A proposed ordinance to hike duck blind fees at the
Holden City Lake from $35 to $500 was tabled and sent to the Board of
Public Works for further discussion at the regular meeting of the Holden
City Council held Thursday at City Hall.
The increase was being sought as councilman Brent Brown explained in
last month’s council meeting to stop profiteering by out-of-town
individuals who were leasing the blinds for $35 and subletting them
for as much as $100 per day. He felt that by raising the rates, some
of the money would stay with the city for upkeep at the lake.
The discussion should take place at the BPW’s next meeting to
be held November 1.
Local duck hunter James Neill spoke against the fee increase stating
that it would push the local guy out and the only ones who could afford
the blinds would be those who would be doing the subleasing. He had
made the same appeal at the last meeting of the BPW.
Missouri conservation agent for Johnson County Kevin Zielke told the
council that he didn’t see the need for that much of an increase.
He explained that their requirements hadn’t been raised and the
lake, which had been partially built with federal funds, was not for
making a profit, but to provide Missouri residents a reasonable opportunity
for hunting and fishing.
He said that the area isn’t a private duck club, and that they
would need to approve any increases. He also stated that the Concordia
lake has a system where up to 10 people could purchase a $20 permit
for each blind and suggested Holden use a similar system.
Neill also said that he had checked around and found that other lakes
charged much less than $500. For examples he used Harrisonville, $50,
and Pleasant Hill, $30.
In other city council business, Ted Martin, representing the Holden
Sports Association, asked for help from the city to get water at the
new ballfields. He stated that there had been complaints from fans for
lack of restrooms and felt he was getting the “runaround”
on this issue.
He explained that he had gotten an easement from rural water, but he
felt this was a city issue. He also explained that he had sports dads
who were ready to dig the holes and lay the pipe.
Councilman Karl Timmerman asked Martin if he had talked to Brown or
anybody on the BPW. He said nobody had ever told him to do that, but
he would get on the agenda for the next meeting.
In a dialogue with an owner of Dragon Lady Roofing, the council submitted
a list of problem areas and incompletions on that company’s work
on the city hall roof. The owner said that if he had known about the
problems he would have had them fixed already. But, they would be done
by the middle of next week (this week).
The council informed him that after the work was completed and inspected,
compensating the company would come before the November meeting.
Also in council business, a bid for $69,828.45 was accepted from Cherokee
Construction to make “handicapped accessible” improvements
to city hall. City engineer Travis Kiefer reported that the bid met
specifications.
Bill Lewis, park board chairman, addressed the council explaining that
pad locks used to secure electricity at the city park were being cut.
City clerk Shelia Spies said that last month’s bill was $44 and
that was about average. Timmerman didn’t feel that was out of
line, but that Lewis should continue to monitor the situation and if
the bills increased they would address it in the future.
Other areas covered at the meeting was a report from the chamber of
commerce by Jenny Sollars, who told of work being done at the new downtown
park. A liquor license for October 22 from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., was approved
for Lea Peacodk for a class reunion.
High bidder for the old code enforcement car was Anthony Seymour with
a bid of $225.
Next regular meeting of the city council will be November 10.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The
First Annual Holden Cemetery Walk is scheduled for this Sunday, Oct.
23 at the local cemetery located on West 10th Street.
The event, sponsored by Ben Cast and Son-Wood Funeral Home will take
place between 2-5 p.m. During this time, prominent Holden citizens
of past generations will come to life as students of Linda Schnakenberg’s
speech class portray these individuals and tell of their life as visitors
pass by their tombstones.
Visitors will be greeted by Major Nathaniel B. Holden, Holden’s
namesake, who will be portrayed by Josie Baker. Prior to the tour,
full military honors will be bestowed upon unknown Union soldiers
at the monument located just inside the cemetery gates.
