EG Board Votes To Share Jr Hi Sports

VOTES GOES 3-2; WILL START NEXT YEAR

East Greene school board voted 3-2 on Wednesday, Feb. 15, to share junior high sports next year with Jefferson-Scranton. The vote comes after a work session last month that was primarily dedicated to discussing the pros and cons of offering junior high sports one more year.

Board president Marc Hoffman, Tim Bardole and Ashley Johnston voted in favor with Rich Gordon and David Tipton opposed.

More than two dozen interested students, parents and patrons of the district turned out for the meeting, although some of them were senior class members making a presentation to the board for approval of a senior class trip at the end of the school year. Several others were present to discuss the proposed closing of the Rippey school, which was the topic of a public meeting in Rippey on Jan. 18.

Hoffman and Tipton took sides right off the bat. Hoffman referred to a list of 15 requests to open enroll out of the East Greene district because of the junior high sports situation. He noted these families want to send their children to a school that can offer sports for those grades without concerns that too few students will be available to field a team.

“When I look down at this list, it’s telling us what should be done,” he said. Looking at the list, he noted that if the students listed do leave the district, “we won’t have a girls high school basketball team next year” as apparently some of the middle school parents who expressed in enrolling out were also parents of high school students.

Hoffman said the loss of those 15 students would be “$6,000 each, that’s a loss of $90,000 to the district on top of $146,000 that the state will cut in aid to the district next year. We would be operating with $236,000 fewer dollars.”

Tipton and Gordon acknowledged the numbers for girls are very low but were in favor of keeping boys sports separate next year for junior high but having the girls share.

Bardole had expressed his sentiment that both boys and girls “stay together” for junior high sports in the work session last month. Tipton disagreed, noting that the junior high teams traditionally have participated independent of each other.

Johnston made a point about games being cancelled due to low numbers from opposing teams. This is valid, as in football, East Greene completed an 8-man junior high game where Adair-Casey finished the game with just 8 players and no reserves on the sidelines. She also asked about the girls’ participation levels in junior high volleyball, which school officials say has a higher turnout than basketball and softball.

Hoffman repeated his concerns about students not getting a full participatory experience, noting that in the past years East Greene has had to cancel junior varsity games in football due to low numbers because the JV players needed to be moved up to varsity.

He said the “junior high boys can go over there and learn 11-man football,” but Tipton countered at that age level they are learning the fundamentals, which are the same for both 8-man and 11-man football.

Two parents addressed the board. Mary Millard, parent of sixth grade girl, spoke in support of sharing, Tina King, parent of a seventh grade boy, spoke in favor of keeping boys here.

The board had earlier committed itself to keeping high school sports here at East Greene for two years even though all the students would be attending classes in Jefferson. That decision has since been amended to one more year. The district will need to create a class for all East Greene high school students at the beginning or end of the school day and the class must be taught by an East Greene teacher. Yet all of East Greene’s current junior and high school teachers will be teaching in Jefferson next year.

Bardole, who was out of town, but participated by teleconference, said “we’ve been talking about sports for three years.” He then made a motion for an “up and down vote” on sharing junior high sports with Jefferson-Scranton, which was seconded and approved 3-2.

In other business, the board:

*Approved a senior class trip to Minneapolis. Senior class members Karissa Wilkens and Harrison Johnston appeared before the board to discuss their plans to travel to Minneapolis in May. Amber Wilkens and Jeremy Richards, parents of Karissa Wilkens, and Jake Smith, EG transportation director, will be the chaperones for the trip with Smith handling driving duties. The class has raised enough money to pay for the costs of the trip ($3,100) plus funds for an after-prom party at Misty Lanes in Grand Junction that will cover costs for pizza, soft drinks, bowling and video games ($700).

*Approved offering boys golf for the spring. Athletic director Tony Beger told the board that five students are going out and three have previous golf experience. Team golf scores are comprised of the top four golfers scores. If a full team is not available, golfers can still participate and their individual scores are included the in meet medalist and runner-up competitions.

*Approved spring sports coaching contracts for Charles Brobst, golf; Dean Lyons, boys track; Steve Sillyman, girls track; Tony Beger, junior high boys track; and Ron Fick, junior high girls track.

Hawks Advance to District Finals

EG BEATS ANKENY CHRISTIAN 56-49

East Greene came from behind the in the fourth quarter to beat Ankeny Christian Academy 56-49 in a district semifinal game tonight at Rippey. The win puts the Hawks in the district championship game in Boone on Thursday night against Guthrie Center.

Ankeny Christian came out strong and took a 15-7 first quarter lead. Both teams played evenly in the second quarter with the Eagles holding to a 26-18 advantage at the half.

ACA was still in control in the second half, staking out a 36-29 lead at the end of three quarters of play. The Hawks mounted a rally and cut the lead to 36-34. EG then hit two back-to-back three-pointers to take its first lead of the game, 40-36. The Hawks maintained the intensity and were up 43-40 with 3:32 left in the game.

The Hawks kept their poise against the ACA full-court press and hit some key free throws down the stretch to get the win. EG outscored ACA 27-10 in the final quarter.

Wyatt Beaman had 20 points to led the Hawks and Reed Ostrander had 18. Damon Stubbs lead ACA with 18.

EG takes a 12-10 record into the district championship game. This was the third game this season between EG and ACA with the teams splitting the first two. The Eagles end the season with a 16-7 record.

Guthrie Center (14-9) advanced to the final with a 54-48 win over Coon Rapids-Bayard, which ends its season at 11-12.

Hawks Advance, Beat Madrid 60-55

HOST DISTRICT SEMIFINAL TONIGHT IN RIPPEY

A 60-55 win over Madrid on Thursday, Feb. 16, in quarterfinal district action at Rippey advanced East Greene into the semifinal round. EG takes on conference foe Ankeny Christian Academy in a 7 p.m. game tonight at Rippey. The Eagles (16-6) and the Hawks (11-10) split their games during the regular season with each winning on the other’s home court.

Against Madrid, EG jumped out to an early 7-4 lead but the Tigers tied it up 9-all midway through the first quarter. The Hawks moved in front by three on an Alex Gordon three-pointer, 14-11, and a Wyatt Beaman trey—just as the quarter ended—put EG ahead 20-15.

Madrid then cut the lead to 20-17, but Broc Timm came off the bench and hit a three-pointer to put the Hawks on top 23-17.

