By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

The Jan. 23 meeting of the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors included discussion of unexpected repair costs to two areas in the new Law Enforcement Center (LEC). Facilities Director Brandon Thompson explained the situations and said it appears that the elevator repair is not covered under warranty.

“I guess I would like to get clarification on the service agreement and why this doesn’t qualify under the warranty that we have,” Supervisor Mike Dickson said.

Dickson suggested having the county attorney draft a letter to send to Schindler Elevator. Supervisor Maggie Armstrong agreed that there needs to be an explanation of what happened to create a the situation in which repairs are needed and why the cost wouldn’t be covered by Schindler.

Thompson explained that the showers in the LEC are allowing water to leak out due to the design of the shower stalls. He said he would check to see if a repair can be made.

The next meetings of the supervisors will be a budgetary review on Thursday, Jan. 25 and a regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30. The public is welcome. Attendees may participate in person or by calling 323-792-6123 and inputting conference ID 547029216#.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

During the regular meeting of the Guthrie Center City Council on Jan. 22, discussion was made about using a Guthrie County Community Foundation grant to essentially split the cost of adding new playground equipment at the city park.

City Clerk Kris Arrasmith said the total funds of the project come in at about $44,583.

“So with matching funds split between us and the Community Foundation, that puts us at about $22,292,” she said.

Arrasmith explained that the playground equipment to be ordered is called “Jungle Adventure” and is geared toward kids ages 5-12. The council approved the plan.

Snow removal expectations were discussed, and the council asked that all citizens remember to promptly shovel sidewalks, as required by city ordinance.

The council discussed the first reading of proposed Ordinance 2024-01, regarding temporary storage containers.

 “I had a question about the large dumpsters that people roll in when they’re remodeling,” Councilmember Garold Thomas asked. “Does that fall under this?”

Arrasmith said the proposed storage container ordinance would not address what Thomas referred to. The council unanimously approved the first reading.

The council approved the city’s updated fee schedule as submitted.

Brenda Dudley addressed the council on behalf of Midwest Partnership (MWP). She mentioned the MWP 2024 annual dinner, which is being held on Thursday, Jan. 25 at the Casey Community building. The guest speaker will be Bill Menner. Tickets are available at $32 each or $180 for a table of six and can be obtained by calling 515-523-1262.

The next regular meeting of the city council will be Monday, Feb. 12.

Special to the Times Vedette

Iowa Lakes Community College releases the Fall 2023 Honors Lists recognizing students who achieve the highest academic standards earning inclusion on the President’s List or Dean’s List.

For the Fall 2023 semester, 141 students earned President’s List, an honor achieved by those who recorded a “straight-A” or 4.0 GPA, and 263 students made the Dean’s List of students who earned a 3.25 GPA or higher for the semester.

In addition to achieving the required GPA, students must also be full-time and enrolled in 12 or more graded credits to be eligible for the President’s List or Dean’s lists.

Iowa Lakes Community College adheres to the Higher Learning Commission, the Iowa Department of Education, the Veterans Administration, and the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) guidelines to ensure students obtain a quality accredited education. 

Adair: Maggie Vogl, President’s List

Guthrie Center: Jalen Michaelson, President’s List, Cooper Tunink, President’s List

Approves purchase of a pickup truck for the fire department

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

The Panora City Council met in regular session on Jan. 22. Brenda Dudley provided the council an annual update on services provided by Midwest Partnership.

Resolution 24-02 was discussed. It proposed to accept the resignation of Mickell Gerth from the Panora Library Board and to appoint Alli Halsey to fill that vacancy.

“We have a wonderful board, and a little bit of turnover,” Mayor Curt Thornberry said.

The council voted unanimously to approve the resolution as described.

The council discussed Resolution 24-01 regarding a purchase agreement with New Way Ford for the purchase of a pickup truck for the fire department. The council voted to approve the resolution as submitted.

There was discussion about Resolution 24-03, levying sidewalk assessment for parcel 0001317700.

“This is for the Chambers’ residence on Clay Street,” City Administrator Lisa Grossman said. “It was a voluntary assessment. They asked that the work be done by the City when needed.” The resolution was approved unanimously.

An Electric Budget Committee meeting was scheduled to begin immediately after the city council meeting.

The next regular meeting of the city council will be Feb. 12. Interested persons may attend in person or electronically by visiting the website https://meet.goto.com/cityofpanora or by phone 1-312-757-3121 (Access Code 295-099-701, Audio PIN 220#).