Board of Supervisors approves June 7 rededication of Civil War memorial

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, April 8, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with Al Lyon, who is one of the organizers for the "Thunder in the Park" Civil War reenactment to be held at Waukon City Park this June. Lyon asked for and received the Board’s approval of a rededication of the Civil War memorial at the courthouse Friday, June 7, which will include District Court Judge John Bauercamper as the featured speaker, the reading of the names of the 163 Allamakee County residents who lost their lives in the Civil War and the lighting of luminaries in memory of them.
Allamakee County Attorney Jill Kistler informed the Board that her mother, Yvonne Kistler, has done over 100 hours of volunteer work in her office organizing files and purging unneeded documents, adding that there is still a lot of work left to be done. She asked the Board to authorize a nominal payment for the work already completed and for future work, though Yvonne has not requested any payment. Kistler said that the payment would need to be less than $600 in order to not be subject to nepotism laws and the Board authorized payment of $595.

Allamakee County Emergency Management Director Chris Dahlstrom presented the Board with samples of identification badges for courthouse employees and visitors. The Board voted unanimously to require that identification badges be worn by all courthouse, Relief and Veterans Affairs employees and that visitor badges be worn by contractors working in the courthouse.
The Board also met with Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour, who asked for and received the Board’s approval of the Secondary Roads budget and five-year road project plan for submission to the Iowa Department of Transportation. The Board also set Monday, April 29 at 9:30 a.m. as the date and time to open bids for the annual resurfacing of County gravel roads, which Ridenour said will entail 108,238 tons of rock applied to 372 miles of County roads.
In other business, the Board signed proclamations declaring April to be Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month and Alcohol Awareness Month. The Board also accepted and placed on file the Recorder’s and Auditor’s quarterly reports.