Jason Parrott

The decision by the Iowa Legislature to revamp the state’s mental health care system has counties struggling to determine their role in the new landscape.

The state will pay for Medicaid-related services, which means counties will receive less in reimbursements.

In response, Des Moines County established waiting lists for a wide variety of services. 

CPC Administrator Ken Hyndman says the idea was to reduce spending in case the county’s budget runs short without certain state reimbursements.

Voters in Iowa will go to the polls on Tuesday, June 5.  They will decide who should move on to the November general election.

Lee County is offering a new option to residents that could make their voting experience much quicker.

The county currently uses a voter registration system known as the Precinct Atlas.  It was developed by the Cerro Gordo County Auditor and is used by dozens of Iowa counties.

The system stores voter information electronically.

Fort Madison is trying to organize and prioritize its future infrastructure needs.

City Manager Byron Smith says the city has not had a capital improvement plan since he arrived in January 2009.  He says city staff has been working on a five-year forecast for the last six months.

Smith says the wide-ranging document will cover a variety of projects, including streets, water lines, sewer projects, vehicles, and large-scale equipment.

The five-year capital improvement plan would include cost estimates and potential revenue sources for the projects.

Fort Madison plans to have its new rental property inspection program up and running by July.

City Manager Byron Smith says Fort Madison is finalizing the forms and documents related to the program.  It has already received city council approval.

Smith says letters will soon be sent to the owners of rental properties throughout the city.  He says it will inform them that property registration will get underway in July, with inspections to begin shortly afterwards.

The Warsaw School District’s next superintendent has plenty of ties to the community.

The Warsaw School Board and Matt Runge have reached an agreement on a contract that would have him on the job by July 1.  His base pay is expected to be about $105,000.

Runge currently serves as the superintendent of the Liberty School District near Quincy.

He is no stranger to Warsaw as his wife teaches there and his children have either graduated from Warsaw or are still enrolled in the district.

The Keokuk City Council must decide how the city should pay for some highly-anticipated street work.

Keokuk replaced some sewer lines around Wells-Carey Elementary about two years ago.

The project required crews to tear up several streets to do the work.

Keokuk did not immediately replace them, though, because the sewer needed time to settle.  Gravel was added for the time being, but that has led to plenty of complaints from residents about dust.

The Burlington School District is looking into a note left on multiple cars following the recent high school graduation ceremony.

It’s been reported that the note mentioned bullying, intimidation and miscommunication by teachers towards students at the high school.

The signature was from the “Graduating Class of 2012.”

Superintendent Jane Evans says similar concerns were recently raised by a student during a meeting of the School Improvement Advisory Committee.

She plans to meet with the high school administrative team about both incidents.

An expansion and renovation of the Burlington Animal Shelter could get underway this summer.

The city council voted 3-2 to hire Myers Construction to do the work.  The $820,000 bid from the firm out of Sperry, Iowa was the lowest of the three received by the city.

Burlington will split the cost of the project with the Des Moines County Humane Society.  The organization has raised more than $500,000 for the shelter since its fundraising campaign began in 2010.

Fort Madison’s downtown district will receive a makeover this summer.   The city received a $500,000 state grant to help pay for façade improvements for thirteen buildings. 

The grant will cover 70% of the cost of the project with the building owners picking up the remaining 30%.

Fort Madison Main Street’s Executive Director Mary Ottoson says the façade improvements are currently in the design phase.

She says the project should go out for bid in early July.  Each phase will be bid in a way that one contractor will handle all of the painting or masonry, for example.