NDN-4-24-2014

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Newton

Serving Newton & Jasper County Since 1902

Daily News

Thursday, April 24, 2014

75 cents

www.newtondailynews.com

Newton, Iowa

Carpenter wants to continue representing Jasper County

OBITUARIES Kenneth L. Pierce, 70 Jodon Woody, 41

By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer

INSIDE TODAY

Dennis Carpenter first publicly announced his intentions to run again as a member of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors in a less than 45 second speech at the March meeting of the county’s Republican Party. Carpenter’s was by far the shortest speech in a meeting that featured more than a dozen candidates speaking. A lot of candidates tend to take ad-

Local

Willowbrook events coordinator retires

vantage of speaking opportunities, but this type of decision falls in line with his views on politics in general and his new campaign slogan: “It’s about representing the people of Jasper County and not running for the next election.” If re-elected, Carpenter would be entering his third term as a supervisor and second consecutive term. CARPENTER See Page 5A

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Harsh winter results in major increase in water main breaks Special to the Daily News

Health

Tips for staying hydrated Page 7A

Sports

Schroder signs for Northwestern Page 1B

Weather

Friday

High 73 Low 41

Saturday

High 62 Low 46 Weather Almanac

At Newton WaterWorks, employees will remember this past winter for the snow, ice and cold combining for a budget-bursting season of broken water mains, burst water meters and frozen pipes. From October 2013 through March, there were 30 water main breaks, and another 21 water main breaks occurred from January to March, according to a news release from Newton WaterWorks. This is more than double the previous year. There are approximately 150 miles of water main in the city. WaterWorks officials said an estimated $62,000 plus $10,000 in overtime will have been spent by the end of the budget year in June. The amount budgeted in FY13-14 for water main repair is $32,000 and $5,000 overtime. Many of the older mains lie under the streets, and at least $30,000 will be spent on street repairs and parking restoration. Also, an outside contractor was hired to look for breaks using leak detection equipment. Not only are the actual repairs costly, but high water loss is also quite costly. For instance, water loss in March is estimated at 20 percent of the water produced for the month. That equates to 30,000,000 gallons equal to $42,000 worth of treated water. Normal water loss runs between 4 and 10 percent. Because of the severity of the winter, additional breaks may surface yet this spring. “The utility would like to thank its customers for being patient with disruptions in service,” WaterWorks General Manager L.D. Palmer stated in the news release. “Customers have been very helpful in reporting breaks.”

Wed., April 23 High 52 Low 45 No Precipitation

Informational I&I program series ends

Also:

By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer

Astrograph Page 5B Classifieds Page 4B Comics & Puzzles Page 6A Dear Abby Page 6A Opinion Page 4A Obituaries Page 3A Police Page 3A Our 112th Year No. 238

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Newton Public Works Director Keith Laube and Public Works Engineering Technician III Joe Grife finished the third and final meeting of the Infiltration and Inflow Program series that took place this month in the DMACC auditorium. “The information meetings went good and we had a chance to get some information out to the public,” Laube said. “The homeowners and property owners seem to be supportive of the program, wanting to see corrective action taken to eliminate the backups they have in their basement. It’s a problem were trying to solve in the community and so far were looking good.” The Newton City Council meeting on Monday had a housing theme, with many topics concerning the Housing Incentive Program and the goal of having more people move to town. “We will continue to keep homeowners and property owners aware of the I&I program as more people move into or build new homes in Newton,” Laube said.

Mike Mendenhall/Daily News The anticipated abandonment of nearly 11 miles of track by the Iowa Interstate Railroad could lead to a proposed extension of a multi-purpose bike and recreational trail, connecting southern Jasper County with Mitchellville and Polk County.

Proposed rail abandonment spurs prospects for rec trail By Mike Mendenhall Daily News Staff Writer It’s a grand vision, interconnecting all of central Iowa by a recreational bike trail system. Former U.S. Rep. Neal Smith, whose namesake wildlife refuge is located south of Prairie City, envisioned a trail system extending from Pella to Fort Madison. But he knew it would take small steps to get there. Last month, another one of those small steps began to look possible. March 5, the Iowa Interstate Railroad filed a memo with the federal Surface Transportation Board stating it plans to abandon the rail corridor extending from Highway F62 W southeast of Prairie City through Jasper County to Highway S27 near Mitchellville. This 10.75-mile stretch, dubbed by IAIS as the “Prairie City Segment,” is part of a larger vision to connect Marion, Jasper and Polk counties with a paved recreational trail system. If abandoned as proposed, county and local leaders could begin the process of designating it a greenway, Prairie City City Administrator Manny Toribio said. “For many years there has been discussion as to what would happen if that rail line ever was abandoned and we had the opportunity to put in a trail,” he said. “We’ve thought that a multi-use trail would be good for the visibility of our community.”

“For many years there has been discussion as to what would happen if that rail line ever was abandoned and we had the opportunity to put in a trail. We’ve thought that a multiuse trail would be good for the visibility of our community.” — Prairie City City Administrator Manny Toribio

According to its memo, the IAIS expects to file its official petition for abandonment by the end of April. In August, Toribio held an initial Steering Committee meeting to begin preliminary plans on the “Rails to Trails” process. Leaders in the business community, along with county conservation and city officials, attended the meeting. Andrea Chase is the trails coordinator for the Iowa Natural Heritage

Foundation. Her organization is involved in the petitioning and research that goes into turning a rail corridor into a recreational trail. After a railway is discontinued by the a railroad company, the INHF also can petition the transportation board to preserve the rail path with “rail banking.” Chase explained that once a discontinued segment is banked, it’s reserved solely for transportation use. If the corridor is simply abandoned, any land leased or acquired through condemnation by a rail company would go back to its original deedholder. In many cases, this can require research going back more than a century. Rail banking the system will allow local jurisdictions the opportunity to use it for alternative transportation purposes, such as walking or biking. It also allows the railroad company the option to reopen that track in the future if it ever deems it necessary. But Chase stressed that rail re-institution has never happened in Iowa due to rail banking. Chase said the INHF will assist city leaders with their experience in the rail-banking process. But she also stressed it is a local effort and her organization is there to “make sure they hit all the marks along the way.” TRAIL See Page 5A


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