Grassley Voices Opinion On What Role Federal Government Should Play in Fostering Education

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was in the area earlier this week as he spoke to Panorama High School students about a variety of different topics.

One of the topics that Grassley discussed related to college affordability, and in catching up with the Senator after his talk, he choose to delve deeper into what role he believes the Federal government should play in fostering collegiate education.

“Well, we still ought to continue the responsibility that we have of making college as affordable as possible.  But, I sometimes think we’re part of the problem by upping Pell Grants all the time, which I think encourages tuition increases that maybe wouldn’t otherwise occur if we weren’t considered a stop valve.”

Grassley also believes there needs to be a change in the way students and their families approach getting a college degree.  He believes education should be more about consumption.

“Students who go to college (need) to be consumers of a service called education and see it as an investment, and see that when people go to college, they get an education that is going to lead to a good-paying job and not getting an education just for the purpose of getting an education.  As important as I know education is, it is a very costly process you go through, and you’ve got to get a return on an investment or otherwise you’re wasting your time.”

Arnold Believes Process of Fixing West Central Valley Athletic Complex is Taking Too Long

During Wednesday night’s West Central Valley School District Board of Directors meeting, two of the contractors that helped build the district’s new athletic complex were in attendance to give an update on the status of the football field and track, which have had to endure significant issues in recent months.

Numerous contractors met with district officials on Tuesday morning as well, and Kevin Butts of Weitz Construction and Matt Carlisle of Confluence Architecture say that they are working with all parties involved to find a solution to the problem.

But with surveying data not supposed to be available until the end of next week, Superintendent Dr. David Arnold says he believes the whole process is taking too long.

“To me, they’re going way too slow.  I’m very frustrated with them–they know that full well.  In our meeting I was not kind.  You know, I’ve got our attorneys involved, and I just think they’re taking too much time.  There are things… that is why I mentioned (Wednesday), ‘why don’t you get the cameras up the drains now, why would you wait?’.  I don’t understand why they’re waiting.”

With a possibly frozen drainage system being one of the conceivable sources of the heaving and divoting problems at the complex, Dr. Arnold says the use of cameras could be used now to either rule that possibility in or out.

Ultimately, Dr. Arnold says the district just wants to get to a point where they are able to use the product they paid for.

“These are big issues.  You know, we bought a product and we’re not getting that product.  It is under warranty, so fix it and make it a good fix.  But don’t sit there and twiddle your thumbs, and to me, that is what they’re doing.”

Dr. Arnold says he continues to have communication with Hellas Corporation, who was responsible for soil testing before the laying of the field and track. Arnold says Hellas is willing to come up from Texas with their own men to work on some of the complex’s issues whenever design contractors have found the root of the problems.

Stuart City Council Accepts Jeff Howard Resignation, Discusses Partnership with SEED

The Stuart City Council met this past Monday night its April session.

Numerous items were discussed, but new Stuart Fire Chief Mike Renslow kicked off the meeting by introducing himself and his new officers to the Council. Renslow stated to the Council his belief that his young, active Board will be “pushing safety more so than ever before,” and Council members thanked him for his visit.

Next, members of Stuart Rescue addressed the Council to discuss the resignation of Jeff Howard as Director of Operations for the organization.  After the Council unanimously approved Howard’s resignation, Councilman Neal Crawford outlined a few a ideas for changes that could be made to Stuart Rescue, such as increasing the size of the Board from four to five members, and making one of those persons a sitting member of City Council.

Members from Stuart Rescue then asked for permission to advertise the open director position to the public, with the hopes that a new hire can be made at the next Council meeting.

Councilman Bryan Belden voiced his opinion that the advertisement cast a wide net so that a large pool of interested persons might apply the position, saying the next hire “has to be the right fit.”

Interim Director Kelly Surber said that the next hire has to be willing to adopt the fact that directing Stuart Rescue “is not a job, it’s a life.”

To conclude the discussion, Mayor Dick Cook publicly thanked Jeff Howard for his years of service and called him a “great asset to the Stuart community.”

Following Stuart Rescue discussion, the Council unanimously voted to table the next payment to Priority Excavating for work done on the Wambold Project.  The estimate was for almost $35,000, but Councilman Belden says “the City needs to see progress toward completion (of the project) before more payments are made.”

