Maxine M. Lee, 94, of Sigourney, Iowa, formerly of Webster, Iowa, died Saturday, December 10, 2011, at the Sigourney Care Center in Sigourney. A Celebration of Life Service was held at the Webster United Methodist Church Tuesday, December 13,  at 10:30 a.m. with Pastor Jim Stout officiating. Visitation was at the Powell Funeral Home in North English Monday, December 12,  from 4 – 7 p.m. Burial was in the South English Cemetery.

A memorial fund has been established for the Webster United Methodist Church and Keokuk County Hospice. Memorials and tributes may be left at www.powellfuneralhomes.com under obituaries.

The ALC annual mitten tree is in the lobby of the Wellman Coop Telephone Company where it will remain through Christmas.

Mittens and other cold weather items, such as gloves, mittens, hats, boots, scarves, sweatpants and sweatshirts may be left on or under the tree. Monetary donations to purchase similar items will be accepted.

The winter items will be distributed to children at Sunrise Daycare and Wellman Elementary School and Pre-School after the holidays.

By Elizabeth Rhodes

The Wellman council Monday discussed how to process resumes and interview candidates for the new Deputy Clerk position, noting it could look over resumes, but a smaller committee including City Administrator Mark Baker, City Clerk Donna Wade, Mayor Ryan Miller, and one council member would be present to interview the four to five finalists.

Read more…

By Mary Zielinski

Although the final Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) floodplain mapping may not be done until April, it already is impacting the Kalona real estate market.

City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh Monday told the council that right now 47 percent of homes on the market within the city are in Zone A, the firm floodplain designation that will bring with it mandatory floodplain insurance for any owner who has a federally backed mortgage. The market listing for the nine homes is $1,054,700; total market listings within the city limits is $1,984,000.

Although Kalona has not yet passed a floodplain ordinance, which would give property owners access to the Federal Flood Plain Insurance Program (FPIP), the ordinance likely will be enacted next year.

Initial premiums for the federal insurance are low, but within about two years increases heavily.  And while a property owner with no mortgage is not required to have the insurance, lack of it likely would impact the property sale, officials have said.

Read the entire story in the Dec. 8 issue of the Wellman Advance

The Washington County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved the third reading and passage of the ordinance establishing a Local Option Sales and Services Tax (LOSST).  County voters approved the measure by a wide margin in the November 8 elections and with the exception of Riverside and Brighton, there is no sunset clause in the municipalities. LOSST was first approved in the county in 2002 with Washington (city), Kalona and Coppock never setting a time limit.

Read the entire story in the Dec. 8 issue of the Wellman Advance

By Gloria Williams

Alivia Fox didn’t win anything in the recent Teen Miss Iowa pageant held in Newton October 16-17, but for her that was not the point.

Alivia Fox

“I went into it with the attitude that I’m not here to win, I’m here because I know it’s fun,” says the 16- year-old junior at Mid-Prairie. “I’m here for the experience.” This was the second time Fox entered a pageant. Last year she competed in the National American Miss, which had more girls competing and gave her some experience, though not all of it was good. “This one I thought was way more organized,” says Fox. “You had enough time to change without being rushed.” During the first pageant, the hook that kept the zipper up on her strapless dress broke.

Read the entire story in the current issue of the Wellman Advance

During its meeting November 16 at the Riverside Casino, the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) awarded a total of $653,837 to 34 of the 80 applicants with slightly more than 50 percent going to area schools.  The amount, $327,942, in 16 grants went to Highland, Keota, Mid-Prairie, Washington, Columbus  and St. James schools for everything from musical instruments to football and track lighting.

Among the 18 non-school awards was $70,000 to the city of Riverside for the splash pad and  $7,750 to the Riverside Ball Association for a backstop replacement, both of which will benefit youth.  Another youth involving grant, awarded to Main Street Washington, is $2,000 to aid with Youth Art Show Exhibits and Displays.  The largest single grant, $80,000 went to the Highland School District for new football/track lighting at the high school, and the grant for the splash pad in Riverside was the second highest.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Wellman is again sponsoring a  Christmas Tour of Homes Sunday, December 11 from 4 – 7:30 p.m.  Four homes in Wellman and St. Mary’s Rectory in Riverside are part of the three and a half hour tour.

