Feb. 24—The following stories from this week appeared on
and in The Jamestown Sun.
Employees
have not found any materials that merit complete removal
because of “explicit sexual material” from the James River Valley Library System, according to Director Joe Rector.
Rector said library system employees have found a handful of books that weren’t located in the right area. In one case, he said it was a series that was first aimed at teens but the second and third books are more for adults. The books were then moved to the adult section where it will be checked out the most, he said.
The library system has until March 31 to determine if materials in the children and teenagers section have “explicit sexual material.” The passage of House Bill 1205 during the North Dakota legislative session in 2023 removes or relocates “explicit sexual material” in public libraries’ children’s collections.
Rector said library system employees have reviewed almost two-thirds of the materials in the children’s and teen section. He said the staff is almost finished with the materials at Alfred Dickey Public Library.
“We will definitely finish by the deadline,” he said. “It’s just a matter of whether one of the libraries may need to close for a little bit to accomplish that.”
He said it is a possibility that the workers make a recommendation to close the Stutsman County Library for a few days to finish reviewing books in the children’s and teen section.
The city of Jamestown Street Department’s staff worked 859 hours less overtime during the first months of this winter compared to the same period last winter, according to Rick Lipetzky, city street foreman.
During the winter, most overtime is related to snow removal. Actual
cost savings
are difficult to estimate as snow removal costs including fuel, maintenance and extra employees, are not accounted for separately from road maintenance, Lipetzky said.
Street department personnel worked 1,079 hours of overtime in December 2022 and January 2023, compared to 220 hours in December 2023 and January 2024.
The Stutsman County Road Department has seen similar savings. The county payroll system calculates hours worked from the 18th of each month to the 17th of the next month.
From Nov. 18, 2022, to Feb. 17, 2023, road department workers put in 1,177 hours of overtime compared to 242 hours for the same period this winter, according to information from the Stutsman County Auditor’s Office.
President Joe Biden has
approved
Gov. Doug Burgum’s
request for a presidential major disaster declaration
for a severe winter ice storm and straight-line winds that caused more than $11.5 million in estimated damage over the Christmas holiday.The disaster declaration for the Dec. 25-27 event was approved for all 13 counties requested — Barnes, Cass, Dickey, Grant, LaMoure, Logan, McIntosh, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele, Stutsman and Traill.
The presidential disaster declaration unlocks FEMA public assistance to help pay for the costs of repairing damaged infrastructure.
Freezing rain and winds in excess of 40 mph combined to destroy more than 2,000 power poles and forced the closure of major highways and other roads due to life-threatening conditions.
The Anne Carlsen Center has received
a gift of $3 million
from Clarice and the late Reuben Liechty for the expansion of the new Anne Carlsen Center campus in Jamestown.
The donation will be allocated toward the acquisition of additional land adjacent to the new Anne Carlsen Center campus, which is located east of Jamestown Regional Medical Center.
The land could be used for gardening, play space and other options, said Tiffany Hunt, chief development officer at the Anne Carlsen Center.
The Anne Carlsen Center is currently constructing a 110,000-square-foot facility east of JRMC and on the south side of Interstate 94. When complete, the facility will support 34 individuals, including 24 with medically complex needs and 10 with more behavioral challenges.
Anne Carlsen Center CEO Tim Eissinger told The Jamestown Sun in December that the organization anticipates substantial completion of the facility in February with occupancy of the buildings planned for March.
The Jamestown City Council
will consider whether to establish a committee
to review an agreement with Stutsman County on providing joint library services.
The Jamestown Finance and Legal Committee unanimously approved adding the issue to the City Council’s agenda on Tuesday, Feb. 20, without recommendation on the committee.
The Stutsman County Commission unanimously approved establishing the committee at its meeting on Tuesday.
The committee would include five to seven members who are not elected officials. The committee could make recommendations to the city of Jamestown and Stutsman County on the terms of the memorandum of agreement to provide joint library services.
The city of Jamestown and Stutsman County have provided joint library services under a memorandum of agreement after voters approved a measure to combine them in 2008.
The Jamestown City Council in a 3-0 vote approved the creation of a district for the second phase of the 96-inch storm
sewer replacement project
in southwest Jamestown.
Councilmen Dan Buchanan and Brian Kamlitz were not present at the special meeting or the meetings of the Jamestown Public Works and the Jamestown Police and Fire on Thursday, Feb. 22.
The City Council also directed the preparation of a preliminary engineering report.
In related business, the Jamestown Public Works Committee unanimously recommended approval of the plans and specifications for the second phase of the 96-inch storm sewer replacement project and authorized the advertisement of bids for the project. The project is planned for this year.
“That is the 96-inch pipe from where we left off with the emergency replacement on 25th (Street Southwest),” said Darrell Hournbuckle, senior project engineer with Interstate Engineering.
A 96-inch stormwater pipe was repaired last year near Applebee’s.
The project consists of replacing the storm sewer with 96-inch pipe going north from 25th Street Southwest to the east of U.S. Highway 281 and toward Interstate 94.
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