Click here for NOAA Mississippi River Stage information

March 18, 2009

Council identifies projects for grant applications

Acting to meet the April 1 deadline for the second round of federal stimulus initiative funding, Prairie du Chien Common Council approved preparation of grant applications for several street and transportation enhancement projects at its March 17 meeting.

Eligible projects for the funding, aimed at improving Wisconsin’s infrastructure, include transportation enhancements, road improvements and bridge improvements.

Road improvement projects must involve roadways classified at a minimum as collector streets.

Council approved preparation of applications for total reconstruction of roadway, curb and gutter and sidewalk at:

	Main Street from Washington Street to Frederick Street
	Webster Street from Beaumont Road to Fremont Street
	Ohio Street from Highway 27 to Washington Street
	Washington Street from Main Street to Ohio Street.

Council member Frank Pintz suggested that the roadway on Washington Street be made of concrete due to the high volume of truck traffic.

Council member Mary Wayne asked if sewer improvements on S. Michigan could be included. Public Works Co-manager Terry Meyer said Michigan does not qualify as a collector street, but is high on the city’s list of projects.

Council also approved preparing applications for transportation enhancement grant, which must relate to surface transportation. The project must also fit into one of 12 categories, some of which include providing facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists, historic preservation, transportation museums, landscaping and scenic beautification and archeological planning and research.

The projects selected for this application are:

	Renovation and expansion of the tourist information center, including energy efficiency and green building
	Extension of the streetscape to up to five additional blocks of the downtown—one block north of Blackhawk on Prairie, one block north and south of Blackhawk on Beaumont and one block north and south of Blackhawk on Wacouta
	Development of a riverwalk or ‘sloughwalk’ connecting the marina, St. Feriole Memorial Gardens and the downtown.

Responding to a suggestion from council member Karen Solomon that the riverwalk be replaced with development of a means to help children cross Marquette Road, Meyer said Marquette Road did not fall under city jurisdiction and could not be considered as a project. Council member Jaaren Riebe said he has not given up on getting an overpass as part of the highway project.

City Administrator Jim Gitz said the overpass was an illustration of the difficulty of stimulus projects. "We’re trying to make our projects fit the descriptions handed down to us. We can’t get either railroad improvements or an overpass through this package."

The projects, if funded, would be paid for at the federal level. The city would have to pay only for the planning and engineering related to them.

Council also approved a storm water ordinance requiring that any property owner developing a site of one half acre or more have a storm water management plan for the site. The ordinance stipulates a $500 penalty for failure to comply. Pintz voted no, stating he was concerned the requirement might be a deterrent to new businesses locating in the city.

In other business council:

	Approved the hiring of Joni Clausen for the deputy clerk-treasurer position.
	Approved a new ordinance streamlining the council agenda.
	Tabled an amended agreement for the Highway 18 bypass project until council member had an opportunity to review it.
	Referred to the Personnel Committee a suggestion from Mayor Karl Steiner that the mayor and council members give up all or part of their salaries in order to hire crossing guards. Said Pintz, "I hope everybody realizes I’m all for safety, but it wasn’t us who took the crossing guards out of the picture; it was a department head."

Due to April 7 elections, the next regularly scheduled council meeting will be April 21. However, it is probable that a special meeting will be called before that date.

DeBruce Grain expects to open soon

DeBruce Grain, Inc., which has signed an agreement with Prairie Sand and Gravel to operate a barge loading and transfer facility in Prairie du Chien, hopes to be open for business within the next few days, according to Darin Hanson, area manager for the company.

The company, which has more than 40 plant operations located in the Midwest, decided to open a base in Prairie du Chien, the first in Wisconsin because, said Hanson, "We feel this will be a good market."

DeBruce buys and sells grain. Grain purchased here would be delivered to the port on St. Feriole Island and loaded onto barges to be transported to the Gulf of Mexico, where it will be transferred to larger ships for export.

The grain loading facility will be operated by Prairie Sand and Gravel, Hanson said, but the local DeBruce office will be staffed by Heath Thomas, the manager, and grain buyer Tyler Kester. The company will be looking for two additional employees in the near future.

"We have aspirations of doing a lot of business here," he added.

March 16, 2009

Council looks at city’s needs, future during annual retreat

At their annual retreat, March 10, Prairie du Chien City Council sat back to take a look at the condition of the city, both its challenges and its opportunities. Each council member identified his or her concerns, and those concerns were then grouped into four major categories for further discussion: Hoffman Hall, public safety, communication and economic development, with budget concerns running through all four areas.

In discussing Hoffman Hall, said Council President Dave Hemmer, a major issue is determining what its future will be, and how to maximize usage of the facility if it remains in operation. Participants also discussed the possibility of forming a Friends of Hoffman Hall group for fund raising. A more short-term need is to determine the true utility costs. To date, the State Corrections facility, which supplies the energy to Hoffman Hall, has no easy method for calculating the cost of that energy since it is tied into the rest of the prison system buildings.

Discussion on public safety included investigating the possibility of getting a new fire station and equipment under the stimulus package, assuring that all railroad crossings in the city are as safe as possible and looking into safer street crossings for children.

Among the items related to communication were developing a variety of methods for delivering information to the public, developing more and better internal communication within city government and developing a rapid response to community issues.

