The
Sheffield Press Volume 133, Number 47 • Thursday, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
Supervisors OK hazard mitigation plan By Nick Pedley Disaster planning and drainage issues topped an otherwise uneventful meeting of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors Monday morning. Matt O’Brien, regional planner for the North Iowa Council of Governments (NIACOG), along with Franklin County Emergency Management Coordinator Thomas Craighton, were on hand to present the supervisors with the final draft of the county’s hazard mitigation plan. The blueprint sets a county-wide strategy for cities and unincorporated areas in the event of a large-scale natural disaster like flooding or a tornado. The plan has been in development in recent months and is a requirement if counties and cities wish to receive funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following a disaster. County officials have been hashing out details and will now pass the hazard mitigation plan on to FEMA for approval. “They’ll be technical changes, not policy,” said Craighton. “The intent of the plan will stay the same.” The board moved on to a list of property issues after they unanimously approved the hazard mitigation plan. Bert Peterson was present to request written permission to hook a tile into the Franklin-Hardin Joint Drainage District 1. The land lies within state-owned right-of-way north of Highway 65, and he recently tapped into the tile by accident.
“I sort of painted myself into a corner,” said Peterson. “They told me I need this piece of paper before they make any decision, so I’m taking the first step. They’re unhappy with me.” The supervisors didn’t have any problems with Peterson hooking into the drainage tile and gave him permission. The state will now make the decision regarding the fate of the tile. “When you’re dealing with the state, you’re playing in a little different game,” said Peterson. The supervisors wrapped up the meeting by approving a tax sale certificate request from Dave and Desiray Larson of Popejoy. The couple wishes to purchase an abandoned property located near their house and get rid of the eyesore. “We just want to clean it up, because we’re tired of looking at it,” Dave said. “It’s a dump.” The supervisors commended the couple for their efforts and explained the process for purchasing the land. Certain outstanding fees and taxes will have to be paid, and the Larsons can request an abatement on the property after a 90-day waiting period. “It’ll be nice to get cleaned up. I know some other people are looking at getting some other properties cleaned up around there as well,” said Board Chairman Corey Eberling. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 25, at 8:30 a.m.
Sheffield council seat to be vacated next month By Nick Pedley Mayor-elect Nick Wilson’s seat on the Sheffield City Council will be vacated at the end of December so he can begin official mayoral duties on Jan. 1, 2014. The council cannot take action on filling the vacancy until it takes full effect at the end of this year. Wilson said he turned in his resignation papers last week, with his final day as a councilman scheduled for Dec. 31. “Basically, I’ll turn over my council seat and move into the mayor’s spot,” Wilson said. Franklin County Auditor Michelle Giddings explained that the council has two options to decide the fate of Wilson’s empty seat once it takes effect. They can either appoint someone, or hold a special election to fill the hole. In either case, the term would expire in 2015. Giddings said because the vacancy occurred so close to the Nov. 5 election, most councils would use the next highest vote-getter who failed to win a seat. Sean Cameron, who finished in third place with 96 write-in votes behind winners Mike McKee and J.C. McCaslin, would be next in line should the council take this route. However, Giddings stressed that anyone is fair game if the council chooses to appoint them. “It would be common sense,”
Community Club Meeting Change
The Sheffield Community Club’s meeting has been changed to Monday, Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Sheffield Inn. There is a soup/salad bar meal available during that time, if anyone would like to come at 6 pm and eat before the meeting. The cost of the meal is $6. The members decided at the last meeting to try this night and time to see if this will work. It gives the Community Club members an opportunity to still have a meal with a meeting if the members choose to do so. We are not getting enough people at our Thursday evening meeting with a meal, so we are going to try this. If you have any questions, call Jill Conlon at 892-4919. We invite anyone in the Sheffield area to come join us. Our organization needs new members and in order to continue the events that we do for our community like Santa visit, Halloween, Easter Bunny visit, and People in the Park, we need more people. Please come join us!
