City Council to meet Thursday night

The Bloomfield City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday night.

The council will host a public hearing to discuss a budget amendment for the 2013 fiscal-year budget.

The council will consider a resolution to amend the budget and will also consider the approval of an amendment to authorize the extension of a loan at the Success Bank in conjunction with Bloomfield Main Street for the Downtown Fa�ade Master Plan Project. 

Last day of school is Friday

Friday is the final day of school in the Davis County Community School District for the 2012-2013 school year.

Students and staff will be off until August when the 2013-2014 school district begins following the Iowa State Fair. 

Bloomfield Main Street honored

Bloomfield Main Street was honored recently at the annual Main Street Iowa Awards in Des Moines.

Bloomfield Main Street was presented the award for the Best Fa�ade Improvement over $15,000. The award was presented for the renovation of the Davis County Courthouse clock tower renovation.

Don Walton of Bloomfield was also recognized as the Bloomfield Main Street’s Volunteer of the Year.  

Menus

School lunch menus for May 24--Breakfast: Blueberry muffin and ham. Lunch: Cook’s choice, vegetable, fruit, milk.

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Bloomfield Senior Citizens menu for May 24--Baked fish, lemon wedge, candied sweet potatoes, kale, fruit pie. Activities: Wii games at 9-11:30 a.m. Bingo at 12:45 p.m.

Storm causes damage Sunday night

A strong thunderstorm rolled through Davis County last night leaving one inch of rain officially at Lake Fisher.

The storm also brought with it some heavy rain in some places and winds that caused damage both north and south of Bloomfield. Trees and a farm building were damaged in Belknap. Trees were also damaged a few miles south of Bloomfield. 

High School to host meeting for incoming freshmen

The Davis County High School will host a meeting Monday night for all students who will be freshmen during the 2013-2014 school year.

The meeting will be held in the high school commons beginning at 6 p.m. All incoming freshman students and their parents are encouraged to attend the meeting to learn about the process of transitioning from eighth grade to high school.

Contracts approved by board

The Davis County School Board approved contracts for its classified staff Monday night even though a contract agreement has not been reached.

Superintendent Dan Maeder told the board he wanted to make sure those contracts were approved so jobs for those staff members would be secure. The district is still in contract negotiations with the staff.

Maeder later reported that a verbal tentative agreement had been reached with the teacher’s union for a 3.75 percent total package increase on their master contract.

School officials have to wrap up contract negotiations despite still not knowing for sure what the state legislature is going to provide next year for state aid payments. State lawmakers still have not settled allowable growth figures. 

Hospital board discusses postponing renovation

Without any official decision being made, the Davis County Hospital and its board of trustees put the brakes on a proposed renovation plan for the south and west wings of the hospital.

CEO Deb Herzberg presented the board with a recommendation to wait for a year and revisit the proposed renovation plan again. Herzberg’s recommendation came after she had reviewed financial figures and the 2014 fiscal year budget, which shows an estimated net profit of $488,688 for the year.

Herzberg commended the board as she said, “I think you guys are very forward thinking about this (the renovation project), but I’m not sure with the changes in healthcare that we should move forward with this now.”

Dan Thompson agreed, saying, “I love the idea of the project. I would love to do this now, but I don’t think it’s feasible yet.” 

Renovation postponement is top story

The Davis County Hospital Board this week verbally agreed to put a proposed renovation project on hold for at least a year.

CEO Deb Herzberg made the suggestion Monday night saying the hospital may want to wait at least a year before the do anything. Herzberg cited the 2014 fiscal year budget and hospital finances, as the reason the board should consider postponing the project.

Wednesday’s Bloomfield Democrat features a story about the hospital board and the discussion about the postponing of the project.

Other top stories:

*83 seniors graduate from the Davis County High School. Park Mikels and Dani Lea McKee were named to top two students of the class of 2013.

*Dollars for Scholars awards more than $66,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors.

*A weekend storm causes damage in Davis County.

*In sports read about the success of the Davis County track teams at the Iowa State Track Meet in Des Moines.  

Council to host special meeting Thursday

The Bloomfield City Council will hold a special meeting Thursday night at 6 p.m.

The council will host a public hearing to consider amending the 2013 fiscal year budget. The council is expected to approve a resolution including that amendment.

The council will also consider a resolution authorizing the extension of a loan at the Success Bank in connection with Bloomfield Main Street for the Downtown Fa�ade Master Plan Project. 

Robert "Bob" Culp

Robert “Bob” Culp, 71, of What Cheer died Friday, May 17, 2013, at the Serenity House in Oskaloosa.

A memorial service will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 25, 2013, at the Holland-Coble Funeral Home in What Cheer.

Visitation with the family will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and last until the time of service. Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer memorial contributions be made to Hospice.

Mustangs to host Fort Madison

The Mustang baseball team will host Fort Madison in a varsity doubleheader Thursday night. Action begins at 5:30 p.m.