Henry County Supervisors Meeting Agenda September 7th, 2023

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, September 5th, 2023 at 10:07 am CDT

Henry County Supervisors

100 E Washington St  Ste 202

Mt Pleasant IA  52641

Fax:  319-385-3601

 

Chad White, Chairman            Marc Lindeen, Vice-Chairman        Greg Moeller, Member    

           319-385-0759                                 319-385-0760                                  319-385-0761________                       

AGENDA

 

September 7, 2023

Approve Agenda

Approve Minutes

 9:00 Monthly Department Head Meeting

9:55 James Brau, Firework Permit

10:00 Donna Byers Interview for Conservation Board

10:30 David Ackles Interview for Conservation Board

Resolution Confirming Commissioner to Iowa Mid-America Port Commissions

Other County Business as time allows

Supervisors Sub-Committee Updates

Sports, September 5th

By Slaten Swords · Tuesday, September 5th, 2023 at 6:30 am CDT

High School Football

Mt. Pleasant will hit the road to face off against Tipton this Friday, September 8th, at 7:30 pm. KILJ will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm. Head Coach John Bowlin may have found the Panthers identity with a change in the backfield, which included Jurha Turner as the running back.

In other Class 3A District 4 matchups, Burlington will host Keokuk, Washington will travel to Fairfield for a matchup against the Trojans, and Fort Madison will take on Centerville.

Mediapolis will host Regina Catholic this Friday. 

Central Lee will hit the road to compete against Durant this Friday as the Hawks look to move to 3-0 on the season. 

Van Buren County will travel to take on Highland at 7 pm.  

New London will face off against Iowa Valley in a road matchup this Friday at 7 pm. 

#2 Winfield-Mt. Union is set to host #5 WACO this Friday in a top five 8-man matchup at 7 pm.

High School Football Rankings

For Class 3A, Fort Madison is 2-0 on the season, winning in typical Bloodhound fashion: low-scoring defensive battles. However, the Bloodhounds remain unranked but receiving votes.

In Class 2A, West Burlington-Notre Dame is receiving attention after going 2-0 for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Their dynamic offense led by Caden Schwenker has the Nikes receiving votes. Mediapolis was dropped out of the top 10 after their loss last week to Sigourney Keota. 

In Class A, Columbus Community jumped back into the rankings after dismantling Wapello last Friday 49-6. The Wildcats now rank 10th. 

Winfield-Mt. Union and WACO did not move in the rankings for 8-man football. 

High School Volleyball

Mt. Pleasant’s next match is on the road against Fort Madison tonight.

New London will get an opportunity for a rematch with Burlington Notre Dame on September 7th. 

Holy Trinity Catholic will face off against Burlington Notre Dame today.

Winfield-Mt. Union looks to get back in the win column tonight against Columbus. 

WACO will take on Lone Tree today in a road matchup. 

Central Lee will face off against Mediapolis tonight.

Van Buren County’s next match will be September 12th at New London. 

Cross Country

The Mt. Pleasant boys team competed at Central College over the weekend with each member of the team dropping their time from last year’s meet. Ben Carthey led the way with a time of 17 minutes and 20 seconds, which was good enough for 12th place. Jude Dykstra finished in 24th place with a time of 18 minutes and 14 seconds. The Panthers finished in 7th place as a team. Mt. Pleasant will participate in the Fairfield Cross Country Invitational Thursday, September 7th. 

Danville, Van Buren County, Central Lee, Winfield-Mt. Union, Holy Trinity Catholic, and Mediapolis will all be competing in a meet hosted by the Warriors today.

College Football

The University of Iowa travels to Ames this Saturday, September 9th, to take on Iowa State University with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 pm. 

For the Hawkeye broadcast, tune into KILJ 105.5 FM and the Cyclone broadcast will be on 98.5 FM and 1130 AM. 

The Cyclones’ Jeremiah Cooper was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after his four tackle, two interception performance last weekend. Cooper’s first interception resulted in Iowa State’s first points of the season as he returned it for a 58-yard pick-six. 

This Day in Sports History

1901 – National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, better known as Minor League Baseball, is formed at the Leland Hotel in Chicago.

1906 – Saint Louis University quarterback Bradbury Robinson throws the first legal forward pass in the history of American football; later the first touchdown pass to Jack Schneider at Carroll College, Waukesha, Wisconsin; Saint Louis wins, 22-0.

