
Plan for delays:
Repaving project between towns to begin July 6
According to the Iowa
Department of Transportation, repaving will begin on Iowa Hwy 76 between
Marquette and McGregor on Monday, July 6. Traffic will be reduced to one lane
between the Riverview Tavern and Antimonopoly St. The intersection at Lady Luck
will remain open. A pilot car will guide traffic through the construction site.
The project will take five to six days, weather permitting.
Area
Independence Day Celebrations
Marquette-McGregor
Friday, July 3rd
Fireworks at dusk in Marquette
Saturday, July 4th
0 a.m. Historic firing of the cannon “Nellie Grant” at
McGregor riverfront
11 a.m. Parade- Marquette (Route includes North St. & Edgar
St.)
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Live music, food, beer tent, Bean Bag
Tournament (Call 563-539-8177)– McGregor Riverfront
All Weekend (Fri, Sat,
Sun)
7-10 a.m. Legion Pancake Breakfast, under the bridge,
Marquette
8 a.m. -8 p.m. Flea Market, under bridge, Poker Run &
Sidewalk Specials
Monona
Saturday, July 4
5 p.m. Back Home Fourth of July at Birdnow
6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Juiceman Sounds (DJ)
Dusk - Fireworks over Monona
8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. The Backhome Boys
Garnavillo
Friday, July 3rd
5 p.m. Ice Cream Social
6 p.m. Teddybear Parade
Saturday, July 4th
7 a.m. Breakfast by KC
9 a.m. Music - Sounds of Nashville & Dealers Choice
10 a.m. Parade
11 a.m. Lions Chicken Dinner & Kids Pedal Tractor Pull
5 p.m. Beef Producers Supper
Post Offices close
County Courthouse
at noon on Friday
closed Friday
Both the
Marquette and the McGregor Post Office
The Clayton County Courthouse will be closed Friday, July 3
will close at noon on Friday, July 3, for the Independence Day holiday
for the Independence Day holiday.

Fire Station re-roofing begins
The McGregor City Council approved a contract
for $10,500 to re-roof the garage bay of the fire station at their June meeting.
Work began this week and was well underway on Monday, June 29, when this photo
was taken.
Design company with local
connections makes bid for Wetland Centre
By Trudy Balcom
The Great Places Committee
saw the first presentation by an engineering and design firm bidding for the
contract to design the Wetlands Centre in Marquette.
The Centre was approved last month by both councils within a
28E Agreement.
The Centre is part of the local Great Places initiative. It
will house a community center, a nature center focusing on area ecosystems, and
a trailhead.
The Great Places Committee has applied for $121,625 to begin
planning for the Centre this year.
Great Places organizers began soliciting requests for
qualifications from various firms earlier this spring. Five firms submitted
responses, and three were chosen to give presentations to the committee.
The first of the three presentations was given on June 25, by
Shive-Hattery Inc., based in Cedar Rapids. The presentation was held in the
Chamber office with members of the Great Places Committee and Francis Boggus,
Great Places administrator from the Des Moines office in attendance.
Shive-Hattery is a large design and engineering firm
employing 300 people in seven offices in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. The
company is employee-owned.
The company offers an array of consulting services from civil
engineering, architectural services, planning and construction management, among
others.
Five representatives of the company appeared before the
committee and gave a brief presentation and answered questions. They represented
the consulting fields of landscape architecture and project management,
interpretation and wildlife education, economic development, architecture and
civil engineering.
Craig Erickson, a landscape architect and project leader,
headed up the presentation.
He told the committee that the project for the Wetlands
Centre was complex because it involves a site in a floodplain adjacent to a
railroad corridor, among a number of other sometimes problematic variables
familiar to the committee. He emphasized that thorough advance planning on the
uses of the site and the building were critical to the success of the outcome.
Success, he explained, had to do with user and visitor satisfaction, what people
would get out of a visit to the Wetland Centre.
“The Department [of Cultural Affairs] isn’t involved in this
just to build a building,” Erickson said.
Jim Pease, a professor at Iowa State University in the
Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, and a regular on Iowa
Public Radio’s “Talk at 12” program, also attended the presentation as a
Shive-Hattery consultant. He discussed the importance of designing an
interpretive plan for the Centre in order to educate visitors and locals about
the local environment and its history.
