Page 5 - Ryan Schlabaugh News Today

Kalona City Council Discusses American Rescue Plan Funds

The Washington County Board of Supervisors approved providing a letter of support for a grant application for a trail project in Kalona’s Southtown Area development. Washington County Conservation Director Zach Rozmus, Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh, and Adam Kos of C.J. Moyna & Sons, LLC. presented their project to the board Tuesday, explaining that the Iowa Transportation Commission has approved a one-time $5 million allocation of funding to partially offset COVID-19 related redu...

The City of Kalona will continue to deliver meals to senior residents through the summer months. Once a week, 25 to 30 residents receive meals prepared by the Goodwin Dining Center in Wellman and delivered by Kalona city staff. The meals were free through mid-March, but recipients now pay $4-7 per meal based on their financial ability to pay. The program was scheduled to go on hiatus at the end of April, but City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says, through donations, the program will continue a...

The City of Kalona is taking steps towards possible upgrades to their fire station. The council approved a contract Monday night with Carl A. Nelson and Company to conduct a facility needs assessment of the fire department’s current building to determine if a new station should be built or the current structure could be renovated. City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says the assessment and any actual fire station building project are two separate items at this stage, “It is completely differ...

The City of Kalona is getting back the full use of their public works building after being home to thousands of pounds of food for residents facing food insecurity the last several months due to the pandemic. Due to a drop off in public need, the city recently suspended their pop-up pantry and senior bags programs until next fall. City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says the food they distributed required a lot of space and commended the public works’ staff for making room, “Being able to mo...

This is the final week for deliveries of free hot meals to seniors in Kalona, Wellman, Riverside, and West Chester. Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says these are the last days seniors in those four communities can receive the hot meals for free, but the delivery program will continue through April for those willing to pay for their meals, “We are going to look to do a sliding scale where it will start at $4 and all the way up to $7, where we would ask those people who participate t...

While use of their snow removal budget is pacing ahead of the last two winters, the City of Kalona remains in good shape for whatever weather may still come this season. City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says due to the frequent heavy snowfall received this winter, they’ve spent about $27,000 of their $40,000 budget. He says that puts them at about 90% of the approximately $30,000 they’ve spent on average the past two years, “So, we’re trending to probably spend a little bit more this ...

Kalona to Suspend Pop-Up Pantries, Senior Food Bag Programs

The City of Kalona has another 200 boxes of food ready to distribute to those in need during their next pop-up pantry tomorrow. City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says anyone facing food insecurity can make a drive through pickup between 9 to 11 a.m. at the public works building. He says they’re assessing the future of the pop-up pantries as well as weekly deliveries of free food bags and hot meals to seniors. Schlabaugh says they’ve surveyed food recipients and community groups on how they...

Kalona Pop-up Food Pantry Moved Back One Week