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PAGE 2 <strong>MO</strong>NDAY • MAY 22, 2023<br />
Trail: No tax<br />
dollars involved<br />
FROM PAGE 1<br />
County: Helps<br />
veterans find jobs<br />
to have Plymouth County on<br />
board.”<br />
Chicoine said about<br />
three-quarters of Iowa’s 99<br />
counties belong and efforts<br />
are being made to include all<br />
of them.<br />
“We’re making real<br />
strides,” he said.<br />
The Home Base Iowa program,<br />
created by longtime<br />
Gov. Terry Branstad and<br />
Major General Tim Orr, the<br />
adjutant general of the Iowa<br />
National Guard, was signed<br />
into law on May 31, 2014 —<br />
Memorial Day.<br />
“The HBI mission is to<br />
provide veterans and transition<br />
service members and<br />
their families with opportunities<br />
and benefits for a<br />
successful transition in Iowa<br />
— a place to call home,”<br />
according to its website.<br />
“HBI envisions Iowa as the<br />
‘State of Choice’ for veterans<br />
and transitioning service<br />
members for employment,<br />
<strong>MO</strong>NDAY<br />
82<br />
57<br />
FROM PAGE 1<br />
TUESDAY<br />
84<br />
59<br />
start date set for June 19. It’s<br />
expected to be completed in<br />
75 working days.<br />
The PlyWood Trail will be<br />
a concrete path, primarily 10<br />
feet wide, with some sections<br />
8 feet wide. It was designed<br />
for bicycle traffic, as well as<br />
pedestrian use.<br />
A bridge north of Merrill<br />
on the west side of Highway<br />
75 has been completed and<br />
Forch said it’s an impressive<br />
sight. Paving work will continue<br />
this spring and summer.<br />
The 18.5-mile-long Ply-<br />
Wood Trail — named for<br />
Plymouth and Woodbury<br />
counties — will be part of<br />
the Siouxland Regional Trail<br />
System. It was awarded $7<br />
million to develop five trail<br />
projects and connect the<br />
communities of Sioux City,<br />
Le Mars, Hinton, Merrill, and<br />
Sergeant Bluff with more than<br />
100 miles of continuous trail<br />
projects in the area including<br />
the three segments of<br />
PlyWood Trail, the 4.3-mile<br />
Loess Hills Scenic Trail, and<br />
the Cone Mountain Bike<br />
Park.<br />
The PlyWood Trail will<br />
cost an estimated $23 million<br />
when it is completed, Forch<br />
said.<br />
The first two sections,<br />
Phases 1A and 1B, run from<br />
Merrill to Le Mars. They will<br />
cover about 3 miles and cost<br />
a total of $3.8 million.<br />
Hinton to Merrill is<br />
Phase 2, but that is currently<br />
unplanned, Forch said, with<br />
Iowa DOT seeking a sponsoring<br />
entity, such as Le Mars is<br />
for Phases 1A and 1B and<br />
Sioux City is for Phase 3.<br />
The segment of the trail<br />
from Sioux City to Hinton<br />
is Phase 3. It is in the design<br />
phase, Forch said, and bids<br />
will be let in the spring of<br />
2024 with construction set<br />
for 2024-25.<br />
When will it all be done?<br />
Forch said that’s still up in<br />
the air.<br />
“Phase Two is going to be<br />
the big unknown,” he said.<br />
While the city of Le Mars<br />
is serving as the contracting<br />
authority for Phases 1A and<br />
1B, no public dollars are<br />
being spent. The project will<br />
be paid for with funds from<br />
a Destination Iowa grant,<br />
the Le Mars Area Betterment<br />
Foundation, money raised<br />
by the Plywood Trail Foundation,<br />
and a federal recreational<br />
grant.<br />
Councilman Clark Goodchild<br />
said it’s important for<br />
people to realize how this is<br />
being paid for, and not think<br />
it is coming out of their pockets.<br />
“Whether you like it or<br />
hate it, it’s private funds<br />
that are funding that, not<br />
house taxes, property taxes,”<br />
Goodchild said. “Just a gentle<br />
reminder.”<br />
The council also approved<br />
an agreement with McClure<br />
Engineering for $194,300 for<br />
work on the project. The city<br />
will be reimbursed by the<br />
same group of entities as with<br />
the construction work.<br />
education and/or continued<br />
service; and service members<br />
are valued in communities<br />
which are welcoming,<br />
affordable, safe and family-friendly.”<br />
Home Base Iowa recruits<br />
members of the armed forces<br />
as they prepare to leave the<br />
ranks, urging them to settle<br />
in Iowa. HBI also seeks<br />
to find jobs for them, since<br />
many are highly trained and<br />
skilled and can fill open jobs<br />
in the Hawkeye State. By<br />
becoming a Home Base Iowa<br />
Community county, town or<br />
city, it signals support for the<br />
organization.<br />
There are more than<br />
200,000 veterans living in<br />
Iowa and HBI wants to add<br />
to their ranks. More than<br />
2,400 businesses statewide<br />
have pledged to hire over<br />
16,000 veterans, and more<br />
than 120 communities and<br />
at least 30 colleges and universities<br />
are partners.<br />
WEDNESDAY<br />
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60<br />
FROM PAGE 1<br />
FROM PAGE 1<br />
