The Alton Democrat from Alton, Iowa • Page 5

THE DEMOCRAT, Oc cr ,3, mt Highway 60 improvement: Not yet, but here it comes again though no construction nn PageS Though no construction on the project is planned within the next Five years, the Iowa Department of Transportation gave the public a chance last Thursday to comment on proposed plans for improvement of highway 60 from Sioux City to the Minnesota state line. In a meeting Thursday evening in Sheldon, businessmen and farmers objected to the proposed construction of urban bypasses which would route traffic around the towns on Iowa 60. They said that many businesses, such as service stations, depend on traffic through town for their existence. The bypasses would result in the loss of revenue for many communities along Iowa 60, they claimed. Farmers objected to taking farm land out of operation for the bypasses.

This was the third of ten First Restudy Condidate (FRESCA) projects Report for duty, candy stripers The Annual Candy Striper Program sponsored by the Orange City Municipal Hospital Auxiliary will be beginning on October 14, 1976 at 4:00 p.m. in the Hospital Conference Room. All interested high school Juniors and Seniors should report to the Orange City Municipal Hospital on October 14th, according to an auxiliary spokesman. County spraying Sioux county weed commissioner Peter Goslinga told the board of supervisors Tuesday the spraying done this year throughout the county was effective. Goslinga appeared at the board meeting to make his annual report on the county's spraying of noxious weeds.

He said the county spraying, both by county employees and by commercial applicators, had done a good job and had caused few complaints. "There was not too much difference between the two," Goslinga said. Complaints that were made, Goslinga said, concerned commercial applicators. He said people complained that the commercial applicators started too early this spring and did not cover wide enough strips. In other business, the board of supervisors will be buying a tree for the court house grounds.

Supervisor Clarence Jonker said county will buy an oak tree to put on the grounds. He said Tom Noteboom will make a marker to be placed in front of the tree, to note that it was planted during the bicentennial year. in the state for which a public meeting was scheduled. The FRESCA Program is now analyzing ten major Iowa highway projects, valued at $750 million, to determine if it would be desireable under today's environmental, economic, farm productivity, and safety constraints to redesign the projects to make maximum use of existing roadways. DOT propsed three alternatives for Iowa 60: the alternative for relocating the highway, one for using parts of the existing highway with urban bypasses constructed around the towns, and one for using the existing roadway without bypasses.

Don Ward, director advanced planning for DOT in Ames, said that DOT now favors using the existing highway and making bypasses around the towns as they become necessary in constructing a four-lane divided, modified Class II facility along Iowa 60. This modified Class II facility would be a divided highway with access points approximately every half mile. The access points would eliminate the need for frontage roads. The DOT recommendation was based on construction costs, road user costs, total acres of land required, traffic maintenance costs, and the total miles of roadway for Highway 60, officials stated. The proposed Iowa 60 would be built in stages based on the above conditions.

The rural sections of the road would be developed first, and when traffic in the urban areas exceeds capacity, bypasses would be developed. The existing alignment alternative would cost about $55.87 million to construct and would require 1,536 acres of land for additional right-of- way. With urban bypasses the cost would increase to $113.05 million and recjtiire 3,015 acres of land. The relocated alignment alternative would cost an estimated $110.41 million and require 3,430 acres of land. These figures are based on 1975 costs.

Some members of the public questioned why relocation would even by considered. Ward explained that with the relocation of the highway, they would not have to handle the existing traffic during construction. Also, considering the additional cost of urban bypasses, it would be less expensive to relocate. The existing facility would be left for local use with the cost reverting to the county. In contrast, the existing alignment alternative has the advantages of using fewer acres of farmland and of being easier to construct in phases.

If the bypasses are not all constructed at once, this proposal would also be The DOT stated that at times it is too expensive to go through the towns because of the disruption it causes for businesses along its routes. Several at the meeting recommended the improvement of Iowa 75 from LeMars to the Minnesota state line ALTERNATES CONSIDERED FOR IOWA 60 Existing Alignment Relocated Alignment Possible Bypass Alignments instead of rebuilding Iowa. 60. They said that following the diagonal route of 60 means cutting through more property lines that following the north-south path of Iowa 75 would. They also pointed out that fewer towns would be affected in this construction.

The DOT representatives replied that according to statistics Iowa "60 carries more traffic and needs more immediate attention. They said, however, that they would consider this possibility. Some members of the public disliked the fact that although meetings are held on the future of Iowa 60, the DOT does not have plans to begin work on the highway in the near future. At the present time no plans for Iowa 60 are in the DOT five-year plan. Tom DeWitte, representing the district three DOT office in Sioux City said that portions of the improvements for Iowa 60 may be included in the next five-year plan.

He said that the statistics reveal that Highway 60 south of its junction with Iowa 18 in Sheldon will need attention before 2000. The building of the highway would begin where the sufficiency ratings are the lowest. On Iowa 60 the area around Alton has the lowest rating. Orange City signs MBMPA power contract The Orange City council adopted a formal resolution prepared by city attorney Loren Veldhuizen last Wednesday and thereby approved a contract with the Misssouri Basin Municipal Power Agency. The agency, a collection of municipals over a three-state area is coordinating the construction and financing of an electric power system for its members.

