The Mount Pleasant Community School Board met in special session on Monday evening in what turned out to be a full night of discussion.

The first big ticket item was an update on the Mount Pleasant Community Daycare and the sharing of space with the school district. At a previous meeting, a representative with the daycare met with the board and proposed a before and after school program, which would benefit both the district and the city.

Dr. Angie Butler and superintendent John Henriksen met with Matt Barton regarding using space at one elementary building for a before and after school program. Barton suggested developing a survey to develop the needs of the program, which would be distributed on behalf of the daycare. The district plans to continue working with Barton and moving forward with this, although there seems to be no rush.

A lease agreement was signed with South Iowa Symphony Orchestra to utilize a portion of Old Main, which encompasses the entire third floor, two rooms on the second floor, and accessory rooms and walkways.

Superintendent Henriksen then reviewed where the district currently is with master planning. Historically, the district has upgraded elementary A/C in the past 7 years, a facilities assessment report was completed on all buildings in 2021 (support, attendance centers, EVERYTHING), and focus was shifted to support services after that. Multiple sites were considered for the transportation, central receiving, and buildings and ground facility. The old Shottenkirk facility was one idea, with McWhirter’s and behind the high school the other failed contenders. Ultimately, 1515 E Monroe was selected, and completion at that site is scheduled for Spring 2025 for a total cost of just over $3,000,000.

After the closure of Iowa Wesleyan University, the board determined that many needs of the district could be suited by purchasing facilities on central campus. Currently, color guard camp is taking place in the HOWE Student Activity Center, and it seems this won’t be the only activity to occur in this space.

Following this was the district master planning discussion, as board members conversed about what they would like to see in the future. SVPA architects and Dan Culp with Carl A Nelson Construction Company weighed in during the discussion their expertise.

A blueprint for the central office at HOWE Hall was provided to the board, with the first floor consisting of 5 offices, including payroll, director of finance, social worker, director of instruction, and HR. Completing the first floor is the superintendent’s office, a conference room, and a storage and file room, amongst other necessities. The second floor would consist of a homeschool room with two offices and a conference room, as well as a library and additional storage. A large boardroom would allow between 40 and 50 citizens in the audience to attend meetings.

One additional point of discussion was the potential traffic light outside of the high school. A traffic study was conducted in the past, but after meeting with the city, progress has slowed. One citizen believes the city should take responsibility regarding the traffic study and fix the issue of traffic and collisions outside of the school grounds.

It seems the board would like to explore different opportunities to utilize the central campus. One way they may do that is through community engagement, input, and surveys.

The Henry County Sheriff’s Office dealt with another car vs. wildlife situation on Sunday night. Just after 9:00pm, they received a report of a vehicle collision in the 2500 grid of 170^th Street outside of Mt. Union.  It was determined that Rachel Davis of Winfield was driving a Chrysler van west on 170^th Street, when a deer entered the roadway. Luckily for her, no injuries were reported, however, an estimated $5000 in damages was caused and the vehicle suffered disabling damage.

On July 19, 2024, at approximately 8:41p.m. Des Moines County Sheriff’s Deputies stopped a vehicle near Beaverdale Rd. and Washington Rd. for an equipment violation. A passenger in the vehicle was identified as Rachael Marie Brown, age 34, of Burlington, IA. Brown had two warrants for her arrest for possession of a controlled substance 3rd or subsequent offense and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was placed under arrest and transported to the Des Moines County Correctional Center.

While at the Des Moines County Correctional Center, Brown was found in possession of a bag of pills identified as Alprazolam. Brown was then charged with possession of a controlled substance 3rd or subsequent offense (D felony) and possession of contraband in a correctional facility (D felony).

Road maintenance has been announced on New London Road, between Penn Avenue and 285^th Street, southwest of the Deerwood Golf Course.

Road maintenance will include one lane road closure with stop lights, please use caution.

This work will start Wednesday, July 24^th and last the rest of the week, weather permitting.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly April through November. Additionally, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship provides a weather summary each week during this time.

“Severe thunderstorms early last week gave way to a cooler and quieter string of days as corn pollination is underway across the state,” said Secretary Naig. “Temperatures look to warm up through the week for county fairgoers.”

The weekly report is also available on the USDA’s website at nass.usda.gov.

Crop Report
Most of the State received little rainfall and experienced below average temperatures. These conditions allowed Iowa farmers 5.9 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending July 21, 2024, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Field activities included harvesting oats for grain, cutting and baling hay, and applying fungicides.

Topsoil moisture condition rated 1 percent very short, 10 percent short, 81 percent adequate and 8 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 1 percent very short, 10 percent short, 80 percent adequate and 9 percent surplus.

Corn silking reached 68 percent, 1 day behind last year but 2 days ahead of the five-year average. Corn crop at the dough stage reached 18 percent, 2 days ahead of last year and 5 days ahead of the five-year average. Corn condition was rated at 75 percent good to excellent. Soybean crop blooming reached 69 percent, 5 days behind last year but equal to the five-year average. Soybeans setting pods reached 25 percent, 2 days behind last year and 1 day behind the five-year average. Soybean condition was 74 percent good to excellent. Oats turning color reached 89 percent, 2 days behind last year but 3 days ahead of the five-year average. The oat harvest for grain reached 44 percent complete, 5 days ahead of last year and the five-year average. Oat condition was 76 percent good to excellent.

The state’s second cutting of alfalfa hay reached 75 percent complete, 5 days behind last year but 2 days ahead of the five-year average. The third cutting of alfalfa hay began at 6 percent, 4 days behind last year but 1 day ahead of the five-year average. Hay condition rated 78 percent good to excellent. Pasture condition rated 71 percent good to excellent.