Featured individuals will include: Abner VanMatre, a Civil War veteran
who was involved in many battles as his family continued to live in
Holden - portrayed by Amanda Anderson; Charles William Bluhm, one
of Holden’s founding fathers who started the grain elevator
where Heiman’s is now located - portrayed by Molly Cravens;
C.L. and Julia Hobart, a husband and wife newspaper team who purchased
the Holden Progress in 1906 - portrayed by Ashley Miller and Angela
Cochran; William Steele, founder of the Farmers and Commercial Bank
in 1881 - portrayed by Curtis Christopher; Myrtle Akers, a local farm
wife with an interesting story - portrayed by Sharon Dean and Dr.
Charles Gloyd, the first husband of Carrie Nation - portrayed by Kathleen
Bryant.
Holden V.F.W. Ladies Auxiliary Post 5844 is providing food for the
event as part of “Make A Difference Day” and music will
be provided as well.
For those who would prefer not to walk, transportation will be provided.
According to organizer, Lori (Cast) Evans, the family wanted to help
preserve a piece of Holden’s history.
“By focusing on contributions of past generations, we can help
keep their memories alive and stress who they helped shape the future
of our community.”
“We’ve had a lot of fun planning the event and look forward
to a large crowd joining us that day. A lot of organizations and individuals
helped make this happen and I appreciate everyone’s help.”
Donations will also be accepted at the end of the walk which will
go toward the cemetery association.
According to research done by Evans, the Holden Cemetery was once
located on the corner of Market and Ninth Strets where the old grade
school is located. The land was not platted as a cemetery so when
the civil cngineer drew up the plans for the new cemetery in 1869,
150 graves where moved to this new property.
The new cemetery originally had 10 acres of land in a perfect square
and was divided into four sections.
Holden
R-3 School District’s Director of Instruction Donna Fizerreported
that adequate yearly progress (AYP) was achieved district-wide during
the 2005 Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) testing.
The results put the district in compliance with the No Child Left
Behind Act, and this was reported at the regular monthly meeting of
the R-3 school board held Thursday night at the Holden Middle School
library.
MAP test results showed that of the 12 groups testing, six achieved
higher scores than in 2004 and six were lower.
Improving their scores were third-grade communications arts and science.
Fourth-grade social studies and seventh-grade science improved as
well. Also reaping higher scores than the previous year were eighth-grade
math and social studies.
Fourth-grade math and seventh-grade communications arts went down,
but only slightly. The other four testing groups that received lower
scores were 10th grade math and science, and eleventh-grade communications
arts and social studies.
“Even though the high school scores were lower, we have already
put improvement programs in place,” Fizer explained. “The
high school staff is involved in the High Schools That Work Program,
which includes among other things a seminar time which provides extra
during-school help for students having difficulties.”
The improvement efforts in place at the district have proven to be
effective in raising MAP scores at other school districts in the area.
“As a matter of fact, there are improvement efforts going on
at each school addressing student achievement,” Fizer continued.
“Extra homework-help sessions have been added at the middle
school as well as increased emphasis on literacy skills at the middle
and high schools.”
Other improvement efforts already in place inlcude: Revised curriculum
to incorporate the Grade Level Expectations and common assessments;
alternative strategies classes added at the middle school at all levels
in core subjects; early-release days are being used as MAP preparation
days at the intermediate level; kindergarten to fifth-grade students
are reading more non-fiction material; and teachers in all grades
are being asked to develop individual MAP improvement plans.
According to school board president Jeff Miller talking to Fizer on
her report, “Like you, we have some concerns, but the board
will support your efforts in whatever you want to do to improve the
scores.”
By Steve Sullins
Editor
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Local businesswoman Jenny Sollars and Farmers & Commercial Bank
assistant vice president Myra Hutchings were honored at the 38th annual
Optimist Club banquet held Thursday at the First United Methodist Church
in Holden.
Past club president Sam Raber introduced Sollars who received the Citizen
of the Year award given yearly for outstanding community involvement
and contributions.
Bill Lewis, also a past president, introduced Hutchings who received
the Optimist of the Year award given to a club member who has displayed
outstanding involvement in club activities.
