DOT Continues Road Construction On Highway 141

Iowa Highway 141 continues to see several road construction projects in Guthrie County by the Iowa Department of Transportation.

DOT Construction Technician Supervisor Dennis Ward says two projects are adding box culverts to bridges and two others are complete bridge replacement projects.

The two box culvert projects are one mile west of Coon Rapids and the other one is two miles west of Bagley.  Ward states that the construction crews left the bridges alone and have been adding box culverts to help with support and allow for better water control.  Other details include removing the railings and building up the shoulders.  These two projects have limited traffic to one lane with temporary traffic lights installed.

The two bridge replacement projects are by the Coon Rapids City Park and a bridge between Coon Rapids and Bayard.  Ward notes that both of these projects are similar in that each has had a complete replacement and are now waiting to have the surface decks poured with cement in the next couple of weeks.  Each has had a detour for traffic to follow through Coon Rapids.

Ward points out that each project started in mid-May and it will be until mid-October before each project is complete due to some delays in the recent wet weather.

Ward commends the patience of every motorist and adds that the City of Coon Rapids has been very helpful and kind to work with while there’s been an increase in traffic due to the detours for two of the projects.

Stuart City Council Meeting Recap

The Stuart City Council met on Monday night in regular session.

The Council approved a $175,000 purchase agreement for a new fire truck.

The Council also approved two purchase recommendations by the parks and recreation department for $6,500 to paint the swimming pool and a $3,000 purchase of sun shades for the pool.  City Administrator Ashraf Ashour expects both pool projects to be done later this fall.  Money for the pool projects is from the parks and rec building and maintenance fund.

The Council also approved a $2,945 for the second-to-last installment for the 15-year Depot Project, amended the City’s agreement for the downtown facade improvement project to allow PAG company to help the City to apply for tax credits for between $200,000-$300,000 of the $900,000 project and the Council agreed to hire a person with Stuart Enterprise to improve economic development.

The Council also gave permission to the police department to enforce nuisance complaints within the City limits and discussed transferring the old athletic complex that is owned by the West Central Valley School District.

Stuart Elementary Reopens Following Flooded Water In Classrooms

West Central Valley School District officials cancelled school at Stuart Elementary on Wednesday due to flooding.

Superintendent Dr. David Arnold says after the heavy rainfall that the City received on Tuesday night, he believes the City’s waste water pipes were full and that caused the building’s drainage system to back up and flooded hallways and seven-to-eight classrooms.

He states that since there was one-to-three inches of standing water inside the classrooms, they had no choice but to close the school for everyone’s safety.  Arnold points out that the damage was limited to the carpet squares that are in each classroom.

School was back open on Thursday, with the damaged classrooms still getting dried out and treated so that mold doesn’t grow.  In the meantime, Arnold comments that those classes have been moved to other open classrooms and at the nearby First Congregational Church.  He anticipates that the classrooms will be back open by Monday.

Arnold notes that the district is covered under their insurance, EMC Insurance and adds that any materials in the classrooms that were also damaged, will also be replaced.

He wants to look at the drains and see if check values were put in place to prevent any future problems like what was experienced on Wednesday.

However, this situation isn’t unique for Arnold.  He says nine years ago, at the same building, a sewer system had backed up which caused a similar issue.  He jokingly says that luckily, this time it was sewer water.

 

Tuesdays Storm Not Too Severe In Guthrie County

The Raccoon Valley Radio Severe Weather Action Team interrupted regularly scheduled programming Tuesday afternoon to bring our listeners up to the minute weather updates as storms moved into the area.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for several counties including Guthrie shortly after 1pm.  As the storm continued to move east-northeast, the warning was also extended into Dallas and Madison counties and remained in effect until 2:30pm.

Primary threats from the storm included high wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour heavy rains.  One caller told us a portion of a tree was down in Guthrie County and several others witnessed strong winds and minor temporary road flooding.

Eight Raccoon Valley Radio staff members worked together to provide wall-to-wall coverage until the line of storms both weakened and moved out of the primary coverage area.

As always our Severe Weather Action Team will take over the airwaves any time a severe weather warning is issued in Dallas, Greene or Guthrie County.

Guthrie County Hospital To Host Annual Event

The Guthrie County Hospital is hosting their 8th annual Heat the Streets run next weekend and this year’s event has something for everyone, regardless of athletic ability.

Saturday, September 20th everyone is invited to the Guthrie County Hospital to walk or run a 2k or 5k distance and new this year is a kids run before the longer races so that all ages can join in on the fun.

Physical therapist Jessica Carney says the event is a fundraiser for the physical therapy and fitness department but there are also other benefits in participating.

“It’s the ability to give back to the community and some people don’t realize that they are.  Their registration goes to help people in the community.  Also it gets people in our doors, maybe people haven’t seen our facility here and we have a great fitness facility so it’s good to see that.  We’ve also started a training group this year and have been doing for five weeks now and getting some people together and maybe’ll they’ll find a running partner or someone they can continue training with” says Carney.

Day of registration starts at 8am with the kids run at 8:30 and two and five K run walks to follow.

The cost to participate is $20 for adults, $10 for students and $5 for the kids run, which includes a t-shirt.

For more information, visit GuthrieCountyHospital.org.

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