Supervisors take further steps to secure loan funds for new fire station for Waukon Area Fire Protection District

by Bob Beach

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing Tuesday, July 8 regarding a $750,000 loan to pay half of the cost to construct a new fire station in Waukon for the Waukon Area Fire Protection District. Bob Jostens, the County's bond attorney, explained that in order for the County to proceed with taking out a loan on behalf of the eight member townships of the fire district, state law requires that a public hearing be held and notice of that hearing be published, with the purpose of that hearing being to hear comments from the public. Fire Board President Tony Baxter requested that the Board sign a resolution expressing intent to enter into the loan agreement with Waukon State Bank.
Speaking on behalf of Waukon State Bank, Gail Prestemon said that the bank is happy to be able to make the funds available and that the date of the first payment on the ten-year, 3.25% interest loan has been pushed back to December 1, 2015 so that funding from additional levies will be available to the townships. She said that the full $750,000 would be disbursed to the County in a lump sum once the loan agreements with the townships have been finalized.
After closing the public hearing and signing the resolution expressing intent to enter into the loan agreement, the Board held a brief discussion about charging the townships an administrative fee for acting as the fiscal agent for the loan. Allamakee County Attorney Jill Kistler said that she could not find legal authority for the County to impose such a fee. Jostens agreed with Kistler's legal opinion and the Board took no action to impose a fee.
During regular business, the Board met with LuAnn Rolling, District Conservationist for the Allamakee County Natural Resource Conservation Service, who presented the Board with the annual watershed inspection report, which shows that repairs are needed on the Little Paint and English Bench watersheds. Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour said that FEMA funding had been received for the repairs and that the Secondary Roads Department had planned to make the repairs. He said that if the repairs could not be completed within the next couple weeks by Secondary Roads, a local contractor would be hired.
In other business, the Board signed a resolution approving appropriations for fiscal year 2015. The Board also set July 22 at the conclusion of its regular meeting as the date and time to review the County's Code of Ordinances. The Board also accepted and placed on file quarterly reports from the Auditor, Planning and Zoning and Sheriff and signed a letter of engagement with Hacker, Nelson & Company for auditing services.