Planners bring
Great Places projects into greater focus

By Trudy Balcom

Planning for the Wetland Centre and multi-purpose bluff side community center in Marquette is beginning to pull together as a deadline
for the completion of the first phase draws near. Craig Erickson, project manager from the design firm of Shive-Hattery made a presentation
Monday evening (March 1), in which he outlined the tasks and deadlines remaining for the first phase of the project for which the firm was hired.
    He also presented a series of sketches which offered greater detail for the structures planned for both the Roundhouse site and the former bridge
approach overlook above City Hall in Marquette.
    Attending were members of the Wetland Centre Board,  the Marquette City Council, and  City of McGregor staff. Although the meeting was held at
McGregor City Hall, no members of the McGregor City Council were present.
Included in his presentation was an opinion of probable cost, and an outline funding model, which offered  local Great Places planners the first hard
numbers for the actual cost of the planned improvements. 
No new concepts were presented, Erickson simply presented fleshed-out the designs and images for the projects.

A close-up sketch of the Wetland Centre Pavilion shows the proximity
of the structure to the wetland and parking areas

    For example, he screened images of the Wetland Center pavilion which presented a round
space similar to a railroad roundhouse as seen in previous sketches. However, the detailed
sketch showed that the space would include about half the circumference as a simple brick
patio; the rest would include a roofed, open-air gathering space that could be used as a
picnic shelter or a place for groups or classes to gather in an outdoor setting.
An enclosed building with rest rooms, a kitchen and a meeting or community room with space
for about 60 people  makes up the final portion of the structure. The entire pavilion structure
including the patio would be raised above the flood level with fill. This would create an
natural amphitheatre or stage space on the patio for outdoor performances. People could
gather on the lawn below to see a performance.  Erickson noted that many changes could
still be made to the plan, as needed. He called the sketch a “placeholder.”

    The plans for the bluff-side community center building had changed little from previous sketches presented. The images presented primarily showed details
of the footprint including parking, and the location of possible offices.
    Most dramatic was the floor plan and elevations which showed the large meeting room with glass walls and a expansive outdoor deck overlooking the river.
    The room would have partitions so it could be divided into smaller spaces. Areas of the hallway and deck would include interpretive kiosks and displays
with information about area history and natural history.
    Erickson emphasized that the plans were not finalized. “This is not a fully resolved concept,” he told those at the meeting.

This floor plan sketch of the Wetlands Centre Pavilion shows the open patio at the bottom,
picnic shelter to the left and indoor classroom or meeting space on the right. The picnic shelter
will be roofed and the building will have large windows facing the wetland. The structure will be
placed on several feet of fill to elevate it above the flood plain.

    In the estimate of probable costs, Erickson showed a probable range of costs for construction
    that would be determined by final design decisions and available funding. Construction
costs for the Wetland Centre Pavilion ranged from $775,000 to $925,000. The cost of the bluff-side
community center ranged from $3,650,000 to $4,400,000
    Funding for the projects will come from a range of grants and donations, including
Great Places grants and other state funding such as Community Attractions and Tourism grants.
The entire project will be driven by the amount of funding that becomes available.
    Local Great Places organizers plan to aggressively pursue about $200,000 in Great Places
funding for this year. Shive-Hattery will complete the first phase of their contract duties sometime in April with construction site planning including topographic
mapping and soil boring.

 These sketches show the footprint and elevation of the bluff-side visitors/community center proposed for downtown Marquette.

Bulldog girls fall in tight game
to Manson-Northwest Webster, 37- 34

Ashley Markert got her hands on the ball at just the right time for Manson-Northwest Webster.
    With her team clinging to a one-point lead, Markert stole the ball with 39 seconds left and her sister Morgan followed with two free throws,
helping the second-ranked Cougars slip past No. 8 MFL-Mar-Mac 37-34 Monday night in the opening game of Class 2A play.
    Manson-Northwest Webster built a nine-point lead early in the third quarter, then had to fight off the Bulldogs the rest of the way to advance to a
semifinal game at noon on Thursday.
    MFL-Mar-Mac cut the lead to 35-34 on Kellie Wagner’s layup with 1:04 remaining, then got a chance to take the lead when the Cougars
missed twice at the other end. But Ashley Markert knocked the ball loose and Morgan calmly swished the two free throws to make it a three-point game.
    MFL-Mar-Mac missed a long three-point shot just before the buzzer.
    The Bulldogs did a good job keeping the ball away from Manson-Northwest Webster star Mika Rodewald with a collapsing zone, so her teammates
had to rely on outside shots and they knocked down just enough to pull out the victory.
    Lauren Christianson led the Cougars with 13 points, including two key buckets midway through the fourth quarter. Christianson hit a jumper from
the left side to break a 29-29 tie, then picked off a pass and went in for a layup for a 33-29 lead, giving the Cougars the cushion they’d need to hold on.
    Morgan Markert finished with eight points, while Ashley Markert had four points, six assists and two steals. Rodewald finished with four points and
nine rebounds.
    Wagner led MFL-Mar-Mac with 13 points and Chelsey Lamker scored nine.
    Manson-Northwest Webster, in the tournament for the fourth straight year, moves on with a 23-1 record.
MFL-Mar-Mac finishes 21-4. (Courtesy of the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union Web site)