The proceeds will benefit the youth programs of the cluster parishes of Wellman, Holy Trinity Church at Richmond and St. Mary’s, Riverside.  Tickets are $6 for the entire tour and can be purchased at any of the homes that afternoon. Youth group members will be at each home to welcome guests.

Homes included in the tour are:

• Randy and Vicki Erwin, 1910 Ginkgo Ave (five miles south of Wellman)

• Shannon and Donna McCain, 716 14th Street in Wellman (north of the water tower)

• Doug and Leslie Slaubaugh, 106 Fairview in Wellman (north of the golf course)

• Phyllis Martin, 502 11th Street, Wellman (west of St. Joseph’s Church).

• St. Mary’s Rectory, 51 St. Mary’s Street, Riverside.

By Elizabeth Rhodes

Monday, November 21, the Wellman City Council heard from City Administrator Mark Baker, who addressed the issue of providing funding for residents to complete individual storm water repair projects. “The city has in the past funded projects on private property to help landowners with drainage issues—the city has established a precedent of doing that,” said Baker. Baker continued by saying, “Typically problems are to be handled by landowners.”

“The city should, however, be involved in drainage problems comprehensively,” added Baker, “I don’t see that (funding private projects) as what the storm water utility was set up to do. I would propose it’s much more cost-effective, to have a city study that area and to determine what the solution would be.”

Baker proposed that with the storm water utility, the city “do a more comprehensive analysis versus tile to individual properties—look at the larger scale problem.”

See the Nov. 24 edition of The Advance for the complete story.

By Mary Zielinski

Although not unknown on its streets right now, golf carts and their related utility trail vehicles could be a familiar sight in Kalona.  Monday, the city council okayed going ahead with an amendment to the city ordinances providing for allowing golf carts on city streets, provided operators have a city-issued permit.  The ordinance likely will be passed in December.

The ordinance, largely based on a similar one in North Liberty, calls for a $25 annual permit fee, sets a speed limit of 25 mph for the vehicles and a initial fine of $75 for a first violation and $100 for any subsequent ones.

All operators of any of the vehicles must have a  valid driver’s license and be at least 17-years-old.  The ordinance also requires that the vehicles have headlights and taillights; however, times of operation on the streets is limited to the hours between sunrise and sunset.

By Mary Zielinski

Washington County Auditor Bill Fredrick submitted his resignation, effective in mid-January, to the Washington County Board of Supervisors.  The resignation is the second within a week for the county; last week Dave Patterson, the county engineer, announced his effective January 13.

Fredrick said he was essentially retiring and might extend his departure until the end of January, depending on what the board wants.  If he had remained, his position would have been up for election in November 2012.

“This way the board can have an interim auditor,” he said, “someone who may then want to run for election.”  It also will provide sufficient time for any candidates to consider the post, he noted.

The board also learned of another resignation, that of Jennifer Bennett from the Washington County Environmental Health office.

Arranged by Deb Seward and Kathy Duwa, the local Quilts of Valor training session saw four quilts done for the national organization who provides hand sewn quilt to wounded veterans.
“The goal is to make a quilt for every veteran,” said Duwa, noting they first are going to injured veterans, “now for those who received purple hearts.”
For the session in the church hall of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Wellman, 18 showed up to either learn or teach how to make the quilts.  Among them were six members of the local 4-H club and some experienced quilters.
One of the most enthusiastic was Brittany Megan Jones whose completed top features patriotic red, white and blue squares framing a large central panel with an American eagle.
Part of the session included a large printed American flag panel on which all the quilters will sign their names.  When it is completed, the quilt is to be presented to a local World War II veterans who, yes, was wounded.
Although he national QOV site noted 1,707 quilts were made in September, Duwa explained that “right now we are 712 quilts short per day” to provide one for each veteran.
Each of the finished quilts will be presented in a matching pillowcase.