2012 Year in Review Part II: July-December

The items below summarize the top news stories that appeared in The Standard during the last six months of 2012.

July
The National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) based in Easton, PA announced that Kee High School baseball coach Gene Schultz is among the organization’s selections as National High School Coaches of the Year for 2012.
This year marks the 13th year the NHSCA has honored these achievers in high school coaching on a nationwide basis. This year’s recipients, selected in a total of 20 boys and girls sports, are from 19 different states.

Probably every cliché ever written about communication problems applies to the Black Hawk Bridge Beautification Project in Lansing, which has been ongoing now since 2009 and has come to a nearly complete standstill at the present time.
A series of unusual incidents occurred that have contributed to the confusion. The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) thought Visioning Group member Marty Brennan was on the Lansing City Council and was speaking for the Council; a copy of an artist’s drawing was erroneously and mysteriously attached to a copy of a grant application; the Lansing Visioning Group changed its name to the Allamakee County Visioning Group; and the 2010 Allamakee County Community Foundation (ACCF) grant application did not include a Fiscal Sponsorship Form - just to name a few. Not that any of these occurrences were of any major concern, but they did add a certain amount of drama and confusion to an already tangled situation.

Lansing Mayor Don Peters unexpectedly resigned, sending a brief letter of resignation to the City Clerk stating simply that his resignation would be effective June 26 at midnight. Peters did not offer an explanation for his resignation in the letter.

During its regular meeting Monday, July 9, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with Central Point of Coordination Director Jan Heikes for continued discussion of upcoming changes to Iowa’s mental health and developmental disabilities services. Heikes explained that under the new system, the regions that counties are expected to form on their own initiative must be geographically connected (contiguous) and must be able to provide services required under the new state law.
The counties considering forming the northeast Iowa region, Heikes said, include Winneshiek, Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Delaware and Buchanan. Heikes said that Howard County intends to join with Black Hawk County, part of the “Bob Lincoln Group” that currently includes 18 counties.

The Waukon softball team had the postseason red carpet rolled out for them all the way to Fort Dodge and the Class 3A State Tournament. Defying the odds and maneuvering around whatever obstacles lay in their path, the softball Indians strung together three regional tournament victories to make their first trip back to the Iowa high school softball season finale since 1996.
The Indians pulled off their biggest upset of the season in defeating 15th-rated Crestwood in their regional tournament opener, 6-0, Tuesday, July 3 before battling back from an early deficit to beat Osage, 6-5, Friday, July 6. The Indians then punched their ticket to Fort Dodge and this year’s broader, five-class State Tournament field with a 5-3 victory in eight innings Monday, July 9 over a Dyersville-Beckman team that had upset sixth-rated Monticello in regional semifinal play in an 11-inning marathon.

For almost 100 years, the historic wooden structure on the Mahr farm on Washington Road in rural Dorchester has housed countless livestock and bales of hay and straw.
But the storm that hit northeast Iowa Wednesday, July 18 that downed trees, flattened crops and caused severe weather emergency sirens to sound in area communities was also just too much for that historic structure to bear.
The barn, built in 1913, fell to straight-line winds last Wednesday, trapping 22 head of five- to eight-month-old dairy calves within its crumbled walls.

A large collection of area residents and families gathered at the Waukon City Park Saturday, July 28 to honor area veterans who served during the Korean War. The Korean War Veterans Armistice Day celebration was held at the Sweeney Shelter in the park.
Plaques of appreciation were presented to more than 160 area veterans who served in the military during the Korean War or their families in attendance, with special recognition given to veterans Roy M. Vickery, who was killed in action; Donald T. Baxter, who was killed in action as a prisoner of war; and Dale L. Reeder and John E. Ryan, who were both prisoners of war during that conflict.

August
The National Weather Service and the U.S. Drought Monitor have announced that the present drought being experienced by almost 60 percent of the United States is now worse than the drought of 1988 and is being compared to the drought of 1956 and even the droughts of the Dust Bowl era in the 1930s. Huge swaths of the Southern to Central Rockies, the Central Plains states and the Ohio Valley are, as declared by the National Climate Data, experiencing moderate to extreme drought.
This year’s drought, especially in Iowa and Allamakee County, started last year. Normally, fall rains replenish soil moisture,  but last fall was the driest reported in 35 years. This past June was the third driest month in 118 years, according to records. The forecast is dry and predicts high temperatures much above normal to last at least through the month of October.

