Supervisors set public hearing for issuance of bonds to help fund new fire station; discuss five-year road plan

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Tuesday, April 15 the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library Director Derva Burke, who asked for the County's help in addressing what she called a "crisis" regarding the library's computers. She explained that several of the library's computers are still running Windows XP as an operating system, which is no longer supported by Microsoft. She said that half of the library's computers run Windows XP and that software compatibility issues would likely arise within the next year if those computers are not replaced. Burke added that the library had previously relied on grants and donations to fund technology upgrades, but that this year, the annual donation from Nightcrawlers Forever and other grants were not received. She said that the library needs $3,000 to replace the computers.
Supervisor Sherry Strub noted that the library has $35,000 in it reserve account and expressed concern about setting a precedent for other county libraries that are facing the same problem. Burke said that she did not want to withdraw funds from the reserve account because that money may be needed for an emergency.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Schellhammer suggested that the County could match funds raised by the library, as it had done with regard to funding the recent building expansion project at Waukon's Robey Memorial Library. He made a motion to award a grant of up to $1,000 to the library in Lansing to match local donations and that motion passed unanimously.

BOND RESOLUTION FOR NEW FIRE STATION
The Board also met with Waukon Area Fire Protection District Board President Tony Baxter, who reported that the trustees of all eight of the fire district's member townships had signed resolutions to direct the Board of Supervisors to issue bonds in the amount of $750,000 to fund the townships' portion of the construction of a new fire station in Waukon. Baxter said that the trustees of Hanover township, who were previously opposed to borrowing the money, changed their position when they learned that leaving the Waukon Area Fire Protection District and entering into an agreement with the Eitzen, MN fire department for fire protection would likely result in higher insurance premiums for some property owners within the township. Allamakee County Attorney Jill Kistler advised the Board that the next step would be to schedule a public hearing regarding the issuance of the bonds. The Board set Tuesday, April 29 at 9:16 a.m. as the date and time for the public hearing.

SECONDARY ROADS BUDGET AND FIVE-YEAR PLAN
The Board also met with Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour, who presented the Board with the Secondary Roads Department budget for fiscal year 2015 and the five-year plan for construction projects. The estimated budget for the coming fiscal year includes $6,127,140 in estimated total receipts and $5,429,000 in estimated expenditures. By comparison, the estimated receipts for the current fiscal year total $6,637,528 to go along with $5,589,000 in total estimated expenditures. Ridenour explained that the difference in total receipts for the current fiscal year and the coming fiscal year resulted from emergency state and federal funds related to flooding last summer.
The five-year road construction plan shows several emergency repair projects planned for completion in FY 2015 with estimated total costs of $620,000. Other planned projects for FY 2015 include shoulder widening on County Road X52 for the Mississippi River Trail project and paving of Prairie Drive from Iowa Highway 76 to County Road W60. Other projects slated for fiscal year 2016 and beyond include paving of County Road A16 from Dorchester to Washington Drive, paving of Cherry Valley Drive from Sunset Drive to County Road X16, along with other paving and bridge replacement or repair projects.

NEW COUNTY WEBSITE
In other business, the Board met with Allamakee County Assessor Ann Burckart, who presented the Board with several proposals for the redesign of the County's website. The Board agreed with Burckart's recommendation to accept the proposal from Iroc Web Design Services of Calmar, which includes $2,500 to $3,000 for the initial design of the site, phone support and initial training for the life of the site. Additional fees include $80 per year for domain registration and $35 per hour for additional design or maintenance support.

OTHER BUSINESS
The Board also accepted and placed on file the Sheriff's quarterly report, signed a resolution declaring May to be Tourism Month in Allamakee County and set Tuesday, May 6 at 9:15 a.m. as the date and time for a public hearing regarding amendments to the County's budget for fiscal year 2014.