Official Paper for Franklin County City of Sheffield West Fork School District Sheffield, Franklin County, IA
$1 per copy
Plagge’s hat proves useful as Supervisors finalize and approve election results By Jeff Forward The Franklin County Board of Supervisors met on Oct. 12, one week after the election, and finalized much of the vote for eight county communities – including drawing a name from a hat to determine the final city council seat in Hansell. Two candidates were tied for the fifth and final city council seat in the small town east of Hampton: Deloris Cunningham and Jason Harper – both with 17 votes. However, Jason Harper also received 15 write-in votes for the vacant mayor’s seat, beating out fellow write-in Doug Symens. Because Jason Harper was tied with Cunningham for the council seat – which he had officially filed candidate papers for – a winner had to first be determined before any decision could be made on the mayor’s seat. That procedure – determined by state law – is to draw names out of a hat. The old-fashioned method of picking a winner was conducted by Supervisor Corey Eberling, who drew the winner out of Jerry Plagge’s signature Fedora hat. The name that was drawn was Jason Harper. Following the meeting, Franklin County Auditor Michelle Giddings was going to inform the Hansell city clerk of the results and then the city clerk would ask Harper if he wanted to be on city council or not. If Harper decided to stay on the city council, the mayor’s seat would be offered to Symens – who could
then accept or reject the spot. If Symens rejected the mayor’s seat, it would then be offered to the next highest vote getter, which was Terry Juhl, also a write-in, who received four votes. A fourth write-in candidate, Joe Hanna – who was re-elected to the city council – received two write-in votes for mayor. In the other county elections, winners were verified and approved in all eight Franklin County communities. In a unanimous 3-0 vote, the fol-
lowing winners were made official: Alexander: Mayor – Darrel Baxter; Council – Jean Marie Arends and Quentin Boelman. Coulter: Mayor – James Warwick; Council Kevin Erickson and Donna Lohrbach. Geneva: Mayor - Sean Porter; Council Stephen Love, Todd Olmstead, Todd Pilchard, Jesse Viet, and Andrew Graff. Hampton: Mayor – Brook Boehmler; Council – Jim Davies, Jay Hickman, Dick Lukensmeyer.
Hansell: Mayor – to be determined; Council – Joe Hanna, Jess Harlan, Colten Harper, Michael Harper, Jason Harper. Latimer: Mayor – Kent Morton; Council – Cathy Crooks, Lawrence Meyer, Randall DeBour. Popejoy: Mayor – Dale Maas; Council – Ronald Allen, Dennis Bradley, Scott Bradley, Dave Larson, Jason Nohrenberg. Sheffield: Mayor – Nick Wilson; Council – J.C. McCaslin and Mike McKee.
Seeing red: Nutrition fund deficit still causing headaches at West Fork
Nick Wilson Giddings said about picking the next highest vote-getter. “But some do it and some don’t.” Citizens of Sheffield have the option to petition for a special election as well. A petition with a minimum of 20 signatures from eligible city voters is necessary if residents are unhappy with the council’s hypothetical decision to appoint Wilson’s replacement. The Iowa Code mandates certain stipulations as the council proceeds with the process of filling the vacancy. “The council must publish notice of its intention to appoint at least four but no more than 20 days before the appointment is scheduled to occur,” reads Iowa Code 372.12(2). “The publication must also notify city residents of the right to request a special election by filing a petition.” The law goes on to state that an appointment must be made within 40 days after the vacancy occurs, but the deadline increases in the event of a vote. According to the code, the special election must be held at the earliest feasible date but no later than 90 days after the vacancy occurs. Sheffield City Clerk Amanda Dannen said the council will pick up the issue at their next meeting scheduled for Dec. 9. “We’ll probably start working on it in December and start talking about what we’re going to do,” she explained. “But we really can’t do anything until it happens.” The vacancy raised some eyebrows at the supervisors’ election canvass on Nov. 12, but Giddings said the situation wasn’t unheard of. “It’s not that rare, but let’s just say it doesn’t happen a lot,” she said.
