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by Lissa Blake

Spring Avenue in Waukon has been living up to its namesake recently as underground water has been bubbling to the surface in recent years that have featured heavy rainfall.

The area where the spring has been causing the most significant issue, within the initial block of First Avenue SW just off its intersection with Spring Avenue, has been cordoned off with barricades for the past couple weeks while City crews and other professionals have assessed the situation and worked on a solution to the problem.

According to City Engineer Lyle TeKippe of Fehr-Graham Engineering, West Union, the City has been struggling with the spot in question since the floods of 2013 that ravaged the downtown Waukon area.

“There’s obviously a spring that runs under the road there. The spring has always been there, but the drainage route that kept that spring from surfacing changed in 2013,” said TeKippe.

Area event Sunday honors selection for Lifetime Achievement

For the past 21 years, the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association has recognized Iowa artists’ significant contributions to the legacy of rock music in Iowa with induction into the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Since incorporation, over 320 entities have had the honor of being inducted. Categories range from Bands to Individual Artists to DJs and Media Representatives to Venues to Lifetime Achievement.

The 2018 inductees for the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame will include 31 new additions at the annual induction ceremony to be held September 1-2 of this year at Arnolds Park. Among those honorees will be former KNEI Radio owner and long-time music promoter Dave Hogendorn, formerly of Waukon and now residing in Solon.

by Lissa Blake

“Do to people downstream as you would have people upstream do unto you.”

That Wendell Berry quote was part of a special presentation on floodplain management last week by Dr. Kamyar Enshayan of the Center for Energy and Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa. Enshayan spoke to around 75 people at Luther College in Decorah Wednesday, June 27 on the topic of “Addressing Floods of the Future.”

A member of the Cedar Falls City Council for eight years, Enshayan has taken the lessons his town learned during the flood of 2008 to try to effect change regarding flood management.

“After the flood of 2008, I called for a moratorium of building things in the flood plain. A few weeks after, where there had been 12 feet of water, the council allowed a guy to fill that spot and build a house,” said Enshayan.

The caption for the front page photo in last week’s (June 27, 2018) edition of The Standard regarding the City of Waukon yard waste disposal site indicated incorrect hours of operation for the disposal site.

Despite the limited open hours information printed in last week’s caption being posted on a sign on one of the gate entrances to the site location and the same limited open hours information being posted on the City of Waukon website, Waukon Street Superintendent Keith

Burrett wants it clarified that the yard waste disposal site is open to City of Waukon residents 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A reminder, however, that the disposal site is also under full-time camera surveillance.
 

A new sign (left) warning of around the clock camera surveillance at the City of Waukon yard waste disposal site on the northeast edge of Waukon near the Allamakee County Fairgrounds will help to further enforce the advisement of the older larger sign also pictured above as to what can and can’t be disposed of at the site. Although item disposal do’s and don’ts have been clearly spelled out on the larger signs for years, continued findings of unacceptable and even hazardous items at the disposal site have prompted City officials to place surveillance cameras at the site in an effort to help enforce infractions and other misuse of the site.

Waukon Economic Development and the Waukon Chamber of Commerce have announced that the Red Rock Threshers Tractor Club has chosen Waukon as the home to base its annual tractor ride for 2018, scheduled for July 20-21. The hospitality displayed in the past to other tractor rides and the scenic area of Allamakee County all played a part in being chosen for their ride this year, according to event organizers.

The Red Rock Threshers Tractor Club is a club made up of members from several towns in central Iowa around the Lake Red Rock area, and the group is based out of Pella. They are an active club that was started back in the 1970s by hosting a local antique tractor pull in Pella, for which they built their very own tractor pulling sled that is still being used today.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, June 25 to address a full agenda of items including the consideration of an IT equipment purchase for the Allamakee County Public Safety Center, consideration of a 28E agreement for emergency law enforcement services with Effigy Mounds  National Monument and consideration of joining the Opioid Litigation Group. There were no members of the public present and no Public Comment.

Waukon Economic Development has announced that Senator Chuck Grassley will be visiting Waukon Tuesday, July 3 from 1-2 p.m. Senator Grassley will first take a 20-minute tour of the WW Homestead Dairy processing plant and ice cream parlor before being available to the public at that same facility for a 40-minute question and answer session.

For additional information about Senator Grassley’s visit, contact Ardie Kuhse, Director of Waukon Economic Development at 563-568-2624.
 

Allamakee County Economic Development & Tourism is partnering with Iowa Workforce Development and Iowa Economic Development Authority to complete a Laborshed employment study for the Waukon area. This study will geographically define which communities contribute to Waukon’s workforce, regardless of political boundaries. This defined area is called a Laborshed area and is based upon commuting patterns.

For the success of this study, letters will be sent to employers in Waukon asking that they provide aggregate counts of their employees’ residential ZIP codes. This will allow determination of the scope and scale of Waukon’s Laborshed area and better understanding of where Waukon’s workforce resides.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District has closed Blackhawk Park near De Soto, WI temporarily due to rising river levels. The Corps has also closed three other Mississippi River landings due to the high river stages from recent heavy rains, including Bad Axe and Jay’s landings in Wisconsin and Millstone Landing in Minnesota.

Those who have upcoming reservations at Blackhawk Park may contact park staff at 608-648-3314, or they may be contacted by park staff as those reservation dates approach. The Corps will re-open the park and landings as conditions allow.