Home Care In Kalona, IA

KALONA — A large wildlife area near Kalona’s Southtown subdivision is slated for several projects as it becomes a recreational space.

Municipal and county officials said they planned to develop part of the land as a "naturescape,“ which City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh described as a mix of natural features and playground equipment. Other plans for the almost 95-acre area include a dog park, paved trail, disc golf course, splash pad and a separate, ADA-compliant playground among other features.

“It’s a lot of different amenities being proposed out there that fit that landscape,” he said.

Schlabaugh said the area, which includes a preexisting trail, was already open to the public, but that many amenities would have to wait for construction, or at least the official transfer of ownership to the city, expected around March 20.

Maintaining the land’s natural qualities was a priority for the project plan. Schlabaugh said the local wildlife had its own appeal.

“A lot of that, it’s woodland, so we don’t really need to do anything other than not screw it up,” he said. “It’s wonderful in its current state, the pond’s beautiful, everything around it … it kind of sells itself.”

In any case, it’s an ambitious undertaking for the city of 2,600. Preliminary costs presented at a meeting on Monday came in around $3.1 million, with construction time around 14 months once that money is in-hand.

Schlabaugh said the city could largely pay for the work with local-option sales tax after that revenue stream finishes paying off a library-related debt in 2024. Other avenues involve various grant opportunities, such as from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation.

The development is not expected to trade off with improvements to the already-existing city park in Kalona, which were also discussed Monday night.

“We’re trying to be balanced in a park that’s been very, very successful just off of Highway 22,” Schlabaugh said. “The newer amenities that we’ll see, that we’ll bring on board in a little bit different location, they’d be location-appropriate for the uses that we’re putting there.”

Once under city ownership, Washington County’s conservation staff will manage the land.

Washington County Conservation Director Zach Rozmus said the department was involved in the planning process. He said he was confident the new property would be manageable.

“We want to make sure we’re not spreading ourselves too thin … so we’ve been an intricate part,” he said. “It feels like we’re always having meetings about planning design. There also has been a committee put together that involves our board, the city council, some private individuals … that have really tried to be the steering committee.”

The area’s native wildlife will be left mostly intact after the development, according to project plans.

While the county department considers wildlife conservation an end in itself, Rozmus said the area’s ecosystem was rare for the county.

“The oaks and hickories that are components of this property, you know, we don’t see the regeneration rates on oaks and hickories the same as we once did,” he said. “This has a substantial stand, just off the trailhead, of old white oaks and old hickories that are all in 100 years plus.

“That is something that absolutely deserves to be protected because it’s unique to the north half of this county where you don’t see those old wood lots anymore. Whether it be development infringing on those environments or logging … the timber is some of the most pristine overlooking the English River.”

With an ownership transfer on the horizon and city on the horizon and plans coming to fruition, Rozmus said he was excited about the area.

“The word that I keep coming back to is, ‘Opportunity,’” he said. “Not very often does the community have an opportunity like this essentially put on their plate.”

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A view from above of the Southtown subdivision's wildlife area, where government officials and developers are ready to move forward on recreational developments this spring. (Photo submitted)

The land already has a usable trail system, but public officials said they planned to upgrade the paving once it came under formal city ownership. (Photo submitted)

Washington County Conservation Director Zach Rozmus said many of the land's trees were over 100 years old. (Photo submitted)

Company says it will relocate to Coralville location by 2025

Submitted photo of CIVCO's current headquarters in Coralville.

A photo of the CIVCO building in Kalona (James Jennings/The Union)

Submitted photo of CIVCO's current headquarters in Coralville.

KALONA — Manufacturing company CIVCO Medical Solutions has announced plans to move out of its production location in Kalona to a consolidated company site “in the Iowa City/Coralville area” by 2025, where it will also move its corporate headquarters, currently on Jones Boulevard in Coralville.

The company said the push change would make its affairs more efficient, but not result in any workforce reduction.

“We are excited to bring our manufacturing and corporate functions together under one roof in Coralville,” said CIVCO President Robin Therme in a news release last week. “These changes will allow for improved logistics and capabilities, while also supporting our current growth and what we anticipate in the future.”

The change would vacate a 43,000 square foot, industrially zoned building in the city, leaving it open to a new company.

Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said the lot would stay on tax rolls under CIVCO’s ownership if a buyer wasn’t lined up in time for the manufacturer’s move. Still, he said the city would feel the loss of such a major business, when the time came.

