From Bob Brown
Thayer
Thank you for your support in the past and I ask for everyone’s support in this important election for Union County Supervisor.
I really miss being a county supervisor. I had the opportunity to work with great people from the local, state and federal levels to improve our county and Southwest Iowa.
I am still serving Union County by serving on the Heartland Board of Directors, Empowerment and Southern Iowa Resource, Conservation and Development Area Inc.
Heartland is Innovative Industries, Southern Iowa Residential Facilities, SERF, SS of SCI and C.A.R.E. in Afton.
We have a broad variety of services in our community for the disabled, programs for intellectually challenged, physically and mentally disabled also. We have the ability to serve individuals by the hour as needed and/or apartments and including 24-7 services.
Empowerment Vision: Every Child, beginning at birth will be healthy and successful. Early Childhood Iowa is a state-funded program to help preschool providers and families and kids ages birth to 5. I stayed on this board at their request because we were regionalizing from one county to four counties.
Southern Iowa Resource, Conservation and Development Area, Inc. (SIRC&D) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit contract service organization that serves a seven-county area of southern lowa. We work with community members and leaders to develop great ideas and build partnerships.
In the 1980s, we had a terrible drought. I was a newly elected county supervisor and walked into the RC&D office and said I wanted to build Three Mile Lake.
They asked, “You sure you want to do this?”
I said, “We have to. We are hauling water to small towns, and ponds and creeks are drying up. And in some places, the quality of the water is terrible.”
They said they would set up a meeting. This meeting was made up of Union County Board of Supervisors, Union County Conservation Board, Union County Soil and Water Conservation District, Adair County Board of Supervisors, Adair Soil and Water Conservation District, Southern Iowa Rural Water Association, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the city of Afton. They made me chairman, and after a lot of great work with great people from federal, state, and local levels, we have an 880-acre lake serving seven counties through the Creston treatment plant and SIRWA rural water lines. When we started Three Mile Lake, SIRWA had 1,000 customers. Today they have 34,500 people served and they are in 11 counties.
I am the candidate that has helped develop, build and believe in good to great infrastructure and services. That includes everything from good roads, Three Mile Lake, recreation, flood control, soil conservation and economic development This has given a better quality of life for humans and livestock.
It cost us $10 million to build Three Mile Lake. Union County’s share was approximately $750,000. DNR tells me Three Mile Lake brings in $10 million to the area every year. That’s 100 percent payback every year. Pretty good investment, folks.
Today, our RC&D and Clarke County are purchasing land in Clarke County to build an 800-plus acre lake. We have more than half the land purchased now. We need the lake for rural and municipal water.
I was contacted by farmers in the Three and Twelve Mile Lakes watersheds. They had been cut off regular routes to Creston. I walked the ridge north of Knotty Pine and thought it would make a good road for access to Hwy 34 and the REA Road. I convinced the board of supervisors and county engineer to build the road.
I understand the road funding systems and know the right questions to ask when we are discussing roads. The paving south of Thayer to the quarry was seal coat and we were patching it every year.
I said, “This road is a farm to market road and qualifies for state and federal funding and the bridges qualify for BROS funding. Let’s pave it, replace bridges and use our local dollars for other projects countywide.”
I contacted the Afton Rec Director Marilyn Seeley and said I would like to build a ball field west of the new East Union School. She thought it was a great idea. I talked to Frank Adams for dozer work, Ken Cheers for land, Rusk Brothers, Tom and Jack, and Lanny Benoit for fuel. Today we have a beautiful ball park because of these great and generous people.
When the heat tech building closed, I talked with the Afton Mayor Gary Clear and asked him if he wanted the building for school or jobs. He said jobs. I contacted Bunn-O-Matic employees and told them they could buy the building for the cost of the concrete it sets on. It’s great to see new jobs come to town.
I worked with the Afton people on the walking trail in Afton. The dream was it would go to Three Mile on Creamery Road, the shooting range, to REA Road to Green Valley Lake. We could host events on it: running, swimming, shooting and walking.
We are blessed with the towns, diversified industry and agriculture services we have. Our economic development people are doing great things as developing new leaders, housing, jobs, improving our parks and preserving our historic areas. Our education system from preschool through college is great.
Our hospital, medical staff, mental health, hospice, dental and physical support systems, including the YMCA, are great.
I tell everyone that we live in the most beautiful place in the world and the Indians named it Iowa, “Beautiful Land.”