The agreement commits the city to buying supplemental power from the MBMPA for ten years, rather than 40 years as originally planned. As part of the agreement Orange City will maintain facilities for generating power which can be pumped into the system on a standby basis. Under the agreement, the city stands to 1 0 years ago Gov. Hughes' helicopter came to NW 10 YEARS AGO 1966 Both Frank T. McGill of Rock Valley and Cor.

Vande Steeg of Orange City were honored by the Sioux County Bar at a reception and dinner. Both men were admitted to the bar in 1916 and had practiced law since that time. They were presented engraved silver trays as gifts from the bar association. When he came in contact with a live wire, one of the shoes of Gerald (Bud) Mulder of Carnes was burned off and he suffered foot and head burns. The broken line wire was discovered by Michael Vrieze and Arlin Goslinga while hunting three miles south of Carnes.

Mulder was burned when he tried to put out a small tire with a broom. Adrian Huygens, prominent Newkifk farmer, who was born in Chicago March 25, 1880, passed away at the age of 86 years. Gov. Harold Hughes was carrying his campaign to Sioux county by helicopter October 21, planning to land at the Northwestern College football field iU that morning. The sum of $25,600, two-thirds of which would be paid by the federal government, had been appropriated by the board of supervisors to contract with Harland Bartholomew and Associates of St.

Louis for the preparation of a comprehensive plan for zoning Sioux county. Funeral services were at Orange City for Mrs. Gerrit J. Hollinga who was born in The- Netherlands Dec. 14, 1889; and for Mrs.

Marion Andringa, born on a farm near Newkirk Nov. 15, 1925. Ireton's new post office was to be officially dedicated October 15. At an impressive fall wedding at Granville Sandra Ann Full became the -bride of Stanley Penning. 25 YEARS AGO 1951 Sioux county farmers were asked to cooperate in the big defense program by providing scrap iron and steel no longer of any use on the farm.

As rapidly as collected carloads were to be shipped. Scrap iron found on farms is of especially high it was stated, and it takes about 50 percent of scrap mixed with pig iron for the manufacture of steel ingots and castings. Prices offered were from the principal newspaper of Sioux county, Iowa since 1882. In 1971, the Iowa Press Association named the DEMOCRAT Iowa newspaper year. The last four the DEMOCRAT has won more than twenty association awards.

The DEMOCRAT is an official county newspaper published each Wednesday in Orange City, Iowa. The DEMOCRAT serves the towns of Orange City, Alton, Granville, Hospers and surrounding areas. Entered as second class'matter under the act of Congress, March 2, 1879, in Orange City Iowa 51041. Pluim Publishing, Publishers; Peter Dykstra, editor. Yearly subscription rate by mail $8 in Sioux County, Plymouth, O'Brien and Lyon counties; 10 elsewhere.

Phone 737-4868 $23 to $38 per ton, depending on the content. Funeral services were at Sioux Falls for Dr. Arthur Van Meeveren, 40, who died following a heart attack. The veterinarian grew up at Orange City. Henry Riedeman, 85, an early Alton resident, died at Paso Robies, Calif.

Funeral services were in Twin Falls, Idaho. The family left Alton in 1909 and farmed neat Twin falls for many years. A pound of Folger's coffee cost 29 cents. 50 YEARS AGO 1926 At Sheldon was the wedding of Gertrude Louthan, former teacher at Orange City, and John Balkema, Orange City postmaster. And in Orange City were the nuptials uniting Ethel M.

Rhynsburger and Dr. Raymond L. Stubbs of Holstein in matrimony. At Hospers 54 teams were working to surface every street in town, 70 blocks, with gravel. Each team averaged 19 loads of gravel per day.

A total of 206 bridge planks from Sioux county were found six miles south of Dalton in Plymouth county along the West Branch, not to speak of innumerable planks retrieved along the banks of the Floyd, Six Mile creek and other streams. C.N. Sawyer of Sioux Falls, a Sioux county pioneer and a surveyor who laid out many town subdivisions, died. Funeral services were at Hull where his son was publisher of the Hull Index. The Aton Garage was agent for Star cars.

A coach cost $880, f. o. b. Lansing, Mich. At Alton, the Kooreman store was having a sale of Heinz 57 varieties and serving hot oven- baked beans, cooked spaghetti and cream of tomato soup-free.

make $75,000 to $80,000 a year on the plant. The city, in order to do this, has to make some improvements on its power plant. Said utilities manager Allen Roos: "If we commit ourselves to the capacity, we have to have cooling." The council passed a motion instructing the utilities department to order new parts for a cooling tower in the plant, accepting a bid of $4493 for the equipment. City vs. Farm Water In other business, councilman Phil Bach reported a citizen complaint that farmers can buy water from the city water tower at a cheaper rate than the city charges its regular customers.

