The Sioux City Council yesterday voted to go ahead with a nearly $38 million consulting services agreement with a Minneapolis environmental engineering firm for the wastewater treatment plant project. Hazen and Sawyer P.C. will provide design services for the project.
The agreement passed by a vote of 3 to 1. Mayor Bob Scott, who was initially going to abstain on the matter, cast the only no vote. Councilman Matthew O'Kane was absent.
In spite of objections from the business community, in May the council approved the third and final reading of a residential, commercial and industrial sewer rate hike. The funds will go to a projected $470 million rebuild of the city's aging wastewater treatment plant.
The city is paying for the wastewater treatment plant project with a a rate increase and American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
The Board of Regents says if regulators allow it, they’re all in for the $20-million-dollar acquisition of Iowa City’s Mercy Hospital. Before their unanimous vote today, UI President Barbara Wilson said buying the hospital was an extension of its mission.
“The state’s healthcare system is increasingly stressed. We have an aging population. We have more and more complex needs among our patients. And a shortage of physicians so we as the University of Iowa remain committed to our mission of care for all citizens of this state and in many ways this move is part of that.”
With the Regents secured, the deal awaits the go-ahead form a bankruptcy court judge.
The bankruptcy and subsequent deal with the UI preempts a primary investor’s call to have Mercy Hospital enter receivership. Private equity firm Preston Hollow — which invested $42-million into Mercy — says it’s evaluating the deal before taking further action.
Eviction filings in Iowa this year are already on track to surpass last year’s high record number.
As of last week, Iowa Legal Aid reports more than 12,000 evictions have been filed statewide so far.
Last year, the non-profit reported more than 18,000 total eviction filings in Iowa.
Legal Aid data show Iowans of color, women and those with disabilities are disproportionately more likely to be evicted.
The latest breakdown shows students approved for Education Savings Accounts come from 96 of the state’s 99 counties.
The taxpayer-funded ESAs can be used to pay for private school tuition in the coming school year.
The top ten counties on the list account for 60 percent of the approved applications. Woodbury and Sioux Counties are in the top ten. They’re led by Polk County with more than 31-hundred approved accounts.
More than 13-hundred ESAs were approved in both Linn and Scott counties.
Decatur, Louisa and Ringgold are the only counties where no ESAs were approved.
