The Henry County Board of Supervisors met on Thursday morning for their regular weekly meeting. The board was meant to discuss the planning and zoning recommendation today, but motioned to move it until next Thursday, September 26^th. It may well be moved to the following week, as one supervisor will not be in town for the meeting next week. As a result, the Planning and Zoning meeting for September 25^th has been postponed with no meeting date given yet. This is due to the supervisors wishing to discuss the planning and zoning recommendation before the September 25^th meeting.

The board also met with Chris Ales, who is part of a team that purchased former Iowa Wesleyan dormitories to repurpose them into housing options. That group applied for tax credits, which were granted, and they now are moving forward with the goal of starting construction at Hershey Hall next spring or summer. Jim Bergman, the developer of this project, stated that he has developed over 100 projects, and is thrilled to develop one in Mt. Pleasant. He did concede that there is a lot of work to do. It should be noted that the conversation today was centered strictly on Hershey Hall.

After the meeting, a group of legislators, city council members, chamber of commerce members, and more, met at the Hershey Hall to discuss the future plans for the project. Speaking with Jim Bergman, he explained what the goal is for Hershey Hall in the coming months. “So the project is a Section 42 affordable housing project that’s going to be converted into moderate income workforce housing. I think there’s about 32 total units. If we get the number of units that are shown right now in the architectural plans, we hope that it’s going to be about a 12 month construction cycle and we hope to break ground with that construction next spring, but it’s it’s designed to provide rents that are less than market rate rents for a period of 30 years.”

Bergman then went into depth about what the renovation will look like.”Besides that, obviously it’s a renovation of an existing building, so it’s it’s keeping this building alive and refreshing it to go maybe another fifty, 100 years. It’s a gut rehab. So the entire interior will be torn down basically to the studs and outside walls and completely redone.”

Supervisor Lindeen called it a “happy day” and believes this will be good for our community. The motion to approve a contract with Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission was approved 3-0.

One citizen spoke up during the public comment section of the meeting. He believes that the Board of Supervisors should schedule two meetings a week when there is an important item that needs to be discussed, such as the planning and zoning recommendation. Scheduling a supervisors meeting for next Tuesday, for example, would still allow the board time to discuss before the postponed planning and zoning meeting. He mentioned that the Board of Supervisors had planned in their budget to meet twice a week, so the money should be there. The Henry County Board of Supervisors will meet next Thursday, September 26^th, at 9:00am.

*Updated as of 3:13pm*
Strong to severe storm risk remains on track for this evening, mainly west of the Mississippi River. The timing of storms has trended a little bit later. Now the NWS believes 7 PM to midnight tonight is now the most likely time frame for severe storms. Large hail and damaging winds are the main hazards, although a tornado can’t be ruled out entirely. Storms are expected to weaken as they approach the Mississippi River.

*Original post*

A few severe storms are possible, mainly this evening west of the Mississippi River. Large hail and damaging winds are the primary threats. A few showers and storms may occur as early later this morning & afternoon into parts of eastern Iowa. However, the greater coverage of storms is expected to occur this evening/tonight especially west of the Mississippi River.

The Henry County Engineers Office announces road construction work to take place on Racine Avenue (X23), beginning Friday, September 20th. The project will start at Mt Union and continue south. Work will include lane closures with flaggers and pilot cars. Expect delays and use caution. This project will take approximately two (2) weeks. Questions may be answered by calling 385-0762.

An anonymous threat was made on social media targeting WACO schools for Wednesday, September 18^th. An investigation into this claim was done by the school administration and local law enforcement ensured the safety of the staff and students. This threat follows an ongoing trend in the United States where people attempt to instill an uneasy sense in a school district, typically by sending a vague text message. They then choose a different district the next day. According to the superintendent of WACO CSD, Ken Crawford, WACO is a safe environment, and all involved in investigating and keeping students safe should be commended.

All claims against Jefferson County treasurer, Mark Myers, as well as the claims alleged against State Senator Adrian Dickey have been dismissed as of September 16^th.

