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October 12, 2005

ECHOES to be discontinued

The ECHOES Charter School will no longer be held in the school building in Eastman. The Prairie du Chien Board of Education voted six to one to discontinue the use of the building at its regular meeting Monday night. Board member Lonnie Achenbach voted against the motion to discontinue the use of the building.

Achenbach, who in the past had argued in favor of saving ECHOES, admitted Monday night, "There obviously is not enough support in the Eastman community." In past years, ECHOES had averaged about 48-52 students. This year, there are only 31 students.

The school district will no longer use the building but has maintained the charter for now.

Superintendent Jim O'Meara, who had recommended that the district discontinue use of the building, said that there will be public meetings set up to discuss the possibility of moving the charter to another building in Prairie du Chien.

The next step is for the district to legally revert the school building and property back to the Eastman community.

The ECHOES Charter School has operated in the building since 2000. The last day for ECHOES will be June 8, 2006.

In other business, the school board unanimously voted to pursue a $1.2 million referendum for roof repair to the high school and B.A. Kennedy and for boilers at the high school.

O'Meara noted that the $1.2 million is money that the district already has and that the referendum is seeking the public's permission to spend it.

Board member Brian Edwards said that because the district already has the $1.2 million, the referendum will have no effect upon taxes.

In fact, O'Meara said that the tax rate for school purposes is projected to go down even more than had originally been thought. Last year's tax rate was $10.46 and this year's tax rate is projected to be $10.39.

The referendum asking district residents whether or not they would want the district to spend $1.2 million to repair its roofs and boilers will be held Nov. 8. Fifty percent plus one is needed for the referendum to pass.

In a related matter, the school board unanimously passed a resolution that would allow two Wauzeka households eligible to vote in Prairie du Chien School District elections to cast their referendum ballots in the town of Bridgeport or the town of Eastman.

In further business, the board voted unanimously to solicite a letter of deadlock concerning the ongoing teacher-contract negotiations. The letter will be sent to the WERC investigator, who will decide whether to give permission for the district to impose a qualified economic offer.

If the district gets permission, the qualified economic offer would give the teachers a total package raise of 3.8 percent. If the district does not get permission, the negotiations would have to continue.

Plat for River Bluffs Resort moving slowly

While the bulldozers ran steadily at the site of the River Bluffs Resort all summer, work on the final plat for the 375-acre development just west of McGregor has been moving at a much slower pace.

A preliminary plat was approved by the Clayton County Supervisors on July 20, but was subject to the conditions stipulated by the Clayton County Planning and Zoning Commission. The eight conditions included such items as clearly identifying the current owner, statement of compliance with 10 percent open space, compliance with county engineers recommendations about street construction, installation of fire hydrants and a safe golf cart crossing.

Mike Schuster, the attorney who is preparing the plat for River Bluffs requested that the plat be placed on the Planning and Zoning Commission's agenda for several meetings throughout the late summer and early fall. Each time, he would subsequently withdraw from the Commission's agenda at the last minute, because work on the plat was not completed.

Schuster did not request that the River Bluffs plat be placed on the October agenda, however. "I'm expecting to present at the November meeting," he said. Despite the delay, he said that there were no particular problems with the plat. "It's just details," he added.

Planning and Zoning Commission chair Mark Zwanziger, of Strawberry Point, says that part of the delay has been created by the Commission's own struggle to evaluate the River Bluff plan in light of the county's comprehensive plan and zoning ordinances that are not well-developed. That raises such questions as whether or not a golf course can be considered under A-1 agricultural zoning. He says that the Commission has also been frustrated because the plat has appeared in several different forms, one which included only about 17 acres. "We're cautious," Zwanziger said of the Commission. "I get more and more cautious with every change," he added. Zwanziger compared the River Bluffs plat problems to a residential-only development south of Guttenberg called Estes Point, noting that the developer, Secluded Land Co., moved through the plat approval process quickly and smoothly, and responded quickly to any requests the planning and Zoning Commission made.

River Bluffs has a point of controversy in the community since its inception in 2001. Delay and problems have been the norm. The family golf resort and residential development lost $5 million in Vision Iowa grant funding in 2003, and has been the subject of a lawsuit against the County Board of Supervisors. The developer, Jim Daughtry has scaled the project down and up several times according to available funding.

