Community News

The St. Pat’s RoboCats robotics team from St. Patrick School in Waukon has qualified for the virtual FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League Challenge State Championship to be hosted by the College of Engineering at Iowa State University. Under the guidance of St. Patrick School fourth grade teacher Loretta Schafer, the RoboCats will be one of 31 teams from across the state of Iowa competing in this virtual event being held this Saturday, March 27, with the RoboCats team scheduled for an 11:30 a.m. competition time with Judge 4, according to Schafer. FIRST® Lego League officials say only about 25% of teams from across the state get the opportunity to compete in the State competition.

Members of the philanthropic educational organization P.E.O. honored one of their fellow members Saturday, March 20. The group celebrated Mona Campbell of Waukon (pictured in back row, third from left), who observed her 70th year of membership in P.E.O. Members surprised her with a card shower and a visit. Submitted photo.
 

As part of its Religion education “Loved Ones in Heaven” unit in early March, the first grade class of Ms. Thea Meyer at St. Patrick School in Waukon has been incorporating discussion about family members, friends or even their pets in Heaven following their passing. Students were asked to suggest ways that they feel would help them get to Heaven, and they also created a project that listed lost loved ones in a rainbow they colored as it arched over an image of Jesus (group photo at right), with students and staff in the class each sharing their own story of a loved one lost.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in a special session Thursday, March 11 for discussion with the Allamakee County Fair Board relating to a proposed property purchase and Monday, March 15 for a special closed session prior to its regular session that night. Coverage of both meeting dates is included below.

MARCH 11 SPECIAL SESSION
The council met Thursday, March 11 with members of the Allamakee County Fair Board including Treasurer Bobbi Baxter and Adam Bieber to discuss a potential transfer or sale of property to the Fair Board within the Allamakee County Fairgrounds. Bieber and Baxter said that the Fair Board is interested in constructing a new show barn at the Fairgrounds with property ownership being necessary for financing the project. Continued maintenance of other structures was also discussed.

The City of Waukon has filed a Municipal Infraction Civil Citation against Aveka Group, Inc., doing business as Aveka Nutra Processing in Waukon, for what is described in Allamakee County District Court documents as 58 violations of the municipal infraction of Noncompliance with Pretreatment Standard or Requirement by an Industrial User. The infraction citation stems from documented continual wastewater discharges from the Aveka facility in northern Waukon that have measured outside of the acceptable 5-10 pH range of acidity and alkalinity as established in the Wastewater Industrial User Agreement between the City of Waukon and Aveka Nutra Processing.

“Reading Colors Your World” is the theme of Robey Memorial Library’s 2021 Adult Reading Challenge, which continues through December 31 of this year. Robey Memorial Library challenges area individuals to read something new or different this year with the library offering an abundance of items.

Receive a prize drawing entry for reading from one of each of 12 categories: Based on a true story; Book set in one of 49 states (not Iowa); Book that teaches you something; Book with a blue cover; Graphic novel or Picture book; Hobby-themed; Humorous; Listen to an audiobook; Science; Short Story or Essay; Set in another country; and Suspense.

The Allamakee County Conservation Board (ACCB), in partnership with the Mississippi Valley Sportsman’s Club, will be offering two Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Hunters Education Online Field Day events Saturday, March 27 at the Mississippi Valley Sportsman’s Club. The first field day will be held from 8-11 a.m. and the second field day will take place from 1-4 p.m. The Mississippi Valley Sportsman’s Club is located at 1797 Columbus Road, Lansing.

Hunter Education is required for anyone 12 years of age or older in the state of Iowa to purchase a hunting license. In order to participate in the online field day students must complete the online course work at  https://www.hunter-ed.com/iowa/. Completion of the online portion is not needed to register for the class, but after completing the online portion the voucher must be printed and brought the day of the class.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in a delayed regular session Tuesday, March 2 following the postponement of its usual Monday, March 1 meeting due to a lack of a quorum of council members for the meeting.

The meeting began with Mayor Pat Stone discussing changes to the agenda including the removal of an item relating to a services contract and maintenance agreement with Wright Way Computer Services, which he indicated was not ready for approval. Stone added that Water and Sewer Superintendent Jim Cooper would be providing his Department Report later in the meeting instead of during the typical early-meeting timeframe for such reports.

Allamakee County Treasurer Lori Hesse would like to remind property owners the second installment of property taxes is due by Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Those payments may be made at the Allamakee County Treasurer’s office at 110 Allamakee Street in Waukon between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Taxpayers are reminded to bring their tax stubs with their payment to insure proper credit. To avoid penalty on the second installment, payment must be received in the Treasurer’s Office before Thursday, April 1, 2021. Due to social distancing requirements, only two customers will be allowed in the office at one time.

E-check and credit card payments are also accepted online at www.iowatreasurers.org. Anyone paying by E-check will need their receipt number. That receipt number can be found on their tax statement.

by Brianne Eilers

Progress on the clinic remodeling project for Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) continues to move along. VMH Administrator Michael Coyle noted that the project is “on time and on budget.”

The anticipated completion date is April 16 of this year and Coyle noted that they are hoping to start seeing patients in the clinic around the first part of May. Susan McMillan, NP and Halie Ruff, NP will be the practitioners at the clinic.

Coyle is also anticipating that they can begin booking appointments sometime in April. He noted that the hospital will be getting more information to the public sometime in the beginning of April.