Christmas trees will be picked up on Wednesday, January
7th 2009. YOU MUST ATTACH A $1.00 COMPOST IT STICKER
TO THE TREE. There will not be another day scheduled,
so put this on your calendar now.
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The City of Norwalk has completed installation
of six Automatic External Defibrillators
(AED’s) to better serve the health safety
of our public and our employees.
Thanks to a $2,000 grant received from the
Warren County Philanthropic Partnership,
and local partners; the Norwalk Easter Public
Library Foundation, the Norwalk Firefighters
Association, the American Legion-Post 562
(Cumming), the Norwalk Soccer Club and Twin
Rivers Baseball the six units are now accessible
and training is complete.
The AED’s ate located at the Norwalk Aquatic
Center, the Norwalk-McAninch Sports Complex,
the Norwalk Easter Public Library, City Hall,
Cherry Street Public Works Facility and the
Norwalk Waste Water Treatment Plant. These
units are a backup to our Fire/EMS staff
and volunteers, and were purchased to integrate
with the equipment that is used on our ambulances.
We are pleased to have been a recipient
of the WCPP grant, and appreciate that our
local partners realize the value of the devices
continuing to make Norwalk, The Community
that Cares.
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City of Norwalk staff would like to take this opportunity
to thank our residents for their patience during our
recent heavy rains and to recognize their concerns,
assistance to neighbors and city employees during the
flooding events and clean up operations.
Current activities
While other communities were certainly harder hit
if you are a resident with a flooded basement you may
not feel that way. As of Friday, 6-13-08 City Clerk
Jeff Rosien has received some 30 such complaints.
Residents that have such problems are requested to
contact Mr. Rosien to report the event and allow the
City’s Insurance carrier to determine eligibility for
the reimbursement of any associated expense.
The information may also be helpful in our reports
of damage through our Warren County Emergency Manager
for any possible consideration by state or federal
funding sources.
The Public Works Director has requested that white
goods and other items damaged by the storm be placed
on the curb. It will not be necessary to purchase a
sticker and those items are scheduled for pick up.
Debris will be removed on Saturday 6/14/08 and white
goods on Monday 6/16/08.
The City administration is undertaking engineering/hydrology
studies for those areas of Norwalk most affected by
the weekend storms to determine mitigation options,
best management practices, response activities and
the impacts to our storm water ecology and sanitary
sewer systems.
Storm Responses and Community Assurances
The Public Works Department has purchased three pumps,
rigged equipment in setting up strategies for getting
equipment and manpower out to provide as much relief
as possible, and to respond to flooding events as rapidly
as possible. City staff is in constant contact with
our Warren and Polk County Emergency Managers to monitor
the situation around us and identify and update potential
threats.
Public Works was proactive as teams were assigned
to specific threat areas in advance to insure that
drains were cleared and barricades were available to
properly mark flooded areas. During the event they
attempted to clear blockages, place barricades and
pump water from threatened areas. The Police Department
used their cruiser sirens to warn the residents along
Gordon where the storm siren was being repaired, identified
and reported electrical problems and threatened areas,
rerouted traffic and removed 12 stalled partially submerged
vehicles from City streets. The Fire Department assisted
the Police with traffic control, Public Works with
the pumping of water and notified residents in the
Colchester flood plain of a possible need for evacuation.
There were no injuries reported to them that were due
to the storms.
The Des Moines Water Works plant is our source for
drinking water and at no time have the flood waters
posed an imminent threat of contamination. Current
notifications from the Water Works indicate that the
Raccoon River has crested and operations continue normally.
Should a system failure occur the City would rely upon
its one million gallon water tower to serve the City
and its residents.
The combined series of storms and tornado warnings
resulted in activities for most City Departments. The
Mayor and many of the Emergency Operations Center staff
were present from Thursday night on as needed based
on the threats helping to coordinate and support the
actions of City Departments. The City stayed in constant
contact with Warren and Polk County emergency managers,
additionally with Des Moines Water Works, state agencies
including Iowa DOT, the State EOC, and now FEMA.
Finally to provide one additional reassurance the
City staff asks that anyone with questions or concerns
regarding damage from the series of storms over the
last week contact Mr. Rosien.
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Iowa Workforce Development will receive a $17 million
National Emergency Grant
From the U.S. Department of Labor, $6 million of which
will be available immediately. The grant will be used
to pay wages to Iowans who lost their jobs because
of the natural disasters and are participating in clean-up
efforts. Up to $12,000 will be given per person.
The grants target 27 counties that have been declared
eligible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s
Public Assistance Program, which includes Dallas County
buy not Polk. In 1993, Iowans received more than $25
million in federal funding to pay wages in the aftermath
of flooding that year.
A group of Iowa-based businesses are raising money
for Iowans trying to recover from recent flooding or
tornado disasters. Led by the Iowa Speedway Foundation.
Race2Recovery is striving to raise $1 million before
Sept. 20 and will begin its efforts during the Iowa
Corn Indy 250 this weekend at the Iowa Speedway. Businesses
involved include Iowa Telecommunications Services,
Inc., Learfield Communications, Inc., WHO Radio and
Vantus Bank. By this weekend, those wanting to
donate can visit www.race2recovery.com |
