Community News

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, June 1 to address a variety of matters including an audio/visual technology upgrade for the City Council Chambers, the purchase of Police Department vehicle radios and the option of utility and other payments by residents to the City being made by credit card.

During Public Comment, Allamakee County Fair Board member Tyler Plein requested feedback from Mayor Pat Stone and the Waukon City Council relating to their opinions of having the Allamakee County Fair this summer with COVID-19 precautions as a consideration. The mayor and council were supportive of having the event. Plein further discussed that grandstand events could be allowed at 50% capacity, food stands would not be part of the event to help promote social distancing, children would be allowed to show animals and sanitizing would occur regularly.

The Boy Scouts Northeast Iowa Council has announced the launch of the free Scout Me In Challenge! The challenge became available starting Monday, June 1 for all youth and is accessed at: https://mailchi.mp/scouting/smichallenge.

The Scout Me In Challenge has activities for June, July and August. As families continue spending time together during the global pandemic, the challenge puts a fresh perspective on many of the projects families are currently doing together, as well as exposes them to new activities. The challenge takes the core of Cub Scouting, such as citizenship, personal fitness, character and leadership, and breaks it into bite-sized pieces that can be done as a family.

Allamakee County experienced another week of a fairly low single-digit number of confirmed positive test results for COVID-19, as four cases were confirmed this past week to push the county’s total to 118 positive cases. With more days without any cases than days with confirmed cases reported for the second consecutive week, those four cases came in a week where more than 70 tests for the infection were conducted.

Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) is committed to decreasing food insecurity and supporting community members across its seven-county service area to stay home and stay healthy during the COVID-19 Outbreak. NEICAC also understands the imperative role food pantries are playing in meeting hunger needs during this current pandemic.

In an effort to further facilitate the connection between those two aspects, NEICAC is partnering with area food pantries in offering its EARL Public Transit system to transport food and household necessities from food pantries, directly to the door of community members.

Clients are asked to contact their local food pantry to learn if they are participating, or reach out to the Family Service office in their area. The Family Service office in the Waukon area can be reached by calling 563-568-4224 and the Decorah office can be reached at 563-387-4958.

Mental Health Today/Matt Howe Tribute Endowment (MHT), in partnership with the Alice Hermeier Foundation Endowment, has announced plans to use its 2020 endowment disbursement to provide transportation for Allamakee County residents of all ages to and from wellness checks, mental health checks and mental health therapy appointments. Both endowments were created through and are held by the Allamakee County Community Foundation (ACCF), an affiliate of the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque.

“The Allamakee County Community Foundation has made the brain health of our region a priority for our research and grantmaking. We are proud to support funds like MHT and the Alice Hermeier Foundation, which are making an impact for residents who need it most,” said Betty Steege, ACCF Coordinator.

Rides will be provided at no cost by Northeast Iowa Community Action EARL transit services. Appointments can be within Allamakee County or outside its borders.

The City of Waukon has announced that its Spring Clean-Up has now been scheduled for Saturday, June 20. Watch for additional information to be published in The Standard and Northeast Iowa Extra publications in the near future.
 

Under the most recent proclamation by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, garage sales may now be conducted. The events had been considered temporary retail establishments, which were closed down by an earlier proclamation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City of Waukon urges patrons to follow as much social distancing (a distance of at least six feet from other patrons) as possible and wear masks, if able. Although it may make things difficult in some situations, those hosting garage sales need to limit the number of patrons in attendance to 10 individuals.
 

This Friday is final day to submit Absentee Ballot Request Form

Allamakee County Auditor Denise Beyer wants to remind Allamakee County voters that there will only be three polling sites open for the June 2 Primary Election Day and continues to encourage everyone who wishes to vote in that Primary election to vote by mail. The Notice of Election and sample ballots for the election are printed in the Public Notice section of the May 20, 2020 edition of The Standard newspaper (Page 8A) for voting locations and other information.

Those who have not yet requested an Absentee Ballot are urged to visit www.allamakee.us/auditor2 or call the Auditor’s office at 563-568-3522 to obtain a request form. The deadline to submit an Absentee Ballot Request to the Auditor’s office for the June 2 Primary is this Friday, May 22 at 5 p.m.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, May 18 via Zoom web-conference to address a variety of matters including a property acquisition, discussion of closing the City Swimming Pool for the summer season and the City’s response to COVID-19 relating to City Hall and City Council meetings.

Under Department Reports, Park and Rec Wellness Director Jeremy Strub advised that the Park and Rec Wellness Board will be meeting later this week to discuss the reopening of the Wellness Center with Tuesday, May 26 being a possible reopening date. Strub reported that Park and Recreation softball and baseball are still scheduled to take place at this time but possibly having shortened seasons. Strub briefly mentioned that Music in the Park is still a possibility for mid-June or July this summer if COVID-19 related guidance from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds changes to allow larger public gatherings.

The Corner of Hope Growing Hope Globally local growing project held its annual Blessing of the Seed and Soil Saturday morning, May 9 to kick off this year’s growing season. The event was held at the field being contributed to the project by Gordon and Louise Ellingson of Waukon located northwest of Waukon, and Pastor Bryan Robertson from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon performed the blessing. Submitted photo.