By Nick Pedley The West Fork Board of Education left Monday night’s meeting feeling less than hopeful about one troublesome school account that’s remained in the red for quite some time. Debate over ongoing issues regarding the district’s nutrition fund got rolling during the group’s finance discussion. According to board secretary Lacey Weier, the account, which is connected to the school lunch program, is running a negative balance of around $3,600. Weier said recently deposited funds from the beginning of the school year that somewhat reduced the deficit, but it didn’t solve any long-term woes. A handful of families have refused to pay their childrens’ delinquent lunch accounts, deepening the financial hole and creating a larger problem. Superintendent Darrin Strike reported that the district recently sent out letters to delinquent families with hopes of getting some sort of response. The tactic failed, and Strike felt his hands were somewhat tied on the issue. He explained the school district has the option to either completely cut off a student’s school lunches or keep feeding them despite their parents’ failure to pay. “I struggle to penalize the child for the responsibilities of a parent,” he said. Strike and high school/elementary Principal Randy Bushbaum said they didn’t have a problem with cutting off high school students who were delinquent on their lunch accounts. However, their stance differed with elementary and middle school students. Strike said the district’s past method of providing a sandwich and milk to students with negative balances opened the door for unintended consequences. “Once other kids notice something’s different because one student can’t get lunch every day, then the questions start,” he said. Bushbaum agreed and also highlighted another problem with com-
pletely cutting students off. “We’re saying these kids can’t perform well if they don’t eat, so then we don’t feed them? Then we’ll start complaining about low test scores,” he said. Both Strike and the board felt a harder stance on delinquent accounts was needed. However, the group was unsure about how they should pursue the matter. “The administration and I, we take the brunt of that. I’m fine with doing it, but we need a united front – all five of you have to get behind this,” said Strike. “Right now, it’s rather difficult to say we’re doing it, because we sent the letters and we aren’t.” Board members questioned whether or not the district should contact their lawyers or file suit in small claims court. Weier said some area schools do utilize this method, but the group was hesitant to jump on board so soon. Strike said many of the parents who haven’t paid wouldn’t flinch even if the district hired legal council to combat the delinquent accounts. Nonetheless, the board decided to monitor the situation monthly, keep sending letters and re-evaluate the situation at March’s meeting. If nothing has improved, the group will discuss pursuing their options in small claims court. “We’re playing the game with them because we keep letting them go, we keep letting them go, keep letting them go,” said board member Mary Schlichting. “You have to draw a line in the sand somewhere.” The board shifted their sights to the second reading of proposed revisions to board policies. One of the rules regarding who was allowed to view student records drew scrutiny from Board Member Mary Beth Sukup, who thought the criteria for access was too broad. Sukup and other board members felt the policy allowed for a wide range of school employees to view private student records.
After a brief discussion, the board agreed to change the wording of the policy to clearly outline who was able to access records. Personnel changes The board accepted the resignations of: Pat Sheldon, part time nurse – Rockwell campus; Kendra Pillard, part time para educator – Sheffield campus; Rodney Huber, head varsity football coach; and Abbee Gappa,
assistant softball coach. The board approved the contracts of: Macy Sturges, volunteer cheer coach; Susan Van Laere, part time nurse – Rockwell campus; Holly Hurley, para educator – Sheffield campus; and Ned Bohach, assistant softball coach. The board will meet next on Monday, Dec. 16, at 5 p.m., in Rockwell.
Work session concludes West Fork meeting Monday By Nick Pedley The West Fork Board of Education discussed a long list of future planning items and district infrastructure updates at a work session following Monday’s monthly meeting. Superintendent Darrin Strike presented a list of renovations and facility upgrades he and other faculty members felt were necessary in the coming year. The list included things like a new school bus with a wheel chair lift, groundskeeping equipment and classroom upgrades. Strike estimated the cost of the proposed renovations at just under $437,000. “We have facilities at this school that aren’t new, they aren’t the shiniest, but we can be proud of them,” he said. Additional upgrades to district technology are also needed this summer. Annual software updates and electronic text books topped a relatively short list of upgrades that were estimated to cost around $100,000. Following the discussion over future planning and cost assessment, the board engaged in a thorough discussion about parking concerns, a new fitness facility and the potential installation of air conditioning at both campuses. The board stuck to their previous stance and remained hesitant over air conditioning. However, they were open to improving the parking situation at Sheffield, but were somewhat skeptical about the possibility of a
new fitness facility. “I think it’s going to be a tough sell,” said board President Jim Tuttle, who noted the district’s many communities might disagree on the facility’s location. Finally, the board quizzed themselves on district policy and brushed up on recent improvements in preparation for a routine visit from state officials in December. Both the board and West Fork administrators will accompany the officials on a tour of district facilities and provide updates and information about curriculum, academic progress and future planning.
Happy 90th Birthday, Roberta Atkinson!
We love you! Your Family