Outgoing president Dennis Mason praised Hutchings by saying, “When
former president Marcus Stucker accepted a position in another city,
Myra stepped right into his position and finished out his term.”
New club officers were also installed at the banquet. Taking over as
president for the coming year is Ann Osborne. Vice presidents are Nancy
Daniel and Kyndal Phelps. Shari Mason will assume secretarial duties,
while Lisa Heiman was installed as the new treasurer.
The meal was catered by the ladies of the Methodist church and according
to Mason, “it was very good.”
In his remarks to the assemblage, Mason reviewed the year’s activities
thanking club members for their hard work during Las Vegas Night at
the Fall Fiesta and organizing the Saturday night parade during the
fair.
He also explained plans for the Optimist’s first annual Haunted
Hayride to take place Sunday evening, October 30, at 6:30 p.m. at the
Holden High School football field.
The club’s tri-sport program, where the group holds competitions
in basketball dribbling, shooting and passing each year, was also discussed.
Mason proposed expanding the competitions to include baseball, football
and soccer, but he added that help from other organizations would be
needed to make that a reality.
He also spent some time talking about the Optimists’ soccer program,
including his desire to see that sport played at the high school. He
stated that their present program was going very well, but 14 is the
top age to be able to play and that he didn’t believe it would
hurt other sports at the high-school level if soccer were added.
In a list of more than 70 names of students who would be interested
in soccer, only two were presently football players. Since soccer would
be played in the fall and only approximately 20 were needed for a team,
he saw no conflict.
In other Optimist soccer news, the club is seeking a grant to build
two more fields at the present location next to New Hope Baptist Church
on East 58 Highway. They would like to be able to run three games at
the same time.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The
Holden R-3 School District received a “clean opinion”
in their 2004-2005 financial audit in a report given to the board
by Butch Beeman of the firm of Troutt, Beeman & Company, Harrisonville,
MO.
The news was received by the school board at their regular meeting
held Thursday night at the middle school library. “The opinion
means that the district’s financial statement of June 30, 2005
represented fairly the district’s finances,” explained
Beeman. “The opinion also means that the district’s financial
system is working as it should.”
The auditor also reported that because the district receives more
than $500,000 in federal funds, there are areas that the U.S. government
requires the audit to include. Beeman stated that once again the district
received a “clean opinion” on those areas meaning that
the district was in compliance with all federal regulations concerning
the spending of federal funds. “There were no findings of non-compliances,”
he concluded.
During executive session in the meeting, bus driver Wayne Loveall
retired, while resignations were accepted from Paula Sands, middle
school night custodian and Tommie Blaylock, intermediate night custodian.
The board also approved the hiring of Anita Callender, third-grade
teacher; Lester Bramell, middle school night custodian; and Teresa
Edwards, bus driver.
High School English teacher Linda Schnakenberg, who is also the Missouri
State Teachers Association president, came before the board to thank
them for their support during her presidency. She also invited them
to the MSTA meeting which will be held November 4. The Holden High
School Chamber Choir under the direction of Jon West, Holden’s
director of choral music, will entertain at the meeting.
In his report, district superintendent Scott Slava explained his efforts
in establishing effective communications between himself and the staff.
He will be meeting monthly with two groups, Superintendent’s
Instructional Advisory Council (SIAC), which is a group of teachers
and district personnel; and the Superintendent’s Support Advisory
Council, a panel of support employees.
The SIAC will be made up of Carmen Lambert, elementary; Debi Hertzog,
intermediate; Debbie Riley, middle school; Mandy Lewis, high school
grades nine-10; Sheryl Book, high school grades 11-12; Kelli Spies,
district activities director; Shawna Gard, district special education;
Larry Arnone, district auxiliary services and superintendent Slava.
He will also be sending out monthly “Now Hear This” sheets
where district employees will have a direct link to the superintendent.
The superintendent reported that he and Jeff Miller, board president,
are putting together a list of items for discussion at the work session
to be held at the Missouri School Board Association meeting, Oct 20-23.