Late in the half, with the Hawks leading 28-23, Madrid’s C.J. Manthe was called for a foul while defending Tory Beger. The EG playmaker motioned to the referees that he had been hit in the mouth on what was a definitely a hard foul by the Madrid football and track standout. The official closest didn’t care for Beger’s feedback and called a technical foul on him.

Beger went to the line first for his foul shots and connected of the front-half of a 1-and-1. Manthe then got two foul shots but could connect on only one, cutting EG’s lead to 29-24. The half ended with the Hawks still in front, 33-29.

As the second half got underway, the Tigers tied the score at 33-all on a free throw and a three-pointer. The two teams played evenly the rest of the quarter. Madrid had switched to a man-to-man after the break which put the brakes on the Hawks’ outside attack while at the same time bottling up the middle, keeping EG center Reed Ostrander away from the basket.

The Hawks got the lead back on a lay-up at the buzzer to end the quarter with a 42-40 advantage.

Ostrander then started to find his touch on both ends of the court. He was fouled while driving to the basket and hit both free throws, putting the Hawks in front 48-43. The Hawks then got a stop and came down the court and scored again on a Wyatt Beaman jumper, stretching the lead to 50-43.

Loew had been having success driving against Ostrander, and he slipped through the lane again, pulling the Tigers to within five points, 50-45 with 5:22 left in the game.

Ostrander took aim from beyond the arc, however, and got the home town ignited as the Hawks stretched their lead to 53-45.

EG held the Tigers at bay the rest of the game. The final score is misleading as the Hawks were ahead 60-52 as the final seconds ticked away. Manthe threw up an off-balance three-pointer with 2.2 seconds that drew a foul from Gordon, sending Manthe to the line with three free shots. The Tigers had gone just 6-of-12 from the line all night, but Manthe connected on all three to make the final tally 60-55.

Ostrander scored 35 points to lead the Hawks with Beaman adding 14. The Hawks were 19 of 35 from the field for 54% and 7 of 17 for three-point shooting for 41%. EG went 15 of 22 for 68% at the free throw line with some key shots made down the stretch as Madrid was forced to foul to stop the clock.

Loew lead the Tigers with 22 points and 15 rebounds, helping Madrid to a 32-25 rebounding advantage, one of the few games this season—especially a win—where EG was outrebounded. Mark Nerhrin added 15 points and Manthe had 12.

Manthe’s final three free throws moved the team’s foul shooting to 9 of 15 (60%) but the Hawk defense gave the Tiger shooters fits all night. EG held Madrid to 38% on 22 of 58 field goals and just 14% (2 of 14) three-point shooting.

East Greene evened its season record at 10-10 with a 77-73 road win at Audubon on Friday, Feb. 10, in the final regular season game of the year.

EG and Audubon battled evenly at the start of the game with the Hawks ahead 14-12 at the end of the first quarter. “We came out slow against Audubon because we knew nothing about them,” said coach Mark Renslow. “Then we started playing some defense and hitting three’s and they couldn’t stop us.”

The Hawks had a 37-28 advantage at halftime and stretched the lead to 58-39 at the end of three quarters. Audubon mounted a furious rally and nearly pulled even with the Hawks. “We lost our composure with their press and let them get back in it,” said Renslow. “They just ran out of time, and we hit our free throws down the stretch.”

Offensively, the Hawks had their most balanced effort of the season with five players in double figures. Reed Ostrander led the charge with 19 points with Alex Gordon, back in the lineup after an absence of several games, scoring 18. Wyatt Beaman notched 16 and Tory Beger and Cody Hidlebaugh each added 10.

DISTRICT FINAL IN BOONE ON THURSDAY

The winner of the EG-Ankeny Christian game tonight will face the winner of the Guthrie Center side of the bracket in a district final on Thursday night in Boone. The Guthrie bracket game matches up two West Central Conference rivals—Guthrie Center and Coon Rapids-Bayard.

CRB (11-11) beat Woodward-Granger 55-47 at Woodward to advance while Guthrie Center (13-9), the top-seed in District 6, beat Audubon, 63-47. Audubon had moved into the quarterfinal round with a first-round win over Glidden-Ralston, 59-52.

Madrid had advanced after beating Paton-Churdan 66-37 in a match-up of lower-seeded teams on Monday, Feb. 13, with the winner to face East Greene, the No. 2 seed. Ankeny Christian, the No. 3 seed, took out Southeast Webster-Grand in Ankeny, 67-53, on Thursday in Ankeny.

CRB, WG, Madrid and Guthrie Center all are West Central Conference teams. Des Moines Christian (19-1 WC) beat Ogden (18-2 WC) for the league title outright with a 79-70 win over the Bulldogs in Ogden on Feb. 7. DMC and Ogden are both 2A teams. Each is playing for a district title to tonight, and they could face-off for the third time this year in a substate game at Johnston on Saturday. The winner will advance to the state championship.

DMC takes on Panorama, another West Central team, at Adel while Ogden meets St. Edmond (Fort Dodge) in Boone. Ogden handed DMC its only loss this season in Urbandale. Ogden’s only other loss was to Earlham.

Woodward-Granger had the best finish of the Class 1A teams in the West Central, tying Woodward Academy for third place, 13-7. Guthrie Center followed at 12-8 and CRB was right behind with a 10-10 mark.

Guthrie and CRB have solid tournament tradition. Guthrie advanced to state last year and finished as consolation champion. CRB was a state tourney qualifier in 2010. This makes for a power-packed group of semifinalists as Ankeny Christian was also a 2010 state qualifier. The Eagles finished third (14-4) in the Rolling Hills this season while EG was fifth (9-9).

All five of the upper division teams in the Rolling Hills are still in contention in the post-season and two are guaranteed to advance tonight as they take on another conference team. Along with ACA at EG, league foes Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton and Adair-Casey square off tonight in Elk Horn. CAM (Anita), the league runner-up, hosts Corning. Winner of tonight’s games in Anita and Elk Horn meet for the district championship on Thursday in Clarinda. The Clarinda district winner meets the I-35 (Truro) district winner in a substate game at Southwestern Community College in Creston on Saturday.

ACA beat EG 73-55 in the first game between the two teams in Rippey in early December. When they met again in Ankeny in January, the Eagles were without Zach Cousins, who had poured in 32 points on 13-of-14 shooting from the field and went 6-of-9 from the line, along with 7 rebounds and 7 steals, in the game at Rippey.

The Hawks had the upper hand in the rematch, winning 60-53. Sources says Cousins, a junior, has left the team and school, transferring to Ankeny High School. He was the top shooter on the team with 13.7 points per game average and 66% field goal accuracy. His last game for ACA was a Dec. 20 win over Walnut. ACA was 5-1 through that game. Since then, the Eagles have gone 11-5.