“We did meet with their leadership and we understand their reasoning for the decisions they’re making,” he said. “It does impact Kalona and our business community during that downtime, if there is any. Because (employees) do shop locally, they do eat locally, they purchase gas, groceries, live, all those sorts of things.”

That said, there may be little to no gap in occupancy for the building. Schlabaugh said he was optimistic about finding interested parties.

“We’re hopeful that the quality of the building, the quality of our community, will make it a great draw for the next CIVCO of Kalona,” he said.

Washington Economic Development Group Executive Director Mary Audia is one of a handful of people helping to find a replacement for the company. With the move two years out, that search is just beginning.

Audia said the lot could be broken into smaller pieces for new buyers, possibly under the same roof. Such an approach would broaden the community’s options.

Workforce is another piece of the puzzle. Audia said many of CIVCO’s employees already commuted from out of town, and that the availability of labor for a new company in Kalona would depend heavily on its sector and business model.

“It kind of depends of the type of industry, or if it’s a local industry that’s already established, that plans to grow,” she said. “If it’s smaller, incubator type of situations going in there, I think that’s a lot more doable, because that’s kind of how CIVCO started … they gradually grew into the company they are today.”

In any case, Audia said the lot was a top-notch location, close to larger population centers like Iowa City and Washington, and situated along highways 1 and 22.

“You can basically get wherever you need to get … it’s super, super accessible, and very visible,” she said. “We’re actually kind of excited to see what can grow next in that area, because obviously it’s worked great for CIVCO.”

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If you enjoyed the fireworks displays of the Sons of AmVets at Richmond and at Wellman, you can thank the City of Kalona (and many other contributors) for helping to fund both displays.

The City of Kalona used funds from the WCRF municipal quarterly municipal grants to contribute $3,000 to the Wellman Display and $3,000 to the Amvets fireworks display, according to Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh. The funds were paid directly to J&M Displays out of Yarmouth, IA for Richmond and to City of Wellman upon getting verification of the cost of fireworks.

Both fireworks displays took considerably more funds from other contributors. The Sons of AmVets recognize the donors to their fireworks with a thank you ad on pages 6A and 7A of this edition of The News. You can thank all those businesses for making the July 3 fireworks possible.

“The goal is to help improve the fireworks displays that are attended by Kalona residents,” commented Schlabaugh in explaining why the Kalona City Council approved the fireworks donations since the City of Kalona doesn’t have any fireworks.

I’ve always enjoyed fireworks and everything that happens on Independence Day including the placement of over 350 flags by Kalona Optimists on lawns of homeowners and now at Kalona City Park. All this helps remind me of the Declaration of Independence and appreciate our founding fathers.

I was disappointed to read in the Sunday Cedar Rapids Gazette that a professor at Drake University tells her students that the American Revolution that resulted in the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain was completely unnecessary. She says the United States should have remained tied to the British similar to what Canada did.

I also find it disturbing that vastly overpaid professional athletes dishonor the American flag and all that it stands for by kneeling or refusing to stand for Old Glory at games. The singing of the Star-Spangled Banner and raising of the flags is one of the things I have enjoyed before the start of sporting events in high schools, colleges and professional games.

The News will be publishing the Kalona Area Visitors Guide in late July for distribution across the state and to be handed out at the Kalona booth at the State Fair. The News will be printing 16,000 copies to help promote Kalona and nearby communities including Wellman, Riverside and Washington. Advertisers from all those communities and Iowa City help to make this popular publication possible.

The Kalona Area Visitors Guide is also used to help introduce newcomers to our communities.

If you have not yet been contacted about advertising in this guide, please get in touch with publisher Ron Slechta or ad designer Anna Kahn of The News staff by calling 319-656-2273 or stopping by The News at 419 B Avenue, Kalona.

KALONA — A handful of area students are spending this summer working in construction, building a market-ready house from start to finish close to downtown Kalona. Project organizers called the effort a slam dunk for education, workforce recruitment and the local housing market.

"It’s rare when you have a project that is a public project — and we’re using public funds to start the seed money to make it sustainable — that it is met with almost 100% positivity in the community,“ Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said. ”And I have yet to have anybody approach me and say, ‘I don’t think that’s a great project.’“

The project is a collaboration between the city, the Greater Iowa City Area Home Builders Association, a wide array of supporting sponsors, local businesses and students of Durant, Washington, Mid-Prairie and Highland schools. With some city startup money, the site is both a source of paying work experience, and a future affordable home for incoming Kalona residents.

