Strides made in community development plan involving NICC, school facilities and community wellness center

Progress continues to be made in the development of a trio of community improvements aimed at revitalizing education, community wellness, and growth within Waukon and the surrounding area, and an initial influx of nearly $400,000 in federal government grant funding has given the overall project a considerable boost toward becoming reality.

Three large community-oriented projects that had at one time been considered as separate endeavors - construction of a local satellite campus for Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC); a community wellness center; and school facilities improvements that would create a unified campus for grades 7-12 - were first presented together near the end of last year by a steering committee of local volunteers as an overall economic development project that would be located on the current high school campus and carries an estimated price tag of $14.5 million that would be managed through a variety of sources fueled by the coming together of the county, the city and the school district.

The committee’s overall desired end result of this entire project would be to enhance the Waukon community with improvements that would not only benefit local residents, but also stimulate the population and growth of this area with new faces, new business and new opportunities.

WORKING TOGETHER

Each of the three projects had been considered over the past several years by separate entities - the NICC campus being a countywide consideration; the community wellness center a City of Waukon aspiration; and school facilities improvements a necessity for the Allamakee Community School District.

With the realization that unification of all three entities and their respective projects not only offered more overall stability, but also opened more doors to improvement possibilities and funding sources, the initial steering committee was formed from members representing each entity, as well as other volunteer contributors from within the area.

Further driving home the idea of a unified approach to the projects and their overall impact as economic development tools was a presentation given locally back in December by City of Oelwein Mayor Larry Murphy, who operates a consulting firm and was instrumental in bringing a similar multi-faceted community improvement project to reality in Oelwein in recent years. Murphy’s message and own experience of community survival hinging on its residents not just being “reactive” but “proactive” spurred initial committee members and a flood of volunteers on in their efforts to revitalize the community in which they live and work.

AN INITIAL BOOST

The coming together of the three community entities has already resulted in an initial funding step that is “just the first step of many”, according to committee members. The Allamakee Community School District recently received word that it has been awarded just under $400,000 in grant funding from U.S. Senator Tom Harkin’s Demonstration Construction Grant Program to help bring the district’s school facilities improvements closer to reality. The actual grant amount of $394,382 must be matched by at least 75% of that total by the recipient, the school district looking to obtain that match from other funding sources for a total boost of nearly $700,000.

The grant was written by first-year Allamakee Community School District Superintendent John Speer, who is co-chairing the overall project committee with Veterans Memorial Hospital Administrator Mike Myers. The grant funding is part of more than $116 million Harkin has secured since 1998 to help more than 250 school districts across the state of Iowa modernize and improve their school facilities to enhance the education process for Iowa’s students.

PUBLIC INPUT

Within the development process of the overall plan, input from community residents will be sought in a variety of different ways on a variety of different subjects. Plans are in the works for submitting surveys and holding group focus meetings on how to best benefit the entire community with this proposed plan for economic development. Input will also be sought on what type of programming would be of most interest to area residents at the NICC and community wellness centers.

CONTINUAL UPDATES

As progress continues to be made, the initial steering committee and the number of smaller subcommittees that have blossomed from this project will keep the general public informed in a number of different ways, with the idea that consistent communication within the community will help make this overall plan for community growth and development a reality and, in turn, have far-reaching benefits for everyone. A more detailed breakdown of all segments of the overall project will also be provided within those progress reports as those details become available.

Those wishing to contribute to any of the committees formulated for this improvement project are asked to contact Gail Prestemon by phone at (563)568-3451 or (563)535-7448 or by e-mail at gail@waukonstatebank.com.