1994 – San Francisco wide receiver Jerry Rice catches two touchdown passes and runs for another score in a 49ers’ 44-14 rout of the Raiders; surpasses Jim Brown as NFL’s career TD leader with 127.

Grain Indemnity Fund Reinstated

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, September 5th, 2023 at 6:10 am CDT
The reinstatement of fees on grain sold to or deposited at Iowa-licensed grain dealers and warehouses as part of the Iowa Grain Depositors and Sellers Indemnity Fund (Grain Indemnity Fund) starts on September 1.

“The Grain Indemnity Fund serves as a low-cost insurance policy for Iowa farmers. This program has proven incredibly successful at protecting Iowa farmers from catastrophic financial losses over the last three decades,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “Existing Iowa law now requires the fund to be replenished for the first time since 1989. We will continue to work diligently to ensure the financial soundness of the grain industry so that we can prevent failures and protect farmers’ investments.”

Created by the Iowa Legislature in 1986 during the Farm Crisis to provide financial protection to farmers, the Grain Indemnity Fund covers farmers with grain on deposit in Iowa-licensed warehouses and grain sold to state-licensed grain dealers. In the case of a failure of a state-licensed grain warehouse or grain dealer, the Fund will pay farmers 90 percent of a loss on grain up to a maximum of $300,000 per claimant. Over the history of the Grain Indemnity Fund, more than $19 million in claims have been paid to more than 1,600 grain producers. The Fund has generated approximately $9 million in assessed fees, which were last collected in 1989. Since that time, the Fund was able to recover claim losses from defunct grain dealers and warehouses that when combined with interest earned on the Fund, provided enough additional revenue to prevent the reinstatement of the assessed fees.

Because of claims made to the Grain Indemnity Fund following the failures of Pipeline Foods, LLC of Fridley, MN, Global Processing, Inc. of Kanawha and B&B Farm Store of Jesup within the last two years, the balance of the Fund, after all approved claims have been paid, is expected to be approximately $384,000. Current law requires that if the Fund falls below $3 million, the Grain Indemnity Fund Board must reinstate participation fees for grain dealers and warehouses as well as a ¼ cent per bushel assessment that can be passed on to producers beginning on September 1. As outlined in Iowa Code 203D, the assessment must remain in effect for at least one full year. Current law also requires these fees – which only apply to cash sales and not grain sold on credit sale contracts – to remain active until the Board votes to suspend the collection of fees or the Fund reaches a balance of $8 million.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s Grain Warehouse Bureau regulates and examines the financial solvency of grain dealers and grain warehouse operators to protect Iowa farmers. The Grain Warehouse Bureau is responsible for administering the Iowa Grain Depositors and Sellers Indemnity Fund. The Department has undertaken assessment implementation steps with industry stakeholders and has assisted with outreach efforts to farmers and grain producers. Members of the Iowa Grain Depositors and Sellers Indemnity Fund are appointed by the Governor and are subject to confirmation by the Iowa Senate.

More information, including handouts for both farmers and industry participants, can be found on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website.

Barb Riley

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, September 5th, 2023 at 5:55 am CDT

Barb Riley, 70, of Mt. Pleasant, died Friday, September 1, 2023 in the Hospice Unit of Unity Point Health/St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

A funeral service for Barb will be held at 3 PM on Friday, September 8 at the Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 N. Main St., Mt. Pleasant. Pastor Aaron Helterbran of the Salem Congregational Church will officiate. Visitation with the family present will be from 1-3 PM Friday afternoon. Cremation rites will be accorded following the funeral service.

Memorials may be directed to the family and left at the funeral home. On-line condolences may be directed to www.kimzeyfh.com

Barb was born August 4, 1953 in Mt. Pleasant, the daughter of Dorothy Elain Huston. She graduated from Mt. Pleasant Community High School and attended cosmetology college in Burlington. On March 3, 1973 at the First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant, Barb was united in marriage to Lynn Riley.

Barb worked as a hairdresser at Larry Housh’s Shop in Mt. Pleasant. She then worked at the former Pamida store in Mt. Pleasant. For over 30 years, Barb was a resident Treatment Worker at the former Mt. Pleasant Mental Health Institute. For the last 4 years of her time at MHI, Barb worked as a Pharmacy Tech.

