The City of Kalona serves as the fiscal agent for the English River Watershed project, and at the most recent Kalona City Council meeting, they took the watershed board’s recommendation and hired coordinators. With money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says the city agreed to hire Jody Bailey for the full-time position, and Ben Curtis as part-time. Schlabaugh, who also serves as chairman for the English River Watershed Board, said, “Both of them actually have been employed with the watershed on a smaller capacity for a while. But formal duties will start March 1st. So they’ll continue on until then, and they’ll be paid for by HUD funding.”

The HUD funds were supplied through a Community Development Block Grant, which was awarded to Iowa County in the amount of $5.4 million for the watershed project. The watershed board was allowed access to $375,000 over the next five years to staff the positions. In addition to the money for the project coordinator positions, the watershed board is also requesting a $100,000 grant from the CDBG funds to be used on projects such as nutrient reduction and flood mitigation. As the fiscal agents for the watershed, the City of Kalona has been tasked with writing and submitting the grant request.