As several agencies attempt to get help to Siouxland people who experienced flooding in late June, a new piece gives funding for food.
People can apply for assistance from the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or D-SNAP. The money is available to residents who live in the counties that have received presidential disaster declaration status, and have had property damage or reduced income.
People can apply online for D-SNAP, or Woodbury County residents can apply in person at the Trosper-Hoyt Building in downtown Sioux City through the deadline of Friday, July 19.
July 19 is also the date when special commemoration of the notable crash landing of a plane near the Sioux Gateway Airport will take place.
An Open House and Special Presentation for the 35th anniversary of United Flight 232 crash landing will begin at 3:45 p.m. at the Mid America Museum of Aviation and Transportation.
A moment of silence will take place at 4 p.m. in recognition of the 112 victims, the 184 survivors, and community heroes who responded to the scene.
A professor from Maryland, Mitchell Simmons, will present his research, Flight Crew Communications Through the Eyes of United Flight 232 Flight Attendant Susan White, who may also be on hand.
In a release, museum board member Pam Mickelson said, “This community event is an opportunity for a new generation of Siouxlanders to hear the details about that July 19, 1989 day where our local heroes were called to help.”
Additionally, several people and groups, including the Woodbury and Dickinson county boards of supervisors, have requested that a state commission reconsiders its approval of the CO2 pipeline project by Summit Carbon Solutions.
Those seeking that change of the decision by the Iowa Utilities Board include landowners, other Iowa county boards of supervisors, and the Sierra Club of Iowa. Monday was the deadline for parties to file their requests with the IUB.
Jennie Zwagerman is the director of the Drake Agricultural Law Center. She says some of the pushback at the county level stems from support for their citizens’ property rights.
“Two, they don’t believe in this definition of eminent domain being applied correctly, and three, they’re unhappy with how this impacts their individual government ability to decide what happens in the future in their county," Zwagerman said.
The IUC has said that Summit cannot begin construction in Iowa until it also has permits in North and South Dakota. The North Dakota Public Service Commission could make a decision about the pipeline route at any time.
In other news, city of Sioux City officials are working towards a huge project to build a new wastewater treatment plant for $460 million. A stop-gap repair plan for the current plant is now held up, after the City Council on Monday rejected all bids for that work.
The estimated cost for the repairs to tanks at the plant had been set at $3.9 million, and the two bids came in much more than that. One bid was $5.7 million, the other was $4.4 million.
The city utilities department will look at ways to change the project in a way to get lower bids in the future. The city has $3.9 million in federal funding to use on the wastewater treatment plant repairs project.