Barb was a member of the former Congregational Church in Mt. Pleasant and a member of the AFSCME Union at MHI. She loved going to garage sales and auctions, often with a gift for one of her grandchildren, with whom she loved to spend much of her time.

Those thankful for sharing in Barb’s life include her husband of 50 years, Lynn of Mt. Pleasant; 2 sons – Bill (Jennifer) Riley  and Mike (Tiffany) Riley, all of Mt. Pleasant’ a daughter-in-law, Sami Riley of Traer, IA 16 grandchildren and 2 brothers.

Her mother Dorothy Keith and son Nick Riley precede Barb in death.

Kelly Walgren

By Yorke Prough · Tuesday, September 5th, 2023 at 5:54 am CDT

Kelly Edward Walgren, 65, of Wapello, died peacefully at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics surrounded by his family on September 2, 2023, after a battle with cancer. He fought the disease to the very end with an amazing attitude, positive outlook, and incredible strength and stamina after dozens of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He never complained and made the best out of his situation, even taking a trip to visit his cousin Ron in Hawaii in September of 2022.

Kelly was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, on October 16, 1957, to Mary Ellen and Stanley Walgren. He lived his early life in New London and

moved to Wapello when he was in high school. As a kid, he was a daredevil. He could do a 1 ½ dive with a full twist from the high dive; he liked to ride motorcycles; and he still holds the Wapello school record in the pole vault. As a man, Kelly was an outdoorsman. He loved fishing in his grandfather’s boat or hunting for rocks or mushrooms. He was hardworking, a jack-of-all-trades, and there was nothing he couldn’t fix. He had a big heart who liked to help people. With all that energy, it’s no wonder he could take a nap anytime and anywhere! He worked at Monsanto for over 20 years and later for Ecklund and Pforts Construction and Allworth Contracting.

Kelly was a dedicated family man who loved his daughters, Abbey and Lacey, his grandchildren, and all his family. Taken from us too soon and already missing him are his daughters, Abigail Walgren of Morning Sun and Lacey (Anthony) Newsom of Oakville; mother, Mary Ellen of Wapello; brothers Tom (Shawn) of Muscatine and Tim (Michelle) of Quincy, IL; grandchildren AJ, Jaxon, Grace, and Tailinn Newsom; and nieces and nephews Jordan (Mark) Meyer, Alexandra (Luke) Rauenbuehler, Ryan (Lauren) Walgren, and Mitchell Walgren. He was preceded in death by his maternal and paternal grandparents and his father, Stanley.

A Celebration of Life in Kelly’s honor will be held on Saturday, September 9, 2023, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Wapello United Methodist Church at 319 North Main Street, Wapello, Iowa. A short ceremony will be held and food and refreshments will be served.  A memorial has been established for the Wapello Community Ambulance.   Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sandhfuneralservice.com.   Snyder & Hollenbaugh Funeral & Cremation Services of Wapello are caring for Kelly arrangements and his family.

 

High School Football: Winfield-Mt. Union and WACO Rank in the Top 5 After Week Two’s Matchups

By Slaten Swords · Monday, September 4th, 2023 at 6:34 pm CDT

High School Football Rankings- In a cross-classification matchup between two top teams, we saw #2 Williamsburg of Class 3A squeak by #1 Xavier of Class 4A, 21-20. The result was a mix-up of both classifications’ top teams in The Gazette’s rankings.

Nevertheless, Class 5A remained relatively unchanged with Southeast Polk and Dowling Catholic staying on top of the rankings at #1 and #2, respectively. Prairie may have been unranked to start the season, but the Hawks are now ranked 3rd and staring down a matchup with #1 Southeast Polk this Friday. Cedar Falls reenter the rankings at #6 after a week one loss. Waukee Northwest is ranked 7th after being unranked last week. Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Waukee both fell out of the rankings.

Adel ADM is now the new king in Class 4A after Xavier’s loss to Williamsburg forced the Saints down to #5 in the rankings. North Scott is ranked 2nd followed by Western Dubuque. Indianola’s 21-14 loss to Norwalk knocked them out of the top 10 with Gilbert taking over the final position.

Williamsburg’s triumphant victory caused Mount Vernon to be leapfrogged in the rankings with Williamsburg taking the top spot. With Assumption being ranked 7th that puts two teams in Mt. Pleasant’s district in the top 10 for Class 3A. Fort Madison is 2-0 on the season, winning in typical Bloodhound fashion: low-scoring defensive battles. However, the Bloodhounds remain unranked but receiving votes.