The winner of the District 6 winner will move on to face the District 5 winner in a substate game on Saturday at Fort Dodge. District 5 features No. 2-ranked and defending state champion St. Mary’s (Storm Lake) and No. 5-ranked Harris-Lake Park. St. Mary’s (22-0) hosts Bishop Garrigan (Algona) tonight while Harris-Lake Park (21-0) takes on Newell-Fonda in Lake Park. Tonight’s winners will meet Thursday in Emmetsburg.

Rolling Hills Conference Boys Basketball
FINAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
(Season records through Thurs., Feb. 16)
Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton  17-1                 20-1
CAM (Anita)                        15-3                 18-4
Ankeny Christian                  14-4                 16-6
Adair-Casey                          11-7                 13-8
East Greene                             9-9                 11-10
Orient-Macksburg                  7-11                 8-12
Iowa Christian                        7-11                 7-13
Glidden-Ralston                     6-12                 7-15
Walnut                                    4-14                 8-15
Paton-Churdan                        0-18                 0-20

Hawkettes End Season in Regional Loss

SWG ROLLS TO 69-25 WIN; EG FINISHES 2-20

Southeast Webster-Grand rolled over East Greene 69-25 on Thursday, Feb. 9 in Burnside in opening regional action for both teams. SWG moved on to the quarterfinal round and beat Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg) in overtime, 51-46, on Tuesday, Feb. 14. SWG meets seventh-ranked Newell-Fonda tonight in a regional semifinal game in Manson.

SWG took it to the Hawkettes early, jumping out to a 15-8 first quarter led and extending that to 36-15 at the half. The Hawkettes continued to struggle in the second half, as the Eagles outscored them 33-10. EG was held to just 2 points in the final quarter.

Only four Hawkettes registered on the score sheet. Chelsi Wilkens had 14 points and Hannah Onken tallied 7. Brittany Gunn added 3 points and Shelby Cooklin 1. Wilkens lead the rebounding effort with 9 with Onken pulling down 6 and Jolee Wessling 3. Wilkens also had 3 blocked shots.

The Hawkettes ended the season 2-20, but the entire squad returns next year as the team is comprised of two juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen. The Hawkette junior high team this year had eight eighth graders, so the numbers for next season’s final year of EG Hawkette basketball are expected to be higher—both in participants and victories.

Rolling Hills Conference Girls Basketball 2011-12

Final Conference and Overall Season Records
Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira               17-1                 18-4
Adair-Casey                                      16-2                 19-3
Iowa Christian                                  14-4                 17-5
Orient-Macksburg                             11-7                 13-9
CAM (Anita)                                      9-9                   9-13
Walnut                                                7-11               10-13
Ankeny Christian                                6-12                 6-16
Glidden-Ralston                                 5-13                 6-16
Paton-Churdan                                    3-15                 3-18
East Greene                                         2-16                 2-20

Seven of the 10 Rolling Hills Conference teams were beaten in the first round. The three survivors fell by the wayside in the quarterfinal round. Glidden-Ralston was drubbed by Newell-Fonda 88-24, Woodward-Granger beat Iowa Christian Academy 40-32, and No. 15 Coon Rapids-Bayard edged league champion Exira/Elk Horn Kimballton, 36-35.

The big surprise in last Thursday’s opening round was Earlham’s 56-42 win over No. 12 Adair-Casey, which came into the game with a 19-2 record and runner-up spot in the Rolling Hills. That and other losses left the RH with a 1-5 record against teams from other leagues. The only other wins were those of conference teams beating other conference teams.

Class 2A teams Jefferson-Scranton and Ogden were both sidelined in their regional opening games. Ogden was drubbed by 89-16 by IKM-Manning. Jefferson-Scranton fell to Audubon, 49-42. The Rams ended the season 5-19 and 4-14 in the Rolling Hills Conference. Ogden ended its season 4-18 and 2-16 in the West Central Conference. Ogden’s only wins were over Class 1A teams—Madrid (twice), East Greene and Southeast Webster-Grand. Like East Greene, both teams were very young this season, with only one senior and quite a few freshmen on each squad’s varsity roster.

School Board Discusses JH Sports Sharing

SHARE WITH J-S OR GO IT ALONE NEXT SEASON?

School officials continue to deal with the thorny issue of school sports as East Greene moves forward on its whole grade sharing with Jefferson-Scranton in 2012-13.

The issue of middle school sports as a stand-alone program was the topic under discussion at an East Greene school board work session held Jan. 11 at the ICN room in the Grand Junction building. Subtext to that discussion was keeping high school sports as a separate entity for next school year and closing the Rippey elementary building.

School board members assured a gathering of 21 interested parents and patrons of the district that we would maintain high school sports here for at least one year. That issue surfaced when the associations that govern boys and girls high school sports in Iowa informed East Greene school officials in the fall that with our students attending high school next year in Jefferson, we are no longer considered a sanctioned high school. Therefore, we could not offer sports.

Superintendent Mike Harter said he had been informed differently by the State Department of Education in the process leading up to the vote to sign a whole grade sharing agreement with Jefferson-Scranton last summer. Both districts concurred that each would offer its own sports program for the two academic years covered by the agreement, which is the agreement both districts approved.

Harter informed the board in late 2011 of a compromise proposal where East Greene will offer its students a class in the Grand Junction building either at the beginning or end of the day next year taught by an East Greene teacher.

That appears to have passed muster with Iowa High School Athletic Association, as East Greene has been included in next season’s 8-Man football district assignments. EG has been assigned to District 6, comprised of nine teams: Adair-Casey, Ankeny Christian Academy, Colo-Nesco, East Greene, East Union (Afton), Grandview Park Baptist (Des Moines), Lamoni, Mormon Trail (Garden Grove) and Murray.

So the continuation of sports means the Rippey gym will be used next year—as in past years—for varsity and JV basketball and varsity, JV and junior high volleyball.

However, students will no longer attend classes at Rippey. Students in PreK through 4^th will relocate from Rippey to Grand Junction while the 5^th and 6^th grade students from both EG and JS will attend classes in Grand Junction. The board held a public hearing on the topic in the Rippey gym on Jan. 18 with understanding that no decision would be made that night on closing the building and relocating elementary classrooms to Grand Junction. The topic is on the agenda for this month’s regular school board meeting.

Driving that decision is the need to make both buildings accessible to the handicapped and the fact that declining enrollments the last decade preclude the need to have two buildings, both of which would house elementary students.

