By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

On Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9, football fans and non-fans alike will be busy organizing meals and snacks to enjoy during the big game that evening. For lunchtime, here’s an easy option. Casey United Methodist Church is offering a “Grab and Go” lasagna meal that includes bread stick, side salad, dessert and a bottle of water. The cost is $12 with $1 from each meal going to the Adair Casey Food Pantry. Call or text Chelsi at 641-740-1302 to reserve your meals. Pickup will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

From the Iowa Department of Natural Resources

The Iowa DNR will be holding one training opportunity for people interested in becoming  volunteer bald eagle nest monitors. The workshop will be held via Zoom on Sunday, Feb. 9 from 1-4 p.m., and seats are limited. Participants are welcomed statewide but be aware that most known nests in Polk, Johnson, Linn and Story counties are covered so volunteers in these counties may need to travel some distance to monitor a nest.

Community science volunteers have been helping to monitor Iowa’s eagle population since 2006. In 2024, they monitored almost 400 nests. Prospective monitors who attend a workshop will learn about this program and how to get involved and monitor a nest in their area of the state.

To be a bald eagle nest monitor, you must have a good pair of binoculars and preferably a spotting scope. DNR staff will try to match you up with a nest near your home base. The time commitment for conducting the survey and submitting data is roughly eight hours total between March and July each year, depending on travel time, and will require multiple visits to a nest.

The workshop has limited seats available, and the registration fee is $5, which covers the cost of materials and postage. Registration for this workshop will close on Thursday, Feb. 6 or whenever the attendance limit is reached.

Have questions? The VWMP webpage may help answer them.  If you wish to be placed on a waiting list for this workshop or a notification list for future workshops, email Stephanie Shepherd at vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

During the regular meeting of the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 28, a public hearing was held regarding the proposed Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget Amendment No. 1.

County Auditor Dani Fink summarized the budget amendment data.

“In total, the total expenditures to be amended is $446,729. And with the offset of revenue, it would be General Basic taking a hit of $277,899,” Fink said.

Supervisor Brian Johnson asked how much the county has in General Basic Reserves and how this would impact that amount.

Fink said the General Basic Reserves would drop from $2.9 million to a projected $2.4 million.

The supervisors approved the budget amendment as presented.

Eric Reinhart, chair of the Guthrie County Compensation Board, reported on the board’s most recent meeting. He reported that the board reviewed the compensation requests from the county’s various departments and also looked at data on how Guthrie County pay compares to other similar counties.

“We had a good discussion,” Reinhart said. “The general consensus is, our population rank was 67^th, but our pay is usually seven to 10 spots behind that, as far as county rank. So, when we looked at that, we came up with a number of 7% as our recommendation.”

Reinhart also pointed out that because other counties will also be implementing compensation increases, this would only be a first step in getting “caught up” pay-wise.

Board Chair Maggie Armstrong thanked Reinhart and the compensation board for their work and recommendation. No action was taken by the supervisors at this time.

As part of the county’s budgeting process, the supervisors heard proposed budgetary information from three departments (Auditor, Recorder and Treasurer).

The next meeting of the supervisors will be Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 9 a.m. The public is welcome to attend in person or via remote technology. To join remotely, call 323-792-6123, then use meeting code 547029216#.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

At its Jan. 27 meeting, the Panora City Council considered renewing a proposed contract between the city and Ziegler Power Systems. According to the proposed customer support agreement, Ziegler would maintain a generator so that the city would still have water service in the event of a power failure. The agreement would run from Feb. 1, 2025, through Jan. 31, 2028, at an annual cost of $6,730.42. The council voted to approve the renewal.

A public hearing was held regarding the status of grant funds for the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) Contract 23-HSGU-005, which relates to the property at 113 E. Main in Panora. Karla Janning, Housing Programs Coordinator at Region XII Council of Governments, spoke on the status.

“Panora received $550,000 of CDBG of grant funds to provide funding for the creation of three upper-story rental units. All three rental units will serve households at or below 80% of the county AMI (area median income),” Janning said.

She added that for a household of one, that criterion would be $63,300.

“Construction is approximately 59% complete on the units and is scheduled to be substantially complete by April 30, 2025, well ahead of the Feb. 28, 2026, end date for the program,” Janning said.

Janning added that the developer will offer the council a chance for a walk-through tour of the project sometime this spring. No other citizens addressed the council, and City Administrator Lisa Grossman said no written comments had been received. The public hearing was then closed.

The council passed resolution 25-06, amending the city’s legal representation to include attorney John Twillman of Bump Law Firm.

The next regular meeting of the council will be Monday, Feb. 10 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#).