River Bluffs must submit all of the paperwork for the plat, including their response to the conditions imposed by the Commission and information for rezoning by the end of this month for the November meeting. The final plat must be approved by the Supervisors by next July 20. The Planning and Zoning Commission is an advisory panel to the Supervisors. The Supervisors can choose to disregard their recommendations.

Prairie du Chien residents send trailerload of items to New Orleans

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina many residents of Prairie du Chien are stepping up to the plate and doing something about it.

In fact, many people have donated new and used items that will be transported by a local moving company to those in need in New Orleans.

Gary Oswald, the owner of Pony Express, is donating his time, expertise and equipment to haul a large trailer full of many different items. These items will go to five families and others who lost everything and have no insurance.

Oswald's trailer was loaded Monday afternoon by several volunteers, including six Prairie du Chien High School students. Oswald, AmericInn General Manager Wendy Vanderbilt and Lori Valley Frisby headed out with the trailer Tuesday night and will probably be back by Friday.

"This is awesome," said Vanderbilt. "We thank the community for everything they've done. It will be quite a blessing."

Vanderbilt said that the project began at the suggestion of her son Justin, who was a 911 operator at West Jefferson Memorial Hospital in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Justin also is a friend and former employee of Gary Oswald.

Following ads placed in the Courier Press and WPRE Radio Station of Prairie du Chien about a month ago, many residents have come forward to donate and the items have been stored in a garage near the AmericInn.

The numerous items include clothing, kitchen items such as pots and pans, blankets, linens, comforters, chairs, lamps, toys, baby supplies and clothing, a television, five microwave ovens and many other miscellaneous items.

More than 135 Bibles were collected in the past few weeks by four area churches in response to a request for Blbles for the hurricane victims. Churches responding were St. John and St. Gabriel Catholic Churches, Cornerstone Foursquare Church and Bible Baptist Church.

Twenty five Bibles were sent to Corpus Christi, Texas, where the original request came from. When Hurricane Rita came along, many of the 3,000 evacuees there were moved to other areas. The remaining Bibles were taken to the New Orleans area on the trailer with all of the other items. A bookmark was placed in each Bible saying, "Our toughts and prayers are with you. From your friends in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin." Georgia Hutchison coordinated the project and was assisted by Pat Bohonek, Janet Nelson and Pat Coorough.

In addition to donating or purchasing items, many people also gave money that totalled more than $700, which will be used to pay for the gas for hauling the load to New Orleans and coming back.

Among the many who donated, Fran and Scott Gilbert of Prairie du Chien donated $1,000 worth of goods that they purchased at Wal-Mart. Many clothing items were also purchased at Kozelka's, which gave a big discount. Mike Valley of Valley Fish held a jambalaya feed at AmericInn to raise money and also donated personally. Lori Valley Frisby, an artist who is originally from Prairie du Chien but who now lives in Oklahoma, is donating 25 percent of her art sales. The Prairie du Chien Eagles Club donated $275 from their recent fund-raiser. L.A. Fashions donated more than $1,000 worth of merchandise.

"People really came together to help personally the victims of Hurricane Katrina," said Vanderbilt.

Editor's note: This article is not meant to be a listing of all who donated to this particular project and we apologize to those not mentioned. The generosity of all who donated or helped out in any way is sure to be greatly appreciated by those who receive the items in New Orleans.

October 10, 2005
Prairie du Chien's Gettin' Clean!

Prairie du Chien city officials are getting ready to clean up the streets, yards and everything in between.

Citywide Fall Cleanup

On October 17-19 the annual Citywide Residential Fall Cleanup will be held by the City Street Department. Street crews will be going around those three days to pick up many of your recycling, including the following: brush, appliances, metal recyclables and waste management. All other articles will be handled on the normally scheduled pickup date for the proper area during the week of Oct. 17.

The schedule for cleanup is as follows:

* Blackhawk Avenue North: Monday, Oct. 17

*Blackhawk Avenue South and East of Marquette Road: Tuesday, Oct. 18

*Blackhawk Avenue South and West: Wednesday, Oct. 19

The Prairie du Chien Street Department has compiled a list of guidelines to follow for several materials. In order to have appliances picked up, all doors and locks must be removed. City Street Department employee, Rodney Fishler also emphasizes the fact that all appliances and brush must be piled parallel to the curb or alley or it will not be picked up. He explained that because of the use of a loader, it is not possible to drive into the yard.

