Thursday, April 24, 2025
Vol. 6, No. 36
PCMExplorer Local People. Local Stories.
A new look
Learning, growing, gaining
Designs for the new Monroe City Hall and Police Station building presented to city council By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer Updated renderings and designs for the new Monroe City Hall and Police Station were shared with city council during the April 14 meeting. The new building will include spaces for city hall staff and move the police station from the fire station to city hall. “The colors are yet to be determined,” Veenstra and Kimm Engineer Tara Goldsberry said. “It will have parking in the front and on the east.” The city looks to replace the current city hall building with the new building following a successful bond issue at the November election. Unlike the current building which was purchased by the city and not designed for its current purpose, the new building will be made specifically for the city’s needs. Features in the new building include three offices, a city council chamber and an entry vestibule, lobby and reception area. It will have a conference room shared by city staff, kitchenettes on both the city hall and police station sides, public and private restrooms and a threecar heated garage. The police station will also have offices, evidence storage and an interview room. “I’d like to really get going on this after July,” city administrator Kim Thomas said. “We’ll start after July with public meetings and open houses.”
Serving more kids than ever, the Jasper County Youth Track and Field Club looks to have another successful season in 2025 By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer
Veenstra and Kimm The new Monroe City Hall and Police Station building we be in the
Veenstra and Kimm The new Monroe City Hall will feature a city council chambers along with offices, an entry vestibule, lobby and reception area.
Increased secondary roads spending attributed to significant bridge work Jasper County is tackling a number of bridge replacement projects in FY26 By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer Jasper County is going to spend a few million dollars more than it normally does for the secondary roads department this coming fiscal year. County Engineer Michael Frietsch reasoned the almost $2 million jump from last year is in large part due to the amount of bridges damaged in the May 2024 floods.
The county’s secondary roads budget for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) was unveiled and approved at the April 8 board of supervisors meeting. Frietsch walked though the revenues and expenditures with officials during a public hearing and explained the secondary roads department has a lot of bridge work planned. “We got a lot of bridges in this number, and we got the bridge in Mingo so
Three years ago PCM teacher and former track star Bridget Martin had an idea: She wanted to give younger kids the opportunity to learn about track and field before they reached the middle school team. The idea led to a youth track team for the PCM community and soon expanded the next year to the Jasper County Youth Track and Field Club. Encompassing all kids throughout the county, the club holds practices at PCM High School and Colfax High School throughout April, May and June, and it gives kids the chance to compete in a wide variety of meets across Central Iowa. “I’m excited to see the program continue to gain momentum in the county,” Martin said. “There are so many fundamentals to track and field, so to get a head start on those will
be great to watch as these athletes progress into junior high and high school track and field.” In her first year, Martin had more than 100 kids show up the first day of practice, about double what she anticipated. Since then, the club has only grown. Any current first graders through 12th graders can join, with the older kids starting after the completion of their school track season. To start, there is a registration fee of $60, which includes a team shirt, uniform and entry fee into three track meets: the Knoxville Little Panthers Relays May 3, IRUN Meet May 11 in Indianola and Pella Track Club/Jasper County Track Youth Track and Field Meet June 13 in Pella. The coaches suggest running shoes for practice but not basketball shoes, slip-on shoes or sandals. Racing spikes are not TRACK | 3
MAP QUEST Jasper County citizen to digitize historic drainage district map of Skunk River before it was channelized
that’s definitely causing our expenditures to be higher going into ’26,” he said. Frietsch noted the secondary roads budget presented to the supervisors only features property tax dollars and Road Use Tax funds, so it does not include the farm-to-market account or any federal moneys. The funds are separated into estimated receipts for current BRIDGES | 3
Christopher Braunschweig/PCM Explorer Joe Otto unrolls a large drainage district map, which he plans to digitize and provide a digital copy to Jasper County at no cost. The map is more than 100 years old.
By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer
Christopher Braunschweig/PCM Explorer The bridge along F-62 over Elk Creek – classified as Bridge S07 – is going to be replaced next year. The Jasper County Board of Supervisors entered into a federal aid agreement for the bridge replacement project, which is estimated to cost $2 million.
A publication of est. 1851
With a huge grin across his face and an old tattered map tucked underneath his arm, Joe Otto was one peg leg and an eye patch away from looking like he was ready to search for buried treasure somewhere in the Seven Seas. For him though the true treasure was the map, but it didn’t lead to a chest of riches. Instead, it was an old drainage district map of Jasper County. Otto requested the board of supervisors lend him the document so that he may digitize it and then turn over
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the digital file to the county. Afterwards he will give the map back and that will be the end of it. He didn’t even ask for a fee. Well, not this time at least. “It’s kind of like at what point does something become historically valuable? This is the map of the Skunk River before it was channelized, so it’s the very last image of what it looked like before it was channelized,” Otto, of Colfax, said. “…I’ve never seen it unrolled but I think it’s like 10 feet long. It’s pretty big.” MAP | 3
Single Copy $1