At their most recent meeting, the Kalona City Council came to an agreement with Iowa County regarding funding dedicated to hiring a project coordinator for the Iowa Watershed Approach project in the English River Watershed. The funds are coming from a Community Development Block Grant awarded to Iowa County, which will give the watershed board access to $375,000 over the next five years to staff the position. The agreement also allows for planning dollars to be used by the watershed to work on projects, such as nutrient reduction and flood mitigation.

Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh, who also serves as chairman for the English River Watershed Board, says the funding is a welcome development for the watershed project. He explains, “It’s been kind of a process to work with the federal government and the state to get the funding, and to get it in place where we’ve got the staffing to be able to help carry out the details of the grant. So we’re excited.” This week the city and watershed board will begin the hiring process for the position. Schlabaugh believes they’ll hire two individuals, one a full-time project coordinator, and the other part-time. The total amount of CDBG funding the watershed has to work with for the project is approximately $5.4 million.