A quick look at news from around the tri-state region.
BURLINGTON, IA
The Burlington School District wants its teachers to spend more time in the classroom.
The district’s initial contract offer to the Burlington Education Association calls for the daily instructional time for elementary school students to increase by 15-minutes.
That would be accomplished by having students arrive at school 15 minutes earlier.
The district is also seeking changes in the use of leave time and is offering 1.27% experience-based pay raises.
The BEA is seeking 8x that in total compensation.
Negotiations can now proceed behind closed doors.
VAN BUREN COUNTY, IA
The Van Buren County Board of Supervisors has signed off on new multi-year employment contracts with the two unions that represent county employees.
The two-year deal for secondary roads employees calls for a change in comp time payouts and three pay increases (2% on July 1, 2014; 1% on Jan. 1, 2015; 2.5% on July 1, 2015).
The two-year deal for the sheriff’s office also includes three raises (1.5% on July 1, 2014; 1.5% on Jan. 1, 2015; 2.5% on July 1, 2015) and changes to on-call procedures.
LEE COUNTY, IA
A public forum on the issue of Lee County’s two county seats will be held on Tuesday, March 25th at 7:00 P.M. at Central Lee High School.
Organizer Mary Van Pelt says the forum will provide taxpayers an opportunity to find out how much it costs to maintain two county seats versus one centralized location.
She has invited Iowa’s Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General along with State Senator Rich Taylor, who is considering legislation on the topic.
Van Pelt says Central Lee High School offers a neutral location as the two county seats are each about 15-miles from the complex.
KEOKUK, IA
The Keokuk City Council wants to know where to hold the city’s July 4th festivities.
The plan has been to use Rand Park, but a request came in for Victory Park based on the reaction to the fireworks display held there as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the dam between Keokuk and Hamilton.
Aldermen want residents to contact them to offer their input on the location.
The city has hired a carnival company as part of the event, but the contract does not specify a location.