The Allamakee County Conservation Board (ACCB) was notified Thursday, August 2 it had been awarded a National Scenic Byway Grant in the amount of $1,361,400 for the development of the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center being planned at the Columbus property south of Lansing.

Postville’s FreedomBank was  the victim of a bank robbery Friday, August 17 minutes after the bank opened for business. According to a report from the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office, the robbery took place at 8:27 a.m. when a male individual entered the bank and demanded cash.
A male individual, wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses, entered the back door of the bank from the alley, approached a teller and forced her to the ground while taking an undisclosed amount of cash.
The suspect  then fled out the back door, running eastbound in the alley. A photograph of the suspect was caught on the bank’s surveillance camera.
There was no weapon displayed and no one was injured during the incident.

September
The Allamakee County Sheriff’s Department and the Veterans Memorial Hospital Ambulance from Waukon responded to a report just after 10 a.m. Thursday, September 20 of a farming accident at 1058 Chestnut Road, rural Waterville. The Sheriff’s Department reported that Neil Bresnahan, age 71, was killed when a corn chopper head he was working on fell on top of him.

The Waukon Police Department is investigating a burglary at Krambeer Barber and Styling on West Main Street in Waukon that took place between September 5 and September 8. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken.

The fifth annual Big Pumpkin Contest was held Sunday, September 30 under near-perfect weather conditions at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon. The biggest pumpkin weighed in at the contest topped the scales at 415 pounds, and was turned in by TASC, Inc. of Waukon.

Jacob Beneke, formerly of New Albin, was among six people killed Thursday, September 27 in a workplace shooting that took place at a Minneapolis, MN sign company. Reports from the incident indicate an employee of Accent Signage Systems responded to being fired that same day by shooting the business owner, several other employees (including Beneke) and a UPS driver before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life.

October
During its regular meeting Monday, October 1, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with Mark Sylla and Rick Frick, representing Minnesota Mining Company, regarding plans for a sand mining operation in Allamakee County, five miles southwest of New Albin. Sylla said that the mine is in the early stages of planning and that public input on environmental and safety concerns would be welcomed.
Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake said that the first official public hearing on the plan has been scheduled before the Allamakee County Board of Adjustment Wednesday, October 24. Blake explained that the mining operation would need to obtain a conditional use permit and that the Board of Adjustment would make the final decision on the issuance of that permit after doing its “due diligence” in considering traffic, safety, ascetic and environmental impacts of the operation. He said that he anticipated that the October 24 hearing would likely be limited to “fact finding” and said it would be unlikely that the Board would issue a permit during that initial hearing.
Blake added that the mining company is welcome to set up a public informational meeting on its own, suggesting that the New Albin Community Center might be an appropriate venue. Sylla said that he would look into arranging such a meeting prior to the October 24 hearing before the Board of Adjustment. Frick and Sylla said that they are willing to work with the County and its residents to ensure that all concerns about the operations are properly addressed.
The Board room was filled with members of the public who had concerns about the mining operation, among them Ric Zarwell of Lansing, who said that several Wisconsin counties have been dealing recently with sand mining operations. Zarwell said that as many as two dozen Wisconsin townships have issued moratoriums on sand mining to “avoid long-term serious damage” from the mining operations themselves and from the heavy truck traffic to and from the mines. He advised the Board to “exercise real serious caution” before permitting such a mine in the county.

During public comment time at the regular meeting of the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors Monday, October 15, former Allamakee County Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman John Smola warned the Board that silica sand mining operations could have significant impacts both in Allamakee County and across the state. Smola said that the proposed silica sand mining operation southwest of New Albin would expose the Jordan Aquifer to potential contamination, which could affect approximately one million Iowans who get their drinking water from the aquifer.
“Allamakee County has not been faced with a more serious problem in many years,” Smola said. He suggested that the Board consider implementing a moratorium on such mining operations to give the County time to develop appropriate regulations.
Zoning Administrator Tom Blake said that the Board of Adjustment would first consider the conditional use permit application for the proposed mining operation next Wednesday, October 24. He said that if the applicant can show that it has met the standards set forth in the zoning ordinance, the Board of Adjustment must approve the application; if the Board finds that any one of the seven standards set forth in the zoning ordinance have not been met, the Board must deny the application.
Blake said that the goal of the Board of Adjustment would be to gather as much information as it needs to make that determination and that he does not believe that task will be accomplished at the hearing scheduled for October 24. He said that the Board of Supervisors does have the authority to implement a moratorium as Smola suggested, and that such a moratorium would prevent the Board of Adjustment from approving conditional use permit applications for silica sand mining, even if the applications were submitted prior to the enactment of the moratorium.