As discussion moved forward in the fall on next year’s sports and the current winter basketball season got underway, the low number of girls in high school and junior high school sports became apparent. East Greene has a considerable disparity between the number of boys versus girls enrolled in school which is reflected in participation levels in sports. The high school girls basketball team (varsity and junior varsity) consists of just two upperclassmen (both juniors), four sophomores and four freshmen. That is the entire team—10 members. For a period of time the junior high girls had just six basketball players in uniform. At most, there were nine, and of those nine, all but one were eighth graders.

Red flags went up quickly over the ability to field a full junior high girls team next year if there will be just one holdover going from seventh to eighth grade. The number of interested sixth grade girls participating next year was on the table for discussion. According to a coach at the meeting, five sixth grade girls have expressed interest in basketball next season as seventh graders.

That may not be enough—either for a full-range of participation in games (six total for seventh and eighth grades) or to placate parents concerned that too few girls mean a team possibly could not take the court as the season progresses due to illness or possible injuries.

Some parents have already indicated their support to have our junior high share sports with Jefferson-Scranton. The students will be attending classes together each day in the middle school building in Jefferson. However, they will be East Greene students. If there is no combined sports program, the families who want their junior high age students to participate in sports with Jefferson-Scranton would have to open enroll. The deadline for 2012-13 is March 1, 2012.

“Three or four families have told me they will open enroll [to another district] for sports, not because of it,” said Marc Hoffman, board president.  “I would love to push the problem off and let it take its course. The No. 1 topic is giving the junior high an answer soon. The No. 2 topic is answering the open enrollment deadline, because they might leave.”

Board members David Tipton and Rich Gordon saw it differently. Tipton said he didn’t want to see East Greene lose sports. He asked what happens if down the line a reorganization vote here fails. “Then what do we do? I understand we have a limited number of girls—and those numbers aren’t going to change—but I can’t see doing it yet.”

He countered Hoffman by noting he too has had discussions with parents and if we don’t offer sports here, they will open enroll out—but not to Jefferson-Scranton. “They said they won’t go west, but will go east.” He indicated that the parents will keep their students here at East Greene, if we keep junior high sports.

Gordon noted “we did a survey and made a decision as board to offer a sports program at East Greene for two years.”

Harter provided figures on the costs and revenues of each sport as well as class lists so the board could see the number of students in each grade and their participation levels in the various sports offered by East Greene.

At issue is the ratio of boys to girls enrolled at East Greene. Junior high is projected to have 56 total students in seventh and eighth grades next year, but only 13 of them are girls. The breakdown for 2012-13 is 27 boys and 5 girls in eighth grade and 16 boys and 8 girls in seventh grade.

Tim Bardole, the longest-serving board member and former board president, said “next year, with whole grade sharing, would be a good time to start the junior high girls sport sharing. There’s a lot of logic to it, but I’m not saying that’s what we should do.”

Bardole also seems to have a case of “buyer’s remorse” over the district’s go-it-alone and stay independent approach the last few years. “With two kids now playing sports in college—knowing what I do now—they would have been better off in a bigger school.” He did not elaborate on whether his daughter Cassie, a junior who is on the varsity at Simpson College in Indianola, or his son Schyler, a freshmen who plays football at Central College in Pella, would have been better prepared athletically or academically—or both.

Bardole noted that the “decisions made as a board member aren’t often in the best interest of our own children.”

He and Hoffman were clearly leaning in favor of beginning junior high sports sharing next year—both boys and girls. “We should not separate boys and girls,” said Bardole. “If one has to go, the other has to go. Let’s be proactive. Let’s have that date set.”

“We have to develop a plan, and maybe we do have enough girls to field a team,” said Hoffman, “but are we doing what’s best for them?” He further made the point that in our high school girls sports program, “we borrow from the JV to play varsity.” It was the same situation three years ago with high school 8-man football. “We didn’t have a JV program because we needed some of those players for the varsity,” he recalled. “That was unfortunate for the JV kids who came to practice every day, took care of their equipment, kept their grades up, and looked forward to playing a JV game. When that time came, we said, ‘sorry, we don’t have a game for you to play.’”

Hoffman added, “we need to have consideration for all kids—those in kindergarten, 9^th grade, 12^th grade—I agree for high school we need to have a last season—but looking down-range, [as a board] we are duty-bound for the kids in the 3d grade.”

Hoffman, Gordon and Tipton each have children in both high school and junior high, while Bardole is the parent of a high school student. Some of the board members’ children participate in sports, some don’t. This year, East Greene is sharing vocal and instrumental music with Jefferson-Scranton, and wrestling has also been made available the last few years to boys interested in participating on the Jefferson-Scranton team.

All of the East Greene board members are also graduates of East Greene, including newest member Ashley Johnston. All of them are also natives of Grand Junction and Rippey. So the decisions to phase out East Greene as a separate high school and use of the elementary school building in Rippey have personal impact.

Johnston, who is the parent of two students in the lower grades, echoed Hoffman’s comment about needing a farewell season of East Greene high school sports, but she made note of the low numbers for girls in addition to the impact across the high school and junior high school student body. “I feel bad for kids not in sports to have to come back [to the Grand Junction building] for one class.”

Hoffman concurred, noting the “public concerns—why would we do for the minority that which affects the majority? We have a 40% participation in sports.”

Exira/EHK Ends Hawkettes’ Season

EG TAKES 2-19 RECORD INTO REGIONAL PLAY

Conference champion Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton proved to be too much to handle for East Greene Tuesday night, rolling to an easy 62-15 win in Rippey. The game closed out the Hawkettes’ regular season at 2-19. EG finished last in the Rolling Hills Conference at 2-16 while Exira/EHK took top honors with a 17-1 mark. The Spartans are 18-3 overall.

Both teams enter regional play tonight. EEHK is a favorite in Region 7, which also features Adair-Casey from the Rolling Hills and Coon Rapids-Bayard from the West Central Conference. East Greene is in Region 2 which includes teams from west central, north central and northwest Iowa. Each region has 16 teams playing for a spot in the eight-team field in the Class 1A State Tournament.

The Hawkettes travel to Burnside to take on Southeast Webster-Grand (5-16), a team EG lost to by six points in the first game of the season, 32-26. The winner tonight at Burnside faces the winner of a game in Jewell tonight between Madrid (2-19) and Northeast Hamilton (10-11) in a quarterfinal tilt on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at Burnside.

