OFFICIAL
NEWSPAPER FOR
AND
NORWALK COMMUNITY
SCHOOL DISTRICT
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Town and County
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Vol. 42 No. 7 Norwalk, Iowa 50211 USPS No. 395-120 Phone 981-0406 Thursday, July 8, 2010
LETTERS
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We publish letters to the editor when they are not
libelous and when they are signed by the person or
persons submitting them. Opinions expressed are
not necessanqy the opinions of the N/Warren
Town and County News staff. Letters are printed
as received. We do not correct spelling and
grammatical errors.
Letter to the Editor:
The city of Norwalk has scheduled a public hearing
on a pending bond issue: Thursda) July 8, 2010 6:00
p.m. in the church hall at St. John the Apostle Catholic
Church. (under the water tower) It was moved to St.
Johns from the library in anticipation of a large crowd.
I am sure there will be a notice elsewhere in this pa-
per announcing the meeting..I am equally sure there
will not be much detail, just another city meeting. Who
cares? We should care. This is our city and our money
and it is a lot of money - $11 million. The city officials
will argue that everyone of these items is essential. They
will tell us that we have waited way too long and we
need to step up to the plate and do what needs to be
done. Some of the requests I agree with. Some have not
enough detail yet to earn my support. That is the pur-
pose of this meeting. We have an obligation to monitor
and comment on what our elected officials are doing.
This is our opportunity.
A few examples:
Ambulance replacement - $168,000.00, This unit is in
good running c.ondition with approx. 60,000 miles. Es-
sential? - I think not. How often are both units dis-
patched at the same time?
Police vehicle replacement- $96,000.00 for two units?
Each unit should cost less than $30,000. Take the equip-
ment off the old units and install it on the new vehicles.
Basketball courts - $50,000.00. Again, is this really
essential? Certainly we can do better than this.
Police secure storage facility - $9,000.00. A secure
room for ammo inside a secure police station. Essen-
t[al?
City hall - $1,400,000.00 for a building that already
exists? Just exactly what is the plan here? Do we have
bids on the $4,600,000.00 public works facility? How
was this figure obtained?
Several line items have no detail associated with
them. A $300,000.00 block for water projects, another
for sewer projects and another for streets.
Trails - $250,000.00. This was reduced from
$400,000.00. This certainly cannot be the final thirty (30)
feet of bike trail could it? Or is this the giant slush fund
we use for spending on anything and everything not in
the budget? It appears many of these line items are
bloated estimates with monies left over for projects not
detailed.
Do we need a policy which states all moneys not spent
on the specific items requested must be returned to the
general fund?
Wright road overlay - Absolutely, years overdue. If I
had my way, we would begin a program to re-pave our
city streets. I have been here for twenty (20) years and
other than new construction, I have not seen any streets
re-paved. Lakewood streets are like driving in a third
world country. North Ave. and Cherry Street are like
washboards. We continue to patch our patches. How
many man hours have been spent doing over what we
have already done?
These are but a few of the items I hope we will dis-
cuss. I did not even mention the Public Building Sur-
veillance and Wireless System or the Public Safety Digi-
tal Surveillance System. No, they are not the same. There
are twenty-five (25) items listed. I would hope every-
one attending would receive a copy as they enter the
meeting. I would hope these items would be detailed in
the official public notice of the meeting elsewhere in
this paper. If not, we should insist they are in all future
meetings of this type.
I promise to attend the meeting with an open mind. I
have spoken to most of the council and I truly believe
they are doing their best to position the city for our fu-
ture. But, it is critical that they know we are paying at-
tention to how our money is being spent. With the
economy in the condition it is in; our unemployment
rate as it is; the definition of "ESSENTIAL" is essential.
Is this the time? They have already raised our water and
sewer rates. Mark Miller will be pushing for a 5 percent
tax on our electric rates and another 5 percent tax on
our natural gas rates. The court just recently ruled these
taxes are legal so guess what? We seem to have no con-
trol over federal spending and you can bet the school
will be asking for more after they spend our millions on
new projects rather than paying down on the Lakewood
and Oviatt school bonds. We must know beyond this
bond issue, what other taxes to expect.
Is there a good reason not to attend this meeting?
