In July, the DaVita West Union Dialysis Center building will celebrate being open for 15 years. The center, which used to be the old Sweet Computers office along Highway 150 North in West Union, was renovated to meet the growing demand of dialysis patients in the area. Current employees include (l-r) Cassie Bakke, RN; Lisa Torkselson, RN; Toni Powell, MSW social worker; Audrey Winter, CCHT; Nicki Becker, CCNT; and Colleen Dinan, group facility manager. Not pictured is Sarah Harmer.  (Chris DeBack photo)

WU dialysis center has lasting impact on patient care

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

Fifteen years ago in July, the dialysis center in West Union opened its doors to its new location. 

With March as Kidney Month in America, this is a good time to reflect on the large impact the dialysis center, now called DaVita West Union Dialysis Center, has had on the northeast Iowa region.

Until Palmer Lutheran Health Center (PLHC) opened a four-chair Gundersen Lutheran satellite dialysis center inside its building in 1991, dialysis patients in West Union and the surrounding areas didn’t have much of a choice when it came to getting treatments. The patients were forced to drive to Gundersen Health System in LaCrosse, Wis., head to a Mayo Clinic center, or drive to Waterloo for treatment. 

Timewise, for those driving all the way to Gundersen, getting dialysis was like working a full-time job three days a week. 

“Patients would spend approximately three hours in the car just driving to and from Gundersen for care,” said Colleen Dinan, RN, BSN, DaVita West Union Dialysis Center group facility administrator. “A treatment could take upwards of six hours with an hour of prep time before and after treatment and a four-hour treatment.”

2018 Winneshiek Co. Beef Banquet this weekend

The 2018 Winneshiek County Beef Banquet is just around the corner on Saturday night, March 10, at the Festina Community Center, and the official list of royalty candidates has now been released.

Ossian approves levy rate

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

The Ossian City Council met Monday evening for its regular meeting. After the meeting was called to order, a public hearing was conducted for the FY2019 budget, which was published in February.

The FY 2019 budget includes a levy rate of $12.67 per $1,000 assessed value, a rate 6 cents higher than FY2018 and 2 cents higher than FY2017.

The council went on to introduce Ordinance No, 74 pertaining to tree planting in utility easements or in the City right-of-way.

360 Lasering was started by Roger Craig of Clermont, who is building upon what the former Elgin company GridWorks was doing with laser-engraved collectible footballs. Currently, Craig is licensed to laser-engrave Iowa and Iowa State logos on a number of different products and hopes to expand to other Big 10 Conference schools in the future. (Chris DeBack photo)

360 Lasering finds niche in global marketplace

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

Entrepreneurship is all about finding one’s niche. 

Typically, businesses that broaden their market too much miss the mark and never get off the ground. However, the same can be said for those who try to make their niche too narrow, as well. There needs to be a balance between your product and those to whom you’re trying to sell. 

With the ability to reach almost everyone worldwide, finding one’s niche can be the difference between success and failure. 

One small company in Elgin, 360 Lasering started by Roger Craig of Clermont, believes it has found its niche with selling laser-engraved products on its website.  

In 1917, the Northeastern Iowa Power Company, the first electric power company in Clermont, registered a vehicle through the Iowa Secretary of State's office in Des Moines.  There were subsequent registrations in 1918 and 1919.  The antique postcards, found recently at a garage sale in West Union, were framed and are now on display in the Iowa Secretary of State's Office in the Capitol Building in Des Moines.

Postcards from the past

Vicki Rowland

Contributing Writer

When Noel Knight of Elgin was poking around in a West Union garage sale last year, he came upon a bunch of old postcards. He paid the owner the requested $2.00 and went home to share his prize with his wife, Deb.

Some of the cards had a family connection. Three of the cards, issued in 1917, 1918, and 1919, were from the Office of the Iowa Secretary of State. Noel thought the cards would be of special interest to the couple’s friend, Paul Pate, the Iowa secretary of state.