“We have some great stories to tell [here]…that’s what will
draw people in,” he said.
Erickson also discussed the importance of learning from and
collaborating with clients, noting that “relationships are very important” to
the company.
In response to questions of budget, Erickson noted that the
total budget of $1.1 million for the total project is tight, and that it will be
tough to leave a “healthy contingency” for challenges that may arise. But he
said the company has a good record of tracking budgets effectively.
“We don’t like surprises,” he said.
Erickson said that with the budget of about $120,000 allotted
for this year, he felt that planning for the project up to and including
schematic drawings for the building could be completed.
Another element to the Shive-Hattery bid is their local
connections to the area. Former president and CEO Don Hattery and his wife Mary
Lou have a retirement home in McGregor.
Don Hattery became a principal in the firm in 1961, and
retired after 34 years in 1995.
Hattery says that the company responded to the RFQ without
his knowledge, but that after he learned of the company’s interest in the
project, he wanted to give some input. Two members of the Shive-Hattery team
involved in the presentation visited the Hattery’s for lunch beforehand. Hattery
said he advised them that he would take a personal interest in the project.
Monica Foxwell, a civil engineer on the Shive-Hattery team,
was also in attendance last week. Foxwell is a 2002 graduate of MFL MarMac.
The next round of presentations is scheduled for this
Thursday, July 2, when presentations will be offered by Durrant Architects and
Engineers at 1 p.m., and Nuemann Monson Architects at 2:30 p.m.
North Iowa
Times McGregor office now open
Visit us
at 223 Main St. McGregor
Wed. 8:30
a.m. - 12:30 p.m., & Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Pick up
the print edition of the North Iowa Times, tell us about a story idea or place
an order for an ad
Council quickly hires
replacement for wastewater operator position
By Lucy Rodenberg
At a noon meeting, the
McGregor City Council made the decision to hire Tom Costello as Wastewater
Plant Operator/Street Maintenance employee to replace Darrin Smith, who resigned
last week.
Costello, who is from Lansing, was one of the candidates from
the last round of applicants for the position that Smith filled.
The council approved the rate of $15 an hour for this
position. Until Costello becomes Wastewater II certified in October, Don DiLaura
of Ossian will act as Affidavit Operator to the Wastewater Plant as required by
law. DiLaura will visit the McGregor plant twice weekly until Costello receives
his Wastewater II license later this fall.
Smith told the North Iowa Times that he had no hard feelings
with the council, he simply felt that his compensation was not adequate.
Concerning this item, job descriptions for Street
Superintendent/Wastewater Plant Operator Backup, and Wastewater Plant
Operator/Street Maintenance were approved.
A resolution setting the employee wages for Fiscal Year
2009-2010 was approved.
TIF funds in the amount of $4,184.45 for fiscal year 2008-09
will be paid to McGregor Municipal Utilities by the city to offset the cost of
installing utilities at the Ohmer Ridge. The actual cost of the installation
was $24,841.37. The remaining balance will be paid as TIF funds are available in
the future.
Strutt honored
as Riverfest Commodore in La Crosse
Former McGregor resident
Dawson Strutt was recently honored at a special dinner at the La Crosse Radisson
Hotel as the La Crosse Riverfest Commodore. The annual event will be held July
1-5 at La Crosse’s Riverside Park.
Strutt’s wife, Jackie, was named as First Mate for the event
that has been held for 26 years. The Strutts reside in Onalaska.
Strutt was invited by organizers of Riverfest to attend a
meeting about an opening-day parade and was informed he had been chosen
Commodore when they gave him a Commodore button after he had made a parade
presentation. Due to the time it takes to organize a parade, Strutt says there
will be none this year, but he will be working on this for future Riverfest
events.
Strutt, a McGregor native, has been a music teacher for 33
years, the last three years teaching at Onalaska High School. He was also named
Wisconsin Music Educator of the Year in 2006. Jackie Strutt, a retired teacher,
is still involved in the student teaching program at the University of
Wisconsin. The Strutts have been enjoying the Riverfest events since 1983 and
appreciate that the event is family-orientated.
Dawson and Jackie Strutt have five children; Derek, Emily,
Tyler, Erin and Kjerstin. They have one grandchild. (See photo page 2)
.