(Des Moines)– Four Dickinson county supervisors and one mayor made the trip to Des Moines and the state capitol Wednesday to meet with lawmakers and the heads of several state departments.
Supervisor Paul Johnson says it was a very productive and informative day.
The delegation met with a representative from West Des Moines who talked about the explosive growth going on there and how that community has been able to deal with it.
From there, they met with Jeff Vonk, head of the Department of Natural Resources. Johnson says they discussed they impaired water quality classification of Lower Gar Lake and how it can be corrected. Johnson says Vonk feels dredging isn’t the answer to the problem.
Another issue discussed with Vonk was the procedure for determining if a given lake is contaminated with bacteria; and Johnson says they talked about the possible establishment of a “Port Authority” in the lakes area, giving the area more of a say over lake-related issues. He says they were surprised to hear Vonk endorse such a proposal.
The Big Spirit Lake Bulrush issue was also discussed with Vonk. Johnson says the DNR head was adamant in saying that area needs to be protected.
From there the delegation met with Department of Transportation head Mark Wandro. Johnson says an issue that was discussed there dealt with Highway 86. He says Wandro told the group that if improvements are made to the northern portion of the road, that it could bring a much higher volume of traffic to that part of the road from Vick’s Corner to Milford. Wandro says residents living along that part of the road may not like that.
Johnson also says stop lights at the Taco House corner on Highway 71 at the intersection with 202nd Street south of Arnolds Park was also discussed with Wandro, who urged local officials to meet with D-O-T commissioners regarding the matter.
The supervisors also met with officials with the Departments of Education and Economic Development and toured the new State Supreme Court building.