Schlabaugh said the city bought as much of the building material as possible from local suppliers, and often lined up participants for related jobs in the community. The effort has drawn abundant praise from those businesses, as well as from nearby schools and area elected officials.

The city administrator said he hoped to make the student-built housing initiative an annual affair.

“We’ve met with (City) Council, and we’d like to make it sustainable, to where we can continue this,” he said. “We’ve had great success with students, we’ve had great success with the community. So yeah, I think we’d continue to look at what properties we could remove, and put something different on.”

Last year, students worked to restore a neglected house in Kalona. This summer, they’re building a duplex from the ground up on the lot of the former oldest house in town.

“This is just something I can’t do in my own school,” said Project Supervisor Tim Rouse, an industrial arts teacher from Durant. “It’s an opportunity to build a house, or the majority of the house, with kids. And it’s in the summertime, instead of during the school year … the kids get to work right alongside the plumbers, the electricians, the brick and block layers.”

Rouse said each student gained immeasurable construction skills and a network of peers over the course of the project.

“It’s amazing to see the growth, even in 10, 11 weeks,” he said. “Some of them struggle, the first few days, to just pound a nail in straight, and that kind of stuff. Or use a tool, and know what a tool is … and a lot of these kids, they’ve never met each other before. And by the time the summer’s over, they’re friends and they communicate back and forth.”

Kyan Nash, a recent graduate from Mid-Prairie, said he worked on last year’s project before returning for round two this summer.

“It’s what I’m going to college for, plus I enjoyed it and it was fun last year,” he said. “When they told us it was going to be more to do, I was interested.”

Andrew Shepherd, a Washington home-school student, said he found the experience insightful as well.

“I designed the trusses and the outside walls, and I thought it was really neat to be able to put everything up while doing it,” he said. “I liked putting up the walls, mainly on the main floor … that was super fun to start off with.”

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When Kalona Realty’s for sale sign went up on the side of their building on 6th Street in Kalona, customers started calling, worried that Kuenster Plumbling, Heating & Air was selling the business or moving out of Kalona. Fortunately for those who rely on the family business, they are moving out, but they aren’t moving on.

You might say they are moving up, at least in terms of square footage. This week contractors are expected to break ground on a new location for the business at 104 G Avenue South, just off Hwy 1 south of town by the settling ponds and C S Auto Body. The new structure will have plenty of office space and two overhead doors providing access to the workshop, in addition to ample parking space for the company’s service vehicles.

All of these features are desperately needed by the nearly 17-year-old company, started by Jeremy Kuenster in his garage in 2009, “just thinking it was going to be him and maybe one other guy,” wife and business partner Heather Kuenster says.

Kuenster’s growth has clearly exceeded their expectations.

Business was iffy at first, as the economy was still reeling from the Great Recession. But Jeremy occupied himself with replacing water heaters and other minor plumbing jobs, and eventually his reputation grew and with it his clientele.

By 2012, the business moved into their current location, at first renting it, then buying it. Office help was hired, then added to; technicians were hired, then added to. Far more than needing “one other guy,” Kuenster now employs about 30.

Today the building is bursting at the seams, with the office staff on top of each other, struggling to hear phone conversations or focus on their computer work. Outside, service vehicles clog the street at the start of the workday. There is no adequate breakroom or place to hold a meeting. Equipment and vehicles are stored at two additional locations.

“We’ve just outgrown our space,” Amy Shalla says.

Ultimately, Kuenster needs the bigger building to “better serve our customers,” Shalla says. With more space for employees, vehicles, appliances, and equipment, they’ll be able to work more quickly and efficiently. They can hold effective meetings and training sessions. They can even show customers more of what they offer, and demonstrate some maintenance procedures, such as changing out air filters.

This move to more spacious accommodations has been years in the making.

“We looked at so many different options,” Heather Kuenster says. “This has been a work in progress for at least five years.”

The business considered existing facilities, but for one reason or another, none of them worked out. Finally, when they found one of Kalona’s last remaining commercial lots was for sale, they thought, “fine, we’ll just build, then.”

The team at Kuenster is excited about the potential of the new building, which they hope will be completed and ready to move into in April 2024.

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