Rolling Hills Conference foes Glidden-Ralston (5-15) and Paton-Churdan (3-17) face each other for the third time tonight in Glidden. The winner advances to play the winner of tonight’s St. Mary’s (Storm Lake) and Newell-Fonda game at Newell on Feb. 14 in Newell. St. Mary’s (10-12) and Newell-Fonda (16-5) are both members of the Twin Lakes Conference. Newell-Fonda took the league crown with a 9-1 record, besting two solid 2A teams, Manson-Northwest Webster and Sioux Central (Sioux Rapids).

The Newell quarterfinal winner will meet the Burnside quarterfinal winner in a semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 17 in Manson. (If Manson-Northwest Webster plays that night in the Class 2A semifinal round, the game will be moved to Fort Dodge St. Edmond).

The semifinal winner from the Manson bracket will go up against the winner of a semifinal game in Le Mars on Monday, Feb. 20. Teams in the Le Mars bracket are Whiting (6-15), Charter Oak-Ute (10-11), Siouxland Christian (6-15), River Valley (15-7), Remsen St. Mary’s (7-13), Kingsley-Pierson (2-18), Akron-Westfield (5-15) and West Sioux of Hawarden (19-1), the No.5 team in the state.

The favorite in Region 2 is Newell-Fonda, ranked No. 7 in the state. Newell-Fonda (16-5) has been to three of the last four Class 1A state tournaments. Last year the Mustangs were sidelined by eventual champion Martensdale-St. Mary’s in the first round. Two years ago, Newell-Fonda fell to Exira in the semifinal round. Exira went on to win the state championship over Mt. Ayr. In 2008, Newell-Fonda advanced to the final, losing to Springville.

Last year Exira began sharing sports with Elk Horn-Kimballton, creating a program with recent experience at the state tournament level on the Exira side and deep tradition in girls basketball success on the Elk Horn-Kimballton side. Exira had been to state in 2008 but was highly ranked in 2009, but was sidelined the next year by Coon Rapids-Bayard in a regional quarterfinal game.

Exira/EHK has been ranked in the Top 15 in Class 1A all season but fell from 11^th to 15^th after losing to Adair-Casey, 51-44, on Jan. 17, and then dropped out of the rankings altogether after losing 59-48 to Guthrie Center (8-14) on Jan. 21. EEHK then closed out the season with five straight wins, capped by the 48-point thrashing of EG on Tuesday.

EEHK’s exit in the rankings allowed CRB (16-5) to move into the No. 15 last week, a position it held in the final poll released today by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. CRB faces CAM (9-12) in Coon Rapids tonight with the winner to face the winner of the Guthrie-EEHK battle in quarterfinal game Tuesday in Elk Horn.

The Elk Horn winner will meet the Adair quarterfinal winner in a semifinal battle on Feb. 17 in Atlantic. Orient-Macksburg (13-8) hosts last year’s champ, Martsendale-St. Mary’s (11-11), in Orient while Adair-Casey takes (19-2) takes on Earlham (8-13) in Adair in the Adair sub-bracket.

No. 2 Bedford is the favorite in the lower half of the Region 7 bracket. Bedord (20-1) will host Lenox (3-19) tonight. Bedford lost its first game to Nodaway Valley (Greenfield) on Tuesday in the regular season finale, giving Nodaway Valley a tie with Bedford for the Pride of Iowa Conference title. Nodaway Valley, a 2A team, is 19-2 but not ranked. They are in the same 2A region as No. 8 Panorama, which won the West Central Conference with a perfect 18-0 mark, and area teams Jefferson-Scranton, Ogden and Des Moines Christian.

The Bedord-Lenox winner will take on the winner of East Union (5-16) and Diagonal (3-17). Also in that side of Region 7 are Mormon Trail (6-14), Murray (15-6), Lamoni (6-14) and Mount Ayr (11-10).

This is a power-packed region with last year’s state champion, Martensdale-St. Mary’s, and both the 2010 champion and runner-up—EEHK and Mount Ayr—plus Murray, a perennial southern Iowa power, and state-ranked teams Bedford, Adair-Casey and Coon Rapids-Bayard. The final is Monday, Feb. 20 in Greenfield.

Jefferson Named ‘Main Street’ Community

BOOSTS EFFORT TO PRESERVE DOWNTOWN SQUARE
 
Jefferson is one of three Iowa communities selected to join the Main Street Iowa program, along with Chariton and Lansing. The announcement was made by Gov. Terry Branstad during a special ceremony yesterday at the Iowa State Capitol.

“Iowa’s historic main streets are the heart and soul of our communities,” said Branstad. “We will continue to do whatever we can to keep Iowa’s historic commercial districts strong and vibrant for business owners, workers, residents and visitors. I am pleased to welcome each of these communities into the Main Street family, and wish them much success in the future.”

For more than 25 years, the Main Street Iowa program and its communities have been looked upon as the “best of the best” in a national effort to revitalize main streets across the country. The addition of these new communities brings the number of participating Main Street communities in Iowa to 48.

“In their applications and presentations, the selected communities demonstrated strong partnerships, a high level of volunteerism, and a commitment to the revitalization of their main street districts. We are confident that these three cities will thrive and grow for many years to come,” said Debi Durham, director, Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Becoming a designated Main Street Iowa community is no easy task. Community representatives must attend rigorous training sessions before even being eligible to apply. They must demonstrate support from local organizations, businesses, and lawmakers; funding and in-kind support must be secured and documented; strategic plans outlining short- and long-term goals must be in place; and city resolutions and historic preservation ordinances must be passed and signed. Most importantly, community officials, business owners, and volunteers must agree to work together with the common goals of preserving Iowa’s historic buildings and unique commercial business districts, and improving the local economy by adopting and following the Main Street Four Point Approach to historic commercial district revitalization.

While it may be challenging to become a Main Street community, designated communities reap many benefits. During the first three years of the program, each community receives 40 days of on-site training and technical assistance from Main Street Iowa, National Main Street Center staff and private consultants, as well as 30 days of training for volunteers and local staff, resulting in a state investment of $100,000. Mature Main Street communities each receive continuing technical assistance and training valued at $10,000 annually.

Over the years, by working together with the state, Main Street Iowa communities have realized the benefits of more than two million hours of volunteer time committed to improving their main street districts, a significantly increased job and business base, and over a billion dollars in private investment to purchase, construct and rehabilitate main street property.

Hawk Win Kicks Off Big Hoops Week

BEAT WALNUT 66-50, GIRLS FALL 32-29

A big week of basketball got underway for East Greene last night in Rippey as the Hawks and Hawkettes split a doubleheader with Walnut. The Hawks rolled to a 66-50 win while the Hawkettes fell 32-29.

