DES MOINES – Governor Reynolds today announced that 23 communities have been awarded a total of $9 million in grants to advance water quality projects. The funding is made available through the Wastewater and Drinking Water Treatment Financial Assistance Program, which was created as a part of Senate File 512, the first legislation signed into law by Governor Reynolds in January 2018.  Winfield is receiving a $500,000 grant for the City’s Waste Water Treatment Project.  The total estimated cost of the project is $5,389,939.

“The first bill I signed into law as Governor in 2018 created a long-term funding source to assist communities in upgrading their water infrastructure,” said Gov. Reynolds. “This program has done just that, with a total of more than $18 million In investments leveraging more than $375 million in additional funds invested in critical water quality infrastructure projects across the state.”

The 2022 program received 60 applications requesting more than $24 million in water quality grants. A committee consisting of designees from the Iowa Finance Authority, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship judged the Wastewater and Drinking Water Financial Assistance Program applications based on the program’s priorities.

Priorities for grant awards include: Disadvantaged communities; Projects that will significantly improve water quality in their watershed; Projects that use alternative wastewater treatment technologies; Communities with the highest sewer or water rates; Projects that use technology to address nutrient reduction; and projects to address improvements to drinking water source waters.

The program receives a portion of the tax on metered water and had more than $9 million available for allocation in 2022. Grants will be awarded through the program on an annual basis through 2039.

The Wastewater program has assisted a total of more than 50 communities through a total of nearly $18 million in water quality grants since the first awards were granted in 2019. The program is expected to have approximately $6 million in available funds in 2023 based on the portion of tax that will be allocated to the program.

Friday morning the Iowa Division of Narcotic Enforcement executed a search warrant at 303 E. Kirkwood Avenue in Fairfield. Officers seized a large amount of marijuana in addition to meth, cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms and firearms.  Timothy Michael Carey, Jr. was arrested. He is charged with possession of the drugs with intent to deliver, felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of an offensive weapon short barrel rifle in addition to other drug related charges. Fairfield Police, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol and the Southeast Iowa Inter Agency Drug Task Force assisted in the execution of the warrant.

Washington County Extension and Outreach educator Diane Rinner was recognized at the 2022 Southeast Iowa County Services Extension Award Ceremony held in Sigourney on January 26. Rinner earned the Program Area Recognition Award in the 4-H & Youth category. She was presented this award by Extension Regional director Katharinna Bain.

Rinner provides Agriculture in the Classroom monthly lessons in five Washington County school districts. She impacts the lives of Washington County youth by helping them understand the essential role agriculture plays in their lives. She has grown the Agriculture in the Classroom program by increasing the total number of classrooms served by 400% and students by 84%. The total numbers for the 2021/2022 school year include 60 classrooms per month and 1,062 students.

In addition to classroom programs, she has provided hands-on lessons at Hilltop Dairy’s Dairy Days, Ag Exploration – at the SE Iowa Research Farm, Ag Safety Day (for all 2nd-grade students in Washington), and the Washington County Fair. Lesson examples include water conservation, corn by-products, Christmas tree farms, egg hatching, corn to ethanol, beef vs. dairy, hydroponics, and the jobs of a farmer.

Rinner is often invited to various civic groups, commodity groups, and board meetings to discuss her programming/outreach efforts and impact. As a result, Washington County Extension continues to receive generous donations from various funders.   She  has been featured on WHO radio.  Rinner has also served as a mentor for staff from other counties, as they begin their own Ag in the Classroom programs.

Impact statements from classroom teachers

• “Mrs. Rinner was AWESOME in our classroom. Each lesson was interesting, hands-on, involved all the students and allowed for lots of questions, and gave the students some great knowledge about the area we live in!”
• “Miss Diane set the tone for the school year with her first visit! Kids were on the edge of their seats and learned so much in a short amount of time each month.”
• “All of your lessons had some type of hands-on piece which I loved so much! The two lessons I enjoyed the most were the cows and milk lesson and the evergreen tree lesson. Those two lessons got talked about a lot by my class.”
• “My favorite quote from one of my kids was, ‘We get to learn about agriculture, really, like when she comes in here, we have fun projects to do and learn about careers that we might want to do for a living!’ They summed it up well, I love how she makes learning about agriculture fun for everyone.”

Washington County’s Agriculture in the Classroom and work of Rinner done in partnership with Washington County Farm Bureau and is a program largely supported by donations and sponsorships from private individuals, businesses and other community groups.  Those who have a shared interest in educating youth about where their food comes from, please contact the Washington County Extension Office on how to be a sponsor and continue this valuable outreach program for  youth.

Mount Pleasant High School is proud to announce the December/January 2022/23 Students of Character, Isabella Gonzalez, Drake Landau, & Wyatt Nicholson. These students have demonstrated Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. Students are nominated by the MPCHS faculty each month. If you see these students at school or in the community, please tell them to keep up the good work! We are Panther Proud of you all!

#GoPanthers #PantherProud

Additional nominees:

Charice Auwerda

Ethan Sexauer

Jakin Bunnell

Jayden Ullrich

Grace Van De Berg

Ximena Ortiz Munoz

AGENDA

January 31, 2023

Approve Agenda

Approve Minutes

9:00 Jake Hotchkiss, Engineer Weekly Update

9:30 Public Hearing 1^st Reading Ordinance, Repeal Title Chapter 7, General Relief Program

9:45 Joe Buffington, Van Bibber Subdivision, Section 9, Tippecanoe Township

10:00 Rich McNamee, Sheriff Present FY24 Budget

Restructure Job Classification

Resolution for Drug Task Force

Other County Business as time allows

Supervisors Sub-Committee Updates

Thursday just before 6 pm the Mount Pleasant Police were dispatched to investigate a two car collision in the 600 block of West Courtland Street. Jill McDowell of Wayland was westbound on Courtland when her vehicle was struck by a car driven by Clare Schnicker of Mount Pleasant.  Schnicker was backing out of a driveway when the collision occurred.  No injuries were reported.