Community News

Nine Allamakee County 4-H youth recently showcased their talents by competing in various communications and clothing events during the Expressions Day Program held at the Allamakee County Extension Office Monday, June 29. Some of those presenters are pictured in the surrounding submitted photos.

Some of those 4-H’ers participated in Educational Presentations where they were judged on stage presence, vocal projection, organization, visual aids, educational value of topic, and how well they kept their audience interested as they present their information. Local 4-H’ers who participated included Natalie Byrnes, Tegan Dahlstrom, Breelyn Dahlstrom and Hailey Stein.

by Joe Moses

The town of Waukon has seen several improvements to its downtown business district recently. Among those is the 2019 Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) Street and Sidewalk Project, which prompted the replacement of the previous waste receptacles placed in the downtown area following the installation of new decorative light poles.

In conjunction with that project, Director Ardie Kuhse with Waukon Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) approached the Waukon City Council with a suggestion to replace the previous waste receptacles that became obsolete with the newly installed decorative light poles now in place downtown.

Kuhse presented several concepts and estimates from a variety of manufacturers to the council. With the City of Waukon on board, Kuhse worked with Street Superintendent Keith Burrett on the style and design that would be both attractive and practical for the street department crew to maintain and empty.

The 2020 Allamakee County Bible Reading Marathon came to a successful conclusion Tuesday, July 14, with the completed reading of Scripture, Genesis through Revelation, and a public reading on the Allamakee County Courthouse lawn in Waukon.

Over 70 individuals, in addition to various groups, participated by using the Signup Genius website or the TracPhone number set up for the event. A total of 156 segments of Scripture, each taking approximately 30 minutes to read, were available over the course of four weeks during the marathon event, many of them read by those individuals or groups in their own private settings due to COVID-19 guidelines during this year’s event.

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Auxiliary #4117 presented Citizenship Awards to 4-H entries at the 2020 Allamakee County Fair. A number of Allamakee County 4-H members completed projects and entry forms for the Citizenship Awards and VFW Auxiliary members then judged the entries on Entry Day of the Allamakee County Fair and selected recipients in grade categories for Kindergarten through sixth (K-6) and seventh through 12th (7-12) grades. In the K-6 grade entries, First Place went to Lauren Plein of the Clover Kids and Second Place was awarded to Allia Ericson of the Elon PMC 4-H club. First Place in the 7-12 grade category was Natalie Byrnes of the River Valley Panthers and Second Place was awarded to Kadee Fish of the Clover Chasers 4-H club. Submitted photos.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, July 13 to address a short agenda of items including Quarterly Reports from the County Recorder, Relief and Veterans Affairs offices, consideration of a County Courthouse Information Technology (IT) position and consideration of the roadway maintenance agreement between the City of Waukon, the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Allamakee County.

During Public Comment, Executive Director Val Reinke of Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) discussed a statement written by Superintendent Dale Crozier of the Eastern Allamakee School Community District addressing concerns relating to the impact of an Alliant Energy power plant closure, if that were to happen.

Damaging winds proved to cause the greatest amount of trouble during the Thursday afternoon, July 9 severe thunderstorm that rolled through northeast Iowa. Within the town of Waukon there was an abundance of tree damage (as evident in the surrounding photos), as well as some power outages due to power lines being damaged by falling trees or poles themselves being blown over.

Following the Thursday, July 9 storm - the damage from which appears in the other photos on this same page, another strong storm system moved through northeast Iowa Saturday evening, July 11, bringing with it some heavy rain, wind and hail. The National Weather Service received reports from Allamakee County of hail nearly 3/4 of an inch in diameter in the Waukon area, along with reports of up to two inches of rain falling in less than hour. That heavy rainfall resulted in an areal flood warning being issued for parts of western Allamakee County and produced such situations as what is pictured above near the intersection of State Highway 9 and Ninth Street SW outside of Waukon (more locally known as Riehm’s Corner), as heavy rains filled the roadside ditches and spilled out on to the roadway.
 

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, July 6 to discuss noise complaints from a resident, a request to have a pitbull dog as a service animal at a residence, and approval of Park and Recreation Wellness Board appointments.

There was no Public Comment and the council moved into Departmental Reports. Street Superintendent Keith Burrett reported on the new garbage containers placed along portions of Main Street and Rossville Road in downtown Waukon and advised that chip sealing has been completed on several city streets as of last week. Burrett also discussed the potential of having contractor Prairie Road Builders return next year to perform additional chip sealing.

Water and Sewer Superintendent Jim Cooper provided an update relating to the Hidden Creek lift station. He also discussed sewer maintenance including the viewing of areas in need of repair with a sewer camera.

The new tennis court facility in Waukon, located west of Waukon High School near the Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness soccer fields on the west edge of town, has been open for public use since mid-June. A grand opening event is being planned for a later date with only a windscreen installation throughout the surrounding fencing remaining for the project to be 100% complete. The public is welcome to use the tennis courts any time, day or night, with a light switch and timer (pictured at center) located between the restroom doors at the concession stand for activation of the lights at several pre-set intervals of 15 or 30 minutes, one hour or two hours. Lighting can be activated for evening or early morning tennis matches (as evident in the photo above) with concession stand restrooms (smaller concrete building at right in the photo below) nearby always being accessible.

This year’s General Election is scheduled for November 3, 2020. Most ballots cast in the June 2, 2020 Primary Election were by voters who voted absentee from home.

Due to an emergency proclamation for COVID-19 from the Governor, the Iowa Secretary of State’s office mailed an Absentee Ballot Request form to all active voters for the June 2 Primary. Legislation passed after the Primary now requires approval by a legislative council before the Secretary of State is allowed to do a similar mailing for any future election.