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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday, February 28, 2008
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Small Amount of Beef Recalled from Anamosa Schools
by Michelle Phillips |
A recent recall of 143 million pounds of beef by Westland Meat Company and their affiliate, Hallmark Meat Packing, has affected all of the schools in Iowa, including Anamosa.
Dean Flaws, a consultant for the Bureau of Nutrition, Health and Transportation Services at the Iowa Department of Education said, “All schools in Iowa have received this product throughout the entire school year.”
Flaws advised the schools to destroy the meat and sent guidelines for destruction.
Anamosa Superintendent, Dr. Dale Monroe said the recall was the only one that he or food service employee, Sue Ellen White can remember or track in recent history. The school had used about 40 pounds of the frozen, ground beef and destroyed another 40 pounds in accordance with guidelines sent by Flaws.
“We have no reports of illness related to beef during the year,” Monroe stated.
The meat was distributed through the National School Lunch Program, a USDA organization.
Monroe said the school would be reimbursed for the recalled beef it purchased.
The recall, the largest in American history, came about after film footage was shot by the Humane Society of the United States was released in late January. The footage shows animals too weak to stand being prodded, hosed down and lifted with a forklift in an effort to get them to stand. Cows that cannot stand on their own accord are removed from the meat supply because according to the USDA, about 12-15 cases of mad cow disease have come from “downer” cows, those that can’t stand.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, said, “This begs the question: how much longer will we continue to test our luck with weak enforcement of federal food safety regulations?”
In addition to distribution to schools, the meat was also sold to a few fast food restaurants and used in other USDA programs. |
Box Culvert Dispute Continues
By Mike Moynihan |
The dispute over whether or not to pay contractor Kevin Arensdorf for work he did on the Sycamore Street box culvert project will last at least one more meeting of Anamosa’s City Council, which voted 3-2 Monday evening to pay Arensdorf a reduced sum of about $30,000. The motion failed to pass on a procedural rule, since four votes were necessary to pass, and one councilmember, Dan Young, was absent.
Having an unbiased outside engineering firm come in to examine Arensdorf’s bill for installing the extended 62-foot culvert proved to be a nonstarter. City Administrator Pat Callahan called five engineering firms for a second opinion on the post-project change order and could only say one thing with any certainty afterwards.
“There’s a lot of reluctance on the part of engineers to review another engineer’s work,” he said.
Two of the engineers Callahan contacted declined to get involved at all, and two more are still considering it but haven’t submitted a proposal. Only one firm, Shive-Hattery, submitted a proposal, along with an estimate of $2,500 for the work.
“It was a lot higher than I thought it would be,” Callahan said. There wasn’t any disagreement from the council, and the proposal swiftly died.
In discussing the merits of the case, Callahan took pains to remind the council that the issue of saving money on the project by not installing a retaining wall was completely separate from the change order for the longer box culvert. He made sure nobody was in any way of the belief that because the amount saved by not putting in the retaining wall was similar to the amount Arensdorf was asking, that it was simply a matter of taking the money saved from the one and applying it to the other.
“These are two entirely separate issues,” he said. “Arensdorf put riprap in where the retaining wall was supposed to be. Had the adjoining property owner demanded the retaining wall, Arensdorf would have been required to take out all the riprap and put in the wall, at his own expense. But the owner didn’t ask for that.”
“I want to make clear this isn’t, in my mind, a personality issue,” said Doug Wilson of Snyder & Associates, the city engineer. “It’s just a change order, and this is the only sticking point Arensdorf and I had in working on the project.”
After that, it came down to whether or not individual council members felt Arensdorf deserved not to be left holding the bag or the city shouldn’t be left with it.
“I’m most disappointed in the lack of communication between Cretex and the contractor, and the engineer as well,” said Bill Feldmann. “I don’t think the contractor should be held responsible for the full $30,000.”
“I’m with you, Bill,” said Dennis Hansen. Feldmann put his feelings in the form of a motion to pay the change order, and Hansen seconded.
“The fault doesn’t lie with the city,” said Brian Harmon as the discussion warmed up, “and I don’t see why the city should have to pay for someone else’s mistake.”
“As far as I can see, the skirts of the city are clean,” said Brady Reynolds. “I’m more with Brian on this than with Bill. It looks good, but I don’t want the city to have to pay $30,000 for something we didn’t need.”
At this point Mayor Jon Hatcher addressed Kevin Arensdorf, who was in the audience. “Did you get anything from the city that told you to go ahead?”
“No, I didn’t,” Arensdorf replied.
“We don’t order the culvert from Cretex,” City Engineer Wilson said. “The contractor does.”
“How did Cretex get from 54 feet to 62 feet?” Feldmann asked.