The topics include: Discussion and firming up of board goals; capital
projects and long-range facilities plan; salary structure (tax rate);
and discussion regarding a bond election. He also asked the board
for other discussion areas and Mike Watterson suggested student achievement,
which was also put on the agenda.
In the area of student achievement, Slava proposed a new way of recognizing
outstanding young people who excell academically. Instead of passing
out certificates 30 minutes before a board meeting, he proposed honoring
the students at an academic banquet and awards night - much like athletic
honorees receive. Board member Pat Zvacek expressed that she “was
very excited about the idea.”
The board approved the first Academic Banquet and Awards night to
honor not only those who scored highly on the MAP test, but other
areas such as grade point average will be November 8 at 6:30 p.m.
District auxiliary services director Larry Arnone gave an update on
projects going on in the district: Intermediate school parking lot
- Winn and associates has issued a letter to Vanum Construction stating
that the asphalt parking area has not met specifications and that
they are to proceed immediately to correct the deficient work. They
must remove all asphalt, remove all base rock, re-grade the sub-grade
as required and install proper depths of asphalt and base tock as
specified.
According to Arnone, Vanum has seven-days to begin work. However,
the district has assumed responsibility for some additional drainage
work which could add some expense to the project.
Auxiliary service building - work is proceeding with part of the flooring
installed. Arnone is also looking into using waste oil from the buses
as a source of heating fuel. He stated that initially the units to
handle this would cost more, but after approximately five years, the
cost to heat the facility would reduce to only the electricity required
to run the machinery.
The director also reported that the Missouri Highway Patrol instituted
a surprise bus inspection September 23.
Of the eight buses inspected, two passed completely while two had
rear brake lights out, and four had exhaust leaks. Other problem areas
were emergency buzzers inoperable, low power steering fluid and a
torn wiper blade.
“I stressed to the drivers how this should be viewed as a positive,”
Arnone explained. “We need to use this inspection as something
to help us stay away from problems with the buses. If we look at it
as a negative, we’ll never improve.”
When the buses were reinspected Thursday, all six which had failed
were given a passing grade. Arnone also stated that Robert Parks is
inspecting two buses per day on a regular basis.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
Loving
all animals the way rural Holden resident Connie Wright does helped
her to understand how Hurricane Katrina displaced victims would feel
about their pets - “are they alive, are they being fed? I hope
somebody is taking care of them.”
That feeling and a news report on television stating that there were
50,000 displaced animals in the storm-ravaged areas of Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama are what stirred her heart and sent her and
her husband Chris and three-year- old daughter Loren on a rescue trip
to the South. The animals were spread around in different “kill”
shelters waiting to be adopted or euthanized.
“When I saw the TV report it was placed on my heart to go help
those people’s animals,” Wright explained. “So I
said to my husband, why don’t we do this. At first he thought
I was insane, but then he thought about it and said, ‘Let’s
go.’”
Wright, a clerk at the Holden Post Office, and her family left on
a Friday night with borrowed crates from family and friends and arrived
in Louisiana the next morning. She had made arrangements with two
shelters before they left.
“I asked them to hold animals for me and they said they would
be happy to,” she continued.
The Wrights rescued seven dogs and 11 cats at two shelters - Napoleonville
and Sorrento, LA. The dogs they brought back consisted of one German
Shepherd, two chihuahuas, two Labrador retrievers, one pit bull and
a beagle mix.
“We traveled at night, with the animals in the back of the truck
in crates,” Wright stated. “It was cooler on them that
way.”
She also said that she saw quite a lot of damage where they were.
“There were a lot of boarded-up homes, large trees uprooted
and such. Jackson, MS, looked like it had a tornado go through. There
was a mobile home with a very large tree right in the middle of it.”
At press time, she had placed eight cats and two dogs in adoptive
homes. She still has more ready for a new home and said that anyone
interested in adopting a dog or cat should call her at 732-6879.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
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