Community News

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Tuesday, July 5 due to the Fourth of July holiday falling on the Council's usual Monday meeting day. The Council discussed a full agenda of items including soil stockpiled on the Westwood Apartments property, the proposed ATV/Golf Cart Ordinance and the Country Side Estates sanitary sewer.

The public hearing for the 2016 PCC Street Repairs project was opened and closed without any objections or comments to start the meeting business. That project entails concrete replacement work at 11 different locations on City streets. The 2016 PCC Street Repairs project plans were confirmed and approved by the Council later in the meeting. Concrete Foundations, Inc. of New Hampton was awarded the contract for this project.

Mosaic in Northern Iowa will be introducing a service locally that it has successfully offered all across Mosaic for more than 20 years - host home services. An informational forum on the newly-titled "Mosaic at Home" host home program is scheduled to be held Tuesday, July 26 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank Community Room located at 201 West Main Street in Waukon. The forum is open to the general public to learn more about the "Mosaic at Home" program.

The "Mosaic at Home" service model works to build lasting relationships between people with intellectual disabilities and their service provider, who is an independent contractor/host home provider aligned with Mosaic. Living in a shared residence, the independent contractor provides services designed around the needs of the individual, fully integrating them into the life of the household and the greater community.

by Brianne Eilers

The month of May ended on a dismal note financially for Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon with a loss of $166,070 for the month, making for a loss of $163,312 year-to-date for the facility. Acute patient days were down 15.4% and surgeries were down 11.6% for the month of May, while skilled days were up 2.9% and deliveries were up 5.6%. Outpatient MRI was up 20.7% and outpatient lab was up 14.3%, with the other outpatient volume areas also seeing increases. Emergency room visits were also up 4.1%, and total expenses are within 0.1% of what was budgeted.

VMH Administrator Mike Myers noted that June has been a strong month, and that VMH has begun the process of an 11-month audit to see where VMH is at. Myers also said that after a rough start to the 2015-2016 fiscal year, VMH has managed to bounce back.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met for a special session Monday, June 27 to discuss several items including the proposed City Manager position, Street Department applications and a resolution for salaried and non-union wages and vacation. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Duane DeWalle, with Council members Dwight Jones and Steve Wiedner not present for the special session.

The first agenda item for discussion involved the Lyle Dee subdivision plat. Dee is requesting that his house be separated from the surrounding farmland. The motion was approved.

Well-known polka music entertainer "Mollie B" made an appearance at the Good Samaritan Society-Waukon with the Skyline Polka dancers in May, and it proved to be an enjoyable experience for the residents and other area fans of Mollie B, including resident Betty Christensen, who is pictured above in the inset photo with Mollie B. Good Samaritan Society-Waukon is happy to report that Mollie B is scheduled to return for another performance next year, May 18, 2017, and invites everyone to mark that date on their calendar.

Waukon Trees Forever was one of the 2016 Partner Award winners honored at Trees Forever’s Annual Celebration and Awards Dinner at The Hotel at Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids Thursday, June 16. Trees Forever Program Manager Meredith Borchardt nominated the local group because of its long-term commitment to actively planting and caring for the trees in the Waukon community. “Some of its members have been involved for more than 20 years, and as a group, they have annually added trees to the community,” Borchardt said. Pictured above, left to right, are Tracy Peterson, Trees Forever’s Chair of the Board of Directors; Shannon Ramsay, Trees Forever’s CEO and Founding President; and Meredith Borchardt, Trees Forever Program Manager accepting the award on behalf of Waukon Trees Forever.

TASC, Inc. of Waukon underwent a voluntary survey of its program in April of this year through the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). The facility was recently notified that based on its recent survey, a three-year accreditation - through June 30, 2019 - has been awarded to the following services provided by TASC:

• Community Employment Services: Employment Supports
• Community Employment Services: Job Development
• Community Housing
• Community Integration
• Organizational Employment Services
• Supported Living.

"This award and level of achievement would not be possible without the dedicated staff members TASC employs," shared Mary Ament, Executive Director at TASC, Inc. "The staff members are committed to positive outcomes and demonstrate compassion and commitment to providing high-quality services in a person-first environment."

The Fourth of July is best known for celebrations with family and friends, enjoying the summer weather with food and drinks. Those celebrations often include drinking alcohol, which can lead to impaired driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 164 people were killed  in motor vehicle crashes involving at least one driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher over the three-day Fourth of July holiday in 2014. In reality, 40 percent of the total fatalities were more than likely preventable.

The rate of alcohol impairment for drivers involved in fatal crashes was over three times higher at night than during the day. To date, there have been 154 fatalities on Iowa roadways this year, up 31, or 25% more than this time last year.

Fresh herbs can make favorite summer foods taste even better, and they are good for a person's health. Herbs can add flavor so that cooks can use less sodium or sugar in foods and still enjoy salty, sweet and savory tastes. Some studies have even shown that certain herbs or spices can reduce inflammation in the body or lower the risks of chronic disease.

Planting herbs in containers will provide a variety of fresh flavors - for little money - throughout the entire summer. Most herbs are perfect container plants and will thrive on a deck, patio, balcony, fire escape, front steps, or in a sunny window provided they are offered the right growing conditions.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in a pair of sessions this past week. Coverage of both the Council's Tuesday, June 14 work session and Monday, June 20 regular session appears below.

WORK SESSION
The Waukon City Council met for a work session Tuesday evening, June 14 to discuss two ongoing issues, the City’s Street Program and the proposal of a City Manager position. Mayor Duane DeWalle spoke of the importance of traffic counts and how that information will better allow the City Council to prioritize necessary street projects. City Street Superintendent Keith Burrett and Council members discussed some inconsistencies between the designated truck route through Waukon and what GPS systems are showing as truck routes. Councilman Steve Wiedner suggested that the Street Department should keep moving forward with small projects and continuing progress while planning continues.