Approximately 150 area residents gathered at the New Albin Community Sunday, October 14 for an educational meeting regarding silica sand mining and the frac mining process for oil and natural gas in which the sand is used.
Meeting organizer Ric Zarwell of Lansing said that the county had been caught by surprise by the proposed sand mine southwest of New Albin in an area known locally as Sand Cove. He said that the mining company is attempting to fast-track the process to get the mine approved. Zarwell claimed that hedge fund investors on Wall Street and “big oil” are behind the proposed mine. He said that the proposed mine is a community issue, not a political issue and that the choice the community has to make is between “neighbors and invaders.”

The Minnesota Sand Company, LLC hosted an informational meeting Tuesday, October 16 at the New Albin Community Center regarding the company’s proposed sand mining operations in Allamakee County. Geoff Griffin, a civil engineer contracted by Minnesota Sand as the project engineer, said that he has been investigating the feasibility of three potential mine sites in Allamakee County, including the 11-acre parcel five miles southwest of New Albin owned by Dave Mitchell, known locally as Sand Cove.
Griffin said that the mining project on the Mitchell property is still in the planning stages and that after meeting with Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour, Minnesota Sand had withdrawn its conditional use permit application for the mine in order to allow time to work with the County Engineer on potential truck routes and necessary road improvements. The permit application was consequently removed from the October 24 meeting agenda of the Allamakee County Board of Adjustment.

Area residents filled the Board of Supervisors room at the Allamakee County Courthouse Monday, October 29 to support a moratorium on frac sand mining in the county. Representing a group called the Allamakee County Protectors, attorney Karl Knudson of Decorah said the project engineer for the proposed frac sand mine operation southwest of New Albin made it clear that frac mining for oil and natural gas has resulted in a large market for frac sand.
Knudson said that problems created by frac sand mine operations in other areas have made it clear that current regulations are inadequate to address issues specific to frac sand mining and that the Allamakee County Protectors would like to see a one-year moratorium enacted in order to allow time to review the issue and make necessary adjustments to Allamakee County’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance.
Knudson said that he had reviewed the County’s Comprehensive Plan and found while mining of St. Peter sandstone is mentioned, there is no mention of mining sand from the Jordan layer, which is what has been proposed. He said that the Jordan layer is an important aquifer with surface exposures in northeast Iowa. Knudson said that the Comprehensive Plan should be modified to recognize the importance of the Jordan Aquifer and the importance of protecting the blufflands for their scenic value, as the landscape could be “devastated” by such mining operations, affecting tourism.
The County’s Zoning Ordinance, Knudson noted, currently does not include a bonding requirement for mining operations, which leaves open the option for a mining company to simply declare bankruptcy after mining operations are complete, rather than incur the expense of reclaiming the land.
Knudson assured the Board that imposition of a moratorium would be legal, as the Iowa Supreme has ruled that such moratoriums are a “legislative function” and not subject to judicial review. He said that there is no set procedure for the imposition of a moratorium, but suggested that the “safe way to go” would be by amending the County’s Zoning Ordinance.
To begin that process, he presented the Board with a resolution to direct the Planning and Zoning Commission to call a special meeting to draft an ordinance to establish a one-year moratorium on the issuance of permits for extraction pit operations. Once the Planning and Zoning Commission drafts such an ordinance, it would then hold the required public hearings and then recommend its adoption to the Board of Supervisors, which would then hold its own public hearings before adopting the moratorium.