The city will also be accepting latex paint cans. All lids must be removed and any remaining paint must be dried out before being accepted. To have glass accepted, it must be removed and separated from other articles, and tires must have the rims removed from them.

Everyone is requested to remember that appliances, metal recyclables, brush, glass and trash must be kept separate! Also, used oils (such as waste motor oil) will not be picked up but must be delivered by property owners to the rear of the City Street Shop at 625 E. Washington and properly disposed of into the red 500-gallon used oils containment center.

Fishler said that all materials will be recycled; many of them going to Clayton County Recycling.

For more information please contact the City Street Department at (608) 326-2525.

Clean Sweep

The City of Prairie du Chien will be conducting a "clean sweep" for the first time ever on Saturday, Oct. 22. This is the perfect time to rid your home of unwanted hazardous waste products like lawn and garden pesticides, automotive fluids and leftover paints. The event is for Prairie du Chien residents only and will be held from 8 a.m. until noon.

Residents should bring their hazardous wastes to the Waste Management Transfer Station located at 62949 Vineyard Coulee Road in Prairie du Chien. From there, they will be recycled or disposed of in an environmentally safe manner by ONYX Environmental Services.

According to Terry Meyer from the Wastewater Treatment Plant, the event is funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and is also sponsored in part by the City of Prairie du Chien.

This is an opportunity to safely dispose of any products are labeled: caution, toxic, corrosive, pesticide, combustible, poison, flammable, warning, danger and reactive. These products may be found throughout all areas of a household. For example, many products from the kitchen/bathroom areas to bring are: bug sprays, furniture polish, oven/drain cleaners, bathroom/tile cleaners and disinfectants.

Items to rid of from your garage/workshop could be: old gasoline, gasoline/oil mixtures, brake fluid, paint thinner/stripper and antifreeze.

October 22 would also be an excellent day to ride of many garden/miscellaneous objects such as: chemical fertilizer, fungicides, rat poison, gun cleaning solvents, moth balls, pool chemicals and much more.

Items that will not be accepted include: latex paint, radioactives, explosives, biologicals, medical wastes, cylinders (propane), ammunition and commercial wastes.

In addition to the 'clean sweep' on Oct. 22, there will also be an opportunity for very small quantity generators (VSQG) to get rid of their hazardous wastes for a lower cost than hiring a contractor directly to manage their hazardous wastes. VSQGs are entities such as businesses, schools, parks, lawn care companies, hospitals, etc. that generate less than 220 pounds of hazardous waste per month.

Companies should contact the city hall by Oct. 20 to fill out a survey to be sent to a contractor. From that, the contractor will provide an estimate for the cost of the removal according to the wastes identified on the survey.

For more details about this or the "clean sweep," contact the City of Prairie du Chien at (608) 326-6406.

Agriprocessors is set to become big bird in poultry production

Agriprocessors of Postville, Iowa, one of the largest specialty meat packers in the nation, anticipates processing 15 million chickens next year. In the past, the company has purchased the birds they need from outside sources. Soon the company may be getting poultry from area farmers. Through its new Family Farms Poultry Program, Agriprocessors plans to recruit 25 to 30 area farmers in four counties - Clayton, Fayette, Allamakee and Winneshiek - to raise chickens for their plant.

"It just makes good sense for our company and our community to create a supply of locally grown chickens for our plant," said Yossi Gourarie, vice president of live poultry operations for Agriprocessors. "It also creates an excellent opportunity for area farmers to diversify their operations and add an additional profit stream," he added.

Growing in Northeast Iowa

Most of the chicken Americans eat is raised in enormous buildings called growhouses. Inside growhouses, chickens are raised from hatchlings to about four pounds and then sent for processing. The birds can move about freely, have constant access to food and water, and the buildings are temperature controlled. On Sunday, Agriprocessors held an Open House at a newly constructed growhouse just west of Postville that they called state of the art. The buildings will hold 49,000 chickens at one time. It is 60 feet wide by 630 long and encompass 38,000 square feet.

