the property he owns, part of it sticking out into the platted street. Nobody knows how old the house is or the reason it was built in this location.
Property owners on West Cedar came to make sure the council didn’t sell the entire street. Many of them have built or are building garages and would lose access to the buildings. The council clarified that it was never their intent to cut people off. They agreed on a square footage that satisfied everyone.
A public hearing will be held on November 12 for the sale of a portion of the city right-of-way to Robert Butler on West Cedar Street, at 6 p.m., with a price of $1 per square foot. This is subject to change.
Other action taken by council:
• Even though the Bahls submitted a request that the council table the decision to sell the Liberty Street right of way they want to purchase, the council did vote to set the sale in motion. No actual details were specified, since research is necessary, but they voted to sell half to the Bahls and half to Ricklefs. Should Ricklefs decline the purchase, the Bahls may buy the other half of the street.
• The council decided to start the process of building a development agreement with Ricklefs for the area north of Theresa Avenue.
•The council authorized payment for their purchase of the DOT’s former maintenance shop site.
• There will be a public hearing on November 12, at 6 p.m. for the sale of city property to Dick and Tammy Dearborn.
• An agreement was approved with Patrick Heser and Robert Butler for extending the water main and sanitary sewer lines.
• The council approved the ordinance rededicating the public alleyway in Block 33, the former location of Happy Hollow.
• The Class C permit, with Sunday sale’s privilages, was approved for the Anamosa Megamart and the Anamosa Bowling Center. The Bowling Center’s permit also allows outdoor service.
• The council will pay Staab Construction $186,535.02, payment number three, for the phase two wastewater treatment plant project
• For Dolan Excavation’s payment number five, the council agreed to release all retainers except for 1% of the $8,227.38. The pay request won’t be fulfilled until a new one is filed with this correction.
• Arensdorf Excavating and Trucking will receive $116,204.01, the first payment on the Sycamore Street box culvert project.
• The council approved a letter that will be sent to the Iowa DOT about the Old Dubuque Road and Highway 151 intersection.
• The council moved to table any action on donating anything to the St. Patrick’s Park playground equipment drive until November 26, to allow time for the full amount of funds from the drive to finalize, giving the city a better idea how much it needs to donate.
• Bills for October will be paid.
• The second reading of Ordinance amending chapter 99, which will increase the sewer rates to finance wastewater treatment plant improvements, was approved. There will be a third reading. |
Community Forum to Focus on School’s Long Range Plan
By Michelle Phillips |
Residents of the Anamosa Community School District have the opportunity to let their thoughts be known concerning the long range planning of the district.
A community forum will be held at the Anamosa Library and Learning Center on October 29 from 6-7:30 p.m.
“DLR (Architects) will facilitate the forum, and they’re going to do about five things,” said Anamosa Superintendent Dr. Dale Monroe.
The discussion points include:
1. A summary of facilities reviewed to date.
2. Options being considered and feedback from the Long Range Planning Committee.
3. Eight to 10 questions with total group participation to help focus details yet to be answered.
4. What can be expected as a result of phase one master facility planning.
5. Questions that need to be answered going forward.
DLR was hired by the Anamosa School Board to help determine the needs of the district.
“One of the reasons the board hired them was to get through the controversy we’ve experienced,” included Monroe.
One of the first steps after the school’s land purchase was to form a Long Range Planning Committee. The committee is comprised of a group who had an interest in volunteering, and each board member chose one person to sit on the committee.
Criteria for the committee included the person’s impact as a community leader and their ability to present both pros and cons. The group is working on a 10-year master plan.
Members of the committee are: Randy Antons, Nurit Finn, Paul Wilcox, Bob Furino, Rick Delagardelle, pat Callahan, Rick Worchester, Matt McQuillen, Tom Dole, dale Hackett, Bob Walderbach, Nicole Sander, Mike Warner, Polly Chalstrom, Steve Brainard, Jana Serbousek, Bob Dolan, Kris Kilburg and Courtney Boffeli.
Feedback collected from this forum will be presented to the school board and used a tool to help them with planning.
Monroe said he did not know if future forums would be held and added that would be up to DLR. |
Braley Wants to Get to Bottom of 133rd Benefit Snafu
By Michelle Phillips |
U.S. House Representative Bruce Braley is questioning why members of the Iowa National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry were cut loose just days before they would’ve been given full GI Bill benefits.
“My staff and I have been working on this since they (133rd) got back,” said Braley, who included that the discrepancy was brought to his attention by Iowa House Representative and 133rd member, Ray Zirkelbach and the outfit’s commanding officer, LT. Col. Ben Corell as well as constituents in his district.
“We were told while we were there (Iraq) that the government wouldn’t disqualify us, but we found out right before we left that we wouldn’t get full benefits,” recalled Zirkelbach, who said he brought the matter up to Braley as soon as he returned in July.
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The Iowa National Guard 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry stands at attention in Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo when they arrived home in July. |
“It makes me so sick to think about it,” he added.
When the soldiers returned, they discovered that they had fallen one to five days short of the required 730 days, the time when full GI Bill benefits kick in.
Braley said, “We may be able to help in individual cases, but we must get to the bottom of it and determine if this was deliberate.”
His office is working on gathering information to see if an inquiry or hearing is warranted.
Iowa National Guard public affairs officer, Lt. Col. Gregory Hapgood said packets are being assembled on a case by case basis for soldiers who want to continue their education. The difference between full GI Bill benefits and the amount the soldiers can currently collect can be more than a $200 a month difference; Full benefits is up to $894 a month, and most are eligible for up to $660.
“This is not something that is quick and easy, but we are confident that the Army will make it right,” Hapgood stated.
Braley hopes to bring the matter up with the Committee on Oversight and Reforms but said that may not happen because the schedule has been set and time is running out for this session. Still, he hopes it will be cleared up by the time registration for spring classes is over.
Hapgood said he also hopes the Army can get the appeals of all who intend to start classes in the spring resolved. He added that the benefits in question are federally funded, but Iowa National Guard soldiers are also eligible for a state benefit of $5600 a year.
“No one has been denied benefits,” Hapgood made clear. “ We have identified 550 soldiers that need to be reviewed. there are potentially several hundred soldiers from the 133rd affected by this issue.”
Braley said this is a unique situation because no other battalion has been deployed for as long as the 133rd. The National Guard was implemented and units began deploying to war zones during World War II.
Hapgood said the problem would not likely happen in the future either.
“The Department of Defense goal is to limit deployment to 12 months. At this point we hope this will be a non-issue in the future,” he said.
Braley added that although the piece of the GI Bill benefit package in question is education, there could be other areas, including housing, that could be affected by these men and women not receiving full benefits.
Zirkelbach said he feels anyone serving in a war zone should receive full GI Bill benefits.
“Our length of service was just short of two years. There are people that stay in the military for two years and never go to a war zone, so why shouldn’t we get those benefits?” he asked.
Braley said when people try to hold down expenses, they fail to see how people are personally affected.
“I think its the morale of the National Guard that’s affected when we ask so much of them and treat them like commodities when they come home,” Braley concluded. |
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