November
During its regular meeting Monday, November 5, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors continued its consideration of the imposition of a moratorium on frac sand mining in the county. Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Tom Blake told the Board that County Attorney Jill Kistler had reviewed the resolution submitted on behalf of the citizens group “Allamakee County Protectors” by Decorah attorney Karl Knudson.
Blake said that Kistler had made several modifications, basically eliminating reference to any specific finding by the Board of Supervisors that the County’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance are currently inadequate to address issues related to frac sand mining or that frac sand mining poses any risk to the health and safety of Allamakee County residents. The resolution, as modified by Kistler, acknowledges that there may be risk associated with frac sand mining and that the County’s current regulations may be inadequate to address the potential impacts of such mining, leaving it to the Planning and Zoning Commission to make those findings.
Additionally, the resolution submitted by Knudson specifically suggested a one-year moratorium on frac sand mining, while the modified resolution leaves the length of any proposed moratorium to the Planning and Zoning Commission to determine.
Blake said that if the Board were to adopt the resolution as presented, the Board could expect a reply from the Planning and Zoning Commission within two months. During that time, Blake said that the Commission would review Allamakee County’s Comprehensive Plan, as well as those of other counties and make a determination regarding the adequacy of Allamakee County’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance to properly regulate frac sand mining operations. Blake said that the Commission would then determine if a moratorium would be appropriate, and if so, draft an ordinance to that effect and schedule public hearings before making a formal recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, which would then hold its own public hearings before adopting the ordinance. Blake said that it would be “highly unlikely and nearly impossible” for any new conditional use permit applications for frac sand mining operations to reach the Board of Adjustment for consideration within that same time frame.
The Board voted unanimously to adopt and sign the resolution to direct the Planning and Zoning Commission to review issues related to frac sand mining operations and to afterwards issue a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors regarding the imposition of a moratorium and the proposed length of such a moratorium.

Although close in many regards, Allamakee County voters didn’t necessarily follow the trend of nationwide or statewide results all the way through the Tuesday, November 6 General Election. With 6,927 voters representing a 71.5% voter turn-out for this year’s election, that percentage was a bit higher than the previous presidential election participation of 70% from 2008’s day of choice but still lagged behind the 2004 General Election participation level of 77%, according to information from the Allamakee County Auditor’s Office.
Regardless of voter turn-out, Tuesday’s end results did not bode well for local incumbent candidates. Area residents elected new faces to the seats of Allamakee County Auditor and Allamakee County Supervisor, and this area’s representation in the Iowa House of Representatives will also come from a new face.
At the county level of Tuesday’s election results, voters chose Dennis Koenig of Postville, the Republican challenger for Allamakee County Supervisor, to replace incumbent Democrat Lennie Burke of Dorchester in a tight race, with Koenig garnering just over 51% of the final tally (3,459) and Burke managing 48% (3,245). Likewise, Republican candidate for Allamakee County Auditor Denise Beyer came out ahead in a three-person race with nearly 43% of the votes (2,881), topping Democratic candidate Janice Thorson’s 30% (2,072) and incumbent Pam Benjegerdes (nominated by petition) with 26% (1,757).
Running unopposed for the position of Allamakee County Sheriff, Republican Clark Mellick garnered 5,405 votes to replace retiring Sheriff Tim Heiderscheit.
Redistricting following the 2010 Census resulted in some familiar faces vying for new places. Tuesday’s results, however, did not necessarily let that happen in the local area.
Allamakee County voters supported Iowa House of Representatives incumbent Republican Bob Hager of Dorchester with 59% of the local vote (3,995) over Democrat challenger Patti Ruff of McGregor (40% with 2,758 votes) for State Representative for District 56. However, Ruff benefited from support in other areas of the new District, winning the overall race and the House seat by just over 300 votes (7,304 to 7,000).
Allamakee County voters also chose Republican newcomer Michael Breitbach of Strawberry Point as their Senator for the new District 28 with 51% of the vote (3,413) compared to the 48% (3,251) earned by Democrat John Beard of Decorah. With that race being even closer in the overall District 28 results, an immediate winner was not declared. But Breitbach has since been reported as the winner by a margin of just 43 votes (14,791 to 14,748).
Nationally, Allamakee County voters sided with other voters statewide and nationwide in choosing to re-elect Democratic incumbents Barack Obama and Joe Biden as President and Vice President of the United States, with Allamakee voters preferring the Democrats by a 51% (3,511 votes) to 47% (3,230) margin. Those percentages were somewhat in between the state of Iowa averages of 52% to 46% and the national support percentages of 50% for the Obama/Biden ticket and 48% for the Romney/Ryan challengers.
In District 1 of the U.S. House of Representatives, Allamakee County voters chose Democrat incumbent Bruce Braley over Republican challenger Ben Lange by a narrow margin of just 49% (3,241 votes) to 48% (3,189 votes), while district-wide Braley won the race by a comfortable margin of 57% to 42%.
In other local elections, voters in the town of Lansing chose Joe Strobel as their Mayor over Deb Volker by a 279-126 margin. A vacancy on the Lansing City Council also appeared on the ballot, but with no candidate declared on the ballot, Ross Kolsrud earned that seat with 37 write-in votes.

