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Little Wolf terminates dam agreement

The town of Little Wolf has terminated its dam agreement with the city of Manawa.

The Little Wolf Town Board issued the following statement: “After much consideration and with community input, the board decided it is in the best interest of our taxpayers to discontinue the contract with the city of Manawa, for the Manawa dam.”

In a letter presented to the city, the Little Wolf Town Board stated that it passed a resolution at its Jan. 15 meeting to terminate the agreement.

The letter stated, “Consider this letter the required 90-day notice to terminate the agreement between the city and town with regard to the maintenance of the Manawa Dam.”

The letter also stated that the agreement “continues indefinitely unless either party notifies the other of their desire to terminate the agreement. Such notice of non-renewal must be given in writing at least 90 days prior to the expiration of the contract.”

According to information in the letter, the initial contract the city renewed its maintenance agreement with North American Hydro Company was “on or about May 5, 2014.”

The Manawa Common Council received the letter at its Feb. 16 meeting. No action was taken.

The dam was built in the late 1800s by Little Wolf River Lumber Company to generate hydro-electric power. The dam is currently owned by the city of Manawa, with an agreement with the town of Little Wolf to share costs. The city leases the dam to a private company that generates power.

The council approved debt refinancing at its Feb. 16 meeting.

The council agreed to take action toward refinancing $2.085 million of the city’s debt.

Actions taken by the council included:

• Adopting a resolution authorizing the issuance and establishing parameters for the sale of general obligation corporate purpose bonds.

• Adopting a post-issuance compliance policy for tax-exempt and tax-advantaged obligations and continuing disclosure.

• Appointing City Clerk Cheryl Hass as compliance officer.

According to Phil Cosson, of Ehlers, the bonds will be put out on bid in early March. The transaction will be allowed only if the interest rates remain low.

By refinancing, Hass said the city will save about $75,000 to $100,000 in interest.

Mayor John Smith noted that Frank Jaeger, director of public works, has been a city employee for 31 years.

Library board representative Alice M. Brown announced two upcoming events at Sturm Memorial Library. Tablet Rodeo is from 1-7 p.m. March 11, and an author visit is set for April 27.

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