Busy agenda at Fayette City Council Monday night

Vicki Rowland

Contributing Writer

It was a nasty, snowy night, but the Fayette City Council met for its regular council meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, March 5.  

All councilmembers were present: Matt Cowley, Curtis Larson, Patty Nefzger, Amy Tucker, and Nancy Wulfekuhle, along with Mayor Andrew Wenthe and City Administrator Kris McGrane.

The major topics for the evening’s agenda were the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for housing rehab and the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and snowmobile code revisions being considered.

WU council discusses raising water/sewer rates

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

West Union residents may see a $20 increase in their water/sewer bill as soon as July 1. 

At its regular Monday meeting, March 5, the West Union City Council discussed the need to raise the capital improvements fee on its water/sewer bill by $20, from $15 to $35, to pay for a new West Union Wastewater Treatment Facility.

Due to a perfect storm of weather conditions last week, the gravel roads in Fayette County took quite a beating from the traveling public. Soft gravel roads were torn up by cars, trucks and semis driving on them as the County rushed to repair what it could by the end of the weekend. Approximately 10 gravel roads across Fayette County, including R Avenue between Highway 18 and Hawkeye, were closed to thru or semi-truck traffic late last week.  Chris DeBack photo

Perfect storm of conditions leads to gravel road repairs

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

Last week, a perfect storm of weather conditions led to gravel roads across Fayette County taking a beating from the traveling public. 

“This was a little more extreme than your typical spring thaw that we end up getting every year,” explained Joel Fantz, Fayette County Engineer. “With a typical spring thaw, the road’s subbase is still frozen, and a properly crowned gravel road will actually settle out from water runoff during a spring rain. All the rain and precipitation we had recently has come as either just a drizzle that soaks into the road, or a wintery mix that sits on the road and then soaks in when it melts. All that water is trapped between that frozen subbase and the crust of the surface because it didn’t run off, which makes the road very soft and leads to the road being easily torn up when driven on. 

The 33rd Annual Fayette County Pheasants Forever Banquet will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 17, at the West Union Events Center in West Union. The Pheasants Forever 2017-2018 National Print of the Year, entitled “Shelterbelt Pheasants,” by Jim Hautman is being held by the Fayette County Pheasants Forever Board. Board members include (front, l-r) Billie Winters; Mallory Hanson; Allison Boehm; Brett Whitcher; Leon Deutsch; and Allie Rath; (back) Jesse Wegner; Rod Marlatt, chairman; Eric Boehm; and George Schaefers, treasurer. Not pictured are Blake Gamm, habitat chairman; and Larry Glass.  Chris DeBack photos

FC Pheasants Forever #1 in nation again

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

For the second year in a row, Fayette County Pheasants Forever ranks No. 1 in the United States for habitat expenditures. 

In 2017, the Fayette County chapter expended $533,240 for the year to garner the top spot among the 740 Pheasants Forever chapters nationwide. Recently, the chapter was recognized at the Pheasants Forever State Convention for the establishment of wildlife habitat and public land acquisitions exceeding $2.750 million since the chapter’s inception in 1985. That is the most among any chapter in the state of Iowa. 

Fayette County Pioneer Cemetery Commission turns 20

The Fayette County Pioneer Cemetery Commission turns two decades old this year.

To show its appreciation for all who have volunteered their time to the organization, the commission will be hosting a luncheon starting at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, at the Fayette County Historical Center in West Union.

While lunch is being served, Steve Story, Fayette County Pioneer Cemetery Commission founding member, will give a brief presentation on what all the volunteers’ hard work has accomplished.

Story noted that pioneer cemetery commissions didn’t exist in Iowa until the Iowa Legislature passed the Pioneer Cemetery Law in 1996. This allowed County Board of Supervisors to set up pioneer cemetery commissions to oversee and improve the pioneer cemeteries in a county. This wasn't required of the counties, but something each individual county could decide to enact itself.