Photo by John Speer Tama County Economic Development Commission in session in Tama on Tuesday night, Aug. 29.

Tama County’s housing shortage and establishing better communication between Executive Director Heath Kellogg and some city councils, notably those of Tama and Toledo, were at the forefront of a county Economic Development Commission meeting Tuesday night at the Tama Civic Center. “Opportunities in the county are at an all time high,” Kellogg told the group. He pointed to a big upswing in employment and a record listing of nearly 150 local job openings with his office for the month of August. “We have a sieve of people flowing through this county and we’re not capturing it,” he said. Kellogg cited the activity created by Iowa Premium in Tama and “a county-wide employment trend” along with state figures showing a million visitors to the county yearly. The tourist trade is mainly attributed to the Meskwaki Bingo • Casino • Hotel operation on the Settlement west of Tama-Toledo Kellogg said. The big issue of inadequate housing availability stems from the money side according to Kellogg. He said rental rates, for example, in Tama County, fall below what builders can earn in metro areas leaving little incentive to invest here. He described the housing circumstances as “incredibly frustrating.” A plan to develop the idle Iowa Juvenile Home / State Training School for Girls 27 acre campus in Toledo for multi-use housing was declared dead by Kellogg at a meeting with the Toledo City Council on Aug. 27. Hobart Restoration, Cedar Rapids, had proposed a plan apartments, senior housing, single family and a memory care unit for reuse of the property. Kellogg charged Tuesday reports in the press had reached state leaders in Des Moines “that there was no consensus” locally on the Hobart plan. He said that news had discouraged state leaders charged with giving the Hobart plan the go-ahead. Hobart had sought the property to be gifted to the company along with added state monetary incentives and a parcel of adjoining residential property owned by the City of Toledo as parts of the deal. More Contact Sought “What are we getting for our buck?” Toledo Mayor John Lloyd said was what concerned at least some members of the Toledo City Council and he about the city’s relationship with Tama County Economic Development. The issue surfaced when the Toledo Council tabled the payment of the annual Economic Development office bill on July 23 and later met with Kellogg during a work session on Aug. 13. Both Lloyd and Tama City Council member Emily Babinat called for Kellogg to make personal contact with all the city councils in the county. Lloyd said he believed it was part of the agreement under which Economic Development was expected to operate when Kellogg took over five years ago. Kellogg maintained he was following the set up of the office when established 18 years ago. Toledo City Council member Darvin Graham called for a review of the agreement and for an update which will make communication “more effective.” Kellogg said at the earlier Toledo meeting there was, what he identified as a“great divide between north and south” in the county. He said northern towns are represented at the Economic development commission meetings while those in the south generally have not been in recent times. He also lamented he had issued an open invitation all residents to attend a workshop on community development at Elkader, Burlington or Woodbine but no one did. In addition Kellogg also had issued an invitation for all Tama County residents to become involved by attending the Tuesday night Tama meeting. While an outpouring of people were not on hand, representatives from Tama and Toledo were. Among them were Tama Mayor Mike Carnahan, council members Robert Tyynismaa and Babinat, Charlie Betz, chair of the Tama County Historical Preservation Commission and Colleen Davis, chair of the Lincoln Highway Bridge Park group and a Historical Preservation Commission member. From Toledo, Mayor Lloyd, council members Duane Pansegrau and Graham, 2nd District Supervisor Kendall Jordan and Allison Graham were on hand. Meskwaki interim Economic Development Director Shoshonis Brown represented the Settlement 1st District Tama County Supervisor Larry Vest, rural Traer, was also in attendance along with Economic Development Administrative Assistant Joanne Husak. Kellogg agreed during the discussion a review of the way his office operates may be warranted and apologized if there were misunderstandings. Greg Petticord, Lincoln representative on the Economic Development Commission, suggested a schedule of meetings which he said could be perhaps quarterly with Tama and Toledo councils, semi-annually and annually for Kellogg and his office to share ideas with the respective cities. At the close of the two hour and 15 minute long session, Economic Development Chair Tom Brandt, Dysart, commented, “It’s been a meaningful discussion. It’s good to talk about things and get things out in the open and deal with it.” Dysart Workshop Proposed During the Tama County Economic Development Commission meeting in Tama Tuesday night, Dwayne Luze offered to provide a workshop on the Dysart Development Corp. Luze said the organizations 12-member board is backed up by 200 volunteer members from the community. He said this type of group needs “to communicate where you were or are, thing you still want to do and (then) you’ve found your mission.” The organization is credited for resurrecting Dysart’s main street, backing new business and housing starts and accomplishing its goals through its all-volunteer force, Luze said. He said Dysart Development and any similar organization needs to “listen to issues – know the word “yes” and be able to accept challenges to make changes.”