“I don’t know,” Wilson said.
“I think we can help him (Arensdorf),” said Tom Swisher. “But I don’t think we can pay it all.”
“We can do that later,” Reynolds said. “The city’s hands are clean. We shouldn’t muddy the water.
This is between Cretex and Arensdorf.”
The motion was then put to the vote, with Feldmann, Hansen and Swisher in the affirmative and Harmon and Reynolds dissenting. A majority of the six-member council is necessary for passage, however, so the issue will go over to the next regular meeting of the council, March 10.
Bids for materials and installation of a new roof for the Lawrence Community Center were examined. Bids of $10,953 from Menards for the material, and one of $16,400 from Siebels Construction for installation, for a total of $27,353, were unanimously approved. The council made clear a preference for funding the work through the Lawrence Trust, and that issue was referred to the Parks and Recreation Board for their input.
The Owens Corning Duration Premium shingles come with a 10-year limited warranty. Warren Spurgeon, director of Parks and Recreation, said he expected the product would probably last 17 to 20 years. The original roof is now 17 years old.
The city received a bill from Qwest Communications for $826.71 for damage done to a Qwest pedestal box at the corner of East First and South Linn streets during snow removal. Callahan asked the council’s permission to send a letter to Qwest denying the bill and enumerating the city’s reasons for doing so.
In the letter Callahan made clear that the box had been damaged because it had already been buried in snow by previous snow removal efforts. He said if Qwest wished to avoid damage to its property it should mark them with tall, brightly colored poles.
The core of Callahan’s argument, however, was that the box was in the city’s right-of-way (ROW) and Qwest does not pay for the use of the ROW, nor does it have a franchise to install equipment in the city’s ROW.
Callahan said he recognized Qwest believes it has some sort of state-authorized right to operate in Iowa, based on an 1897 court case, but attorneys he has consulted question whether the precedent is still applicable. It is the city’s position, he said, that Qwest should have a franchise from the city in order to use the city’s ROW.
The council unanimously approved sending the letter.
The council discussed a request from a Main St. business owner to make the alley from East Main to City Hall one way going south. Persons on the sidewalk on Main St. are apparently at some risk from vehicles exiting the alley going north, since the alley’s narrow width does not allow drivers a view of approaching pedestrians.
“Having driven this many times, I think it’s a good idea,” said Callahan. “Are there any other places like this with similar problems?”
Matt Menard, chief of police, pointed out that the alley running north and south between Ford and Garnavillo was similar. It was unanimously agreed that an ordinance changing those alleys to one way and calling for the proper signage would be drafted.
The council authorized Callahan to get together with the Chamber of Commerce and REC to work out an agreement for maintaining, putting up and taking down the holiday season lights on Main St.
In other business, the council approved the purchase of a washer and dryer for employee clothing at the wastewater treatment plant, as well as the first reading of an ordinance authorizing a second water meter for consumers who can show they are using water that does not enter the sanitary sewer system and therefore should not be charged a sewer fee. |
APD Revives DARE Program
By Michelle Phillips |
Anamosa police officer Amy Ford greets the children in Karen Ginn’s fifth grade class at Strawberry Hill. Ford has come to the class to to teach the students about the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program.
Ford is equipped with Darren, a stuffed lion, a workbook and overhead films. She teaches the class to four fifth grade classes on Thursdays and Fridays and is halfway through the nine week program.
She asks the children if they have any questions because there are none in the DARE box, which houses student questions.
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One boy asks how to get his mom to quit smoking and Ford instills the help of the rest of the class.
The students raise their hands and give suggestions including explaining the hazards of smoking, making the right choices and doing something healthy with his mother.
After the questions are done, Ford starts to talk about the day’s subject, peer pressure.
The kids make a list of qualities of friends as well as those who aren’t friends. Ford reminds them that making choices is an individual decision and that those that make poor choices, might still be a friend.
The kids pull out their workbooks at Ford’s request and dissect a story about a student who offers other students cigarettes. They are then told to identify the friendly people. The kids are also told to identify the different types of peer pressure, which they have earlier reviewed.
To make these determinations, the kids use the DARE model: Define, Assess, Respond and Evaluate.
“It’s really moved beyond ‘Just Say No,’” Ford explained when the class was finished.
She took a two week training class to learn how to conduct the class. The curriculum she learned was for both fifth and seventh grade, but the Anamosa Police Department (APD) chose to begin with fifth grade and potentially add seventh grade at a ;ater time.
‘We try to stress that they are learning it here, but support must also be learned at home,” Ford added and said she would be willing to conduct the class as long as the school wants to continue.
The class was originally taught by the Iowa State Patrol, but had not been in place since 2000. |
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