LE MARS SENTINEL<br />
Junkyard: Two county schools sent teams<br />
recall.<br />
“It’s a crowd favorite,” said<br />
Allie Unrau, NCC’s learning<br />
intermediary network coordinator.<br />
High school students from<br />
Kingsley-Pierson, MMCRU,<br />
Netherlands Reformed Christian,<br />
OABCIG, Ridge View,<br />
South O’Brien and West Lyon<br />
entered go-karts in the competition.<br />
Teams consisting of four<br />
members built a go-kart from<br />
scrap pieces lying around a<br />
farmyard or from things they<br />
were able to drag out of a junkyard.<br />
Each go-kart was required to<br />
have a shut-off switch, brakes,<br />
a roll bar and a seat belt. Teams<br />
Board: Approve milk and bread<br />
bids for 2023-24 school year<br />
have within the general fund.<br />
It’s a formality, a compliance<br />
issue,” he said.<br />
The board unanimously<br />
approved the amendment as<br />
presented, and directed the<br />
administration to notify the<br />
appropriate county and state<br />
officials.<br />
The board had a number of<br />
action items on the agenda for<br />
the meeting.<br />
The board consided bids for<br />
milk and bread for the 2023-24<br />
school year.<br />
Webner said the school<br />
district received only one bid<br />
for bread, after sending bid<br />
requests to three companies:<br />
Casey’s, Hy-Vee and Sunkist.<br />
Casey’s was the lone bidder<br />
at $45,755.<br />
“We could try and rebid it,<br />
but it won’t make a difference.<br />
We’re just not getting bids on<br />
these,” Webner said.<br />
When asked about how the<br />
bid compared to last year, Webner<br />
indicated it was quite a bit<br />
higher, “It’s around $19,000<br />
more than last year. It’s part<br />
of the reason for the budget<br />
SRTS introduces partnership to<br />
encourage shared rides for commuters<br />
SIOUX CITY – As businesses<br />
in the area continue to grow<br />
and commute costs continue<br />
to increase, Siouxland Regional<br />
Transit System (SRTS) is<br />
creating improvements to the<br />
transit system to attract workers<br />
to the area while reducing<br />
expenses for commuters. In<br />
partnership with Commute<br />
with Enterprise, Siouxland<br />
Regional Transit System is<br />
helping to continue to provide<br />
an innovative and sustainable<br />
shared mobility option: vanpooling.<br />
The Enterprise Commute<br />
program, established many<br />
years ago, is a coordinated vanpool<br />
program available to people<br />
who live inside or outside<br />
of the service areas of Siouxland<br />
Regional Transit System<br />
and wish to access jobs in the<br />
were provided a 6.5-horsepower<br />
engine from Harbor Freight<br />
Tools in Sioux City.<br />
NCC heavy equipment<br />
instructor Adam Obbink constructed<br />
a banked track with<br />
a pit area with the help from<br />
some of his students.<br />
The community college also<br />
helped cover engine costs to<br />
increase participation.<br />
The rules for the contest<br />
change each year. For example,<br />
this year’s winner was determined<br />
by the most laps completed<br />
in one hour, and teams<br />
had to switch drivers in the pits<br />
every 15 minutes. If a go-kart<br />
broke down, teams could get<br />
their kart to the pit area and<br />
make the necessary repairs to<br />
amendment,” he said.<br />
The board then moved to the<br />
milk bids.<br />
The district sent out four<br />
requests for bids: Hiland Dairy,<br />
Kemps, Anderson-Erickson<br />
and Prairie Farm Dairy, and<br />
received two back.<br />
Bids came from Kemps<br />
Dairy and Prairie Farms.<br />
“Hiland sent a letter back<br />
stating their route will not<br />
allow them to service the way<br />
they would need to, so they did<br />
not submit,” Webner told the<br />
board.<br />
The Prairie Farms bid came<br />
in at $41,085 and the Kemps<br />
bid came in at $42,555, a difference<br />
of $1,470.<br />
“Now, the difficult part with<br />
this is Kemps are 100 yards<br />
from us, but by law, when you<br />
put out bids like this, the school<br />
board must approve the lowest<br />
responsible bidder,” Webner<br />
said.<br />
“If you do not, and you do<br />
not have a good legal reason<br />
why, then the board would be<br />
breaking the law. Right now,<br />
we have no reason to believe<br />
area. The program coordinates<br />
participants who indicate their<br />
interest through various channels<br />
such as at their jobsite or<br />
via an online portal. The program<br />
then matches riders who<br />
have similar work shifts in similar<br />
areas and who are interested<br />
in riding together. Once four<br />
or more people are matched,<br />
a Commute with Enterprise<br />
representative will contact the<br />
group to begin working out<br />
the details. Commute with<br />
Enterprise then provides a 7-15<br />
passenger vehicle, insurance,<br />
maintenance, and ongoing<br />
support. Each vanpool is customized<br />
to the specific needs<br />
of its four or more vanpoolers.<br />
The new partnership with<br />
