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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday, February 7, 2008
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151 and Old Dubuque Road Strikes Again
by Michelle Phillips |
A car was totaled in an accident with a semi truck at the corner of Old Dubuque Road and Highway 151 in Anamosa at 2:35 p.m. on January 31. The occupants of the car, Mary and Donald Weber of Hopkinton, were taken to Jones Regional Medical Center in Anamosa. Classie Denver of Bedford, OH, was the driver of the semi and was uninjured in the crash.
Anamosa Police Chief Matt Menard said the car was crossing Highway 151 on Old Dubuque Road when it was hit by the semi, which was southbound on Highway 151. No citations were issued.
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An Anamosa EMT helps Mary Weber out of her vehicle after an accident on Old Dubuque Road and Highway 151 on January 31. Neither Weber or her passenger, Donald Weber, were seriously injured in the accident. |
The intersection has created controversy and is one of the most dangerous spots in the county for traffic accidents. The City of Anamosa sent a letter to the Iowa DOT on January 16 asking for help in controlling the intersection. The city has also considering blocking off Old Dubuque road and rerouting traffic to Circle Drive.
Anamosa City Administrator Pat Callahan said there were several proposals sent with the letter.
“We haven’t heard back from the DOT yet,” he included. “The council has not taken any action. At this time, we’re just looking at possibilities.”
The short-term ideas proposed by the city included the following: Reduce speed limit on Highway151; Yellow flashing lights on Highway 151; Red flashing lights on Old Dubuque Road; Prohibit left turn onto Highway 151; Prohibit cross traffic; Close off Old Dubuque Road access: Right turn only on Old Dubuque Road; No right turn – southbound Highway 151; Improve signage on Highway 151; Digital speed sign on Highway 151; Markings on Old Dubuque Road pavement; Education program – young and elderly.
Long-range proposals were as follows: Re-route Old Dubuque Road traffic to Circle Drive and close off Old Dubuque Road; Re-route Old Dubuque Road traffic, but do not close off Old Dubuque Road; Construct on and off ramps on Highway151 and Old Dubuque Road; Construct on and off ramps on Highway 151 and Circle Dr.; Move right turn lane on southbound Highway 151 to west; Construct Old Dubuque Road /130th St. overpass over Highway 151.
“Almost all of the accidents we’ve had at that intersection either have elderly people or intoxicated people involved. I don’t know if it’s a time/distance issue, but there are definitely a lot of accidents,” Menard added.
The Anamosa Community School District has also looked at the dangers of the intersection, which will be a consideration when building a new facility.
Menard said the Anamosa Police Department had four accidents on record for 2007, but included that accidents with a serious injury or fatality are turned over to the Iowa State Patrol. He said there were several accidents in 2007 that included serious injuries, but there weren’t any fatalities.
“We haven’t had a fatality there since the new highway (4-lane) went in,” Menard concluded. |
School District Offers Teachers Package Reduction
By Mike Moynihan |
The Anamosa Community School District’s initial proposal to the Anamosa Education Association calls for a 2.09 per cent decrease from the current total contract package and numerous contract language changes, Superintendent Dr. Dale Monroe told the board at its meeting Monday evening.
The district proposed adding $100 to the base plus movement on the schedule, where the teachers’ union had asked that $550 be added to the base. For supplemental contracts, the district offered $500, half the increase the union asked, from $20,000 to $20,500.
While the union asked for a teacher to be paid $40 per period to cover another teacher’s class, the district offered $18 per hour only after 10 occurrences per year. If there were additional legislated salary funds, such as for basic teacher quality, the district would like them to be paid in two installments, with one-third in December and two-thirds in June.
In what must be a cost-cutting move but will also be “green,” the district would require direct deposit for all employees’ salary checks beginning in September of any fiscal year and continuing through the following August.
Contract changes include moving a number of relatives from the immediate family category, for purposes of bereavement, to the “relative of the second degree” category. Instead of the current five days of leave for the death of a brother, sister, mother- or father-in-law, daughter- or son-in-law, or any person who was a member of the employee’s household, only two days would be allowed.
