Community News

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, November 5 to discuss a full agenda of items including discussion of a tenant and landlord’s responsibility regarding an overdue water bill, discussion of drafting a letter of support to Menards and several matters relating to the new Wastewater Treatment Facility.

There was no Public Comment and the council moved into Departmental Reports. Street Superintendent Keith Burrett provided an update on street maintenance projects including core-outs that have been blacktopped. He also said preparation for winter has begun for the Street Department.

by Joe Moses

Those passing by the 100 block of Allamakee Street in Waukon have likely noticed some change with the recent removal of the Army tank that had been located near the Vet’s Club since the early 1990s. During the evening of Thursday, October 25 this past week, Hennessy Towing of Waukon and various personnel from veterans organizations and City employees of Waukon and the south central Iowa community of Maxwell were involved in moving the tank in preparation for its transport to its new location in that small Story County community.

The M60 Army tank located at the Vet’s Club was last used in Vietnam before being decommissioned, but it was developed for a late World War II campaign. The tank came from Fort McCoy in Wisconsin before calling Waukon home in 1993 after a two-year planning process. Its new location will be Maxwell, a small town of just under 1,000 people located southeast of Ames.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, October 29 to address a full agenda of items including the Tobacco Awareness Week Proclamation, setting a date for the 2019 Driftless Half-Marathon and an update from the Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC). Chairperson Larry Schellhammer called the meeting to order.

During Public Comment, SPF-SIG Coordinator Maxine Grotegut with Allamakee Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) took a photo of the Supervisors holding the Social Host Ordinance to fulfill a requirement of a grant. Executive Director Val Reinke with Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) discussed the November 19 Board of Supervisors meeting which will take place at the Robey Memorial Library in Waukon with a possible industry visit to follow at Aveka Nutra Processing. Supervisor Dennis Koenig also provided an update on the County Social Services (CSS) region.

The Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation’s Christmas Fantasy 2018 will be held Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, November 9, 10, 11 and 12, at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. The theme this year will be “Never Stop Believing.”

In addition to the nearly 60 decorated Christmas trees on display, this years’ event will again offer many, many shopping opportunities on the silent auction. Reservations are now being taken for the popular Saturday evening Wine, Cheese and Dessert Event, and the Noon luncheons.

The luncheons are sponsored again this year by the Allamakee County Cattlemen’s Association and will be held Saturday, November 10, at Noon, and again Monday, November 12, at Noon. A full meal will be served plus entertainment will be provided at both events.

Waukon High School sophomore Denzel Decker, son of Brad and Becky Decker of rural Luana, received special recognition at the 2018 Pappapjohn Entrepreneur Gala held September 26 at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC)  in Mason City. The event celebrates north Iowa’s entrepreneurs in four award categories: Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, the Innovation Award, and Business of the Year. Twelve finalists were named in each category, and the winners were announced at the gala.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, October 22 to address a full agenda of items including the Red Ribbon Week Proclamation, signing of the Fiscal-Year 2019 Iowa Partnerships for Success contract and discussion of hiring a Dispatcher/Corrections Officer. There were no members of the public in attendance during the Public Comment portion of the meeting and Allamakee County Auditor Denise Beyer provided an update on the November 6 general election during that time, indicating that approximately 1400 absentee ballot requests have been made so far with just over 10,000 voters registered in Allamakee County.

Fareway Meat & Grocery of Waukon held a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, October 17 to celebrate its Grand Re-Opening after an extensive remodeling project of the store’s interior was recently completed. Pictured above at the ribbon cutting are representatives of the Waukon store, along with some of their family members, as well as representatives of the Fareway Meat & Grocery management and corporate structure. The Waukon Fareway location opened June 14, 2006 and the store remained opened throughout the entire remodeling process.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, October 15 to discuss a full agenda of items including the Urban Chicken Ordinance, the 2019 Department of Transportation (DOT) Street Project and an update on the Green Valley Bridge project. Mayor Pat Stone called the meeting to order with approval of the current agenda with the addition of three items.

There was no Public Comment and the council moved into Departmental Reports. Street Superintendent Keith Burrett discussed a letter from St. Patrick’s Catholic Church concerning the curb on the east side of the church which is in need of repair. Burrett recommended that this future project would best be accomplished in the summer, outside of the school year. Burrett indicated that a storm sewer collapse in the northeast part of town will involve some exploratory digging this week to determine necessary repairs.

There was a lot of activity at the corner of Second Street and First Avenue NW in Waukon this past week. In addition to the City of Waukon street improvement project along First Avenue NW, the former Northeast Auto Body building was also torn down to make way for a new drive-up ATM to be installed and operated by Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank. The bank purchased the property earlier this year from previous owner Jamie Dougherty once he made plans to move his business to Ninth Street SW in Waukon, with the bank now planning for a drive-up 24-hour ATM. Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank Chief Operating Officer and Cashier Nancy Schoh stated, “We love seeing customers inside our branch, but understand how convenient it is to stay in your car. We hope to have the new ATM operational later this year. It is one more way we are making it easier to bank with us.” Standard photos by Joe Moses.

Waukon Shopko employee Mary Monroe was honored Wednesday, October 10 for 50 years of employment at a celebration held at the Waukon Shopko location. She is pictured in the center of the above photo with Shopko Chief Executive Officer Russ Steinhorst (left) and Chief Operations Officer Jim DePaul (right), who both traveled from Shopko headquarters in Green Bay, WI to attend the event.