The claims, which were filed civil court in Jefferson County, involved allegations of failing to perfect a security interest on a vehicle. Previous allegations of civil conspiracy had previously been dismissed by the Court. The case rested on allegations by the daughter of Iowa State Senator Adrian Dickey, as well as her mother and stepfather, that claimed improper action on the part of the Treasurer and State Senator during the registration process of a vehicle the Senator purchased for his daughter. The pending action against Mr. Dickey has also been dismissed.

With the resolution of all pending claims against the Treasurer, Myers had this comment:

“Unfortunately, arrogant incompetence and dishonesty created a colossal waste of time and energy. However, Attorney Skylar Limkemann and Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding worked hard to mitigate the damage created by the baseless claim. I’m glad this is over, I can put it behind me, and Mr. Moulding and I can now put that effort into the Jefferson County citizens.”

Below is the response from the plaintiffs.

Dickey v. Dickey, CVEQ004601 – Statement from Plaintiffs Shawna Husted and Allen Husted

“We filed this lawsuit against Adrian Dickey and the Jefferson County Treasurer’s Office because Korynn was unaware that her biological father put a lien on the car he gave her until just a few weeks before the car was totaled in an accident. In 2020, just before he gave her the car, Adrian offered in text messages to give Korynn the car “no strings attached,” “out of love for” his daughter, and just because he wanted “to do something kind for her.” He sent her papers to sign so he could register the car while she was in California. The papers had a section Adrian could have filled out to show that he would be the lienholder, but he didn’t fill that section out until after Korynn had signed the papers and returned to him.

When Korynn’s car was totaled, Adrian refused to agree to release the insurance proceeds so we could apply them to purchase a new car for Korynn. We didn’t believe Adrian had any right to put the lien on the car in the first place, and we thought it would be a relatively straightforward matter to demand that he release the lien.

But Adrian claimed that he sent Korynn an email and a letter in July 2020 containing his expectations for her if she accepted his gift of a car. Korynn did not receive either one. In discovery, we asked Adrian to produce the original electronic file of the email he claimed he sent, and he couldn’t produce it. Instead, he produced an email dated July 7, 2023, two days after the lawsuit was filed, that he claimed was the original “native” file of the email. No one has ever seen the letter Adrian claims he sent Korynn—which, very strangely, he kept a copy of.

He then filed a counterclaim against Korynn—his own biological daughter—for defamation, because she posted a few things on Instagram when she was a teenager and in her early twenties. After months of dealing with Adrian’s counterclaims, the case had become about everything but Adrian Dickey’s security interest in Korynn’s car, and Korynn was having a very hard time with it. So, we chose to dismiss our claims against Adrian and Jefferson County. We thought that would be the end of it.

Unfortunately, after we dismissed our claims, the judge asked Adrian’s attorney to draft the order to wrap up the case. This is not stated in the Order that was filed. We objected to the order proposed by Adrian’s attorney, but the judge ended up adopting it word-for-word, even though most of what was in the order wasn’t even necessary to resolve the case. We had already agreed that Adrian should receive the insurance proceeds (the $23,686.75) and $1 for his ridiculous defamation claim. We did not believe it was necessary to write an order that made one side look good and the other side look bad.

Nonetheless, we are happy to put this case and our interactions with Adrian behind us. We will not be filing an appeal. We have more fulfilling things to focus on, including supporting Korynn and her new baby, and we are looking forward to a rewarding and happy future for our family.”

*Updated as of 3:42pm 09/19*

The following route is open to thru traffic immediately: 85th Avenue Midway between Stony Hollow Rd & 145th Street.

*Original post*

The Des Moines County Engineer has announced a temporary road closure that may affect driver’s commute. 85^th Avenue Midway between Stony Hollow Road and 145^th Street will be closed for a culvert replacement beginning at 8:00am on Thursday, September 19^th, and will remain closed until 3:00pm on Friday, September 20^th, weather permitting.