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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday, March 6, 2008
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Supervisors Approve Restaurant at Stone City General Store
by Michelle Phillips |
Tim Fay, Chairman of the Jones County Planning and Zoning Board made a visit to the Jones County Board of Supervisors meeting on March 4 to discuss why the supervisors chose not approve the Stone City General Store to open as a bar and restaurant at their February 26 meeting.
“I understand the supervisors tabled the motion,” Fay began.
“We thought the store owner and neighbor needed to talk about their differences,” replied Leo Cook, Chairman of the Jones County Board of Supervisors.
He indicated that a statement from a resident, Gary Holzinger, had been read and he was concerned about music late at night.
Fay said, “The people had a lot of opportunity at the public meeting to talk about this.”
Fay included that the Planning and Zoning Board voted unanimously to approve the business.
“I’m a little confused,” Fay said of the Board of Supervisors decision.
“The board does not oppose your action,” said Supervisor Andy McKean. “There was no urgency.
This would give the opportunity for people to view concerns.”
“We didn’t have a full board that day,” added Supervisor Keith Dirks.
The supervisors added that none of the parties were at the February 26, although the General Store had a spokesperson on hand.
Dirks went on to say that Holzinger had asked for a written agreement, in which the owner’s of the establishment, sister and brother Tris Langdon and Tad Larsen, would agree not to have loud music.
“I don’t think we’ll entertain that,” Dirks stated.
Langdon had previously stated that the business would be closed by 11 p.m. on Thursday and Sunday and 12 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
McKean made a motion to approve the measure and reminded that the supervisors would always have the opportunity not to renew the General Store’s liquor license if problems arise.
“I think it will be good for Stone City,” McKean added.
Supervisor Merlin Moore seconded the motion, and it was then approved by the Board of Supervisors.
Langdon said, “I’m glad that we finally have the county’s support and now we’re ready to get to work.
Langdon stated that there was a lot of remodeling to do inside the building. She hopes it will be open in time for the Grant Wood Art Festival on June 8. |
Evaluation Granted for Sams
By Michelle Phillips |
Sixth Judicial District Court Judge Robert E Sosalla has ordered a doctor access to Wendy Sams for the purposes of evaluation.
Sams is accused of trying to kill Jenette Gralund at Gralund’s rural Anamosa home on the evening of January 7.
Dr. Carroll D. Roland of the Center for Behavior Health, PC of Waterloo will be allowed to visit Sams in her cell at the Jones County jail. Sosalla also granted permission for testing materials and equipment as part of that evaluation.
Sams was arrested in Marion on January 11 in connection with the crime in which Gralund was allegedly hit over the head repeated with a blunt wooden object, then smothered with a pillow.
Gralund escaped to a neighbor’s house and was taken to Jones Regional Medical Center and later to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
On January 16, Sams entered a plea of not guilty. She is being held in the Jones County jail on a $50,000 cash bond. Her attempted murder trial is slated to begin on June 23. |
School Board Gets Schooled on Finances
By Mike Moynihan |
Anamosa’s school board took a short course in school finances on March 3, getting an overview of the subject in Iowa from Larry Sigel, the school finance director of the Iowa Association of School Boards.
In a lengthy and comprehensive slide presentation, Sigel went over the history of school finances in the state and segued into the condition of the Anamosa District in comparison with the rest of the state.
He started with Dillon’s Rule, which states school districts only have those powers expressly authorized by the Code of Iowa. This contrasts sharply with home rule, in which cities and counties can do anything not expressly prohibited by the Code.
In Iowa, education is paid for by the school foundation formula, which has the purpose of equalizing educational opportunity across the state. No matter how wealthy a school district might be in terms of property, all districts spend the same amount on each child, $5,333.
The school foundation formula relies on two sources of revenue: locally raised property taxes and state general fund appropriations. Education makes up about 42% of the state’s budget, more than 60% if colleges and universities are taken into account.
Each district’s educational program expenditures (costs of education per student) are funded and equalized through the state foundation formula. Wealthy districts are able to spend more money, but only on facility expenditures, which are funded locally (with some state assistance) and not limited by the finance formula.
Each district has a uniform property tax levy of $5.40 per thousand of taxable valuation. Since the amount raised by this can vary wildly from the wealthiest to the poorest districts, the state’s foundation percentage varies by district according to the amount raised by levy, with the poorest districts in the state getting up to 87.5% of the cost per pupil, and the cost per pupil is the same across the state by statute.