In Class 2A, Van Meter is the top team followed by Central Lyon-GLR and Western Christian. Cherokee and Clarinda hopped into the rankings, both sporting a 2-0 record. Mediapolis was dropped after their shutout loss to Sigourney Keota. Carroll Kuemper was also knocked out of the rankings. West Burlington-Notre Dame is receiving attention after going 2-0 for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Their dynamic offense led by Caden Schwenker has the Nikes receiving votes.

Grundy Center, MFL MarMac, and Underwood are ranked at the top of list, respectively, for Class 1A. Underwood is the only team with a loss in the rankings for Class 1A. Aplington-Parkersburg and Ida Grove OABCIG were knocked out of the top 10 with Sumner-Fredericksburg and Denver being ranked at the bottom of the list.

In Class A, West Hancock and Lynnville-Sully are the favorites and rank #1 and #2, respectively. South Central Calhoun took over Southwest Valley’s spot in the rankings at #6. Columbus Community jumped back into the rankings after dismantling Wapello last Friday 49-6. The Wildcats now rank 10th.

Lastly, 8-Man football with have an intriguing matchup in Southeast Iowa this Friday. Gladbrook-Reinbeck still holds the top spot. However, there will be serious implications when #2 Winfield-Mt. Union, right off the heels of a lopsided victory over New London last Friday, hosts #5 WACO, who knocked #10 Iowa Valley out of the rankings with a 46-22 victory in front of the Warriors home crowd. Montezuma was also knocked out of the top 10 after the Braves 57-55 loss to Moravia. Don Bosco and Lansing Kee take over the empty spots at the end of the rankings.

2023 Old Threshers Sweet 16 Court

By Yorke Prough · Monday, September 4th, 2023 at 11:50 am CDT

Congratulations to our 2023 Midwest Old Threshers Sweet 16 , Charissa Wissman. She came all the way from Milford, Nebraska to volunteer her week at the reunion. The 1st runner up is Megan Lee and the 2nd runner up is Kaylee Knerr. Alexa Fuller won Miss Volunteer for her “bubbly personality” and for having the highest score from the 6 secret judges.

Morgan Bolkema (not pictured) was awarded with a 100 hour volunteer pin for her continuing dedication to Midwest Old Threshers. From left to right: Alexa Fuller, Charissa Wissman, Megan Lee, Kaylee Knerr.

Melvin Tweedy

By Yorke Prough · Monday, September 4th, 2023 at 11:41 am CDT

Melvin F. Tweedy, 70 of Olds, Iowa, formerly of Fremont, Nebraska, passed away on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, at his home.

He was born on June 24, 1953, at Lynch, Nebraska, the son of Harold William and Arbutus June (Pritchett) Tweedy.  He graduated from high school in Nebraska and went on to join the United States Marine Corps on December 16, 1971 and was honorably discharged on April 8, 1974.  Melvin was proud of his service to his country. He later graduated from Southeastern Community College in Burlington with a degree in engineering. Melvin was united in marriage to Tamara Cozad on December 29, 2001, in Muscatine, Iowa.  He was a hardworking man and enjoyed fishing, camping and playing pinochle.  Melvin was employed with West Liberty Foods of Mt. Pleasant as a maintenance engineer.

He is survived by his loving wife, Tamara of Olds, his children, Colleen Wilshusen, Melanie (Shane) Weimann, Jamie Tweedy and Daryl Rickheim, seventeen grandchildren and eight great grandchildren, his sisters, Susan Pfannebecker and Joan Griff, along with many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Melvin was preceded in death by his parents, two sons, Christofer Michael Rickheim and Alex James Rickheim, one grandson, Brett Michael Rickheim, his twin brother, Calvin Tweedy, his brother, Fred L. Tweedy, a son-in-law, Jason Wilsshusen  and a nephew, Charles “J.R.” Relfe.

Graveside Services will be held on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. at the Pleasant View Cemetery at Leshara, Nebraska with full military honors.  A time of food and fellowship will follow at 2 p.m. at the Leshara Community Center.  According to his wishes cremation has been entrusted to the care of Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant.  

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.murphyfuneralandmonuments.com The Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant, is caring for his arrangements.