Dr. Smith Childcare Center 
still in the running for Pepsi grant

The Dr. Smith Childcare in McGregor, is still in the running for a $25,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Everything Project.
The project finished 27th at the end of February. Although organizers in McGregor were unaware of it, Pepsi rolls the top30 scoring grant applications
into the next month's round of voting. So supporters of the playground project have the month of March to try again for the grant money. The project only needs
to be in the Top 10 to win.
    Organizers would like to remind you that they still need your help climbing to the Top 10. As of March 3, the project is ranked 35th.
Please continue to cast your vote every day. And please feel free to pass this announcement along to any of your friends, relatives or
co-workers you think may be interested and willing to help our cause.
   The staff at the Dr. Smith Center hope to raise $25,000 with the monies from this grant to create a beautiful outdoor classroom with a
earning garden to teach children through natural experiences. The Dr. Smith Childcare Center has a large, fenced, vacant lot that could be used for this giant
outdoor classroom.If awarded, the center will construct raised gardens for flowers and vegetables. They will plant trees, bushes, and plants to
attract birds and butterflies. And they will build hills for climbing, and a beautiful garden for the children to learn about nature, science, and all about
the natural world.
    Again, the Center will be awarded the grant if they are one of the Top 10 ideas voted on in the ‘Educational’ category. Although this is a national
competition, there are a limited number of ideas in the running for this grant. Everyone can vote for our idea once a day until the end of the month.
    To vote all you have to do is register your email on www. refresheverything.com/The-LearningGarden and vote for the Dr. Smith Childcare
Center under the $25,000 educational category. The process takes less than 1 minute!

County budget hearing date set, taxes going up 

By Pat McTaggert

A public hearing will take place Wed., March 10, at 1:30 p.m. for a $16,880,000 Clayton County budget for fiscal year
2010-2011. Included in the budget is a property tax rate of $7.36 per $1,000 of assessed value for urban areas and $10.73 for rural areas.
If approved, the new rate will mean that the urban owner of a $100,000 home will pay $345 in the county portion of property taxes with the
state mandated 46.90 percent rollback.  The same homeowner in rural areas would pay $503.
    The fiscal 2009-2010 budget was $15,477,000 with an urban tax rate of $7.24 and a rural rate of $10.54.  With this year’s rollback of 45.58
percent, an urban home assessed at $100,000 cost the owner $330 and a rural home cost $478 in county property taxes.
    The Clayton County Board of Supervisors has stated that they would not vote to increase the salaries of any elected officials for the next fiscal year
in an effort to keep taxes down and cover a 10 percent increase in health insurance costs. A County Compensation Board recommendation, made in
December, called for a 1.4 percent pay increase for those officials.

Next bluffland conservation
ordinance discussion meeting scheduled

A second meeting has been scheduled to discuss the need for a bluffland ordinance in Clayton County. 
   
    Anyone interested in helping to determine if an ordinance is needed or wanted and then to assist in developing an ordinance
is invited to attend. This meeting will be held on Thursday, March 11 at 7 p.m. at the Central State Bank Community Room, 200 N. Main St. Elkader. 
   
    The meeting will include the discussion of questions presented by Gary Taylor at the informational meetings.  Questions such as: why do you want
to mange bluffland development (or do you)? What is the chosen balance between community goals and private property interests?  What does
   the community (county) have resources and/or capacity to do?
  
    These are some of the questions that need to be answered before an ordinance can even begin to be developed. 
If there are enough people present who represent different viewpoints and the consensus is that an ordinance is needed, then future meetings
will be scheduled for the group to begin developing an ordinance. Developing the ordinance—including researching and writing an ordinance that is
agreeable to the committee—and then presenting for approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Supervisors could take a least a year.
   