Absence for the illness of an employee’s immediate family member was changed to “serious” illness, and “serious” was defined as a critical medical condition.
For the remainder of the collective bargaining, representatives of the district and the union will meet in executive session. Tentative dates for the first two meetings were set for Feb. 7 and 21.
The board approved the hiring of Carla Richmann as assistant cross-country coach and accepted the resignations of Strawberry Hill Principal Reona Ewald, Assistant Baseball Coach Todd Pugh and Bus Driver Sheryl Goodman.
The remainder of the meeting was primarily devoted to discussion between the board and the Long Range Planning Committee over the three proposed sites for a new high school. Rick Delagardelle explained the criteria the committee members used to view each site, and added that the committee did not feel its purpose was limited to site selection only but also extended to any other aspect of the district’s needs in the next 20 years or so.
“The site selection is simply our first and most immediate task,” Delagardelle said, “but we don’t look upon our role as simply site selection. That’s just a start.”
He listed nine criteria by which the sites had been judged, including: large enough for immediate school needs: pedestrian access to off-site school or athletic facilities; a site’s development costs and its long-term maintenance costs; and site access and traffic safety.
Vince Ward of DLR Group, an architectural and engineering planning firm consulting to the district on the new high school, went over the various pros and cons of the three sites and answered questions from the board. He said site B, on Old Dubuque Road, was the most economical site for development and served as a baseline for the other sites’ costs.
Site A, off Highway 64, would cost $300,000 more to develop than B, and that would not include the costs of any turn lanes or a future collector street on the property. Turn lanes were estimated to cost an additional $500,000.
Site C, now back in the running with an extremely reduced footprint due to the unavailability of an adjoining property, would cost an additional $350,000 to develop over site B. Use of site C was contingent upon an additional access road coming from Old Dubuque Road, an absolute necessity in terms of managing the complex’s traffic flow.
Ward said he saw in site C a real opportunity to create a new “face” for the school from the point of view of people passing the site on Highway 151. Board member Connie McKean said she saw site C, with its potential connection to Strawberry Hill Elementary via a future road, as representative of a comprehensive campus, elementary through high school.
For all the sites, the district would increase its student capacity from the current high school census of 470 to a maximum of 850 and from 315 in the middle school to a maximum of 600.
Strawberry Hill currently serves 585 students.
Monroe asked Delagardelle if the committee’s work would be done in a couple of more meetings and if the process could possibly go to a public forum in February.
“I think we need to keep that moving,” Delagardelle said. “We’ve already heard we need at least one more meeting. I think we could give you a target (for a public forum date) after we meet the next time.” |
Zirkelbach Introduces Legislation to Protect Military Salutes
By Michelle Phillips |
Iowa Rep. Ray Zirkelbach has introduced legislation that would prevent cities from creating ordinances prohibiting the discharge of firearms during military salutes. He said the idea came from Monticello and Anamosa veterans.
“The idea came from constituents, and I decided to introduce it,” said Zirkelbach.
The bill, HF 2099, comes after the attempt by the Anamosa City Council to prevent military salutes that involved firearms in places other than cemeteries within the city limits. A dispute between veterans organizations and the city arose, and the city eventually agreed to allow the honor at other locations provided a council member, the mayor, city administrator or police chief were notified in advanced.
“I don’t want other cities to take strides like that. Anamosa brought it to light,” Zirkelbach said.
He added that he might include an amendment in the bill that would require veterans groups to notify neighbors before discharging firearms.
He included that Iowa Code currently states that veterans may be honored on public property, such as parks and parades, but this bill would include funeral homes and cemeteries, whether they’re on public or private land.
“Sometimes you have to make exceptions,” he said, and noted that some people are cremated and not buried.
Zirkelbach, who is a veteran of the Iraq war, said he feels that all veterans should have the opportunity to have a salute in his or her honor.
“This is an important honor for these individuals, and must be maintained. In addition, this is a tradition that has been in place since early history, and has been a high honor of the United States from the very beginning. It is appalling that anyone would want to remove this honor from our Veterans,” he stated.
Zirkelbach said he fully expects the bill to pass the House and Senate.
“I think it will have tremendous bi-partisan support,” he predicted.
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