What’s starting like this (two images above)... will end like this (image below) ... Excavating work being done just north of the Waukon City Park to the east of 2nd Street SW is the initial phase of a Storm Water Quality Improvements project being undertaken by the City of Waukon and utilizing more than a million dollars of funding available through the State of Iowa. The engineering diagram below shows the aerial blueprint of a wetlands area that is part of that Storm Water Quality Improvements project and is designed to improve flooding issues that have plagued the Waukon City Park during heavy rain scenarios while also being able to take advantage of State funding geared toward water quality improvement within and downstream from the Waukon City Park. Water will flow into the wetlands area from the north (top of the diagram below and viewing perspective in the top photo above), being retained in the larger basin at the top of the diagram (the initial darker, wet-looking area just beyond the gravel pile in the top photo and the darker near-rectangle near the top of the diagram below) to allow storm run-off sediment to filter out of the water before it is slowly released into the “S” curves of the wetland area and eventually into the City Park at a much slower rate than previously experienced during stormy weather. The “S”-shaped areas evident in the aerial diagram below can be made out in the photo directly above as the raised dirt areas that appear to be surrounded by the wet areas evident in that photo directly above. Those raised areas will be used for maintaining the area and can also be utilized as walking paths by the general public once they have their native vegetation established. Submitted photos.
Submitted graphic.
City taking advantage of State funding to address flash flooding, storm run-off issues
by Joe Moses
Waukon City Manager Gary Boden and Engineer Paige Pierce of Fehr Graham Engineering provided a recent update relating to several components of the Storm Water Quality Improvement Project currently taking place near the Pladsen Subdivision and within and near the Waukon City Park. The current project most evident just north of the City Park along 2nd Street SW is the excavation taking place to create a wetland area to assist with storm run-off while being able to address water quality downstream.
Dr. Tom Oelberg, member of the 1975 graduating class of Waukon Senior High School, recently received Diamond V’s Innovation Award for his work in developing the TMR (total mixed ration) Audit®. A total mixed ration involves all of the feed ingredients fed to cattle being mixed together in a mixer wagon - sort of like mixing peas, mashed potatoes and hamburger all together so that they can all three be eaten in the same bite, Oelberg describes. Diamond V manufactures natural immune-support postbiotic feed additives to support improved animal health, animal performance, and pre-harvest food safety worldwide.
Friday, July 22 at 8:56 p.m., the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a two-vehicle accident on Rossville Road approximately one-half mile south of Waukon, just south of the entrance driveway to the Village Farm & Home.
A motorcycle driven by Matthew Joseph Sweeney, age 41 of Waukon, was traveling northbound toward Waukon on Rossville Road/State Highways 9 and 76 and struck the rear end of a passenger car that was also traveling northbound. Sweeney was thrown from the motorcycle by the impact, and he was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of injuries he suffered in the accident. The driver of the passenger car that was struck in the accident was uninjured.
A service notice for Matthew Joseph Sweeney can be found on Page 28 in the July 27, 2022 e-edition and print edition of The Standard.
Official route map for RAGBRAI XLIX in Allamakee County ... The map image at right above shows the official routes (described at left in the image and in the accompanying article as well) for both bicyclists (light blue lines) and support vehicles (yellow lines) as RAGBRAI XLIX will be making its way through Allamakee County during its final day of the event Saturday, July 30. Area residents and others who may be traveling these routes are advised that they may experience some higher traffic congestion along those roadways that Saturday between the official ride times of 6 a.m.-4 p.m., and all are advised to be patient and to travel safely when encountering the RAGBRAI traffic. Submitted image.
by Corey Snitker, Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator
As most residents of Allamakee County know, the Des Moines Register’s 2022 RAGBRAI XLIX bike ride is coming to the county Saturday, July 30. As one can imagine, with some 10,000-plus bike riders coming to the county along with the support vehicles that follow along, there will be some travel and safety impacts on the roads they will be using and within the towns they will be passing through.
Therefore, I wanted to address the routes the bikes and support vehicles will be using while in Allamakee County as they leave West Union to travel to Lansing, including passing through Postville and Waukon.
At its regular meeting Monday, July 18, the Lansing City Council discussed an upcoming grant opportunity for a fiber optic build-out in the city. Rachelle Howe, executive director of Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC), will speak to the council at its next regular meeting Monday, August 1, along with Brenda Hackman and Hollee McCormick, representatives from Allamakee Clayton Electric Cooperative, about the grant opportunity.
“Fiber to small communities unleashes a host of great advantages,” Howe said in an email after the meeting. “The economic benefits of fiber for business sustainability and growth will entice residents to relocate to our region and will be beneficial for years to come.”
The De Soto Public Library will present “Be a Bookaneer! A Library Adventure Series” at Prairie View Elementary School in De Soto, WI Monday, August 1 at 10 a.m. Everyone is invited. Admission is free.
“Be a Bookaneer! A Library Adventure Series” is a live comedy and magic show appropriate for all ages and features Capt. KID – Toby KID Klauenberg, a Master Clown whose career spans 30-plus years. Attendees can earn their official Library Pirate names, while Capt. KID encourages them to plunder their library’s treasure chest of riches.
The Iowa Department of Education, Bureau of Nutrition and Health Services, has finalized its policy for free and reduced price meals for children unable to pay the full price of meals served under the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program and the Afterschool Care Snack Program.
For determining eligibility for the programs, State and Local school officials have adopted the family size and income criteria listed in the chart accompanying this article at right. Households may be eligible for free or reduced-price meal benefits one of four ways:
All members of the Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) Board of Directors were present for the monthly board meeting held at Kee High School in Lansing Monday, July 18. Those present included Board President Bobbie Goetzinger and members Tony Becker, Melanie Mauss, Kelli Mudderman and Arla Wagner.
Also present were EACSD Superintendent Dr. Dale Crozier, Kee High School and Middle School Principal Dr. Sarah Updegraff-Murray, New Albin Elementary Principal Donna Thomas and Board Secretary Michele Martin. Lansing/New Albin Police Chief Conrad Rosendahl was a visitor.
Waukon football senior linebacker Lincoln Snitker (at left in photo above) and Kee football senior Alex Goetzinger (photo below) were two of the nearly 50 Iowa high school graduated seniors who played for the North Squad in the 2022 Iowa Shrine Bowl All-Star football game played Saturday, July 23 in the UNI-Dome at Cedar Falls. Although no official statistics were reported, both were in on several tackles in helping their North Squad defeat the South Squad by a 24-17 final result, with Waukon football head coach Chad Beermann serving as an assistant coach for the North Squad as well. Both players will continue their football careers at the collegiate level this fall, Snitker at Winona State University and Goetzinger at Wartburg College. Submitted photos.
Kee baseball senior Tyson Cota has been chosen to play in the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA) Senior All-Star Series scheduled for this weekend, Friday, July 29-Sunday, July 31, in Mason City. Cota is one of three outfielders selected to play for the Small Schools East squad in the contest, joining Austin Hilmer of North Linn and Tanner Simon of Cascade in that team’s outfield trio.