If anyone is interested in being involved with this process but cannot attend the meeting on the 11th they should call the Clayton County Health and Zoning office at 245-2451 and their name will be added to the list of interested people and they will be notified of future meetings.

Pocket City Post 
to celebrate 91st birthday

    American Legion Pocket City Post 267 and its Auxiliary will be celebrating its 91st birthday with an awards banquet on March 13 at Brainards Country
Change Restaurant at National, Iowa, on Highway 52. The evening will begin with a social hour at 6 p.m. with a banquet meal at  7 p.m.
    Tickets for the event are available from any Legion member or may be purchased at the door. Advance reservations are encouraged but not required.
    The program will consist of reports of the Posts activities of the past year as well as awards to longtime members and others. $500 scholarship awards will
be given to several students who will be attending college in the coming year.
    The featured speaker will be Rear Admiral Randall Hendrickson, former Marquette resident. Admiral Hendrickson gained international attention as
Commander of the USS Lake Erie, ballistic missile defense ship that shot down the wayward  satellite in the Pacific several years ago.
    This will be the 66th annual awards banquet held by Post 267 and promises to be both informative and entertaining. The public is welcome to attend.
Questions may be directed to Commander Dennis Regal 563-873-3789 or Adjutant Bob Eggen 563-873-2273.

Statistical study helps
reveal the status of Clayton County children

By Trudy Balcom

The Iowa Center for Child and Family Policy has released their annual statistical review of child well-being in Iowa.
    “Iowa Kids Count: Trends in the Well-Being of Iowa Children,” measures how children are faring in every county using 18 indicators such
as eligibility for federal free and reduced lunches and vaccination rates.
    The Kids Count initiative is funded through a foundation grant, and the study is conducted in all 50 states allowing the comparison of data
nationally, as well as locally within states. The most recent compilation compares data from 2000 to 2008, the most recent year for which most
data is available.
    According to the introduction of the most recent edition of Iowa Kids Count (Dec. 2009), in general, Iowa compares favorably with other states.
But the author indicates that Iowa’s child wellness outlook is slipping or remains stagnant in some areas. Often, data from Clayton County mirrors
statewide trends in this respect.
    In the case of Clayton County, many of the statistics reflect only slight changes, such as an increase or decrease of one or two. But since the
numbers are expressed as percentages based on population, and the county’s population has decreased slightly, the effect is often in the double-digits.
This appears to be the case across most rural Iowa counties that are also experiencing population declines.
    For example, in the measurement of child abuse and neglect, the Kids Count report shows a 25.8 percent increase in the county between 2000 and 2008.
    Confirmed cases of child abuse increased to 44 in 2008 compared to 43 in 2000, but the child population (ages 0-17) in the county decreased by 884.
    Still Clayton County’s numbers in this category do not compare favorably with two neighboring counties, Allamakee and Fayette. Allamakee lost only
349 children during that period, and their incidence of child abuse and neglect went down 37 percent. In Fayette, there were 1,106 fewer children in the county
in 2008 compared to 2000, and child abuse and neglect was down 9.4 percent.
    Statewide, the incidence of child abuse and neglect is up 19.4 percent.
    The measurement of those accessing Food Assistance, formerly known as Food Stamps, shows a predictable jump, due in part no doubt, to the decline
in the economy. Use of food assistance was up 59 percent in Clayton County between 2000 and 2008, while Allamakee County saw a staggering 122.3
percent increase over the same time period. Fayette County saw a 32 percent increase.
    Student test scores offered something of a bright spot. The statistics show the percentage of students who score as proficient in fourth grade reading and
eighth grade math. Between 2003 and 2008, Clayton County saw in increase of 7.3 percent of students rated as proficient in reading and a  seven percent
jump in those rated proficient in math. Allamakee County showed a big jump in math, with a 14.1 percent increase, and only a one percent jump in
reading. Fayette saw a big jump in reading scores with 12.5 percent, and a six percent increase in math scores. While Clayton County scores were lower,
they did show steadier overall growth.
    Statistics for unmarried teen births between the three counties showed surprisingly wide gaps. The numbers measured unmarried teen births
between 2000 and 2008. In Clayton County those births showed a 4.7 percent increase, Allamakee showed an increase of only eight-tenths of one
percent. Fayette, surprisingly showed an increase of 50.6 percent. Statewide, such births were down 3.7 percent.
    The current tight state budget situation and poor job growth will likely make improving the statewide and county figures for many of these
indicators difficult at best for the coming year.