Any difference between the combined district cost and the sum of the levy and the state’s contribution can be made up with an additional levy.
All of that was the simple part. Sigel went on to cover budget guarantees, weighting students at a value greater than one, a district’s spending authority, instructional support levies, facility-related levies, management levies and cash reserve levies.
When he started comparing Anamosa with other districts in the state, it was clear the board was happy with its current standing. In terms of enrollment, Anamosa has trended upward in the past four years to its current student body of 1,439, the 69th largest district in the state.
Monetarily the district has an unspent balance of $3,390,918, 37th in the state; its unspent balance per pupil is $2,476, just inside the top 100. The district ranks 67th in its solvency ratio, which is the unspent balance minus all owed bills at the end of the year, divided by the district’s operating budget, with 20.9%.
In the end, the presentation drew few questions from the board. Anna Mary Riniker asked Sigel what the status was of investments by the Iowa School Joint Investment Trust, created by the Iowa Association of School Boards. Sigel happily pointed out the association has no subprime exposure and that school districts in Iowa must tow a very restrictive investment line set by statute, one for which safety is the number-one concern and liquidity is number two.
The board meeting began with pats on the backs of several people who had made the district shine. Catherine Wilcox, an eighth-grader at West Middle School, was congratulated for recently winning the Regional Spelling Bee in Cedar Rapids. Wilcox earned trips to the state competition in both of the last two years, finishing seventh there last year.
Her Cedar Rapids win would have garnered her another trip were it not for the fact that the Des Moines Register no longer sponsors the state spelling bee and no other sponsor had picked it up.
Dr. Dale Monroe, superintendent of the district, announced the College Board has authorized all three of the high school’s Advanced Placement courses to use the “AP” designation in the current academic year. This means the courses meet or exceed expectations of colleges and universities.
The three courses are Biology, English Lanquage Arts and English Literature. Monroe and the board extended their thanks to teachers Angie Lawrence, Jan Cratsenberg, Kris Farrar and Linda Mazunik for their extra time and effort in getting the AP designation.
Monroe reported on the status of the district’s open enrollment, indicating 15 new students will enroll into the district next year and only five will enroll out. Nearly half of next year’s new enrollments come from Midland, and another four come from Olin.
The district currently has roughly 140 students enrolled out to other districts and about 90 enrolled in from other districts. The net loss means a loss in student allocation monies of more than a quarter-million dollars.
Monroe said the single most-often-used reason he was given by parents for enrolling their children in other districts had to do with keeping them with long-time classmates. Many students are taken into Cedar Rapids for daycare and preschool by parents work there and who then keep their children enrolled there in regular school so they can stay with friends.
“We think our community having daycare attached to the hospital, and Reona (Ewald, Strawberry Hill principal) starting a preschool, will have a tremendous positive effect on our open enrollment numbers in years to come,” Monroe said.
Public forums were set for March 13 and March 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the West Middle School auditorium to get public support and feedback on the three options for expanding the high school, before the Long Range Planning Committee brings its final data to the board April 7.
Expenditures recommended by the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) Committee were unanimously approved. They included a bus security camera system, one 84-passenger bus and one 65-passenger bus, both used, volleyball stands at the high school and Strawberry Hill, and four sets of bleachers to replace worn bleachers at the track.
Monroe noted that snow days have now made June 5 the last scheduled day of class, and there would be early dismissal that day. Brian Bieber asked if students who met high academic standards would be able to test out early and leave on June 3, for instance.
High School Principal Steve Goodall said there would be no problem working with individuals on such issues, so long as requests were made with plenty of advance notice.
In personnel changes, Derek Roberts was approved as the new high school athletic director, effective immediately; Mary Jo Hamre was hired as sixth-grade science and Iowa history teacher at West, and Nicole Whisler was hired as a guidance counselor at Strawberry Hill, both for 2008-09; Debbie Kline was hired as a dishroom helper at the high school; and Kevin Barnes’s resignation as varsity boys basketball coach was accepted so he could be named varsity boys baseball coach.
In other business, Goodall gave a report on the results of the fall 2007 Iowa Tests of Educational Development, and the board unanimously approved student teaching/field experience agreements with Cornell College and Mt. Mercy College. |
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Box 108, 208 W. Main Street, Anamosa, IA 52205
319-462-3511,
FAX 319-462-4540
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