DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One of the nation’s largest egg farms, which lost millions of hens in last year’s bird flu outbreak, is defending itself against legal action by the state over a wastewater spill that killed 163,000 fish.

The Environmental Protection Commission has referred Sunrise Farms to the attorney general for enforcement of violations of state laws and administrative regulations regarding the contamination of about 18 miles of Stoney Creek. The company owns egg-laying barns near Harris designed to hold up to 8 million hens.

An attorney for Sunrise Farms, an affiliate of South Dakota-based Sonstegard Foods, says the wastewater discharge happened a few months after the bird flu outbreak destroyed 3.8 million chickens and the farm was dealing with production issues it had never before experienced.

OSKALOOSA — A discussion about construction concepts for Sheriff Avenue pavement will be the focus of a city council study session slated for 5:15 p.m. Monday in the city council chambers at city hall prior to the regular meeting, which is set to follow.

According to City Manager Michael Shrock, the study session will allow city staff to review and discuss some design concepts for the project with the Oskaloosa City Council before initiating any work.

“This means we will present options that take into account Complete Streets design concepts and show how much that will cost or save the over-all project,” explained Shrock. “An example would be showing a plan to keep the width of the road at its existing 31 feet versus reducing the size to 26 feet.”

The meeting at 5:15 p.m. will be a study session for staff and council, not to be confused with a regular city council meeting, which will follow the study session at 6 p.m. This discussion and study item is the only thing listed on the study session agenda. Other comments and concerns should be reserved for the regular council meeting later that evening.

After the study session, the regular meeting will feature a public hearing on the proposed vacation  and sale of unused sections of public right-of-way, lying between 1216 and 1302 Green St., between 816 and 902 S. 12th St. and adjacent to 600 Sixth Ave. East. Earlier this week, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved the sale and passed the recommendation on to city council.

Earlier this week, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved the sale and passed the recommendation on to city council.

Other items on the regular agenda include consider-ing a resolution approving an alley improvement project between Main Street Oskaloosa and the city of Oskaloosa and the consideration of requesting direct staff to study parking restrictions on C Avenue East, between North 11th Street and North Park.

During regular city council meetings, residents will have two opportunities to address the City Council. City Council meetings typically begin with resident comments, when a resident may speak to the council on any issue, as long as it is not scheduled later in the agenda as a public hearing. Public hearings, often held on various topics, also allow for resident comment relevant to the topic of the hearing. Such comments may also be submitted in writing to the city clerk prior to the meeting.

All study sessions and council meetings are open to the public unless otherwise posted in advance.

For a full listing of agendas and minutes, visit the city of Oskaloosa website, www.oskaloosaiowa.org.

Story provided by Hailey Brown