Enterprise allows Siouxland<br />
Regional Transit System to<br />
support the vanpool program<br />
that they (Prairie Farms) are<br />
not a responsible bidder. We<br />
have had no issues with them.<br />
They’ve done a fine job. By<br />
law, the board must approve<br />
the lowest responsible bidder,<br />
which is Prairie Farms,” Webner<br />
said.<br />
While board members said<br />
they did not feel good about it,<br />
Webner said, “It’s close but it’s<br />
a competitive bid for a reason.”<br />
Webner recommended the<br />
board approve the bread bid<br />
from Casey’s and the milk bid<br />
from Prairie Farms. The board<br />
unanimously approved the bids<br />
as presented.<br />
The board also considered<br />
a pay increase for the Le Mars<br />
Community School District<br />
Board Secretary Lisa Boehm.<br />
She is in a non-contracted position<br />
but does get paid, Webner<br />
said. “She does an outstanding<br />
job.”<br />
“Historically, she will get<br />
a bump, and a few years later<br />
when the need arises, or we<br />
feel we need to, we bump her<br />
up again,” he said. The last<br />
raise was approved in 2017, he<br />
and employment needs of local<br />
businesses in our community.<br />
The vanpool program will be<br />
partially subsidized by Siouxland<br />
Regional Transit System<br />
using local, state, and federal<br />
grant funds. The remaining<br />
cost is split among the employer<br />
and/or participants, with<br />
each vanpool rider paying a set<br />
fee per month. Enterprise will<br />
provide coordination services<br />
and technology, vehicles, liability<br />
insurance, scheduled vehicle<br />
maintenance, and 24-hour<br />
roadside assistance, as well as<br />
best practices for cleaning and<br />
Complete Clean Starter Kits for<br />
new Commuters.<br />
Participants can choose a<br />
qualifying vanpool vehicle<br />
from Enterprise’s selection<br />
of makes and models that<br />
includes crossovers, SUVs,<br />
return to the track.<br />
To participate, each student<br />
provided a waiver signed<br />
by their parents and were<br />
required to wear helmets and<br />
proper personal protective<br />
equipment while operating<br />
their machines.<br />
All the judges for the Junkyard<br />
Wars competition are<br />
career and technical education<br />
instructors, such as<br />
Shane Peterson from West<br />
Lyon, which had five teams in<br />
the field, including an all-girls<br />
team consisting of juniors<br />
Shaylyn Van Veldhuizen,<br />
Paige Larsen and Jana Ter Wee<br />
and sophomore Courteney<br />
LaFrenz.<br />
While judges want the participants<br />
to have fun with the<br />
race, Peterson said they do<br />
their best to make sure it is a<br />
safe experience.<br />
“We do have strict rules<br />
about bumping or ramming,<br />
and if students are purposely<br />
hitting each other, they are disqualified,”<br />
he said.<br />
Awards were given to the<br />
top three teams. The winning<br />
team from MMCRU consisted<br />
of senior Owen Alesch and<br />
freshmen Evan Johnson, Gage<br />
Johnson and Brandon Dreckman.<br />
OABCIG took second<br />
place while West Lyon ended<br />
in third place.<br />
The award for “Best Engineered”<br />
went to the team from<br />
South O’Brien.<br />
added.<br />
Webner recommended the<br />
board give her a $700 increase<br />
for the coming year.<br />
“And then so we don’t have<br />
to do these bumps every few<br />
years, I recommend to then<br />
each year give her the same<br />
base increase as the support<br />
staff gets,” he said.<br />
That means for the coming<br />
school year, she will receive<br />
$5,700 for the year.<br />
“She does a great job and we<br />
need to keep her around,” he<br />
said.<br />
High School Principal Dr.<br />
Mark Iverson presented the<br />
board with the list of students<br />
for graduation for the 2022-23<br />
school year.<br />
There were 131 students who<br />
were approved to receive their<br />
diplomas on May 21 during<br />
the 3 p.m. commencement<br />
ceremony.<br />
Iverson said there were 30<br />
students who graduated from<br />
the Alternative High School<br />
this year. Their graduation<br />
ceremony was held May 17 in<br />
the middle school auditorium.<br />
minivans, and large passenger<br />
vans. Vanpoolers may choose<br />
to upgrade their vehicles with<br />
optional high-end features<br />
such as satellite radio and<br />
in-vehicle Wi-Fi service.<br />
People who commute to or<br />
from the service areas of Siouxland<br />
Regional Transit System<br />
and are interested in joining<br />
the program can visit: https://<br />
simpco.org/divisions/siouxland-regional-transit-system/<br />
and click on landing page link:<br />
https://www.commutewithenterprise.com/content/commute/en/partners/SRTS.html<br />
For more information, contact<br />
Brian Pearson with Siouxland<br />
Regional Transit System at<br />
BPearson@simpco.org or Abby<br />
Wilcox with Commute with<br />
Enterprise at abigail.e.wilcox@<br />
ehi.com.<br />
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