By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

During the July 8 regular meeting of the Panorama School Board, board members considered “buying down” the deductible on the district’s wind/hail insurance. Superintendent Kasey Huebner explained.

“As property insurance skyrockets, we are purchasing insurance to help cover our deductible. Without this insurance, if we were to have a complete loss to both buildings due to wind/hail, our deductible would be around $518,000. With this new insurance, our new deductible would be $25,000 per building, per event. It’s insurance for our insurance,” Huebner said. “This is paid out of our Management Fund.”

The board approved the buy-down.

Three handbooks were considered for approval. The board discussed the Certified Staff Handbook, the Non-Certified Staff Handbook, and the Bully/Harassment Handbook. The Certified Staff Handbook included one change, the addition of the Panorama “Be Well Program” that encourages self-care and a healthy lifestyle. The board approved all three handbooks.

The board also considered a proposal for a three-year license on the district’s “firewall.”

“This firewall was suggested by engineers based on our users, device count, and the performance metrics needed to run our network, which includes our Unified Threat Protection Bundle, which includes the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), Next Generation Anti-Virus (NGAV) and our web-filtering,” Huebner said.

The board approved the firewall bid as presented.

The next regular meeting of the Panorama School Board will be Monday, Aug. 12. The public is welcome.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

During the July 8 regular meeting of the Panora City Council, Police Officer Derek Porsch reported his concerns about speeding on N.W. Third Street. He spoke of the recent car accident there that injured three teens. Porsch noted that the speed limit on that street is 25 mph, but he suggests having signs put up to make that clear.

“That would help me enforce a little bit more. I’ve tried to be more active out there,” Porsch said.

Porsch explained that cars coming into town on that street are often driving much faster than 25 mph. Councilmember Roger Dorr agreed with Porsch’s concern.

“I live on N.W. Third. I see that all the time,” Dorr said.

Porsch advocated for posting a speed limit sign near each end of N.W. Third. The council agreed with this suggestion.

Brad Halterman addressed the council about another safety concern. He said he has frequently noticed people fishing from the bridge at Lenon Mill Park, and he’s worried that those fishing may be hit by vehicles crossing the bridge.

“It’s never really been an issue in years past,” Halterman said. “But this summer, for some reason, there’s a lot of people that have been out fishing on that bridge, and we’ve had a couple of close calls that we’ve seen. It’s purely a safety issue.”

Since the issue was not on the meeting’s agenda, no action was taken at this time, but the council will discuss the issue at the next meeting and consider putting up signage to discourage fishing from the bridge.

City Administrator Lisa Grossman discussed the status of renovations at the building located at 113 East Main St. The project is being undertaken by TDS Industries LLC, and the plan, as stipulated by the grant being used, is to have rental apartments in the upstairs portion of the building completed before any work on the main floor or basement is started. Grossman explained that the two resolutions for the council to consider regarding the project were provided by Karla Janning, who participated via remote technology.

Mayor Curt Thornberry responded to a question about whether or not any work would eventually happen on the main floor.

“He wants to turn it into retail,” Thornberry said.

After discussion, the council unanimously approved both resolutions to allow the project to move forward as planned.

The council discussed the large shipping containers that are sometimes brought into properties. Grossman explained that the discussion was not about the short-term containers that are sometimes used but rather the large containers that some property owners use as a cheaper alternative to installing a shed. She shared that the Planning and Zoning Board recently considered the issue and made recommendations to the council.

“The recommendation is the ordinance that is attached in your packets, and basically it does not allow shipping containers in residential and commercially zoned districts. It would allow them in light and heavy industrial areas,” Grossman said.

Councilmember Brian Dorsett asked what would happen regarding shipping containers that are already in residential areas if the council passes the proposed ordinance. Grossman said those property owners would have 30 days to remove the shipping containers.

Councilmember Mark Sheeder voiced opposition to the proposed ordinance.

“I do not believe that we should be telling people what they can and cannot do on private property,” Sheeder said.

Councilmember Blake Michelsen spoke in favor of following the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Board. The council approved the first reading of the proposed ordinance by a 4-1 vote, with Sheeder voting against.

Grossman said she plans to clearly note a summary of the recently approved ordinance regarding UTV usage on city streets. She said she’ll do this on the city website and Facebook page to help inform the public.

The council’s next regular meeting will be Monday, July 22 at 5:30 p.m. The public is welcome. 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#).

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

A public hearing will be held on July 22 regarding the proposed sale of the City of Guthrie Center’s interest in real estate.

“This is step No. 1 of selling the property at 907 Main,” City Clerk Kris Arrasmith told the council.

The councilmembers unanimously approved the resolution.

Arrasmith reported on the city’s efforts at mitigating the turkey vulture nuisance. She said that since the DNR shot two vultures, the birds do not seem to be congregating in town as much. She added that if the problem worsens, the city can then work on hanging the frozen carcasses in effigy to repel the vultures from roosting in the area.

Councilmember Garold Thomas said he has heard complaints about a food truck in town that has a loud generator. The council discussed ways the vendor could potentially limit the noise pollution.

One item on the agenda was only briefly discussed because the citizen involved was not in attendance. The agenda item was listed as “Erika Willms – trailer parking on State Street.” Arrasmith and the council briefly discussed business owner complaints regarding a long trailer that sometimes parks on State Street, taking up multiple parking spots. No formal action was taken.

Arrasmith informed the council that Dollar General did not yet have its cigarette sales license renewed, but she said it is because Dollar General’s home office submitted the renewal request using an outdated (2017) form, so the state denied the renewal for all Dollar General stores in Iowa. Arrasmith said as soon as the state receives and approves the corrected form from Dollar General, she will be able to grant a license renewal to Dollar General.

“If anybody would say anything about this, that is why. We are not holding it up,” Arrasmith said.

The council’s next regular meeting will be July 22. The public is welcome.