December
The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in its regular weekly session Monday morning, December 3, addressing a pair of issues that have been mainstays of discussion over the past several weeks. Allamakee County Attorney Jill Kistler was in attendance to offer insight from her research into gender balance and advertising requirements for appointments the Supervisors are required to make to various boards within County operations.
Kistler advised that boards "established by code" are mandated to have gender balance, and that appointing agencies are required make a "good faith effort" to meet that gender balance requirement when making those appointments. In question is what a "good faith effort" entails, especially in regard to making such board vacancies known to the public to draw applicants.
Kistler further advised that gender balance requirements only apply if there are qualified applicants whose appointment would satisfy that gender balance. Otherwise, appointments that wouldn't necessarily meet those gender balance requirements could be made following a "good faith effort" to meet those requirements, that "good faith effort" seemingly to be considered as posting/advertising those board openings for a 90-day period. Kistler said posting notices of the openings on the County's website or in public places should satisfy such "good faith efforts", although the Board recommended advertising several current and upcoming vacancies on various boards in the newspaper as well.
The entire matter evolved from appointment of Doug Mullen to the County's Planning & Zoning Commission earlier this year. In light of gender balance requirements, Mullen submitted a letter of resignation from the Commission if his appointment was found to be in violation of those requirements.
During its regular meeting Monday, December 10, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors accepted Doug Mullen’s resignation from the Allamakee County Planning and Zoning Commission. In his letter of resignation dated November 30, Mullen wrote, “After meeting with county attorney Jill Kistler, I am convinced that the Iowa code 69.16A Gender Balance law makes it impossible for me to be appointed to the Allamakee County Planning and Zoning Commission after the upcoming 90 day public notice period. I am further convinced that since the full force of the law went into effect on January 1, 2012, both of my appointments after that date were illegal. If necessary for legal purposes, you can consider this my resignation from the Commission as of this date.”

The race for the Iowa District 28 Senate seat ended officially Monday, December 10 after the Iowa Secretary of State’s office canvassed the results of a recount requested by Democrat John Beard following a narrow loss election day to Republican Mike Breitbach by 43 votes (14,791 to 14,748). Breitbach was also declared the winner of the election following the recount, though his margin of victory narrowed to just 17 votes (14,868 to to 14,851).
In Allamakee County, the recount added 18 votes to Beard’s total (3,284 election day compared to 3,302 following the recount) and subtracted one vote from Breitbach’s total (3,458 election day, 3,459 following the recount).

Opponents of frac sand mining cleared a hurdle Monday night, December 17 regarding postponing the practice in Allamakee County.
Following a public hearing Monday which drew dozens of comments from area residents packed inside the large courtroom of the Allamakee County Courthouse, the Allamakee County Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) unanimously passed a recommendation to the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors to adopt an 18-month moratorium on frac sand mining in Allamakee County, pending further study of the matter.
“The Allamakee County Planning and Zoning Commission hereby recommends the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors approve a moratorium on the consideration and/or issuance of conditional use permits for the mining of industrial sand (frac sand) and all related uses for  a period of up to 18 months, ending 6/30/14, to provide the time necessary to review all aspects of sand mining and determine if the Allamakee County Zoning ordinance and/or the Allamakee County Comprehensive Plan adequately address the impacts related to the mining, transporting, processing and storage of industrial sand,” reads the resolution.