22.05.2023 Views

052223_LMS_A01_MO

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

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 />

86<br />

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 />

TEMP HISTORY<br />

MAY 22 HIGH<br />

TODAY 82°<br />

NORMAL 75°<br />

5/22/22 65°<br />

RECORD 92°<br />

Sentinel Staff<br />

ADMINISTRATIVE<br />

Patty Roder<br />

ADVERTISING<br />

Megan Sabin<br />

Jodi Van Beek<br />

CIRCULATION<br />

Shauna Jester<br />

EDITORIAL<br />

Allen Hamil<br />

Beverly Van Buskirk<br />

PAGINATION<br />

Jennifer Vondrak<br />

LOW<br />

57°<br />

51°<br />

30°<br />

30°<br />

Contents of the Le Mars<br />

Sentinel are protected<br />

under U.S. Copyright laws.<br />

Reproduction or transmission<br />

by any means is prohibited<br />

without written permission of<br />

the Le Mars Sentinel.<br />

Subscriber Information - In<br />

order to provide better service<br />

to our customers: Please give<br />

us three business days for all<br />

change of delivery notices,<br />

vacation packs, changes of<br />

address, renewals, new subscriptions,<br />

etc. If you want<br />

your paper stopped please<br />

notify your carrier, also. Le<br />

Mars Sentinel (U.S.P.S. 307-<br />

020) Published Monday,<br />

Wednesday, Friday, except<br />

national and postal holidays.<br />

Published by Le Mars<br />

Sentinel; 41 1st. Ave. N.E.; Le<br />

Mars, IA 51031; 712-546-7031;<br />

Fax 712-546-7035; E-Mail:<br />

editor@iowainformation.com;<br />

Periodicals postage paid at<br />

Le Mars, IA 51031. Address<br />

change service requested;<br />

POSTMASTER: Send Address<br />

changes to Le Mars Sentinel,<br />

41 1st Ave N.E., Le Mars, Iowa<br />

51031-0930<br />

FREE FREE COLLEGE<br />

COLLEGE<br />

FREE FINANCING<br />

COLLEGE<br />

INFO<br />

FINANCING<br />

INFO<br />

INFO<br />

Paying Paying for college for college can be confusing can be confusing<br />

Paying for college can be confusing<br />

The free The college free college financing financing<br />

information The free information college kit can financing kit help. can help.<br />

information kit can help.<br />

Visit www.IowaStudentLoan.org/<br />

Visit www.IowaStudentLoan.org/<br />

CollegeKit Visit www.IowaStudentLoan.org/<br />

CollegeKit to request to request your free your copy. free copy.<br />

CollegeKit to request your free copy.<br />

Iowa<br />

A Rust<br />

Information<br />

Communications<br />

Publishers<br />

Publication<br />

and<br />

• Your<br />

Printers<br />

family-owned<br />

hometown<br />

publication • Your familyowned<br />

newspaper.<br />

hometown<br />

newspaper.<br />

www.IowaStudentLoan.org/CollegeKit<br />

www.IowaStudentLoan.org/CollegeKit<br />

www.IowaStudentLoan.org/CollegeKi

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!