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Volume 104 • Number 44 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • PO Box 188 • 111 E. Jenkins • Maryville, MO
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Solar power usage grows By STEVE HARTMAN Staff writer
Taking advantage of a recent Kansas City Power & Light rebate along with grants offered through the Missouri Rural Energy for America Program, two local businesses are among several in the state to make the move to solar power as a source of electricity. Matt Gaarder, owner of Rapid Refill, located on North Main in Maryville, said he’s excited about the possibilities solar power can potentially bring to his business. “Even if my solar energy collection system only produces enough energy for our business needs, it will cut our electricity costs by
JIM FALL/DAILY FORUM
Not a very solar day
Joyce Cronin, co-owner of Nodaway Broadcasting stands by a section of solar panels recently installed behind the radio station. Additional panels are mounted on the roof of the building. more than 50 percent,” Gaarder said. “However, the hope is that the system will produce more energy than we can use. Then the extra is sold back to KCP&L, and at the end of the year they will write me a check.” Gaarder had a 20-kilowatt system installed by Sun Smart Tech-
nologies of Gladstone. He was able to get in on KCP&L’s initial $2/watt solar energy rebate, and received additional money to assist with the purchase of the system through a Missouri REAP grant. Those two sources lowered Gaarder’s out-of-pocket cost for the system by about two-thirds.
“One of the first things I had to get done was to have KCP&L install a two-way meter,” Gaarder said. “It runs both directions, so when the system is producing more electricity than I’m using, the excess is going right back to KCP&L.” Due to the passage of House Bill
142, the $2/watt rebate will gradually decrease over seven years. In 2014, the rebate rate is $1.50/watt. These rebates extend to solar-powered systems producing a maximum of 25 kilowatts ($50,000 at the $2/watt rate) and can only go to KCP&L or Ameren account See SOLAR, Page 6
County seeking sales tax increase for gravel By TONY BROWN News editor
Members of the Nodaway County Commission have been working in recent weeks to rally voter support in favor of a proposed halfcent sales tax that would raise an estimated $1 million a year for the purchase of gravel used to maintain 1,016 miles of unpaved county roads. The measure will appear on the April 8 municipal election ballot and requires a simple majority to pass. Producing additional revenue for “maintenance rock,” the threemember commission says, is essential in the face of rising costs
that have already reduced the amount of fresh gravel laid down each spring to around 45 tons a mile. South District Commissioner Robert Stiens — the commission’s designated specialist on transportation issues — said Wednesday the optimum amount of new gravel needed is more like 80 to 100 tons a mile, a figure he maintains the county, along with its 15 taxcollecting townships, can’t hope to achieve under the existing revenue scheme. The commission recently opened rock bids from several area quarries and, depending on the vendor, will pay around $14 a ton for rock this year. On aver-
age, that’s a 40-cent increase over 2013, Stiens said. In some instances, depending on trucking costs and other factors, the jump is even higher. He added that escalating gravel prices are especially burdensome for townships, several of which are being priced out of the market. Though many town dwellers may think Nodaway County is responsible for maintaining gravel and dirt roads, that is only partly true, because Nodaway is one of only about 20 Missouri counties still operating under the township system. Subordinate to, but separate from a county, townships are remnants of a time when most Ameri-
cans grew crops and livestock for a living, and relatively isolated communities of small farmers took it upon themselves to keep roads open and bridges in good repair. As has been the case for decades, township revenues come almost exclusively from property taxes. In recent years, however, those levies have maxed out against a 90-cent cap per $100 of assessed valuation, meaning that income stays flat while costs continue to rise. Most of the gravel burden, therefore, has been assumed by the county, which currently pays 77.7 percent of the cost of maintenance gravel in each township, a formula that translates to $525 per mile of
road for the county and $150 per mile for each township, or a total of $675. Under the current budget, Nodaway County and the townships combined expect to spend $690,000 for gravel this year, $533,000 of which will come from the county. If the sales tax passes, however, the townships’ contribution would be eliminated, allowing the subdivisions to spend what money they have on “supplementary” gravel — rock purchased over and above the 45 tons per mile or so considered essential. In addition, figuring new sales tax revenue at the projected $1 See COUNTY, Page 3
Classroom tech gets a boost at Jefferson By KEVIN BIRDSELL Staff writer
Learning tool
KEVIN BIRDSELL/DAILY FORUM
Ean Meyer (left) and Brylie Angle work on an iPad in their second-grade classroom at Jefferson C-123 Elementary School on Wednesday. Introducing iPads in the primary grades is one of the first-year goals set forth as part of a three-year plan designed to enhance the district’s use of technology.
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A new classroom learning aid has been introduced in primary classrooms at Jefferson C-123 Elementary School. As part of Jefferson’s three-year technology plan, iPads are now in use by students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade and second grade. “(They were introduced) about two weeks ago,” second-grade teacher Barbara Terry said. “We’ve been implementing them into the classrooms and have been looking for new apps to use.” Twenty iPads were purchased, five for each room, and teachers have been using them in a variety of ways. Terry’s class uses the devices for math, phonics and handwriting. Students will soon employ the small tablet-like computers for learning cursive. They also use them for comprehensive reading tests. “We are hoping to get all subjects through the iPad,” Terry said. “That would help with their guided practice and independent
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practice, so when the students are ready to be assessed they’ve had multiple ways of learning.” For first- and second-graders, iPads are being used heavily in both reading and math. “We’ve been using an app that has lots of non-fiction stories for the kids to read, which can be hard for the kids sometimes,” said first-grade teacher Shelly Deen. “In first grade, there’s a big push to learn math facts. So, on Friday we will do just facts, and they will get out the iPads.” For younger children, the focus is on basic tasks. “We do a lot of handwriting with them,” pre-kindergarten teacher Wendy Riley said. “But there’s also letter games and math games.” Kindergarten teacher Stacy Mason is striving to find a good balance between using iPads and good old-fashioned pencils and paper when it comes to handwriting lessons.
Sports.................... 7, 8 Comics.................... 10 Classifieds............... 11
See JEFFERSON, Page 3
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