Indian Hills Community College Board of Trustees will meet Monday, October 12th at 4:00 pm in the Board Room on the Main Campus. The agenda includes a public Hearing on the proposed sale of property, owned by Indian Hills Community College.

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush visited Oskaloosa Wednesday afternoon at Smokey Row Coffee Shop.

Bush spoke for about 20 minutes regarding his general plans as the president to open his speech. He highlighted foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, and education as the two major bullet points of his monologue.

Bush followed that with a question and answer portion of the town hall visit in the packed coffee shop.

Bush fielded questions regarding the second amendment, the right to bear arms, and other military based inquiries. The candidate said that in order to get back to the way things were in more prosperous times, the United States has to be the world leader, and “enforce peace by strength.”

Bush stated the U.S. does not have to be ready to go to war frequently, but rather, to engage presence throughout the world so other countries are aware that America is the world leader.

Bush was also asked about mental health. He said there hasn’t been as much innovation to diagnose and fix brain-related health issues, which has been a setback in the field. One of his main goals in healthcare as the president would be to put brain research and mental health research at the forefront of the medical agenda.

Regarding state and federal law, Bush was asked about Kim Davis, the Kentucky Clerk of Court who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Bush explained that the law is the law, but that law can be changed to allow people like Davis to exercise their freedom of religion and appease their religious conscience. The law should protect those rights, according to Bush.

The question and answer portion of the visit lasted nearly 40 minutes.

In the most recent national polls, Bush is generally positioned in the top six of GOP race behind frontrunner Donald Trump.

The campaign is running toward the Iowa Caucuses on February 1st, 2016, which leads off the primary and caucus season in the country.

On October 3rd, the Eddyville Blakesburg Fremont High School Marching Band placed 1st in
class 2A competition at the Urbandale Marching Invitational. EBF was eight points ahead of
the closest competitor. The band also received the 2A Outstanding Drumline and Color Guard
trophies. The E.B.F.H.S. Band outscored eleven other bands including: Madrid, West Marshall,
PCM, Des Moines Christian, Ogden, Perry, North Polk, Carlisle, Clarke, Des Moines East, and
Fort Dodge. The band is directed by Joe Overton, Dezirae Fairchild, and Paige Ver Steegh,
color guard instructor. The Drum Majors are Claire Jager and Grace Manternach. The soloists
for this year’s show are Delanee Van Zante, Claire Jager, Bridget DeWitt, Adlynn Eveland, Teri
Lane, and Tayler Jones.

This Saturday the band travels to West Des Moines to compete at the Valleyfest Marching
Invitational and the “Showdown” Marching Contest. The E.B.F.H.S. Marching Band will
compete at 7:45 in class 2A competition and then at 4:30 P.M. in the “Showdown” of bands.
The band will be competing for places as well as caption awards including: Drumline, Hornline,
Color Guard, Marching, Soloist, and Drum Major. The “Showdown” is one of Iowa’s top
marching band contests and Eddyville Blakesburg Fremont has won the class C title the last 20
years in a row.

The Oskaloosa City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting Monday night, but prior to that meeting, there was an intense study session regarding the updated project on the fire station improvements.

A pair of architects presented the changes to the council in the study session. The changes have been made due to the bids earlier this year far exceeding the estimates that were calculated while the project was being designed. The public voted to allow 3.195 million dollars to the city for the project.

As the presentation went on and several alternate plans were revealed, one of the more visible differences was the roof. The architects showed a single sloped roof as the primary option for the new station, saying it would save anywhere between 60 and 75 thousand dollars to do that design
versus the previously accepted gabled roof.

Council member Aaron Ver Steeg strongly believed it was too big of a change to make without going back to the voters. This sentiment was shared by council member Jason Van Zetten. The architects had a second design with the gabled roof intact, just smaller than the original. Another alternate cost cutting idea was eliminating a fourth bay for work space or a truck, but Fire Chief Mark Neff stated that the fire department could really use that space.

The discussion quickly turned to how much the project can change without going to the voters for any additional reaction. Ver Steeg and Van Zetten both said they received a lot of input from the public on the roof, so they anticipate it being a big deal to the citizens in general. City Manager Michael Schrock, Jr. and Mayor David Krutzfeldt explained that the public voted on the amount for the project, but did not stamp a specific design as the project that would be built, and Mayor Krutzfeldt articulated that the citizens need the council at some point to show leadership and make the project happen.

The timeline on the project is to apply for bids in early 2016, which would require a final design to be settled on in the next few weeks at the latest. The council eventually decided to add the topic to the October 19th meeting agenda with a public hearing, so members of the city can express their concerns over the project and allow the council to take the voters’ opinions in prior to giving the architects the go-ahead signal to complete the accepted design. That public hearing will be a part of the regularly scheduled meeting October 19th.

After the 65-minute study session, the council quickly began the regular meeting. The regular agenda moved quickly, with the major highlight being a presentation to the board regarding façade improvements as a part of a grant. Oskaloosa has some building that would qualify for a grant to improve the facings, especially on the north side of the square. The council unanimously accepted a resolution establishing the boundaries of the project area, and will move forward on a timeline that extends into 2017 for potential construction.

Also in the regular agenda, there will be manhole improvements made at the price of $30,000 to some manholes in the city that have already been inspected. There is going to be more inspection on other manholes throughout the city in the coming months as a part of the sanitary sewer collection system.

The next scheduled meeting of the Oskaloosa City Council is set for October 19th, with the meeting taking place in Council Chambers at City Hall in Oskaloosa. The meeting will be called to order at 6 PM.