After a quick calculation Roos discovered that water costs about half as much in bulk from the tank as it costs piped to customers. He raised the point that farmers have to haul, their water, and mentioned that many farmers pay a quarter to the tower's meter-without taking their full 250 gallons. The council instructed him to investigate the possibility of decreasing the amount of water that a quarter would buy. Area news briefs ROCK weather observers said the area received only about halfof what it normally receives in rainfall. Larry Van Berkum has reported the area received only 11.28 inches of rain to date this year.

Usually at this point ih the year rainfall totals about 22,37 inches. services were held Friday at the new Protestant Reformed Chrisitan School. The new private school, the fourth school facility in Hull, was built this summer for about $107,000. The school has three teacher! There are 44 students enrolled in grades kindergarten through eighth. The students come from Boyden, Doon, Hull, Rock Rapids, Rock Valley and Sioux Center.

is suspected as a cause of a fire in a county pit north of the community. Th'e fire was noticed by a passerby, who reported the blaze; A'big piJe brancheJFanTf-rubbish was-atyaze when firefighters arrived atrjhe'-'. scene. i SIOUX Ronald Woodin will be in Sioux Center, Wednesday, Oct. 13.

The Iowa Army National Guard's Deputy Adjutant General along with Director of Operations, Col. Paul Woods' visit will be the first of what's expected to be a series of discussions on the possibility of creating a new Iowa Army Guard Unit in the community. Patient moved to Sioux City Earl Bonnema, hospitalized in Orange City since a fall from a farm elevator last week, was transferred Tuesday to St. Joseph's hospital in Sioux City. Bonnema had regained conscious- ness somewhat since last week, but his physician, Dr.

Roy Hassebroek, decided to send him to a neurosurgeon ih Sioux City for further testing. Hassebroek had not received any test results by Tuesday afternoon. Lapitz named county welfare director John Lapitz was introduced to the Sioux county board of supervisors Tuesday as the new county director of social welfare. He began his duties with the county Monday. The new director previously served with the state social welfare program in Monona county.

Since his term as the Monona county director, Lipitz worked with the CETA program in Sioux City. Lapitz told the board of supervisors that he joined the CETA program when it became apparent the Iowa Department of Social Welfare was moving towards one director serving two or more counties. The new director said it is now becoming apparent the department has now reversed its thinking and is beginning to allow more single-county directors, although small counties that do not have large populations and heavy caseloads will still be joined with other counties and served by one director. Board president Bernard Smith asked Lapitz for "close co-operation between county and state" in the welfare program. Smith said the board would like to know, and be kept informed, about the expenditure of Title XX and "mini-TitleXX" funds.

Title XX funds are used to help county residents who need specialized institutional care. Plan for hospital bazaar The fall general meeting of the Hospital Auxiliary was held on October 5 in the Rieckhoff Room of the Orange City Public Library at 9:30 a.m. Mrs. Henry Van Aartsen, vice-president, presided at the business meeting. Serving as hostesses were Mrs.

Herm De Vos and Mrs. Dick Van Zanten. Much of the meeting was spent working on plans for the hospital bazaar to be held at the Orange City Town Hall on November 18 from 9:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Many individuals are already busy at work on the various committees. You are urged to contribute your talents to any or all of the booths, whether it be baking, candy making, crafts, or what have you? The cooperation of every individual is required for a project of this size.

I The Auxiliary will again sponsor a free blood pressure clinic this year. An added feature will be the Basic Life Program which is Artificial Resuscitation, a very vital subject for all of us. As usual, proceeds from the bazaar will be used to purchase additional hospital equipment to enable better patient care. Alton signs power agreement Alton signed an agreement Wednesday night to buy power from the Missouri Basin Municipal Power Agency (MBMPA) for the next 40 years, if it so desires. The council had already entered into an agreement with the power agency for a 40-year period, but Councilmen Frank Van Es and Municipal Utility manager Curt Punt discovered at a recent meeting in Sioux Falls, S.D., there wasn't much support from other 'municipal to sign the iron-clad document.

MBMPA members were originally asked to sign a contract for that length to help finance a new generating plant now being constructed in Wyoming to supply power in the future. When it came time to sign the final document, a couple of members felt the 40-year contract was too restrictive, Punt said. The new contract signed by the Alton council Wednesday night is a less restrictive one. Under the terms of old contract, member utilities had to buy all their excess power from the agency until the year 2016. Now, member utilities will have to buy excess power until 1990.

After that time, utilities have the option of "going out on the market" to see what power costs are and see if they can get a better deal. If the market is cheaper, then the municipal uitlities have the option of going that route, or remaining with the power agency in buying their excess powers. Presently, municipal utilities purchase power from Bureau of Reclamation generating plants in South Dakota. Those generating plants can produce only a limited amount of power. At one time, Qureau plants could generate all the electricity needed by the rural co-operatives and municipal utilities.

Due to the increased demands by their customers, utilities have been searching for ways to get additional power over their allotments to meet the demands..