EG closes out the conference season tonight in Rippey against Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton. EEHK girls clinched a tie for the Rolling Hills Conference title last week with a win over Walnut, upping their league mark to 16-1, just ahead of Adair-Casey, 15-2. A win over EG will give the Spartan girls the title outright. The Spartan boys locked up their second consecutive conference crown on Friday with a win over Walnut while second-place CAM (Anita) was beaten by Ankeny Christian Academy. EEHK moved to 16-1 in the conference while CAM dropped to 14-3. So even if EG beats the Spartans tonight, EEHK will still win the league title.

The Hawkettes begin regional play on Thursday with an opening round game at Southeast Webster-Grand (Burnside). The Eagles (5-15) beat EG in the season opener for both teams, 32-26, in Burnside. The Hawks close out the regular season with a non-conference game at Audubon (5-14) on Friday. The Wheelers, a Western Iowa Conference team, could meet up with East Greene again later this month as both teams are in the same district tournament. The Hawks got the No. 2 seed and will open at home on Feb. 16 in the quarterfinals against the winner of a game Feb. 13 between Paton-Churdan and Madrid. The winners on Feb. 16 meet in the semifinal round on Feb. 21.

THE BIG ‘O’ DUMPS IN 33 POINTS

Reed Ostrander paced the Hawks against Walnut with 33 points while Wyatt Beaman added 14 points with most of the bulk of that coming on four 3-pointers. Ostrander dumped in 14 field goals and was a perfect 5-5 at the free throw line.

The first period ended with the Hawks up 12-10, but three consecutive 3-pointers—two from Beaman and one from Tory Beger—sparked a rally in the second quarter that put EG in front 25-16 and they went into the halftime break with a 29-20 advantage.

Beaman and Beger found the range again as the second half got underway. Their consecutive 3-pointers put the Hawks in front, 35-20, a lead they did not relinquish the rest of the game. EG was up by 20 points at the 5-minute mark, 42-22, and went on to finish out the quarter with a comfortable 50-32 lead.

The Warriors did whittle the margin down to 61-47 in the late stages of the game, but a 5-0 run put EG up 66-47 before Walnut scored on a three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the game. EG ran out the clock to take a key 66-50 win over a team it struggled with last month in Walnut, escaping with a four-point win.

The win gave EG sole possession of fifth place in the Rolling Hills Conference at 9-8 heading into tonight’s game with Exira/Elk Horn Kimballton. Walnut drops to 4-13 in the conference and 8-13 overall. The win guarantees EG an upper-division finish in the conference for the second year in a row. The Hawks were considered to be in a rebuilding phase after finishing second in the league to EEHK last year at 15-3. The Spartans went on to win the district and substate, qualifying for the Class 1A state tournament along with Guthrie Center, a West Central Conference team, which won the consolation game to finish third in the state.

Rolling Hills Conference Boys Basketball

Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 16-1

CAM (Anita) 14-3

Ankeny Christian 13-4

Adair-Casey 10-7

East Greene 9-8

Iowa Christian 7-10

Orient-Macksburg 7-10

Glidden-Ralston 5-12

Walnut 4-13

Paton-Churdan 0-17

GIRLS CAN’T HOLD EARLY LEAD

The Hawkettes looked like a veteran team as took an early 3-2 lead and then extended that to 7-2 behind two free throws and a field goal. EG’s full court press was working well as they held the Warriors scoreless after their opening basket, closing out the quarter with a 10-2 advantage.

Walnut started to get untracked in the second period, outscoring the Hawkettes 11-7 and cutting the EG lead to 17-12 at halftime. Both teams battled evenly the rest of the way but fouls began to add up for the Hawkettes’ Jolee Wessling and Emily Jacobsen and Walnut’s outside shooter Haley Blum. EG had to rely more on an inexperienced bench, as starter Brittany Gunn was already sidelined with an injury sustained from a horse riding accident.

The momentum was in Walnut’s favor as they hit a long outside shot to cut the EG lead to 24-23 as the third quarter ended. Neither team could generate much output offensively, but Walnut forged a 25-all tie with 5:31 left on the clock. Center Ashli Walker drew a foul and connected on two free throws to give the Warriors their first lead since early in the game, 27-25, at the 3:46 mark. Walnut outscored the Hawkettes 5-4 in the closing stages of the game to win 32-29, improving their league mark to 7-10 and 10-11 overall.

Rolling Hills Conference Girls Basketball

Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 16-1

Adair-Casey 15-2

Iowa Christian 13-4

Orient-Macksburg 10-7

CAM (Anita) 9-8

Walnut 7-10

Ankeny Christian 6-11

Glidden-Ralston 4-13

Paton-Churdan 3-14

East Greene 2-15

FAREWELL TOUR FOR WALNUT SPORTS

Beyond the four quarters of play, it was an evening of memorable moments. Each team was missing a starter. Walnut’s Josie Anzalone suffered injuries in a serious car accident north of Walnut on Jan. 19, which forced the postponement of the Walnut-EG game, Jan. 20. EG’s Brittany Gunn, an experienced equestrian rider, on Jan. 28 took a nasty spill off a horse, landing on her head and suffering a concussion. She has since been held out of play while under doctor’s supervision, so the 10-person Hawkette squad was reduced to 9. Gunn is a starting guard on her squad, as is Anzalone for Walnut.

The East Greene girls organized several fund-raising activities for the evening with the proceeds going to help defray the medical costs incurred by the Anzalone family. Josie now travels with the team and is presently using a wheel chair to get around, but reports are she is recuperating well.

The EG girls held a raffle for baked good items in the lobby and sold tickets for a chuck the duck contest at halftime of the boys’ game and a half-court shot contest as halftime of the girls’ game. Their efforts raised $250 and a check was presented to Josie. All of the girls from both teams gathered together for a group photo with Josie after the boys’ game had ended.

Walnut Warrior Ty Johnk suffered a leg injury in the late stages of the boys game and had to be helped off the court. He is one of four Walnut seniors on a team of just nine players. When Johnk and his classmates graduate in May that will leave just a junior, a sophomore, and three freshmen to form a nucleus for next year’s team along with any 8^th grade boys from a class of just a dozen students this year.

Due to such low numbers, the Walnut school board voted in December to shift its current academic sharing and partial sports sharing (football this past season) from Atlantic, predominantly a 3A school, to a complete sports sharing and increased academic sharing (four of seven periods a day) with AHST (Avoca), a community school district formed several years ago between the former Avo-Ha of Avoca school district and the Shelby-Tennant school district. AHST participates in Class 1A. The AHST high school and sports facilities are in Avoca, just six miles to the west of Walnut in far northeastern Pottawattamie County.