Council members identified a number of issues related to economic development:

• reevaluate the Industrial Development Council’s responsibilities and effectiveness

• maximize the potential of the riverfront planning grants

• explore year-round tourism opportunities

• look at ways to explore and maximize the of potential of businesses that relocate as part of the Marquette Road project

• explore the concept of more post-secondary educational opportunities in the city

"These four issue areas represent concerns that are shared by the entire council," said City Administrator Jim Gitz. The next step, he said, is to establish some reasonable goals that are in line with the budget. Once that is done, council can direct staff to develop an action plan. "The idea," he said, "is to marry the action plan and the goals in a way that makes sense and that we can implement."

Council member Becky Hackett said she felt it was a good session because it allowed people to discuss the issues without pressure to make decisions. The ultimate goal, she said it to improve the quality of life in Prairie du Chien within the constraints of the budget. "We don’t have an infinite amount of funds," she said.

Council will meet again to work on developing specific goals.

DeBruce Grain to operate barge loading facility in city

DeBruce Grain, Inc., announced March 13 it has signed an agreement with Prairie Sand and Gravel to operate a barge loading and barge transfer facility, located on the Mississippi River in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The company also announced Heath Thomas has been named location manager for the facility.

"We’re pleased to have presence in this region of the United States. This facility will provide DeBruce an excellent opportunity to promote cross-country marketing of grain, feed ingredients, and other bulk products," said Paul DeBruce, chief executive officer of DeBruce Grain, Inc.

Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., DeBruce Grain is a growing $5 billion organization, currently ranked 76th on the Forbes 500 list of private companies.

DeBruce Grain, Inc., serves customers nationwide with more than 40 primary physical plant operations located in the Midwest. Business units include high-speed grain handling facilities, soybean processing, feed manufacturing, fertilizer distribution terminals and retail fertilizer operations, as well as grain, fertilizer and feed ingredient trading groups.

DeBruce ranks seventh in North America with a grain storage capacity in excess of 115 million bushels.

Area jobless rates increase

As expected, unemployment rates have risen in Crawford and surrounding counties in recent months due to the ongoing economic downturn. In fact, unemployment rates have risen in every one of Wisconsin’s 72 counties during January.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, unemployment in Crawford County was at 8.8 percent in January of 2009, up from the 7 percent in January of 2008. The Grant County unemployment rate was 7.6 percent in January. In January of 2008, it was 5.4 percent. The unemployment rate in Vernon County was 7.8 percent in January. Last year, it was 5.6 percent.

Likewise, unemployment rates have gone up in Northeast Iowa as well. According to Iowa Workforce Development, the unemployment rate in Allamakee County was at 11.5 percent in January, up from the 9.8 percent of December 2008. In Clayton County, the unemployment rate was 9 percent in January, while in December of 2008 it was at 7.5.

The unadjusted unemployment rate throughout Wisconsin was 7.6 percent in January of 2009. In December of 2008, it was 5.8 percent. In January of 2008, it was 4.9 percent.

The unadjusted unemployment rate in the United States was 8.5 percent in January of 2009. It was at 7.1 percent in December of 2008. In January of 2008, it was 5.4 percent.

"Like every other state in the nation, Wisconsin is seeing increases in unemployment across most localities that underscore the economic challenges our country faces," said Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman in a statement March 5. "That’s why we are taking strong action with President Obama and Governor Doyle through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to get people working again and jump-start our economy."

Layoffs in various businesses in recent months have contributed to the rise in unemployment in Crawford County. Miniature Precision Components of Prairie du Chien, for example, has laid off approximately three-fourths of its 400 employees since the beginning of last year.

The troubled Agriprocessors meatpacking plant is in Allamakee County, which had the highest unemployment level in Iowa in January at 11.5 percent.

The May 2008 Postville immigration raid, and heavy spring flooding are being blamed as contributing to Allamakee County’s unemployment increase, as is the recent closure of Northern Engraving Corporation. Northern Engraving closed late in 2008 after laying off close to 200 employees in several phases.

From December of 2008 to January of 2009, total Wisconsin non-farm jobs decreased by an estimated 87,900. As of January 2009, there were an estimated total of 2,755,600 non-farm jobs in the state. Private sector jobs shrank by 72,500. Trade sector jobs fell by 17,600 over the month. Government jobs were down 15,400 and manufacturing jobs decreased by 13,500 during that one-month period.

From January of 2008 to January of 2009, manufacturing was down 31,700. Professional and business services were down 17,400 and construction was down 11,000 jobs. Educational and health services jobs increased 9,700.

The January survey of Wisconsin households showed 60,500 fewer employed compared to December, and 75,200 fewer employed than one year ago.

For those seeking help in Crawford County, Workforce Connections is located in Suite 318 of the County Administrative Offices Building at 225 N. Beaumont Road. Workforce Connections is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The phone number is 326-1100.

"We’ve seen a definite increase in the number of people coming in to use our services," said employment coordinator Julie Mullikin.

Mullikin said that Workforce Connections offers a Resource Room in which there are four computers available for those seeking jobs. A popular internet site is jobcenterofwisconsin.com. Jobcenterofwisconsin.com is convenient, fast and free and has more than 26,000 employers listed. The Resource Room is a self-help area, but Mullikin said that there are always employment coordinators available for assistance.

Workforce Connections offers several services including searching for jobs on the internet, developing a resume, improving interviewing skills, and filling out traditional and online applications, to name a few.