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The Kalona Public Library is looking to increase patron access to their collection through technology upgrades with help from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF).
The city council approved the library’s application for a $5,000 WCRF grant Wednesday which Director Trevor Sherping says would be utilized to address their digital and virtual access shortcomings made evident by the pandemic, “Since COVID started, we’ve noticed our technology is just not up to speed to meet the needs of the community. The big one is that we don’t have a lot of mobile technology that is up to par.”
Sherping says their technology upgrade will start with purchases of laptops, iPads and Kindles that can be used in the library or checked out. He says they eventually would like to have mobile hotspots for check out for patrons without internet access. He notes that 60% of the library’s print collection is now online.
The Washington City Council held a lengthy discussion on a grant proposal at their most recent meeting, which resulted in a unanimous vote of approval.
A group led by Keith Lazar submitted a request for the city’s endorsement to apply for a $5,000 spring small grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation to renovate the existing tennis courts near Case Field into dual purpose courts for pickleball. The community group has received a bid of $57,975 from L.L. Pelling for this work, which does not include pickleball nets or benches. The group hopes to keep their total project cost below $60,000.
The Riverside City Council has approved the city’s 2022 fiscal year budget of just over $3.1 million.
City Administrator Christine Yancey says next year’s budget will be similar to fiscal year 2021 with no change in tax rates for property owners, “No, we did not raise taxes at all, which is really nice because we’re still at the $8.10 (per $1,000 assessed valuation) and we don’t have any special levies that we tax for, so unless your (property) assessment went up, taxes should be close to the same for the city portion of it.”
Yancey says the council also approved two applications for grants from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF). She says the fire department is asking for $5,000 to purchase a thermal imaging camera with the fire department covering the remaining cost of about $1,700. The Riverside Area Community Club is also looking for $5,000 in WCRF funds to help pay for improvements to the dog park at Hall Park including adding lighting and a drinki