East Greene is in a similar situation, spurring the district to whole grade share with Jefferson-Scranton next year, where the EG junior and senior high school students will attend all classes in Jefferson, while the 5^th and 6^th graders from both districts attend classes in the present high school building in Grand Junction. The plan initially was for East Greene to offer its own sports program for two years for both high school and junior high students, but that plan looks to be modified to high school sports at EG for one year and for junior high (seventh and eighth grades) to become part of a combined EG/JS junior high sports program next school year. However, the determination of the junior high sports has yet to be made by the EG school board.

So it was a bit of history in the making, as the Walnut teams close out their last year of Walnut Warrior heritage. Next year they will become a new Walnut/AHST team and compete in AHST’s place in the Western Iowa Conference. And next year will most likely bring down the curtain on a long and storied sports tradition that encompasses Dana, Rippey, Grand Junction and East Greene.

City Moves Forward On Fire Station Project

BUILDING, DESIGN FIRMS OFFER INPUT

Plans for a new fire station-community center facility in Grand Junction are moving ahead. Officials with the city of Grand Junction and the Grand Junction Fire & Rescue have been meeting with representatives of building companies, design firms, government agencies and financial institutions over the last several months.

Mayor Jerry Herrick, City Clerk Rita Jenkins, City Councilman Alan Robinson, and Mark Renslow, Fire & Rescue assistant chief, met Thursday, Jan.19, with Arnold Thomas of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to talk about available USDA grant monies and other financing options.

“As far as grants, we have a very limited amount of funds to work with,” said Thomas. “Our office got a modest amount of grant money last year, just enough to fund one grant. We don’t anticipate getting a lot of money for this year either.

“A project like yours would have scored well over the last 10 years,” said Arnold, but the last two years has seen a significant reduction in federal funds channeled through USDA to distribute via grants for community projects similar to the proposed fire station-community center in Grand Junction. “We are fighting over a small pot.”

No more than $50,000 would be available for the project here, said Arnold.

That would be a mere drop in the bucket for the “55% of total project cost” amount that had been mentioned last spring and summer by fire department officials as the project began moving forward. Since that time, meetings in the community and with area building and design officials have generated proposed plans for a facility estimated to cost a minimum of $800,000.

However, Arnold did say that funds are available in the USDA’s low-interest loan program which carries a 3¾% interest rate. Herrick said this was feasible for Grand Junction as the city currently has no bonded indebtedness. Peoples Trust and Savings Bank officials have offered assistance to the city with loan and financing options, and Herrick said he would initiate further discussion with the bank.

Arnold noted that the application process for the low-interest loan is the same for the $50,000 grant, and that one application would cover both the grant and loan.

The city and the fire department had outlined plans for a new facility in August in a community meeting. That plan proposed a new facility on the south side of Main Street in the quarter of a block bounded by Main Street to the north and 11^th Street to the west—directly across Main Street from Peoples Trust and Savings Bank and the Watts Building.

Originally, the fire department had proposed expanding the current fire station and city hall building—located on the northwest corner of the 11^th and Main intersection—to the west on Main Street and to the north, expanding toward the alley and Union Pacific railroad tracks. That would have added one new fire truck bay on the north side and space for training on the west.

As discussions continued and the city made its intentions known to clear out the buildings from 202 to 214 on the south side of Main Street, the fire department officials agreed it would be more cost effective in the long run to build a new facility that could encompass both a fire station and community center. Discussion had already been underway by the Grand Junction Horizons and several local clubs and organizations to build a separate community center, so the plans were conjoined with support of the city.

When the initial plan was modified from expansion to a new facility, the fire department and the city called a special community meeting where the revised preliminary plans were presented to get a wider perspective and feedback from the overall community. The feedback from that meeting for the project moving forward was very supportive.

Since then, the project has moved forward on several levels:
* Shaping and developing a facility that will meets the community’s needs; blend in with the current look of that block of Main Street (keying off the architecture of the Peoples Trust and Savings Bank building); and be affordable for a community of this size.
* Proceeding on the city’s efforts to demolish all six of the buildings. Four are privately owned and two comprise the current Community Center, which the city owns.
* Meeting with builders and design officials to determine the actual costs of a facility for the proposed space and to review projects by these firms in similar size communities.

Fire and Rescue Chief Terry Hoefle, Renslow, Herrick and other city officials outlined a fire station-community center in building at the August meeting that would incorporate existing infrastructure from Hamilton Redi-Mix in Jefferson, which builds large metal facilities as part of its business operations.

Three fire truck and two smaller bays would be built on the south side of the building facing the east-way alley with enough frontage to the alleyway to maneuver trucks into the alley and then onto 11^th Street. Also included were two bays on the 11^th Street side of the building—one for a small truck and one rescue vehicle. The front of the facility would look to blend in with the “streetfront” look of a typical main street with display windows and street-level entryway into a community center.

The facility would also include a combination small meeting room and storm shelter, a 60 foot by 60 foot community center with capacity for 200 people facing Main Street, a kitchen to serve both the community center and a combination small meeting room-storm shelter, restrooms, and storage space for the rescue squad and firefighters’ equipment.

Kim Rueter, local businessman, was at that meeting in August and offered the services of an architect to create schematic drawings to show to the community and to various granting agencies as the project moved forward. At the time, use of the existing steel infrastructure from Hamilton’s, along with work from local tradesman and volunteer efforts to finish the building, the estimated cost was around $200,000.

Rueter then called a meeting of local officials representing the city, fire department, Grand Junction Horizons and local business persons and presented schematic drawings of a “from scratch” fire station designed to complement the open green space on Main Street and the open lot just east across the alley from the proposed site (former Oblinger’s men’s clothing store building).

He indicated from his discussions with the architect that for a project of this level, it is best to “build new rather than retrofit an existing facility.” The new building Rueter proposed was similar to the intent of the fire department, but featured an opening bay and door facing Main Street that Rueter said was “big enough to handle a combine.” It also had considerable more architectural detailing that originally proposed by the fire department. Estimated cost was $1.3 million.

Reaction was mixed, with residents appreciative of Rueter’s support for the project, but there were questions and concerns about a high bay access on Main Street and why it would need to handle a combine.

That meeting did open the door to serious discussions about building an all-new facility but with a smaller price tag. It was agreed that building a new facility on the proposed space on the south side of Main Street was the most feasible.