The Council then unanimously approved payment of building inspector fees and a pay estimate of about $45,000 to be made to Roy Sargent for work done on the Rock Island Depot Restoration Project.

Forrest Aldrich of Veenstra & Kimm Engineering then addressed the Council to give an update about the Downtown Restoration Project.  Aldrich says architects will be on site for two meetings with business owners, one on April 30th and the other on May 7th, to discuss concepts and ideas for facade improvements.  Each business owner interested in having restorative work done on their building will have 30 minutes to meet with architects during either meeting.

William Page was also unanimously approved to hired as a public historian and preservation planner for the facade improvement project.

The Council then had two lengthier discussions to conclude its meeting.  The first pertained to the old athletic complex and the expectation that the City will eventually take ownership of that property.  Councilman Neal Crawford, who also sits on the West Central Valley School Board, told the Council that School Board is looking for a clean change in ownership by the 2015-16 fiscal year.  Crawford says the School Board is willing to go half-and-half with the City for the payment of legal fees regarding the transfer of land.

Crawford says the School Board does not foresee using the old complex in the future, but just in case that ever becomes a possibility, City Administrator Ashraf Ashour suggested that the City and the school district enter a 28-E agreement voicing such a stipulation.

No action was taken by the Council pertaining to the old athletic complex issue but legal questions will be formulated in the months ahead pertaining to the transfer of land.

Then to end the meeting, Councilman Belden again addressed the rest of Council to talk about entering a formal partnership with SEED regarding numerous ideas.  The main one being Belden’s desire to hire an economic development liaison for the City of Stuart that would be responsible for “grant and business recruitment.”  It would be a paid position, with Belden citing the system currently in place in Greenfield as a good example of the job responsibilities.

Belden will meet with an area attorney to help set up the legal structuring of the City’s partnership with SEED, saying he wants to see “better synergies” between the City and SEED solely for the purpose of more efficiently propelling economic development in the area.

No items were discussed in public forum at the conclusion of the meeting.

Stuart City Council will next convene on Monday, May 12th at 6:30pm in City Hall.

Panora City Council Enters Into General Obligation Loan to Pay for New Public Works Facility

The Panora City Council met this past Monday night, and a few significant city related items were discussed.

City Administrator Lisa Grossman tells Raccoon Valley Radio that Mid American Energy’s Mark Reinders began the meeting by addressing the Council to discuss Panora’s residential gas service contract, which is up for renewal in May.  Reinders is recommending the City sign a new 25-year agreement.

Grossman says no action was taken and the Council will continue to discuss the gas service contract over the next month or so.

Next, the Council approved a $5,000 contract with GSI to be the third-party contractor that will perform soil sampling and concrete testing work at the location of Panora’s new Public Works facility. Grossman says work on that Public Works building is supposed to begin in a couple weeks.

To pay for this new Public Works facility, the Council has decided to enter a General Obligation Loan with Panora State Bank for $307,800.  Grossman says $250,000 of that total is solely for construction of the new building, while the rest will be used to purchase equipment.

Grossman says the City will not use taxpayer monies to pay for the project, rather local option sales tax monies will be used to pay for the building itself. The City’s proprietary fund will pay for the new equipment.

Finally, the Council approved the eventual purchase of a new ambulance for Panora EMS.  Grossman says that cost is about $172,000, but it likely won’t be put in use until next year.

Panora City Council will next convene on Monday, April 28th, at 6:30pm in City Hall.

Guthrie County EMS Association Offering Day-Long Training Session Next Weekend

The Guthrie County EMS Association is hosting a day-long training session later this month, and all area EMS personnel are encouraged to attend.

The session will cover such topics as stroke and trauma assessment, cardiac care, tourniquets and formula 1 CPR.  Officials from The Institute for Continuing Medical Education in Urbandale will provide the training, which is being held on Saturday, April 26th from 9am to 4pm at the Panora EMS Station.

There is no cost for the training but pre-registration is recommended.

To register for the course or if you have questions, call Tony Barber at Panora EMS at 641-755-2885.