/s/Domonick Cimino
Norwalk Hardware & Auto
729 Main Street
All School
Reunion
The annual All-School
reunion will be held Sun-
day, Aug. 8, from 1 to 4
p.m. at the EastView Caf-
eteria behind Norwalk
High School.
A program will begin at
2 p.m. The cost is two dol-
lars at the door. For more
information, call Becky
Barkley at 244-8046.
Farmer's Market
This Friday
Area residents are re-
minded that the Norwalk
Area Chamber of Com-
merce will once again be
hosting a Farmer's Market
each lriday through Oct. 1
from 4 to 7 p.m. in the
parking lot in front of the
Dollar General Store in
Sunset Plaza.
Venders interested in
participating may contact
the Chamber Office at 981-
0619 or norwalkchamber
@msn.com.
NOTICE
The Town Meeting scheduled for
June 24th was postponed and will
be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 8,
at St. John the Apostle Catholic
Church, 720 Orchard Hills Dr.
Norwalk City Clerk Jeff Rosien
advises that Capital Improvement
Projects will be discussed and that
there will be a Question and Answer
period. This is an informational
meeting only and no official action
will be taken.
D.A.R.E. Golf Fundraiser
The eighth annual D.A.R.E. Golf Fundraiser will be
held at Rolling Hills Golf Course on Hwy 28 south of
Norwalk Friday, July 16, with a Shotgun Start at 5 p.m.
All proceeds go to the Norwalk Police Department and
Warren County Sheriff's Office for D.A.R.E. programs.
The Four-Person Best Ball event is nine holes and costs
$40 per person. The fee includes golf, cart and prizes.
Registration forms are available at the Rolling Hills
Golf Course, Norwalk Police Department, Warren
County Sheriff's Office, as well as some local businesses.
Registrations are due at either the Norwalk Police De-
partment or the Warren County Sheriff's Office by 5 p.m.
Monda July 12. Registrations are limited to the first 80
golfers.
There will be prizes for the Closest to Pin, Longest
Drive, Longest Putt and Hole-In-One.
Hole sponsorships are also available for $100.
For more information, contact Officer Brad Criswell
at the Norwalk Police Department 981-0666, or Deputy
Randy Spurr at the Warren County Sheriff's Office 961-
1122.
Annual Booster Club Meeting
The Annual Meeting for the Norwalk Athletic Booster
Club will be held Wednesday, July 28, at 8 p.m. follow-
ing the regular monthly meeting held at 7 p.m. All
booster club members are welcome to attend the regu-
lar monthly meeting and are encouraged to attend the
annual meeting where voting of 2010-2011 officers will
take place. Both meetings will be held in the Norwalk
High School Media Center.
Assistance For June
Storm Damages
d
Governor Chet Culver has issued a disaster procla-
mation for Cherokee, Mahaska, Polk and Warren coun-
ties in response to recent severe weather. The procla- .
mation allows state resources to be deployed to help
individuals who reside in affected counties and need
assistance.
Mahala Cox, Director of Warren County Emergency
Management, advised that with the Governor naming
Warren County in the disaster proclamation, it opens a
Department of Human Services recover grant for indi-
vidual citizens. This is open for storm damage received
during June, she noted. The grant is geared toward low
income families and some may have income above the
identified levels. For those citizens who do not meet the
financial requirements of the state program, she will be
checking with FEMA and their requirements in open-
ing FEMA grants.
The Governor's disaster proclamation authorizes the
implementation of the State Individual Assistance Grant
Program to assist eligible residents of the above coun-
ties. The state monitors the needs of families after a storm
or flooding occurs and then issues the disaster procla-
mation on an as-needed basis. The Governor urges
people impacted by recent flooding to contact their
county emergency management coordinators to report
damages so the state is aware of the needs of each county.
The state's Individual Assistance Program provides
up to $5,000 in reimbursements for damages incurred
for individuals and families whose income is below 200
percent above the federal poverty level. That means in-
dividuals making $21,660 or less may qualify and a fam-
ily of four making $44,100 or less may qualify.
Warren County residents may download application
and instructions by going to http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/
index.html and then click on Storm Help! You may con-
tact Mahala Cox at 515-961-1105.