While those discussions moved forward, the city committed itself to tearing down the six buildings in the proposed space between 11^th Street and the alley. Rueter owns the building on the corner, 202 East Main, which is still known locally as “Dr. Wetrich’s building,” as it was his medical office for many years and most recently housed the accounting business of Janice Gilley. The next building, 204, was mostly destroyed by a fire in the late 1960s, just prior to the Grand Junction Centennial in 1969. A false front was put in place on the street side and there was some construction on the backside in later years, but the overall state of the building has been in disrepair for some time.

The third building from the corner, 206, is the former pool hall and is falling in upon itself with much rotting along the wood trim in the front. From the rear, this building and 204 are both clearly in a state of serious decay. The current owner is Keith Light of Perry.

The fourth building, 208-210, is a longtime Main Street fixture as a barber and beauty salon. The building is owned by Duane and Donna Delp, who owns and operates the Hair Junction salon in west side of the building with the east side vacant. The east side was a barbershop operated for many years by R.M. “Jiggs” Smith.

The fifth and sixth buildings comprise the current day Community Center, which is a combined space created out of two existing storefront buildings. The center is beset by many problems, including mold and inadequate heating and cooling.

The city committed itself to removing all six of the buildings and order the buildings be inspected by a third-party inspector provided by the city of Jefferson. Those inspections were made. It was determined that all the buildings suffered from structural deficiencies and were not fit for use. The next step was determining how to remove the buildings and the various challenges created with a demolition project of this scale.

The city has received support from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in assessing the asbestos levels in the buildings—all but built between 1886 and 1900 with the exception of part of the Community Center buildings, 212 and 214 Main Street, which was built in 1950.

The city is looking at asbestos removal costs and procedures and how to transport the debris from the asbestos removal and the actual demolition of the buildings. Two businesses in Grand Junction—Rueters Red Power and Neese Inc.—have offered to transport the debris to the designated landfill, which is either Boone County Landfill or Dallas County Landfill.

Herrick and Jenkins have also met with officials with Iowa Central Community College of Fort Dodge. Ken Paxton, director of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce and Development, had informed the city council in the fall that ICCC offers a deconstruction class and urged them to contact ICCC officials and determine their interest in taking down all six Main Street buildings.

Those meeting have been held and ICCC is moving forward, having lined up as many as a dozen qualified students to sign up for the class, which is projected during the late winter-early spring months. The city is required to provide $10,000 for the tuition for the students, but all of the participants are local and they will be trained and certified in demolition of these types of buildings, which is a critical situation in small communities throughout rural Iowa.

While the deconstruction discussions with ICCC have been moving forward, city and fire department officials have met with two building firms, a design company, and the chief executive officer of Peoples Trust and Savings Bank.

Herrick, Renslow and Robinson met with Mike Segner, CEO, Peoples Trust and Savings Bank, Clive, to discuss the plans for the demolition and new fire station-community center facility and to encourage the bank to proceed for plans for further demolition involving the properties its own on the east side of the same block between the alley and 12^th Street, the former Junction Inn restaurant buildings.

All three pointed out to Segner the value of the “Peoples Trust and Savings Bank” brand and how that brand—yet alone the value of the local bank—was conceived, nurtured and developed by the citizens and farmers of the Grand Junction area since the bank was founded here in 1917.

Segner acknowledged the significant heritage of the bank in Grand Junction and what it means to the current eight-bank chain. He was very encouraging of the efforts of city and fire department officials. Segner pledged financial support from the bank for community fundraising and offered assistance with low-interest loan information and available services from the bank.

At the December council meeting, City Councilwoman Pat Fagen had urged fire department officials to get specific costs and design schematics from companies like Morton Buildings, based on the information presented and discussed at the earlier community-wide meetings looking at the initial proposed facility and then the more elaborate versions presented by Rueter. “We need something we can put in front of the community and say, ‘this is what we have proposed to build and this is how much it is going to cost,’” said Fagen.

Hoefle, Renslow, Robinson and Pierre Kellogg, a member of both the fire department and city council, along with Tina Kafer and Derek Kennedy from the Grand Junction branch of Peoples Trust and Savings Bank, met month with Bill Fisher, manager of the Morton Buildings office in Jefferson, to review possible building styles, formats, and design-construction costs for the proposed facility.

Fisher presented information about similar facilities that Morton Buildings has constructed in Apple River, Ill., and Milton, Pa. Based on the size of the facility needed here with the space for the fire station and a community center, he said the cost would be approximately $100 per square foot. Based on some of the rough schematics put together by Renslow and the overall space of the six lots—132 feet by 132 feet—Fisher looked at configurations of both 132 feet x 100 feet and 120 feet x 100 feet, which would cost $1.3 and $1.2 million, respectively.

Hoefle brought up the option of using local contractors and some volunteer labor to offset the total cost of the facility.

City and fire officials then met on Jan. 9 with Keith Stork of Jensen Builders, Fort Dodge, which has built several smaller fire station facilities in small rural Iowa communities. Stork also recommended initiate discussions with Snyder & Associates, Atlantic, which designed many of the facilities constructed by Jensen.

Jensen built the new fire station in Glidden, a 9,285-square-foot structure that included a kitchen but not a community center, at a cost of $800,000. Grand Junction would need a similar size facility for its fire and rescue needs, as the department covers all of the city of Grand Junction, plus Junction Township which is the largest township in the county and includes Dana, plus space for a community center to handle a maximum of 200 people, approximately 360 square feet.

Stork and local officials also discussed other new fire stations that have been built in the area and their costs. A new fire station in Lohrville includes a 60 foot by 28 foot meeting room as part of its overall 7,200 square feet. Pilot Mound’s facility includes a meeting room with a kitchen.

Tim Teig of Snyder & Associates visited with city and fire department officials on Jan. 12. He outlined a number of fire station projects his firm designed, including a new facility designed for Lewis, Iowa, which is just south of Atlantic in western Cass County. The Lewis fire station is 6,600 square feet with 5 bays, kitchen and meeting room.

“We also added restrooms and a utility room, but there is no brick on the front,” said Teig. Cost the facility was “a hair over $300,000.”

A 5,000-square-foot facility in Indiana Township in Marion County, south of Knoxville, was also in the $300,000 range. That facility has 3 bays and a 37 foot by 50 foot meeting room (1,850 square feet).

Elk Horn is planning a 6,400-square-foot fire station that includes some masonry work, but it has not yet been bid out. Teig expects the costs to be between $400,000 and $450,000.