Such enormous agricultural operations have a name. They are Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

CAFOs are not as common in northeast Iowa as they are in other parts of the state. "There's not a lot of concentrated animal livestock production in the northeast," said Gene Tinker, Animal Feeding Operation Coordinator for Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Central and north central Iowa have more CAFO agriculture than the northeast. Because of the proximity to the Mississippi River, farmers in this area have ready access to grain markets, so it can be more profitable to sell excess grain than to feed it to livestock.

CAFOs and Water Safety

The biggest concerns that accompany the development of CAFOs are manure, ground and surface water pollution and smell. This is an especially sensitive issue for the four-county region the Family Farms Poultry Program is interested in, because of the karst geology, and the numerous springs, trout streams and rivers. Karst is the term used to describe the porous limestone and sandstone bedrock found in northeast Iowa . This bedrock has more in common with a kitchen sponge than it does with most other kinds of rock. In karst landscapes, water moves quickly from the surface to underground aquifers, so manure-polluted runoff can quickly contaminate drinking water as well as streams.

According to Cliff Gauldin, spokesman for the Family farms Poultry Program, Agriprocessors has carefully considered these problems and has planned to prevent them. The barns will be kept clean, dry and well-ventilated to reduce smell. The barn's dirt floors will be covered with litter usually wood shavings or sawdust, that will be changed between flocks. When the barn is cleaned between turns, the litter is removed and placed in a concrete storage structure that is part of the design of the facility. Dry litter presents less of a storage and disposal problem, and much less smell than hog or cattle manure. In addition, each participating farmer will be required within their contract with Agriprocessors to create a manure management plan that will follow USDA guidelines, which are stricter than Iowa state law requires.

Iowa laws concerning CAFOs measure the size of an operation by animal units. Operations that house fewer than 500 animal units are exempt from most regulations. At 49,000 birds, Family Farms Poultry program facilities will hold 490 animal units ‹ just under regulatory levels. According to Gene Tinker, this is a common practice among CAFO producers. Only farmers that choose to build multiple poultry buildings may fall under state regulations.

Not a Clean Record

Agriprocessors is currently in negotiations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a civil suit that alleges violations to the company's 1996 wastewater permit at their processing plant at Postville. The suit alleges that the company exceeded the volume of wastewater they were allowed to discharge and that the wastewater contained a quantity of pollutants that exceeded permit levels on several occasions over about a four-year period. These wastewater violations have been alleged to have caused a fish kill in the Yellow River in 2000. The company may have to pay fines of up to $27,500 per day per violation. Negotiations are ongoing and may last another year. The city of Postville, who was also party to the suit, previously settled with the EPA and was forced to upgrade the city's wastewater treatment plant and pay a fine. A new plant is nearing completion. According to Mike Wade, senior environmental specialist for the Iowa DNR field office in Manchester, the situation Agriprocessors found themselves in was somewhat unique. Most large meat processing facilities are located in larger urban areas, where the municipality has a high capacity wastewater treatment plant. "It's [Agriprocessors] a big facility for a small town," he noted.

Economic powerhouse

Despite their past environmental problems, Agri]processors is a powerful engine in the local economy, and that impact will grow with the Family Farms Poultry Program. The privately held company employs about 700 people at their packing plant, and they estimate their economic impact on the region at $250 to $300 million annually. Agriprocessors intends to contract with local feed mills to to provide rations it will provide to its contact poultry farmers. One barn is estimated to use 29,500 bushels of corn and 260 tons of soybean meal per year. Milling enough corn and soybeans to produce feed for 25 to 30 barns could create a substantial new market for local farmers.

According to Cliff Gauldin, a number of area farmers have already expressed interest in joining the Family Farms Poultry Program, but no contracts have been signed yet. The company says that farmers can expect a 4.5 to 7 percent return on their investment while paying off the mortgage on the growhouse. Farmers seeking more information may call (563) 864-7393.

About 150 people attended the Open House, which state senator Mark Zieman attended. "I salute the Rubashkin family [owners of Agriprocessors] for the opportunity they are providing," Zieman said, noting that there needs to be opportunities in agriculture for young people for the area to prosper.